ChApter 9 | EDITING AND FINALIzING YOUR BUSINESS PLAN | 165
Create the Appendix
This book covers the primary business
building blocks all businesses share. Of
necessity, it leaves out any mention of
items that are specific to any one business.
Yet, in many cases, specific items are
critically important to the success or failure
of your business. Your job is to decide
which items to include in your business
plan.
For example, suppose that you are
establishing a franchise business. You
want to include all the information about
the franchise you can, including copies
of the agreements and any information
the franchisor provides you about the
operation. Or let’s say you have invented
a revolutionary new gadget. You’ll want to
include a copy of the patent, patent search,
or patent application to support your
claims.
The key to deciding what to include is
whether the information helps the reader
understand your proposal. Include proof of
statements a lender or investor would be
likely to question—for instance, horse shoeing
is a growth industry. Do not include support
for obvious statements—for example,
people like ice cream. Don’t be afraid to
edit by cutting and pasting, as long as you
don’t unfairly change the meaning.Here are several things that you should
commonly include in your appendix:
• prior years’ financial statements if you
are expanding an existing business
(profit and loss statements and balance
sheets from at least two prior years)
• copies of proposed lease agreements
• copies of bids for any needed construc-
tion work
• plans for construction work
• drawings of business signs or logos
• a list of what will be purchased for
your opening inventory
• key employees’ resumes, if available,
and
• copies of any newspaper stories or
other publicity you have received
which relates to your business. This is
particularly important for people who
are entering service businesses, where
they are their own main product.
Finally, organize your material in
a logical order and include a table of
contents for the appendix.