How to Write a Business Plan

34 | HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN

Write a Future Trends Statement

With this discussion of taste, trends, and
technology, I have attempted to focus your
attention on the broad movements in the
economy that can affect your business
idea. Also, remember that there are similar
trends in your local community. It’s at least
as important that you pay attention to
these. For example, perhaps you live in a
farming community with no manufacturing
industries and many migrant workers. It is
unlikely that a high fashion clothing store
would do well there, but you might do
very well selling a new lighter, stronger,
cheaper work boot, or chain saw, or stump
puller.
Write down your fi rst thoughts about
what trends affect your business and where
they will be in fi ve years. Nobody expects
a perfect forecast, but most fi nancial
backers want to know that you have
thought through how your business will fi t
into the world in the next few years.

Future Trends Aff ecting

Antoinette’s Dress Shop

Th   ere    are two confl   icting  trends  aff ecting  my  

business. First, more women are entering the

workforce. However, women increasingly

must work to pay for family necessities

rather than to make money for extras. For

my business, this means that professional

working women will appreciate even more

in the years ahead the extra service and

convenience that we off er.

Second, as the baby boom matures, the

number of women in the age group that

enters the workforce is declining. Th is means

that I cannot count on an ever-expanding

population base for my business.

To accommodate these trends, I plan to

pay attention to my customers’ changing

tastes as they grow older. I also intend to

fi nd new ways to market to the smaller

number of younger women entering the

workforce.

Break-Even Analysis: Will Your Business Make Money? ................................................

Some people have a bigger problem than

others when opening a new business.

These are folks who are positively enam-

ored with their business concept and

are desperately eager to begin. They are

so smitten and eager to start, they have

no patience with the economic realities

involved in their business. If you recognize