The Business Plan 169- Specific Market: In narrowing the focus to the target market, segment, or niche in
which the firm will operate, the plan describes current and projected conditions,
leading competitors, and customers. How are purchasing decisions made, and by
whom? If a market survey has been conducted, its findings can be presented in an
appendix. What conclusions can be drawn from it? What are the best case, likely
case, and worst case sales projections for the total market segment? List the five
largest buyers. What percentage of the firm’s sales is projected to come from these
customers? What are the trends for your customers’ profits and incomes? How will
the firm continue to assess its customer base and update information? - Competitive Factors: This extremely important section describes and explains how
each factor covered in Chapter 3 affects the firm’s sales and profitability. It analyzes
the competitive nature of the firm’s industry and the industry’s attractiveness; the
power of the buyers and the suppliers; the availability of substitute products and serv-
ices; the height of entry barriers; and the nature of the current rivalry. It must demon-
strate how its resource base and strategy address these factors and evaluate the posi-
tions of the most important competitors, comparing its strengths and weaknesses to
those of the market leaders. Finally it summarizes your firm’s competitive position. - Macroenvironmental Influences: This vital section demonstrates the venture’s
knowledge and competence by evaluating the impact of the macroenvironmental
factors described in Chapter 3. It analyzes the political, economic, technological,
sociodemographic, and ecological factors that affect the firm, presenting best, most
likely, and worst case scenarios. It concludes with an assessment of the risks that
each of these factors poses for the firm’s survival and profitability.
Development and Production.This section deals with the most important elements of
research, development, and production of the basic product or service.
- Production Processes: This outline of the stages in the development and production
of the product or service include brief comments on each stage, detailing how time
and money are allocated in the production process or service delivery system. A dis-
cussion of the difficulties and risks encountered at each stage can be accompanied
by a flowchart illustrating how the core function is accomplished. The possibility of
subcontracting each stage should be evaluated and make-or-buy decisions must be
explained. What resource-based competencies provide the firm with advantages in
the production process? - Resource Requirements: This is an analysis of each resource employed in the
production process. These resources, described in Chapter 2, may be financial,
physical, human, technological, reputational, and organizational. Where in the pro-
duction process does the venture possess valuable, rare, hard-to-copy, and nonsub-
stitutable resources? What are the cost/volume economics of the production process
or service delivery system? What are the current trends in the cost of resource pro-
curement? - Quality Assurance: Quality dimensions (product, user, process, value) were
described in Chapter 1. What is the firm’s perspective on quality? How will quality
be defined and measured in the production process. Will the new venture employ
total quality management techniques and systems?^22