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Introduction to the e-Business Plan Tutorial

Welcome to e-Business Planning!

Business plans, and business planning, are an essential part of doing business. As defined in your textbook, a business plan is a written document that identifies a company's goals and outlines how the company intends to achieve the goals. Just as important as the plan itself, the process of writing a business plan forces a businessperson to think ahead, to set achievable goals, to anticipate problems, and to be prepared for competition. The process, not the plan itself, increases the likelihood that the business will be a success.

Recommend that you treat this assignment as a realistic business exercise (we will help you do this, particularly in the Writing a "Read Right" Plan lesson). Just because you are a student does not mean that you should not be approaching this as a professional businessperson would. As much as possible, the finished business plan should not look, read, or act like a student assignment, but as a professionally-prepared business plan.

  • We assume you have never written a business plan before. The tutorial provides specific, step-by-step procedures to write an e-business plan with assignments within each lesson. Unlike many of the how-to-write-a-business-plan books or on-line guides (some of which are listed in our Top Ten Resources for Writing an e-Business Plan), this tutorial has been written for students with little or no background in writing a business plan and who are keen to acquire the practical skills business planning requires.
  • We assume you are writing a small or medium-sized business plan that can be completed within a semester. We mention this because researching, collaborating, and writing a comprehensive business plan for a realistic business can be a full-time effort that extends over many weeks. Your instructor will provide guidance in terms of what sections should be in your plan and the depth required in each section (e.g., a group assignment is likely to have more in-depth coverage than an individual assignment).
  • We assume you are motivated to work hard and do what it takes to complete a superior e-business plan. There is no cookbook recipe or perfect plan-writing guide. While the general standards of what should be in a business plan are well known, the specific content and presentation differs. In writing your plan, you should be guided by these lessons, instructions from your course instructor, what you read in other books or guides, and your own judgment about what is important to include and how to say it. We can offer guidance and advice, but the creative and sometimes difficult work of conceiving and writing the plan is up to you.

Navigation Guide for the e-Business Plan Tutorial
Introduction to the E-Business Plan Tutorial
--Top Ten Resources for Writing an e-Business Plan
Fundamentals of e-Business Planning
Writing a "Read Right" Plan
Executive Summary
Business Description
--Mission Statement
--Business Goals
--Project Objectives
Market Analysis
Competitor Analysis
Operations
Financial Statements
Making an Effective Business Plan Presentation
Appendix: e-Business Plan Tutorial Assignments