CVELP: Assignments: Putting The Pieces Together

• OVERVIEW
• Course Material
• Assignments
• Schedule

This is the final step in the creation of your business plan. Once you have completed and corrected the homework assignments for Chapters 1 – 5, complete the following “pieces” and then combine them with your previous homework:

COVER PAGE
Your business plan should have a cover. A plain, professional cover is preferable to a flashy one. A lender is more likely to think well of you if you remain conservative. Your cover should include these specific items:

• Name of the business
• Address
• Telephone number
• Name of owner(s)
• Logo (A professional, attractive logo can be used to dress up the cover page)
• Submitted to (If you are going to submit your plan to a financial institution)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Executive Summary is a brief one or two page snapshot that highlights the key points in your plan. It is a "stand alone" section of the plan that explains what you want and why without exaggeration. This is very important. All too often, what the business owner wants is buried in the body of the business plan. Make clear what you are asking for and be specific. Tell your story with enthusiasm demonstrating the uniqueness of your idea and the promise that it holds for success. Include the following in the Executive Summary:

• Name of the business and the legal form of operation, e.g., sole proprietorship.
• Amount of money needed
• How the money will be used
• Effect of the money on the business
• If your plan’s primary purpose is not to obtain a loan or equity funding, then the Executive Summary should be designed to explain the operation of the business. The business should be clear to the readers. You should prepare the Executive Summary after you have prepared all other materials except the Table of Contents.
• Company name and type
• Goals or objectives of the plan
• How the plan will be implemented

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Table of Contents displays the major sections of the plan, lists the key subheadings, and identifies the pages of each topic. You prepare the Table of Contents as your last step.

CONCLUSION
The conclusion is an important and sometimes the most difficult part of the business plan. This is where you can bring together the different parts. If your points make sense and leave the reader with the conclusions you want drawn, then you have done your job. The tone should be positive. The reader should have a feeling of confidence in the plan. This feeling will be enhanced if the writing is clear, direct, brief, and to the point.

ATTACHMENTS
This is the section that allows you to add important information. There are two important factors: the documents must be relevant, and, for best results, they should be thought of as a marketing tool. Here are some common attachments:

• Resume - A resume (one page) is important. Cite experience and capabilities that contribute directly to your understanding and operation of the business. Include your education, volunteer activities, or outside activities.
• Letters Of Intent - If you are going to be catering parties, manufacturing, importing or exporting goods, and have commitments from prospective clients, include their letters of intent to do business with you. Related to letters of intent are in-hand purchase orders that are forms rather than letters.
• Letters Of Recommendation - Include two or three letters of reference from people who know you. These can be business or community leaders, friends, or business associates. A reference letter should be short, saying how long the person has known you, and something about your good character.
• Special Awards, Achievements, and/or Certificates - This is the section where you will mention any special awards or achievements. For example, if you are going to open a bakery shop and have won prices for your specialty baked goods, this is where you will list your achievements.
• Newspaper And Magazine Clippings - If you or your business have favorable publicity for business, public service, or civic awards, include copies of news clippings as part of your supporting documents. Also, include news items that relate to your business.
• Additional Relevant Information Supporting Your Business - This section may include: a building lease; a franchise agreement; a purchase agreement; copies of licenses and permits; plans, specifications and cost breakdowns; a partnership agreement; an organizational chart; and/or articles of incorporation.

PAGE NUMBERS
It may be obvious to some and completely new to others, but an important step in the process of “Putting the Pieces Together” is to give your homework assignments the proper sequence of page numbers. Because of the vast majority of people completing their assignments in Microsoft Word, the following explanation will be given based on that software. If you are using different software, or still have questions, contact your instructor.

Depending on how you saved your weekly homework assignments, there are two basic ways of putting page numbers on each assignment:

• Saving all of your corrected homework assignments on one document and assigning numbers to that single document.

This is the easiest way is to assign page numbers to your homework assignments. In Microsoft Word, take the following steps:

1. On the first page of your document, click on the “View” command at the top of the screen.
2. Click on the “Header and Footer” command.
3. You’ll then see your header (top box) and footer (bottom box). Move your cursor to inside the footer.
4. Click on the “Insert Page Number” icon – It looks like a sheet of paper with a “#” inside it.
5. Page number will then automatically appear in the footer.
6. If you desire, you can now change the position, size and font of the number using standard formatting steps (font, size, bold, italic, underline, left/right/center justification, etc.).

• Saving all of your corrected homework assignments on five separate documents and assigning numbers to each document in a chronological order.

If you saved your homework as five separate documents (one for each of Chapters 1-5), and are not sure how to combine them into one document, then you need to place page numbers on each assignment starting with the next number. Starting with your first assignment, take the following steps:

1. On the first page of your document, click on the “View” command at the top of the screen.
2. Click on the “Header and Footer” command.
3. You’ll then see your header (top box) and footer (bottom box). Move your cursor to inside the footer.
4. Click on the “Insert Page Number” icon – It looks like a sheet of paper with a “#” inside it.
5. Page number will then automatically appear in the footer.
6. If you desire, you can now change the position, size and font of the number using standard formatting steps (font, size, bold, italic, underline, left/right/center justification, etc.).

This should number your first assignment starting with page 1. However, now you have to see what page number the second homework assignment should start with (if the first assignment was pages 1-4, then the second assignment should begin with page 5, and so on). Open your second assignment, repeat steps 1-5 shown above and add the following between steps 5 & 6:

1. Click on the “Format Page Number” icon - It looks like sheets of paper with a “#” on the front and the upper right corners folded down.
2. Click on the circle in front of the “start at” menu and then change the page number to the next one after the last page of the first assignment.
3. Repeat this process for the rest of your assignments.

TIPS FOR COMPLETING THIS ASSIGNMENT

• If you’re not quite sure how to start, take a look at the sample business plan located in the Appendix of the Course Materials section. You can follow the format shown in the sample plan; borrow some of the wording to get you started, or both.
• If you are going to have attachments, make sure to mention them in the text. For example, in the Management Capability section of Chapter One, you can say, “The owner’s resume is included as an attachment.”
• Put a simple divider sheet between the last part of your business plan (the conclusion) and the attachments section. Label it “Attachments” or “Additional Information” or a phrase of your choice.
• If you are still unsure on how to complete this week’s assignment, you can get help by e-mailing your coach with your specific question(s).

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I can’t seem to get my page numbers to work? Can I just type numbers on each page?
Remember what was said at the beginning of the course. This is YOUR business plan and you are free to format it any way you’d like. What you should consider at this point is, after doing all the work involved to get to this point, will typed or hand-written page numbers make your efforts look less professional?

What order should I follow when I combine this information with my homework assignments?
The following is a chart that will show you the proper order. You can also just follow the order shown in the sample business plan in the Supplement section of the Course Material.

Piece_together_homework.pdf - 5 pages