Professional Documents
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Free-Plan
EXL745
Business Plan
Tip: Use this page as the cover page. Remove the colored table above and insert sufficient empty paragraph marks to push the table immediately below down to the bottom of the page. Consider adding a picture of your offering onto this page.
>> Enter Your Biz Name & Contact Details Here << Address xxx Tel: xxx Fax: xxx E-mail: xxx Web page: xxx
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Once you have registered and secured a password to unprotect this Free-Plan template file - see first page of the template for instructions - you are free to modify this file for the purpose of developing a business plan. Once your plan has been drafted, the resultant document and/or file can be freely circulated or distributed as your own work. A registered, unprotected copy of this Free-Plan template file is strictly for your personal use. It must not be modified, copied, distributed or circulated as any form or type of business planning template or guide to unregistered users. Instead, prospective users should acquire and register their own copies of Free-Plan directly from PlanWare at: http://www.planware.org/busplan.htm
See accompanying license agreements in LICENSE.TXT. Once Free-Plan has been registered and unprotected - see cream box on the front page you can change anything and everything within the Free-Plan template. For example, you can remove the red advisory text, delete or change the blue headings and subheadings, and add text as you see fit.
Initial Tips: 1. It may be best to progressively remove the red text as you work through the template so that you can avail of its guidance. 2. The Xxx, table and picture placeholders can be deleted when appropriate. Note that all Xxx placeholders use the Body Text style. 3. Free-Plan is supplied with its paper size set to Letter. You can change this to A4 via File > Page Setup > Paper. 4. Also, Free-Plan has been pre-set to use English (U.S.). You can change this via Tools > Language > Set Language. 5. Free-Plan incorporates sample tables which show monetary values as ($000). The simplest way to change this currency symbol is to use Edit > Replace to substitute your symbol e.g. to replace $ by .
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4. PRESENT STATUS............................................................................................7
4.1. Background ............................................................................................................................7 4.2. Progress to Date....................................................................................................................7
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4.2.1. 4.2.2. 4.2.3. 4.2.4. 4.2.5. Sales & Marketing............................................................................................................7 Operations & Management...............................................................................................7 R&D..................................................................................................................................8 Finances...........................................................................................................................8 Other Developments........................................................................................................8
5. PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS.............................................................9
5.1. General Descriptions.............................................................................................................9 5.2. Key Features..........................................................................................................................9 5.3. Main Benefits..........................................................................................................................9 5.4. Pricing Plans..........................................................................................................................9 5.5. Competitors Offerings..........................................................................................................9 5.6. Competitive Assessment......................................................................................................9
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name 8. TECHNOLOGY AND R&D...............................................................................15
8.1. Overview of Technology.....................................................................................................15 8.2. R&D Plans.............................................................................................................................15 8.3. R&D Resources....................................................................................................................15 8.4. R&D Expense Projections...................................................................................................16
9. OPERATIONAL PLANS...................................................................................18
9.1. Locations & Facilities..........................................................................................................18 9.2. Operating Methods/Procedures.........................................................................................18 9.3. Capital Expenditure Projections........................................................................................19 9.4. Operating Cost Projections................................................................................................19 9.4.1. Purchases & Materials...................................................................................................19 9.4.2. Direct Labor....................................................................................................................19 9.4.3. Other Direct/Variable Costs............................................................................................21 9.4.4. Total & Unit Costs..........................................................................................................21
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11.7. Overall Assessment...........................................................................................................32
12. FUNDING........................................................................................................33
12.1. Funding Requirements......................................................................................................33 12.2. Funding Proposals............................................................................................................33
13. IMPLEMENTATION........................................................................................34
13.1. First Year............................................................................................................................34 13.2. Subsequent Years..............................................................................................................34 13.3. Contingency Plans............................................................................................................35
14. CONCLUSION................................................................................................36
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List of Appendices
Tips: 1. No major section within the body of your plan should exceed 6-8 pages. Use appendices to present detailed or additional information which is summarized or referenced in the body of the plan. This reduces the length of the plan. It also enhances readability and ensures that the reader does not get sucked into excessive detail.. Suggestions for possible appendices follow. Do not remove these until you have finished drafting the plan. 2. If the appendices are very lengthy, consider binding them into a separate volume. This should make the plan appear less intimidating and creates the opportunity to circulate the plan with or without appendices. 3. If presenting the appendices as a separate volume, be sure to include a cover page (complementing that of the main plan) and a detailed contents list (number all pages in the appendices). 1. Review of Development of Business (20XX to 20XX) Consider using a chronological list. Focus on highlights and important events. 2. Summarized Historic Financial Statements (20XX to 20XX) Tabulate high-level values (revenues, cost of sales, pre-tax profits, fixed assets, current assets, current liabilities etc.). Summarize highlights and explain any exceptional events. Offer audited accounts as attachments or separate items. 3. Detailed Description (Technical Specifications) of Product/Service (Range) Assume reader has no prior technical knowledge. Minimize use of technical terms/jargon and avoid blinding with science. Offer technical write-ups as a separate document. If absolutely necessary, include a glossary. 4. Market Review and Results of Market Research If you cannot compile this appendix, you should seriously reconsider whether you are ready to write a business plan. Include tables explaining size of market, segmentation, competition, market shares, growth patterns, distribution channels, price/quality segments, customer categories, future trends, market share/segmentation projections etc. Summarize your main findings in the markets section within the body of your plan. 5. Assessments of Competitors Who, what, where, how etc. Explain how your products and services compare. How would you rate your business's strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities relative to your main competitors. Summarize your main findings in the markets section within the body of your plan.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name 6. Market Projections & Sales Forecasts (20XX to 20XX) Use tables and charts. Clearly state all key assumptions on market size and shares, volumes and prices. Confine your assessments to directly available, served markets (rather than total markets). If you plan to serve several markets, devote separate sections within this appendix to each market and then produce a summary of the overall projections. Build your sales projections from the ground up by setting out (a) clear marketing and sales strategies (b) explicit sales plans and budgets and (c) realistic assessments of numbers of enquires, outlets, customers, contracts etc. and conversion rates or lead times to arrive at sales volume and value forecasts. These should be compiled on a monthly basis for the first year and quarterly thereafter. Do not base the projections on superficial market share assessments e.g. we will achieve sales of $500,000 based on securing a 2% of the regional market which is projected by researchers at $25 million. Be sure to explain the marketing strategies and plans in fair detail specify resources required, costs etc. Identify any prospective partners and describe sales methods. In simple terms, you need to cover the 4Ps product, price, place and promotion. Compile a 3-5 year annual marketing budget and break it down by month for first year and quarterly thereafter. Summarize your plans and projections in the body of the plan. You should also feed the resultant detailed revenue and marketing cost projections into your financial projections. 7. Details of Manufacturing/Operational Plans & Costs Describe processes/operations in limited detail. Diagrams or flow charts may help explain complex issues. Indicate capital investment (and timing), describe/justify (briefly) the functions of major items and review any capacity-related issues. Discuss sources of materials/supplies and their costs. Specify projected manning levels/rates, direct/indirect operating costs and productivity levels. Discuss inventories and production cycles as well as related planning and control systems. Even if you are a service business, use this appendix to describe operational issues connected with the provision of these services, support etc. 8. CVs of Senior Managers If your business is substantial, you must present CVs for a balanced and experienced management team. If gaps exist, supply job descriptions and explain how they will be filled. Remember the five factors which venture capitalists look for when making an investment management, management, management, market and, finally, product !!! Bear in mind that many businesses try to follow this sequence in reverse order !!! 9. Assumptions for Financial Projections (20XX to 20XX) The assumptions should be consistent with and derived from the earlier sections/appendices in the plan. Use text bullets to highlight key assumptions and
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name place the details in tables within this appendix. If you need guidance, download a trial copy of Exl-Plan and have a look at its Textual Summary Report and monthly assumption reports. 10. Financial Projections (20XX to 20XX) Use tables showing projections for first year (or longer) in considerable detail. You should include fully-integrated P&Ls (income statements), cash flow projections and balance sheets by month for the first year. Present less detailed quarterly & annual projections for subsequent years. The opening balance sheet and first year's projections should coincide with the first year covered by your plan. Check out the contents and layouts of the monthly, quarterly and annual reports generated by Exl-Plan. You could paste or link key tables and charts from Exl-Plan directly into Free-Plan. For help with this, see Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide. A lower tech solution would be to append photocopies of Exl-Plans reports to the back of your business plan. When photocopying, you will be able to change margins and enlarge pages or change their orientation to suit your plan's layout and bindings.
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1. Introduction to Plan
See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. You can defer writing this section until the main part of the plan has been completed. Keep this section to under one page. Xxx
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2. Summary of Plan
See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. Do not write this section until the main part of your plan has been finalized. Use the sub-headings below to guide you on the key issues. You may wish to edit, merge or even remove them entirely once you have finished drafting. Make use of simple charts and bullet points. Limit this section to two or, at most, three pages. Add sub-headings using CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 2 style and CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 3 style. Use CTRL+Shift F1 for the Body Text style. Once you have drafted this summary, remember to update the page numbers in the Table of Contents.
Present Status
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Proposed Offerings
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Proposed Markets
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Management
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Financial Projections
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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These charts were "pasted in" as pictures from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. They are fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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Funding Proposals
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Conclusion
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3.1.
Vision
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3.2.
Mission
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3.3.
Values
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3.4.
Objectives
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3.5.
SWOTs
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Internal Strengths: Opportunities: External
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Weaknesses:
Threats:
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3.6.
Strategies
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3.7.
Goals/Targets
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4. Present Status
See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. The suggested sub-headings below may not be fully appropriate for a start up modify or delete them as appropriate. Consider placing detailed material in an appendix and summarizing it here. To insert a new main heading which starts on a new page, use CTRL+Shift F4 for the Heading 1 style. Add more sub-headings using CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 2 style and CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 3 style. Use CTRL+Shift F1 for the Body Text style.
4.1.
Background
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4.2.
Progress to Date
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4.2.3. R&D
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Project Date Started Projected Finish Date % Completed Main Resources Expenditure to Date ($000)
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4.2.4. Finances
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5. Product/Service Descriptions
Edit the heading above to make it more relevant to your offering(s). See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. Consider placing detailed material in an appendix and summarizing it here. Edit the main heading above to increase its relevance to your business e.g. delete word service if you offer products. To insert a new main heading which starts on a new page, use CTRL+Shift F4 for the Heading 1 style. Add sub-headings using CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 2 style and CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 3 style. Use CTRL+Shift F1 for the Body Text style.
5.1.
General Descriptions
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5.2.
Key Features
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5.3.
Main Benefits
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5.4.
Pricing Plans
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5.5.
Competitors Offerings
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5.6.
Competitive Assessment
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6.1.
General Background
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6.1.1. Market 1
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6.1.2. Market 2
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6.2.
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6.3.
Review of Competition
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6.4.
Customers/Users
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6.5.
Medium-Term Projections
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Key Segments Segment A Segment B Segment C Other segments Total market 20XX ($m) 20XX ($m) 20XX ($m) 20XX ($m)
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6.6.
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7.1.
7.2.
7.3.
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7.4.
Sales Forecasts
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Years to end xxMonth: Key Offering/Market #1 - Sales volumes - Selling prices Total Sales ($000) Key Offering/Market #2 - Sales volumes - Selling prices Total Sales ($000) Key Offering/Market #3 - Sales volumes - Selling prices Total Sales ($000) Combined total sales ($000) 20XX 20XX 20XX 20XX
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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This chart was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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7.5.
7.6.
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8.1.
Overview of Technology
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8.2.
R&D Plans
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Title Description Star Finis t h Date Date Remarks Priority/ Sequence
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8.3.
R&D Resources
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Title Key Resources Internal External (man years) (man years) Projected Cost ($000)
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Years to end xxMonth: Head count - Project #1 Head count - Project #2 ........ Total head count 20XX 20XX 20XX 20XX
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Years to end xxMonth: Head count - Grade A Head count - Grade B ........ Total head count 20XX 20XX 20XX 20XX
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Payroll 20XX Cost ($000) Years to end xxMonth: ($000/per son) Payroll cost - Grade A Payroll cost - Grade B ........ Total payroll cost 20XX ($000) 20XX ($000) 20XX ($000)
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8.4.
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- Other expenses Total - Key Project #2 Key Project #3 - Internal payroll - External consultancy - Other expenses Total - Key Project #3 Total R&D payroll & expenses ($000)
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9. Operational Plans
Modify the heading above to reflect your businesss activities e.g. changes to Manufacturing Plans, Retailing Plans, Distribution Plans etc.. See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. Consider placing detailed material in an appendix and summarizing it here. To insert a new main heading which starts on a new page, use CTRL+Shift F4 for the Heading 1 style. Add sub-headings using CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 2 style and CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 3 style. Use CTRL+Shift F1 for the Body Text style.
9.1.
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9.2.
Operating Methods/Procedures
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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9.3.
Years to end xxMonth: New equity New Loans Internal Cash Flow Total Capital Expenditure
20XX ($000)
20XX ($000)
20XX ($000)
20XX ($000)
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9.4.
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Head count - Transport Head count - Supervision Head count - Management Total head count Total production (000 units/year) Output/person (Units)
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Payroll 20XX Cost ($000) Years to end xxMonth: ($000/per son) Direct production Indirect production Maintenance Utilities Quality Warehousing Transport Supervision Management Total payroll cost Total production (000 units/year) Payroll cost/Unit ($) 20XX ($000) 20XX ($000) 20XX ($000)
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name
This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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Payroll 20XX Cost ($000) Years to end xxMonth: ($000/per son) Reception Clerical Accounts IT Security Middle management Senior management Total payroll cost 20XX ($000) 20XX ($000) 20XX ($000)
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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Total payroll cost Overhead cost #1 Overhead cost #2 ................ Total overhead cost
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name
This chart was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name
This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name
This chart was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
Xxx
This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name
This chart was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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>> Click here and replace this text with your business name
This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner.
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It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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This table was "pasted in" as a picture from Exl-Plan, PlanWare's Excel-based financial planner. It is fully-integrated and linked to the projected income statements, cashflows and balance sheets. See Using Exl-Plan with Free-Plan in the Free-Plan Guide.
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12. Funding
Delete this heading and section if not relevant. See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. To insert a new main heading which starts on a new page, use CTRL+Shift F4 for the Heading 1 style. Add sub-headings using CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 2 style and CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 3 style. Use CTRL+Shift F1 for the Body Text style.
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13. Implementation
See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. Consider placing detailed material in an appendix and summarizing here. To insert a new main heading which starts on a new page, use CTRL+Shift F4 for the Heading 1 style. Add sub-headings using CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 2 style and CTRL+Shift F5 for the Heading 3 style. Use CTRL+Shift F1 for the Body Text style.
Key Task 1 ######## ####### Key Task 2 ######## ####### ######## ####### ######## ####### ####################### ################# ### ### #
Key Task 3
Key Task 4
Key Task 5
Key Task 6
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14. Conclusion
See the Free-Plan Guide for suggestions. Go back to the Summary section and only write it when you are fully satisfied with all the plans detail. Refer to the Business Plan Checklist.
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