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Creative Entrepreneurship

Business Plan Structure

It takes a lot of energy and drive to start your own business. Taking steps to limit the amount of ambiguity when starting can help you clarify a direction for your business. Check out the steps below for a loose framework of the steps involved in starting a business:

  1. Executive Summary - What is your overall plan?
  2. Business Description - What is your business?
  3. Market Analysis - What is the current state of your industry? Who is your competition? Who is your target market?
  4. Marketing & Sales - What is your product or service? Why do your customers need or want it?
  5. Management - What is the management plan and structure? Limited Liability Corp? Limited Liability Partnership?
  6. Operations - What labor, facilities, equipment, and materials are required for your product or service?
  7. Finance - How will you fund the company? What are your current and future financial projections?

Industry & Market Reports

Statista

 

D&B Hoovers

Click the Research Industries box. Search by industry keyword, name or code. Select an industry, and click on it for more details. In particular, look for Market Research Reports which are available as PDFs.

Business Source Premier

Want to learn more about an industry and its markets?

Select "Industry Profiles" on the Business Source Premier home page. Clicking on an industry will give you industry profiles that can be organized and searched by industry, country, and region.

Select "Market Research Reports" to view periodic reports on the trends and influencing factors in forty key industries.