Shark Tank Business Plan Template

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Shark Tank Business Plan Template

A business plan consists of a narrative and financial worksheets. Work through the sections in any order that you want, except for the Executive Summary, which should be done last. Use your rough drafts of parts 1-4 to fill in the appropriate sections of the business plan. Be sure to delete the instructional sections of this template!

REMEMBER: The real value of creating a business plan is not in having the finished product in hand; rather, the value lies in the process of researching and thinking about your business in a systematic way. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research if you are not sure of the facts, and look at your ideas critically. It takes time now, but avoids costly, perhaps disastrous, mistakes later.

Have fun!

Molly Zimmer

MZ Designs

1234 Youbetchem Lane

Meridian, ID 83646

(208) 870-4227

Executive Summary

Write this section last! The executive summary may be the only thing your investor reads before making a decision about whether to pursue the investment (you want him/her to keep reading!) It should be written in paragraph form and be a minimum of 10 sentences long.

Think of this as the introductory paragraph AND conclusion of your business plan. Touch on each element of your proposed business: What will your product be? Who will your customers be? Who are the owners? What do you think the future holds for your business and your industry?

Make it enthusiastic, professional, complete, and concise.

At the end of your executive summary, state clearly how much money you are asking for, how much equity you’re willing to give up in return, how you plan to use the money andhow the money will make your business more profitable—thereby ensuring repayment. This portion(not the entire executive summary!) should look something like this:

I am asking for $1,000 in exchange for 10% equity in MZ Designs (note: this means I am valuing my company at $10,000—amount of loan divided by percentage equity—you need to know this number!). Your investment will be used to purchase 400 skeins of high-quality acrylic yarn, 15 wooden crochet hooks of various sizes, 200 buttons and 57 rolls of ribbon. This will allow me to accumulate inventory on hand, which will speed the turnaround time on customer orders. The more crocheted hats I make, the sooner you get your money back!

Company Description

Mission Statement: Many companies have a brief mission statement, usually in 30 words or fewer, explaining their reason for being and their guiding principles. If you want to draft a mission statement, this is a good place to put it in the plan.

In this section you should include:

Company Name

Problem to Be Solved

How your product will meet the need/solve the problem

Company Goals and Objectives: Goals are destinations—where you want your business to be. Objectives are progress markers along the way to goal achievement. For example, a goal might be to have a healthy, successful company that is a leader in customer service and that has a loyal customer following. Objectives might be annual sales targets and some specific measures of customer satisfaction.

Legal form of ownership: Sole proprietor, Partnership, Corporation, Limited liability corporation (LLC)? Why have you selected this form?

Product Description

Describe in-depth your products or services (drawings, photos, etc. belong in Appendices).

Competition

What products and companies will compete with you?

Will they compete with you across the board, or just for certain products, certain customers, or in certain locations?

Will you have important indirect competitors? (For example, video rental stores compete with theaters, although they are different types of businesses.)

How will your products or services compare with the competition?

Market Analysis

Market research

It is dangerous to assume that you already know about your intended market. You need to do market research to make sure you’re on track. Use the business planning process as your opportunity to uncover data and to question your marketing efforts.

Customers

Identify your target customers, their characteristics, and their geographic locations, otherwise known as their demographics.

You may have more than one customer group. Identify the most important groups.

For your “ideal” customer group, construct a Composite Character Profile:

Name
Age
Gender
Location
Income level
Social class and occupation
Education
Other (specific to your industry)
Other (specific to your industry)

Operational Plan

Explain the daily operation of the business, its location, equipment, people, processes, and surrounding environment.

Production

How and where are your products or services produced?

Location

Describe the type of location you’ll have and why you made this decision.

Inventory

What kind of inventory will you keep: raw materials, supplies, finished goods?
How many of your finished product should you have on hand?

Management Structure and Personnel

Who will manage the business on a day-to-day basis? What experience does that person bring to the business? What special or distinctive competencies?

Professional and Advisory Support

List the following:

Management
Key Decision-makers
Accountant
Consultant or consultants
Mentors and key advisor

Number of employees

Type of labor (skilled, unskilled, and professional)

Where and how will you find the right employees?

Quality of existing staff

Pay structure

Training methods and requirements

Who does which tasks?

Startup Expenses

You will have many expenses before you even begin operating your business. It’s important to estimate these expenses accurately and then to plan where you will get sufficient capital. This is a research project, and the more thorough your research efforts, the less chance that you will leave out important expenses or underestimate them.

Even with the best of research, however, opening a new business has a way of costing more than you anticipate. There are two ways to make allowances for surprise expenses. The first is to add a little “padding” to each item in the budget. The problem with that approach, however, is that it destroys the accuracy of your carefully wrought plan.

Explain your research and how you arrived at your forecasts of expenses!

Financial Plan

Your financial plan will consist of a 12-month profit and loss projection. This is where Part Three comes into play. You want to show investors a reasonable estimate of your costs and revenues. For your grade, perfection is not the goal—rather, showing your thoughtful calculations based on research is what matters here!

Research Notes: Keep careful notes on your research and assumptions, so that you can explain them later if necessary, and also so that you can go back to your sources as evidence.

Example Layout:

Cost Components (Materials, Equipment, Labor) / Fixed or Variable / Estimated Cost / Source

Include the following (OR—just copy and paste the excel spreadsheet your groups completed!):

Cost per Unit

Selling Price per Unit

Per Unit Profit

Expected Sales (first month/first year)

First Month Profit Projection

First Year Profit Projection

Appendices

Include details and studies used in your business plan; for example:

Prototype sketch and description*
Photos of prototype (if you actually created a physical prototype)
Market research: Summary of interview findings*
List of websites used for research*
Letters of support from future customers
Any other materials needed to support the assumptions in this plan

*Starred items are required—the rest are bonus!

Appendix A: Prototype

Shark Tank Business Plan Template