Title: Identify the components of a business plan.
Course: Entrepreneurship Infusion Unit > Section: Planning an Entrepreneurial Venture

Identification should include the following components of an established business plan format:

- Executive summary
- Description of the business (e.g., location, customers, form of ownership)
- Product or service
- Marketing plan
- Operation plan
- Financial plan
- Growth plan
- Appendix

Process/Skill Questions:

- Why is it necessary to develop a business plan?
- How is a business plan a working document?
- Why should opportunity recognition be the first step in identifying the new business venture product or service?
- Why is sole proprietorship the best legal structure for an individual entrepreneur to select when starting a new business?
- Why is creating a marketing and promotion plan important to the success of the new venture?
- How can the financial plan set the stage for a business's success?
- What is the role of the business plan in obtaining financing?
- Would it be to the entrepreneur's advantage to read a competitor's business plan? Explain.
- Why is it important to chart the first five years of the company’s growth and goals within the business plan?
- Why might the executive summary be more important than the body of the business plan?
- What kinds of items might be included in the appendix of a business plan?
- What research should be done prior to developing the business plan?
- How does a business model differ from a business plan?
- What role does a business model play in the development of a business plan?