sample business plan for college

College Business Plan

When you think of a college business plan , what is often the first thing you think about? The majority may say a business idea of setting up a college or a university for local and international students. Another may see it as a school that offers business as part of their academic course. What reason may it be or what idea you may have, it is always best to have and match it with a business plan. Making a college business plan will also matter and help you in the long run. With that, here are example templates you can download to start now. 

10+ College Business Plan Examples

1. college business plan template.

• Google Docs

2. Centennial College Business Plan

Size: 586 KB

3. Professional College Business Plan

Size: 895 KB

4. College Business Plan in PDF

Size: 122 KB

5. Developed College Business Plan

6. College Leadership Business Plan

Size: 167 KB

7. National College Business Plan

Size: 181 KB

8. Secondary College Business Plan

Size: 314 KB

9. Operational College Business Plan

10. College Business Operation Plan

11. Community College Business Plan

Size: 235 KB

What Is a College Business Plan?

A college business plan is a handy tool used in order to guide the user to better success and better roads. When you think of starting up a college, or adding a business course to a college, you will also need a business plan with it. A college business plan is seen as a means of gathering steps to making it work. May it be through a simple business plan or a complex one. Regardless, the main purpose of a college business plan is to gather steps or strategies to reach the main goal.

How to Create a College Business Plan

When you plan to make a college business plan, you think carefully about the steps that go with it. The most basic thing to see in a college business plan is the summary of your business and of course the marketing strategies. But these are not enough to make your business plan. To get a good idea, here are simple steps to create your college business plan.

Step 1: Always Plan Ahead

This may sound cliché but the most important thing to remember and to get started is to plan ahead . Do some brainstorming and get to know what you want in your business. This helps by making your college business plan better and can reap a better and positive result. Part of planning ahead is to plan for a title page, a title, or a goal you want to achieve. This can sometimes come off as the most difficult part of the entire business plan.

Step 2: Create Your Executive Summary

The next will be to create your executive summary . In this section of your business plan, you will be talking about your business, the timeline of your business, and any information that will help you explain about your business. Basically the executive summary gives you the opportunity to expound on your business and the description and nature of your college business.

Step 3: Discuss Marketing Strategies

Third step to your college business plan is to discuss marketing strategies . Marketing strategies help in maintaining your business goals. If you are not sure where to begin with your marketing strategies, you can always make a marketing strategies checklist . As this also creates ways in helping you figure out how to attract customers or clients to your business. They must also be practical for your business and your management team to do, or the whole marketing plan and strategies will be pointless.

Step 4: Check on Your Business Plan

From the first three steps to creating your college business plan, you may think that everything will be enough. You must be open to checking, updating, and reviewing your college business plan. The whole point of it is to make sure you are open to the ideas of updating progress reports you are going to be getting through the business plan milestones.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a lengthy document that has a complete detail of how a business you plan to set up is recorded. The business plan is also seen as a tool or a roadmap to help you find out the best roads to setting up a successful business.

Why do you need to update your business plan?

The main purpose for updating your business plan is because every progress is important. Every single detail that may show positive or negative changes have to be reported in order to keep your business plan updated as well.

What factors are in a business plan?

The factors you need in order to complete a business plan are the most simple and basic things like:

• executive summary
• practical strategies and steps
• a practical timeline and milestones

When you think of a college business plan, you know for a fact that you will need to make the business plan in a practical manner. Your business plan must have everything that you need to make this a success. With that, download any of the examples to start your college business plan now.

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Create a study plan for final exams in high school

Develop a project timeline for a middle school science fair.

Business Plan Template for College Students

• Great for beginners
• Ready-to-use, fully customizable Subcategory
• Get started in seconds

Starting a business as a college student can be both exciting and challenging. You have big dreams and innovative ideas, but how do you turn them into a successful reality? ClickUp's Business Plan Template for College Students is here to guide you every step of the way!

With this template, you can:

• Clearly define your business goals and strategies for success
• Create a comprehensive financial plan and projections to attract investors
• Identify potential obstacles and develop contingency plans
• Effectively communicate your business ideas to stakeholders and secure funding or resources

Don't let your entrepreneurial dreams fade away. Use ClickUp's Business Plan Template for College Students to bring your vision to life and make a lasting impact in the business world. Start planning and building your future today!

Business Plan Template for College Students Benefits

Starting a business as a college student is an exciting and challenging endeavor. With a Business Plan Template for College Students, you can:

• Clearly articulate your business goals and strategies, giving potential investors and partners a comprehensive understanding of your vision
• Create a solid financial forecast that demonstrates the potential profitability of your venture, increasing your chances of securing funding or resources
• Identify potential obstacles and develop contingency plans to mitigate risks, ensuring your business is well-prepared for any challenges that may arise
• Effectively communicate your business idea to others, including professors, mentors, and potential customers, gaining valuable feedback and support for your startup.

Main Elements of College Students Business Plan Template

ClickUp's Business Plan Template for College Students provides a comprehensive framework for college students to develop and present their business ideas effectively:

• Custom Statuses: Easily track the progress of each section of your business plan with statuses such as Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do.
• Custom Fields: Use custom fields like Reference, Approved, and Section to add important details to your business plan, such as references, approval status, and specific sections.
• Custom Views: Access different views like Topics, Status, Timeline, Business Plan, and Getting Started Guide to organize your business plan information, track progress, create a timeline, and refer to a guide to get started.
• Collaboration Tools: Collaborate with team members, mentors, or advisors by assigning tasks, adding comments, and attaching files directly within the template.
• Goal Tracking: Set goals within your business plan and use ClickUp's Goals feature to track their progress and measure success.
• Document Management: Store important documents, financial projections, and market research within ClickUp's Docs feature for easy access and reference.

How To Use Business Plan Template for College Students

If you're a college student looking to start your own business, using ClickUp's Business Plan Template can help you get organized and create a solid plan for success. Just follow these six steps:

1. Define your business idea and goals

Start by clearly defining your business idea and the goals you want to achieve. What problem does your business solve? Who is your target audience? What are your short-term and long-term goals? Take the time to brainstorm and outline these key details.

Use a Doc in ClickUp to document your business idea and goals.

2. Conduct market research

Next, conduct thorough market research to understand your industry, competition, and target market. Identify trends, customer needs, and potential challenges. This research will help you refine your business idea, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to stand out in the market.

Use the Table view in ClickUp to organize and analyze your market research data.

3. Plan your products or services

Based on your market research, plan out the products or services you will offer. Determine their unique selling points, pricing strategy, and how they will meet the needs of your target market. Consider any additional features or benefits that will set you apart from competitors.

Create tasks in ClickUp to outline and organize your product or service plans.

4. Develop a marketing strategy

Now it's time to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote your business and attract customers. Identify the most effective channels to reach your target audience, such as social media, content marketing, or email campaigns. Outline your branding, messaging, and promotional tactics.

Use the Board view in ClickUp to visually plan and track your marketing initiatives.

5. Create a financial plan

A solid financial plan is crucial for any business. Determine your startup costs, revenue projections, and expenses. Create a budget that includes marketing, operations, and any other necessary expenses. Consider different funding options and outline your financial goals for the first year and beyond.

Use custom fields in ClickUp to track and analyze your financial projections.

6. Review and revise

Once you have completed your business plan using ClickUp's template, review it thoroughly and make any necessary revisions. Share it with trusted mentors, advisors, or teammates for feedback. Continuously update and refine your plan as your business evolves.

Set recurring tasks in ClickUp to regularly review and update your business plan.

Get Started with ClickUp’s Business Plan Template for College Students

College students who are starting their own businesses or pursuing entrepreneurial ventures can use the ClickUp Business Plan Template to effectively communicate their business ideas and secure funding or resources for their startups.

First, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create a comprehensive business plan:

• Use the Topics View to outline and organize different sections of your business plan, such as Executive Summary, Market Analysis, Marketing Strategy, Financial Projections, etc.
• The Status View will help you track the progress of each section, with statuses like Complete, In Progress, Needs Revision, and To Do
• The Timeline View will allow you to set deadlines and visualize the timeline for completing each section of your business plan
• The Business Plan View will provide a holistic overview of your entire business plan, allowing you to see how different sections fit together
• The Getting Started Guide View will provide step-by-step instructions and resources to help you navigate through the business planning process
• Utilize custom fields like Reference, Approved, and Section to add additional information and categorize different aspects of your business plan
• Regularly update and revise your business plan as you progress, ensuring that it reflects the most accurate and up-to-date information.
• Business Plan Template for Lululemon
• Business Plan Template for Hotel Industry
• Business Plan Template for Packaging Manufacturers
• Business Plan Template for Sales Teams
• Business Plan Template for Photography Business

Template details

Free forever with 100mb storage.

Free training & 24-hours support

Serious about security & privacy

Highest levels of uptime the last 12 months

• Product Roadmap
• Affiliate & Referrals
• On-Demand Demo
• Integrations
• Consultants
• Gantt Chart
• Native Time Tracking
• Automations
• Kanban Board
• vs Airtable
• vs Basecamp
• vs MS Project
• vs Smartsheet
• Software Team Hub
• PM Software Guide

Business Plan Research

Business plans, lean canvas.

• Background Information
• News & Ideas
• Local Market Research
• Industry Research
• Management & Structure
• Copyright & Patents
• Resource List
• PCC Small Business Center
• Library Help & Contacts
• Bplans: Free Sample Business Plans Lists of sample business plans.
• Small Business - Business Plans Article from "The Balance" that talks about what you need to know to write a business plan. Links to templates are included.
• Small Business Association: Write Your Business Plan Provides guidance on writing and templates to get you started.
• SBA Course: How to Write a Business Plan This course explains the importance of business planning, defines and describes the components of a business plan, and provides access to sample plans and resources that can help you develop a business plan.

Search for More E-books

• Lean Canvas (Lean Stack) Lean Canvas is a 1-page business plan template created by Ash Maurya. It replaces elaborate business plans with a single page business model.
• How to Create a Lean Canvas (Xtensio) Provides templates and examples.
• Lean Canvas Template (Conceptboard) Provides information about what should be included in each section of your lean canvas.
• << Previous: Home
• Next: Background Information >>
• Last Updated: Feb 12, 2024 2:49 PM
• URL: https://libguides.pittcc.edu/bizplan

Upmetrics AI Assistant: Simplifying Business Planning through AI-Powered Insights. Learn How

Entrepreneurs & Small Business

Accelerators & Incubators

Business Consultants & Advisors

Educators & Business Schools

Students & Scholars

AI Business Plan Generator

Financial Forecasting

AI Assistance

Ai Pitch Deck Generator

Strategic Planning

See How Upmetrics Works  →

• Sample Plans
• WHY UPMETRICS?

Customer Success Stories

Business Plan Course

Small Business Tools

Strategic Planning Templates

E-books, Guides & More

Business Plan Examples for Students

Ajay Jagtap

• December 29, 2023

26 Min Read

Do you know what’s the most common mistake students and rookie entrepreneurs make while preparing their first business plan?

Of course, it’s the first business plan we’re talking about; there’ll definitely be a few. However, overcomplicating things and failing to consider a business plan example still remains the most common one.

That’s why we decided to come up with a solution. We’ve curated this list of top business plan examples for students to help you get going.

So whether you need a business plan for a college project, start a side hustle, or win a business competition, these examples are just what you need to create business plans that stand out.

Ready to dive in? Let’s start by understanding the key elements of a business plan example:

Key Elements of a Business Plan Example

Business planning is not as complicated of a process as people think it is; they’re just overcomplicating things. (Don’t think so?)

Let’s simplify the key elements that make up a comprehensive business plan; you’ll understand it better that way.

Executive Summary:

Company overview:, market analysis:, products and services:, sales and marketing strategies:, operations plan:, management team:, financial plan:.

That’s pretty much it about the key elements of a business plan example. Next, let’s explore the best business plan examples for students.

Say goodbye to boring templates

Build your business plan faster and easier with AI assistant

Get 30% off for Students and educators

Top Business Plan Examples for Students

Now that you already know about the components of a business plan template, let’s review some of the best business plan examples for students.

1. Startup Business Plan Example

Upmetrics’ startup business plan example is the ideal solution for students planning to start up or participate in a business plan competition. This business plan template follows the SBA-approved business planning format used by thousands of successful entrepreneurs.

Whether your startup is about a new-age AI-based application, an online shopping site, or traditional IT consulting—this sample business plan is just what you need.

Unlike any traditional small business plan, this example of a startup business plan is lean and agile in approach, focuses on innovation, and emphasizes market validation.

2. Lean Business Plan Example

Since you’re transitioning from a student to an entrepreneur, you may not have enough time to spend on creating a detailed business plan. That’s where this lean business plan template can help.

It’s a condensed version of a traditional plan summarizing all its sections with a primary focus on covering only the critical aspects of the business.

This template is best for startups or businesses uncertain about business planning and student-turned-entrepreneurs with limited time and resources to prepare a business plan.

3. SBA Business Plan Example

Following an SBA-recommended business plan format is key to securing bank loans and business grants. Since it can be time-consuming to find a template that follows a similar outline as the SBA, this SBA-approved business plan example is the way to get started.

This SBA business plan template has nine primary sections, that include executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization, product description, marketing, funding request, and financial projections.

SBA business plan examples ensure you stay on track and don’t deviate from your funding needs.

4. One-Page Business Plan Example

As you may have already guessed, a one-page business plan is a one-page version of a traditional business plan. Since it’s a condensed version of a business plan, drafting it can be quite easy and quick compared to a lean or traditional plan.

Employees, partners, and vendors often use one-page business plans as a quick overview of your company and banks and investors as a summary of your operations.

While it may not be the ideal choice for entrepreneurs seeking investment or bank loans, students with side hustles and idea-stage startups can consider this option.

5. HBS Sample Business Plan

Harvard Business School’s new venture competition selected this sample business plan as a finalist in 2011.

This is a business plan of App Success, a collaborative web-based platform that connects low-income high school seniors with college students from top universities; this business will enable them to collaborate on college selection, college applications, and financial aid applications.

This example can be a great reference for those planning to start a mobile or web-based solution.

6. Kean University Sample Business Plan

Kean University organizes a business plan competition every year for its students where students prepare and present business plans to compete, and this is one of the sample business plans the University provides to participants to understand the format.

It’s a business plan of Blue Water Boatworks, Inc., a boat detailing and cleaning company specializing in servicing recreational fiberglass and aluminum watercraft.

This example can be a great reference for those planning to start a business related to housekeeping, cleaning, or maintenance.

7. UVM Sample Business Plan

If you are looking for a strategic business plan for a food business, the University of Vermont’s Fancy Foods Business Plan can be a guiding resource for you.

Despite the fact that it can be a good reference for detailed planning, it was written in 1998, so any statistics and numbers may not seem relevant to today’s market landscape. Make sure you keep that in mind.

You may closely follow this example as a reference if planning to start a food truck, restaurant, or any other business that serves food.

That was the list of best sample business plans for students. However, there’s more to talk about. You now have a business plan example, but what about pitching to investors? Let’s explore free pitch deck examples for students.

Free Pitch Deck Example for Students

Pitching to investors as a first-time founder can be exciting but also overwhelming at times. Worry not; we’ve got a solution—investor pitch templates. We’ve prepared a set of 8 investor pitch templates and examples for students and entrepreneurs to help create winning business pitches.

Whether you need a pitch to find an opportunity, ask for subject matter knowledge, or a problem-solving pitch, these investor pitch examples have got you covered. Download now.

How to write a winning plan for a business plan competition?

Creating a business plan is no different than creating one for a real business. Similar to how entrepreneurs prepare and present business plans to investors, Students in business plan competitions pitch to judges.

In short, the business planning process remains exactly the same. Let’s discuss how you can write a winning plan to help you win a business plan competition.

• Select a compelling business idea : everything starts with a compelling idea. Make sure you have a viable business idea to compete in the competition.
• Refer to winning business plan examples : Once you are sure about your business concept, refer to business plan examples from previous winners and how they planned the sections of their plan.
• Market Research & Industry Analysis : After referring to business plan examples, conduct industry research and market analysis to make your statistical and financial numbers accurate and realistic.
• Understand business model and revenue streams : Since you are preparing a business plan for a company that doesn’t exist, be sure about the business model and how the business will generate profit.
• Use AI business plan generator : Using an AI business plan generator like Upmetrics can be incredibly helpful in speeding up the business planning process. With industry-specific business plan templates and AI assistance to write your plan, you can write the first draft of your plan in literally no time.
• Presentation and visuals : Prepare visuals and graphs to make your business plan visually appealing and numbers digestible. You may not need to prepare these visuals if you use business plan software manually.
• Proofread and edit : Grammatical errors are the last thing judges want to see in a business plan. Make sure you proofread and edit your draft thoroughly before submitting it.

Easy as that, that’s the way to write a perfect business plan that can lead you to victory in any business plan competition on planet Earth. Let’s have a look at a real-life business and financial plan example.

Business and Financial Plan Example for Students

Having learned about business planning for students, let’s quickly discuss a coffee shop sample business plan and financial statements prepared using Upmetrics.

1. Executive Summary

The Cooper’s Cup will be a new cafe in Phoenix, Arizona. The 1,500 square foot café will be located in the newly constructed Market Square Plaza on the northeast corner of 135th Street and Mission Street. The anchor tenant, the Price Chopper grocery store, has already taken occupancy, and the excellent location brings more than 10,000 shoppers weekly.

The Cooper’s Cup, aptly named for the aromatic brown liquid that will fill the cup, fills the void of original cafes in the market and stands out from its corporate peers with its fast food concepts and prompt services. The Cooper’s Cup is the alternative to fast food/commercial/coffee shops and offers a much calmer, civilized gourmet coffee experience.

There are no televisions in the cafe, the background music is subtle, and work from local artists will hang on the walls. The restaurant is well-appointed, with overstuffed leather chairs and sofas in a library-like setting. The cafe is reminiscent of times gone by – yet is cutting edge technologically with WIFI and state-of-the-art espresso machines.

The Cooper’s Cup measures its financial success in terms of increased market share and earnings. This is a tremendous opportunity with a total local market of $54 million! The keys to success will be offering quality gourmet coffees, taking advantage of its small size, and relying on an outstanding barista staff.

To achieve these goals, the cafe will present some of the area’s finest gourmet beans from local distributors. Because of its small size, the restaurant can enjoy larger margins through lower overhead. The cafe will hand-select baristas and offer salaries comparable to the chains. The baristas will be trained to cross-sell and sell higher-margin products.

The primary objectives of the business plan for Cooper’s Cup are below:

• To increase revenues by $36,000 or 5% in Year 2 and $73,000 or 10% by Year 3
• Achieve a profit margin of 5.2% in Year 2 and 6.90% by Year 3
• Be the Cafe of Choice in the Phoenix area and the recipient of the Best Coffeehouse Award.

Guiding Principles

The Cooper’s Cup is committed to values such as excellence, passion, quality, integrity, and leadership, allowing them to navigate challenges and provide for future opportunities. These core beliefs start with their commitment to their products and their employees. Cooper’s Cup rewards excellence and cherishes loyalty. The cafe will work with its employees to build strong businesses and a secure future.

Mission statement

The Cooper’s Cup is committed to its products and employees, which they believe is the recipe for market success.

Key to success

The Cooper’s Cup stands out from the competition. Below are their Keys to Success:

• Great Products : providing exemplary products at market prices – will make customers want to return again and again.
• Hire Quality Baristas : Pay employees rates similar to the larger chains with opportunities for long-term careers and opportunities for advancement with long-term plans to open a second facility.
• Convert Customers to Connoisseurs : Only 40% of the nation’s coffee drinkers consume premium ground and whole bean coffee – this will aid in the continued growth.

Financial Summary

2. Business Overview

The Cooper’s Cup will be a coffee house/cafe located in Phoenix, Arizona. The cozy cafe will be located in the newly completed Market Square Plaza in the Arizona City area. The cafe will serve gourmet coffee, espresso, drip coffee, lattes, and smoothies. The simple pastry offerings may vary with seasonality, but the primary line will be muffins, bread, cookies, scones, and rolls. All pastries will be supplied daily by a local bakery.

The cafe will be owned and operated by Owen Jones, a veteran restaurateur with several years of experience running and managing chain restaurants. The cafe will be open for business Monday – Thursday 7-10, Fridays and Saturdays, 7-11, and closed Sundays.

The Cooper’s Cup will be formed as an S-Corporation owned by Mr. Doe.

Start-Up Summary

The Cooper’s Cup will have seating for 40 patrons. The rent is $2,075 a month, with a three-five-year lease available. The site comprises 1500 square feet of leased space consisting of a dining room, a coffee bar, two restrooms, and a storage room in the back.

This storefront needs to be plumbed and wired appropriately to be used as a restaurant. Painting, new floors, and countertops are also needed. A custom coffee bar needs to be built. With materials bought on sale and volunteer labor, the cost to renovate will be $71,725.

The coffeehouse equipment will consist of two commercial espresso machines, air pots and urns, a commercial blender, a commercial brewer, top-loading coffee bins, barista syrups, cold drink dispenser, frothing equipment, a commercial refrigerator, microwave, and stainless steel prep bar.

The cost of the equipment is $38,275. The furniture will consist of leather couches and chairs (purchased at auction), coffee tables, bookcases, and window treatments. The artwork will come from local artists and be sold on a consignment basis. The books were secured via donations. The total cost to furnish is $14,000. Other startup expenses will be dishes, furniture, rent deposit, and marketing.

Location and Facilities

The new coffeehouse is located in the highly desirable Phoenix, Arizona, area at the northeastern intersection of 135th Street and Mission Street in the Newmarket Square Plaza. The property is situated in an excellent location, with an easy 6-minute drive time to I-435 and 69 Highway. 

The property is 95% leased with Price Chopper as the Anchor Tenant. Other tenants include LifeSpring Med Spa, Jane’s Canines (Pet Store & Boarding), Pride Cleaners Kahn Dental, and Swim U. 

Price Chopper brings more than 10,000 shoppers per week to the center. The location comprises a population of 9,420 within a one-mile radius, 61,102 within a 2-mile radius, and 149,550 within a 5-mile radius – with a median household income of $120,856. Sprint / Nextel’s corporate office is within 2 miles of the site.

3. Market Analysis

Phoenix, Arizona, is an award-winning place to live and work and is considered the leading business community in the Midwest. National publications and organizations recognize Phoenix for its business environment and livability. Here’s a sampling: 6th Place, America’s Best Places to Live Money, Top 50 Cities to Live and Play, National Geographic Adventure, 3rd Hottest Town in the U.S., Money, Among 20 Best Places to Live & Work Employment Review, One of only 72 Sterling Tree Cities in the U.S., National Arbor Day Foundation, Top 10 best Locations to Raise a Family, Southern Business and Development, 1st Place, Kid Friendly Report Card, Population Connection, 2nd Best City in America to Live Business Development Outlook.

Phoenix is at the core of one of the most dynamic local markets in the U.S. It offers easy access to the Arizona City region’s amenities, and, as part of the Arizona City metropolitan area, it is within the most centrally located major market in the nation. I-35, I-435, I-635, and U.S. Highway 69 all pass through Phoenix, and no point in the city is more than 3.5 miles from a freeway. The city maintains an excellent arterial street network and plans to construct additional lane-miles as the area grows. Three airports serve the region. Arizona City International Airport (MCI) is just 25 interstate highway miles north of Phoenix. Johnson County Executive Airport—the second busiest in Arizona—provides complete services for private business jets and general aviation. New Century AirCenter, just 12 miles southwest of the city, offers available aviation services and accommodates cargo or passenger jets of any size.

Phoenix supplies some of the most highly educated workers in the nation, with 97% of Phoenix adults over age 25 holding at least a high school diploma. Johnson County, where Phoenix is located, ranks first among the country’s 231 counties with populations greater than 250,000. The county ranks sixth in the percentage of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree and 16th with a graduate or professional degree.

The Phoenix area has a population of 175,265, based on the 2010 census. The median household income is $77,881, and the median age is 37.9. (2010 U.S. Census)

Industry Analysis

The U.S. coffee shop industry includes about 20,000 stores with a combined annual revenue of about $10 billion. Major companies include Caribou Coffee, International Coffee & Tea (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), Peet’s Coffee, and Starbucks. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies generate more than 70 percent of sales. Coffee shops are part of the specialty eatery industry, including retail outlets specializing in bagels, donuts, frozen yogurt, and ice cream products. (First Research)

Competitive Landscape

Consumer taste and personal income drive demand. The profitability of individual companies depends on the ability to secure prime locations, drive store traffic, and deliver high-quality products. Large companies have advantages in purchasing, finance, and marketing. Small companies can compete effectively by offering specialized products, serving a local market, or providing superior customer service. Specialty eateries, which include coffee shops, are labor-intensive: average annual revenue per worker is about $50,000. Coffee shops compete with convenience stores, gas stations, quick service, fast food restaurants, gourmet food shops, and donut shops. (First Research)

Market Size

The U.S. coffee shop industry includes about 20,000 stores with a combined annual revenue of about $10 billion. Major companies include Caribou Coffee, International Coffee & Tea (The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), Pet’s Coffee, and Starbucks. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies generate more than 70 percent of sales. (First Research)

Target Market and Segment Strategy

Most adult coffee drinkers said their lifelong habits began during their teenage years. 54% said they began drinking coffee between 13 and 19. Another 22% reported their coffee cravings started between 20 and 24. This means that 76% of adult coffee drinkers began drinking coffee by the time they were 24. So, despite a large amount of marketing and advertising directed at the younger age groups, savvy coffee shop owners will remember to cater some of their offerings to the adult and senior market. (National Coffee Drinking Study).

The Cooper’s Cup will offer a unique experience for coffee enthusiasts by providing a quiet, cozy, yet sophisticated cafe and a sense of refinement and peace in an otherwise hectic and fast-paced world. While other coffee shops cater to convenience with drive-throughs or loud music venues late into the night, the Cooper’s Cup will stand apart from its competitors with its quiet yet soothing ambiance, capturing a truly unique (and much-needed) market niche.

• Unique products (specialized roasts, local ingredients, locally-themed or named drinks, custom drinks by the star barista, etc.)
• Games, puzzles, mind benders, and other activities that encourage customers to linger over their coffee
• Hosting or sponsoring local events (entertainment, readings, book clubs, etc.)
• Using technology to creatively compete in marketing with big chains — services like FourSquare, Yelp, and Google Places can increase visibility in the local market.
• Delivering amazing service from knowledgeable baristas — spend lots of time training staff and utilizing online services like the American Coffee & Barista School.
• Selling coffee-related items (and tracking down any co-marketing opportunities with a local community college or another student-related group in the area)

4. Products and Services

Product/services descriptions.

The Cooper’s Cup’s primary offering is gourmet roasted coffees with mocha, carmelicious, white mocha, candy bar latte, and brewed coffee. Complementing the coffee will be a smoothie line including wild berry, strawberry, peach, mango, and lemonade. Rounding out the simple menu line will be pastries obtained from an outside supplier, freshly made and delivered daily. The pastry offerings may vary with seasonality, but the primary line will be muffins, bread, cookies, scones, and rolls.

Product/Service Sourcing

The Cooper’s Cup has negotiated supplier agreements with several local food-service wholesalers and coffee wholesalers in the Phoenix area that have a reputation for quality and reliability:

• Mean Beans Coffee Roasters
• Phoenix Brewers
• Healthy Harvest Bread Co.
• Mary’s Organics

If one of the abovementioned specialty suppliers cannot meet their needs, the following national suppliers can provide all the food-service products they require. In addition, the following wholesalers will supply the cafe with general restaurant supplies:

• Lawrence Food Products Corp.
• Gerry Food Supply Inc.

Future Products/Services

Young families, which comprise Phoenix’s third largest market share, are often overlooked in the coffee market. Coffeehouses traditionally have not been considered ‘kid’ friendly. To overcome this hurdle, Cooper’s Cup has long-term plans (5 years) to open a 2nd coffee shop: A combination indoor play area/coffee bar. This concept allows parents and caregivers to meet and relax with other adults while the children can enjoy the indoor playground amenities.

Additional future services will include in-store sales for home purchases and an online store.

The website will have the option to purchase a prepaid gift card program – Prepaid gift cards provide immediate cash, reduce credit card transaction charges, and draw new customers to the business.

5. Sales and Marketing Strategies

Swot analysis.

Unique Selling Proposition

The Cooper’s Cup stands out from a crowded sea of coffee chains and franchises. What sets it apart from the competition is primarily its smaller, cozier size combined with premium coffees served by knowledgeable baristas, providing so much energy and enthusiasm for its products.

Market Strategy and Positioning

The Cooper’s Cup utilizes a focus strategy on its Market. By specifically targeting three primary segments, they can cater specifically to their needs.

Senior Market (age 45+)

The Cooper’s Cup will target this Market simply by its well-selected location. Although this demographic group could readily drive downtown, they prefer a local cafe to unwind and relax and historically become some of the most loyal patrons.

Newly Hired Employees

The cafe will attract regular customers (weekly or more) – particularly the newly employed (first job) by providing free WIFI services and providing interesting games in the customer area.

Young Families

The third targeted Market, younger families, often find that coffeehouse is not ‘kid’ friendly. The company has long-term plans to create a combination coffee shop/play area so that parents and caregivers can meet with other adults while the children can enjoy the bounce houses, slides, and indoor playground equipment.

Pricing Strategy

The Cooper’s Cup primarily utilizes competition-based pricing. The cafe does not utilize coupons and discounts (other than opening promotions) because they believe that the most valuable customer demographic of daily coffee consumers is not influenced by discount programs or coupons.

Promotion and Advertising Strategy

• Online Advertising – The Cooper’s Cup will advertise regularly on popular social media sites like Facebook. Compared to traditional print advertising, this is a cost-effective tactic that will allow them to reach prospects in a highly targeted way (e.g., based on criteria such as age, gender, geography, etc.).
• Website – Cooper’s Cup will develop a simple Web site, which will provide basic information about the business, the menu, and links to their presence on the aforementioned social media channels.
• Radio Advertising – During the first six months of operation and the busy holiday shopping season, the business will advertise on local radio stations.

Sales Strategy

The Cooper’s Cup will use the following methods to increase sales revenue (as recommended by Andrew Hetzel on Better Coffee, Better Business):

• The menu will focus on the most profitable products sold. The cafe will always draw customer attention to the best products.
• As warranted, the cafe will raise prices to bolster its brand image. Prices communicate the perceived value of a product, so if set too low, the customers might assume that the beverages are inferior compared to the competition.
• Monitor flavoring inventory – Excess flavoring inventory ties up capital and valuable backroom space for storage. The cafe will utilize 4-6 varieties, including sugar-free offerings.
• Control waste and theft – audit sales and inventory reports to evaluate ingredient waste due to inefficient preparation, returned drinks, and employee consumption. Retail locations can easily waste 20% or more of their daily sales in these three key categories, which is a substantial and unnecessary loss.
• Monitor and evaluate hours of operation.
• Run employee sales contests – The baristas are the salespeople and have great influence over the customer ordering process. All baristas will have some form of sales and customer service training to make each transaction active rather than passive. Sales contests will emphasize high-margin items or cross-selling.

6. Operations Plan

Staffing and training.

An ongoing training and education program will ensure that each staff member learns and implements Cooper’s Cup’s exacting service and operational procedures standards. Staff meetings will reinforce service standards and principles. The Cafe will have detailed work descriptions and training programs for each position, from entry-level employees to the ongoing development of managers and owners. New employees will undergo an extensive training program. This ensures that each guest receives a quality experience from all employees, regardless of how long they have been employed. The Cafe embraces the concept of promoting from within. Excellence in one function typically leads to excellence in another. Regular staff evaluations and training will ensure motivation and address critical issues.

Inventory controls

The founder will be responsible for hiring and training managers who, in turn, will ensure that the day-to-day operations will comply with the standards set by Restaurant policy. Weekly management meetings will provide a forum to review and discuss financial and operational performance. Critical decisions related to purchasing, human resources, marketing, capital expenditures, and customer service will also be addressed.

Purchasing cost controls

Food preparation personnel will follow standardized recipes developed by the founders to control food costs and ensure consistency. The coffee shop will offer an innovative menu with nutritious food and beverages while achieving the most significant margin yield.

Customer Service

The hospitality business recognizes the client’s support experience is the critical driver to replicate business. The direction will Offer a superior degree of Professionalism by hiring individuals who deliver the ideal attitude to work and teaching them the skills required to accommodate guests. The restaurant will keep high levels of consumer satisfaction with talented, educated, and well-trained workers who understand and implement the fundamentals of fantastic service. Ongoing training will be provided to enable staff to perform their jobs with confidence and ability. Employees are well-spoken, well-versed, and trained to provide friendly, prompt, and professional service to each customer. This practice teaches employees who, by producing an exceptional customer experience, can optimize sales and raise their reimbursement. The team will have the knowledge and service required to create excellent daily service for every customer.

Technology & Software

While the quality of the cuisine and dining experience contributes significantly to a restaurant’s profitability, attention to business and financial details can transform small changes into significant returns. Critical sales, cost of sales, labor, inventory, marketing, and overhead metrics are monitored daily. Trends are evaluated, and constructive actions will be taken where improvement is needed. The management team will have access to the restaurant’s transactions and reports available in its real-time POS (point of sale) and accounting systems. Trends will be evaluated, and corrective action will be implemented as required.

7. Organization Structure

The Cooper’s Cup is formed as an S-Corporation wholly owned by John Doe.

Management Team

The Cooper’s Cup will be owned 100% by John Doe. Mr. Doe, a graduate of Arizona State University, has an undergraduate degree in business administration. During high school, he worked as a waiter in a local hospital coffee shop that purchased its beans from a local roaster. In addition to being an avid coffee drinker, this job allowed him to learn about the business first-hand. In college, Doe worked in a campus coffeehouse for four years, eventually becoming an assistant manager. Following graduation, Doe secured a business development position for a regional restaurant chain, which provided additional first-hand exposure to the food and beverage industry—especially the steps involved in establishing new locations.

Management Team Gaps

The Cooper’s Cup will rely on its POS (Point of Sale) system to generate daily accounting and cost activity reports. Mr. Doe will supply these to an outside bookkeeper for the preparation of annual income taxes.

Personnel Plan

Initially, the cafe will hire 1 manager, 5 baristas, and 2 part-time servers. In Year 2, the cafe plans to hire 1 additional full-time barista.

8. Financial Plan

Important assumptions.

• The sales forecast is conservative and assumes a 5% increase in Year 2 and a 10% in Year 3.
• The analysis accounts for economic seasonality – wherein some month’s revenues peak (such as holidays ) and wane in slower months.
• The analysis assumes the owner will not withdraw any salary till the 3rd year; at any time it is assumed that the owner’s withdrawal is available at his discretion.
• Sales are cash basis – nonaccrual accounting
• Moderate ramp-up in staff over the 5 years forecast
• Barista’s salary in the forecast is $36,000 in 2023.
• In general, most cafes have an 85% gross profit margin
• In general, most cafes have a 3% net profit margin

Projected Balance Sheet

Projected Cash-Flow Statement

Projected Profit & Loss Statement

Break Even Analysis

Write Your Business Plan With Upmetrics

Whether you need a business plan to compete in a competition, win investors, or gain a competitive advantage in the market landscape, Upmetrics can help you get started.

Upmetrics is an AI business plan software that comes with AI assistance, financial forecasting features, and 400+ sample business plans so that you can prepare a business plan in no time.

So what are you waiting for? Try Upmetrics and create your business plan in a snap.

Make your plan in half the time & twice the impact with Upmetrics

Fill-in-the-blanks, AI-assistance, and automatic financials make it easy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write a business plan for a college project.

As mentioned earlier in the article, business planning for a college project or competition is no different than for a real business. You can write your business plan using these step-by-step instructions.

• Select a compelling business idea
• Refer to business plan examples
• Prepare a business plan outline
• Create a company description section
• Conduct market research and industry analysis
• Describe your product and services
• Outline sales and marketing strategies
• Create an operations plan
• Introduce management team
• Prepare financial projections
• Summarize your plan with an executive summary

What is a business plan for students?

A business plan is a necessary business document that highlights its purpose,  business goals, product/service offerings, go-to marketing strategies, operations and financial plan, key people involved in the business operations, and other necessary details.

As a student, consider a business plan example as a document that helps you better understand business and industry dynamics and learn how a business operates inside out.

What is a business plan competition for students?

Business plan competitions are competitions mostly organized by universities for students passionate about entrepreneurship and the business world. These competitions offer students a platform to showcase their entrepreneurial skills while also providing opportunities for mentorship and networking.

How can I increase my chances of winning a business plan competition?

There cannot be a straightforward answer to this question, but there’s surely a method that can increase your chances of winning a competition—Using AI-powered business plan software.

Why? An AI tool will make you 10X more productive while writing a business plan and preparing financial forecasts. So you can spend more time researching the market and brainstorming business ideas.

Where can I find more business plan examples for students?

Upmetrics’ library of 400+ business plan examples could be an incredible source for students to find more industry-specific business plan examples. There are examples for almost every small business category, including real estate, retail, entertainment and media, food & beverages, and more.

About the Author

Ajay is a SaaS writer and personal finance blogger who has been active in the space for over three years, writing about startups, business planning, budgeting, credit cards, and other topics related to personal finance. If not writing, he’s probably having a power nap. Read more

Reach Your Goals with Accurate Planning

No Risk – Cancel at Any Time – 15 Day Money Back Guarantee

Popular Templates

Ready to kickstart your business planning.

– Don’t Miss It

24 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration

Published: February 06, 2024

I believe that reading sample business plans is essential when writing your own.

hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, 'e9d2eacb-6b01-423a-bf7a-19d42ba77eaa', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"});

As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, it’s easier for you to learn how to write a good one.

But what does a good business plan look like? And how do you write one that’s both viable and convincing. I’ll walk you through the ideal business plan format along with some examples to help you get started.

Table of Contents

Business Plan Format

Business plan types, sample business plan templates, top business plan examples.

Ask any successful sports coach how they win so many games, and they’ll tell you they have a unique plan for every single game. To me, the same logic applies to business.

If you want to build a thriving company that can pull ahead of the competition, you need to prepare for battle before breaking into a market.

Business plans guide you along the rocky journey of growing a company. And if your business plan is compelling enough, it can also convince investors to give you funding.

With so much at stake, I’m sure you’re wondering where to begin.

Free Business Plan Template

The essential document for starting a business -- custom built for your needs.

• Outline your idea.
• Pitch to investors.
• Secure funding.
• Get to work!

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Fill out the form to get your free template.

First, you’ll want to nail down your formatting. Most business plans include the following sections.

1. Executive Summary

I’d say the executive summary is the most important section of the entire business plan. 

Why? Essentially, it's the overview or introduction, written in a way to grab readers' attention and guide them through the rest of the business plan. This is important, because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.

There are two main elements I’d recommend including in your executive summary:

Company Description

This is the perfect space to highlight your company’s mission statement and goals, a brief overview of your history and leadership, and your top accomplishments as a business.

Tell potential investors who you are and why what you do matters. Naturally, they’re going to want to know who they’re getting into business with up front, and this is a great opportunity to showcase your impact.

Need some extra help firming up those business goals? Check out HubSpot Academy’s free course to help you set goals that matter — I’d highly recommend it

Products and Services

To piggyback off of the company description, be sure to incorporate an overview of your offerings. This doesn’t have to be extensive — just another chance to introduce your industry and overall purpose as a business.

In addition to the items above, I recommend including some information about your financial projections and competitive advantage here too.:

Keep in mind you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. So, keep the executive summary clear and brief, and only include the most important takeaways.

Executive Summary Business Plan Examples

This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template:

This executive summary is so good to me because it tells potential investors a short story while still covering all of the most important details.

Image Source

Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary

• Start with a strong introduction of your company, showcase your mission and impact, and outline the products and services you provide.
• Clearly define a problem, and explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
• Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
• Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
• Customize your summary to your audience. For example, emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists.

Check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary for more guidance.

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market.

The main question I’d ask myself here is this: Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will my product fill that gap?

More specifically, here’s what I’d include in this section:

• The size of the market
• Current or potential market share
• Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
• Where the gap is
• What caused the gap
• How you intend to fill it

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, and SOM analysis and perform market research on your industry.

You may also benefit from creating a SWOT analysis to get some of the insights for this section.

Market Opportunity Business Plan Example

I like this example because it uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.

Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section

• Focus on demand and potential for growth.
• Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
• Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
• Refer to reliable sources.
• Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.

3. Competitive Landscape

Since we’re already speaking of market share, you'll also need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are.

After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you'll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another.

My favorite part of performing a competitive analysis is that it can help you uncover:

• Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing
• Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle
• Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points
• The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers

Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example

I like how the competitive landscape section of this business plan below shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are.

It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location, which shows useful experience in this specific industry. 

This can help build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.

Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape

• Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
• Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
• Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
• Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
• Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
• Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.

4. Target Audience

Use this section to describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience?

If your immediate answer is "everyone," you'll need to dig deeper. Here are some questions I’d ask myself here:

• What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
• What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
• Why are your offerings valuable to them?

I’d also recommend building a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear on why you're targeting them.

Target Audience Business Plan Example

I like the example below because it uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.

Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section

• Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
• Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience , then show why your product is a useful solution.
• Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
• Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
• Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
• Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you'll discuss how you'll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. I’d suggest including information:

• Your brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it
• The goal targets you aim to achieve
• The metrics you'll use to measure success
• The channels and distribution tactics you'll use

I think it’s helpful to have a marketing plan built out in advance to make this part of your business plan easier.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler.

In my opinion, it really works because it offers a comprehensive picture of how they plan to use digital marketing to promote the community.

Tips for Writing Your Marketing Strategy

• Include a section about how you believe your brand vision will appeal to customers.
• Add the budget and resources you'll need to put your plan in place.
• Outline strategies for specific marketing segments.
• Connect strategies to earlier sections like target audience and competitive analysis.
• Review how your marketing strategy will scale with the growth of your business.
• Cover a range of channels and tactics to highlight your ability to adapt your plan in the face of change.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you'll need to review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services.

Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you're positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use. It can even help them gain better insight into your business model.

Key Features and Benefits Business Plan Example

In my opinion, the example below does a great job outlining products and services for this business, along with why these qualities will attract the audience.

Tips for Writing Your Key Features and Benefits

• Emphasize why and how your product or service offers value to customers.
• Use metrics and testimonials to support the ideas in this section.
• Talk about how your products and services have the potential to scale.
• Think about including a product roadmap.
• Focus on customer needs, and how the features and benefits you are sharing meet those needs.
• Offer proof of concept for your ideas, like case studies or pilot program feedback.
• Proofread this section carefully, and remove any jargon or complex language.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. 

For this reason, here’s what I’d might outline in this section:

• The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service
• Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's
• (If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more
• (If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost
• When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

Pricing and Revenue Business Plan Example

I like how this business plan example begins with an overview of the business revenue model, then shows proposed pricing for key products.

Tips for Writing Your Pricing and Revenue Section

• Get specific about your pricing strategy. Specifically, how you connect that strategy to customer needs and product value.
• If you are asking a premium price, share unique features or innovations that justify that price point.
• Show how you plan to communicate pricing to customers.
• Create an overview of every revenue stream for your business and how each stream adds to your business model as a whole.
• Share plans to develop new revenue streams in the future.
• Show how and whether pricing will vary by customer segment and how pricing aligns with marketing strategies.
• Restate your value proposition and explain how it aligns with your revenue model.

8. Financials

To me, this section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to figure out funding strategies, investment opportunities, and more.

 According to Forbes , you'll want to include three main things:

• Profit/Loss Statement - This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
• Cash Flow Statement - This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to give insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
• Balance Sheet - This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

While some business plans might include more or less information, these are the key details I’d include in this section.

Financials Business Plan Example

This balance sheet is a great example of level of detail you’ll need to include in the financials section of your business plan.

Tips for Writing Your Financials Section

• Growth potential is important in this section too. Using your data, create a forecast of financial performance in the next three to five years.
• Include any data that supports your projections to assure investors of the credibility of your proposal.
• Add a break-even analysis to show that your business plan is financially practical. This information can also help you pivot quickly as your business grows.
• Consider adding a section that reviews potential risks and how sensitive your plan is to changes in the market.
• Triple-check all financial information in your plan for accuracy.
• Show how any proposed funding needs align with your plans for growth.

As you create your business plan, keep in mind that each of these sections will be formatted differently. Some may be in paragraph format, while others could be charts or graphs.

The formats above apply to most types of business plans. That said, the format and structure of your plan will vary by your goals for that plan. 

So, I’ve added a quick review of different business plan types. For a more detailed overview, check out this post .

1. Startups

Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas.

If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business.

You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration .

2. Feasibility Studies

Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.

3. Internal Use

You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. In my opinion, internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.

4. Strategic Initiatives

Another business plan that's often for sharing internally is a strategic business plan. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.

5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning

When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.

Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.

Now that you know what's included and how to format a business plan, let's review some of my favorite templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template..

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline give this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow.

Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why I Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

We also created a business plan template for entrepreneurs.

The template is designed as a guide and checklist for starting your own business. You’ll learn what to include in each section of your business plan and how to do it.

There’s also a list for you to check off when you finish each section of your business plan.

Strong game plans help coaches win games and help businesses rocket to the top of their industries. So if you dedicate the time and effort required to write a workable and convincing business plan, you’ll boost your chances of success and even dominance in your market.

This business plan kit is essential for the budding entrepreneur who needs a more extensive document to share with investors and other stakeholders.

It not only includes sections for your executive summary, product line, market analysis, marketing plan, and sales plan, but it also offers hands-on guidance for filling out those sections.

3. LiveFlow’s Financial Planning Template with built-in automation

This free template from LiveFlow aims to make it easy for businesses to create a financial plan and track their progress on a monthly basis.

The P&L Budget versus Actual format allows users to track their revenue, cost of sales, operating expenses, operating profit margin, net profit, and more.

The summary dashboard aggregates all of the data put into the financial plan sheet and will automatically update when changes are made.

Instead of wasting hours manually importing your data to your spreadsheet, LiveFlow can also help you to automatically connect your accounting and banking data directly to your spreadsheet, so your numbers are always up-to-date.

With the dashboard, you can view your runway, cash balance, burn rate, gross margins, and other metrics. Having a simple way to track everything in one place will make it easier to complete the financials section of your business plan.

This is a fantastic template to track performance and alignment internally and to create a dependable process for documenting financial information across the business. It’s highly versatile and beginner-friendly.

It’s especially useful if you don’t have an accountant on the team. (I always recommend you do, but for new businesses, having one might not be possible.)

4. ThoughtCo’s Sample Business Plan

One of the more financially oriented sample business plans in this list, BPlan’s free business plan template dedicates many of its pages to your business’s financial plan and financial statements.

After filling this business plan out, your company will truly understand its financial health and the steps you need to take to maintain or improve it.

I absolutely love this business plan template because of its ease-of-use and hands-on instructions (in addition to its finance-centric components). If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an entire business plan, consider using this template to help you with the process.

6. Harvard Business Review’s "How to Write a Winning Business Plan"

Most sample business plans teach you what to include in your business plan, but this Harvard Business Review article will take your business plan to the next level — it teaches you the why and how behind writing a business plan.

With the guidance of Stanley Rich and Richard Gumpert, co-authors of " Business Plans That Win: Lessons From the MIT Enterprise Forum ", you'll learn how to write a convincing business plan that emphasizes the market demand for your product or service.

You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.

This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of my favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.

7. HubSpot’s Complete Guide to Starting a Business

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know writing a business plan is one of the most challenging first steps to starting a business.

Fortunately, with HubSpot's comprehensive guide to starting a business, you'll learn how to map out all the details by understanding what to include in your business plan and why it’s important to include them. The guide also fleshes out an entire sample business plan for you.

If you need further guidance on starting a business, HubSpot's guide can teach you how to make your business legal, choose and register your business name, and fund your business. It will also give small business tax information and includes marketing, sales, and service tips.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of starting a business, in addition to writing your business plan, with a high level of exactitude and detail. So if you’re in the midst of starting your business, this is an excellent guide for you.

It also offers other resources you might need, such as market analysis templates.

8. Panda Doc’s Free Business Plan Template

PandaDoc’s free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

Once you fill it out, you’ll fully understand your business’ nitty-gritty details and how all of its moving parts should work together to contribute to its success.

This template has two things I love: comprehensiveness and in-depth instructions. Plus, it’s synced with PandaDoc’s e-signature software so that you and other stakeholders can sign it with ease. For that reason, I especially love it for those starting a business with a partner or with a board of directors.

9. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several free business plan templates that can be used to inspire your own plan.

Before you get started, you can decide what type of business plan you need — a traditional or lean start-up plan.

Then, you can review the format for both of those plans and view examples of what they might look like.

We love both of the SBA’s templates because of their versatility. You can choose between two options and use the existing content in the templates to flesh out your own plan. Plus, if needed, you can get a free business counselor to help you along the way.

I’ve compiled some completed business plan samples to help you get an idea of how to customize a plan for your business.

I chose different types of business plan ideas to expand your imagination. Some are extensive, while others are fairly simple.

Let’s take a look.

1. LiveFlow

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue.

I included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

"Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration," explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar .

When it came to including marketing strategy in its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives.

This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact. Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here . You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

Sometimes all you need is a solid mission statement and core values to guide you on how to go about everything. You do this by creating a business plan revolving around how to fulfill your statement best.

For example, Patagonia is an eco-friendly company, so their plan discusses how to make the best environmentally friendly products without causing harm.

A good mission statement  should not only resonate with consumers but should also serve as a core value compass for employees as well.

Patagonia has one of the most compelling mission statements I’ve seen:

"Together, let’s prioritise purpose over profit and protect this wondrous planet, our only home."

It reels you in from the start, and the environmentally friendly theme continues throughout the rest of the statement.

This mission goes on to explain that they are out to "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to protect nature."

Their mission statement is compelling and detailed, with each section outlining how they will accomplish their goal.

4. Vesta Home Automation

This executive summary for a smart home device startup is part of a business plan created by students at Mount Royal University .

While it lacks some of the sleek visuals of the templates above, its executive summary does a great job of demonstrating how invested they are in the business.

Right away, they mention they’ve invested $200,000 into the company already, which shows investors they have skin in the game and aren’t just looking for someone else to foot the bill.

This is the kind of business plan you need when applying for business funds. It clearly illustrates the expected future of the company and how the business has been coming along over the years.

5. NALB Creative Center

This fictional business plan for an art supply store includes everything one might need in a business plan: an executive summary, a company summary, a list of services, a market analysis summary, and more.

One of its most notable sections is its market analysis summary, which includes an overview of the population growth in the business’ target geographical area, as well as a breakdown of the types of potential customers they expect to welcome at the store. 

This sort of granular insight is essential for understanding and communicating your business’s growth potential. Plus, it lays a strong foundation for creating relevant and useful buyer personas .

It’s essential to keep this information up-to-date as your market and target buyer changes. For that reason, you should carry out market research as often as possible to ensure that you’re targeting the correct audience and sharing accurate information with your investors.

Due to its comprehensiveness, it’s an excellent example to follow if you’re opening a brick-and-mortar store and need to get external funding to start your business .

6. Curriculum Companion Suites (CSS)

If you’re looking for a SaaS business plan example, look no further than this business plan for a fictional educational software company called Curriculum Companion Suites. 

Like the business plan for the NALB Creative Center, it includes plenty of information for prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the business.

One of the most notable features of this business plan is the executive summary, which includes an overview of the product, market, and mission.

The first two are essential for software companies because the product offering is so often at the forefront of the company’s strategy. Without that information being immediately available to investors and executives, then you risk writing an unfocused business plan.

It’s essential to front-load your company’s mission if it explains your "Why?" and this example does just that. In other words, why do you do what you do, and why should stakeholders care? This is an important section to include if you feel that your mission will drive interest in the business and its offerings.

7. Culina Sample Business Plan

Culina's sample business plan is an excellent example of how to lay out your business plan so that it flows naturally, engages readers, and provides the critical information investors and stakeholders need. 

You can use this template as a guide while you're gathering important information for your own business plan. You'll have a better understanding of the data and research you need to do since Culina’s plan outlines these details so flawlessly for inspiration.

8. Plum Sample Business Plan

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

How to Write a Powerful Executive Summary [+4 Top Examples]

What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates

Maximizing Your Social Media Strategy: The Top Aggregator Tools to Use

The Content Aggregator Guide for 2023

7 Gantt Chart Examples You'll Want to Copy [+ 5 Steps to Make One]

The 8 Best Free Flowchart Templates [+ Examples]

16 Best Screen Recorders to Use for Collaboration

The 25 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO

Professional Invoice Design: 28 Samples & Templates to Inspire You

Customers’ Top HubSpot Integrations to Streamline Your Business in 2022

2 Essential Templates For Starting Your Business

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

See in 90 seconds how LivePlan simplifies

financials for students: Watch

Garretts Bike Shop

Provide real–world business plan examples for your students, inspire confidence in future entrepreneurs and easily create your class syllabus using industry–best business plans., liveplan gives students access to actual business plans so they can practice business planning in and outside of the classroom., it's not just a classroom project. it's your students planning for their futures..

Teach by example

LivePlan's examples of actual business plans show students how they can identify opportunities, meet challenges, and plan their path to profits. Just like real-world entrepreneurs.

No spreadsheets necessary

With all–in–one spreadsheet–free forecasting and pitching tools–students can use LivePlan to build a realistic business plan with accurate projections and compelling pitches. Analyze scenarios. Track progress. Set goals. All in LivePlan.

Works seamlessly with your classroom setup

With LivePlan you can simplify syllabus creation. LivePlan can also be used alongside classroom tools such as Blackboard and Canvas. LivePlan's optional instructional resources can enhance your syllabus with materials that introduce lean planning principles, growth metrics, financial forecasting, and more.

Instructors looking for a great tool to help students develop business plans need to look at Live Plan. The step–by–step process walks students through the entire process from Pitch to Financials. As the Instructor you can also have online access to their plan and provide feedback and comments as the plan develops.

Mike Allen Business Instructor, North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene, ID

Bring out the best in every student

LivePlan's business plan examples help students turn ideas into top–notch business plans for class projects and startups. The tools, features, and instructional content allow you to focus on bringing out the best in your students for every plan and project.

Before using LivePlan, my students were intimidated by the business planning process. LivePlan breaks it down into manageable steps and takes the mystery out of developing a business plan.

Amy Schulz NACCE Vice President of Education, Membership and Associate Faculty, Feather River College, Quincy, CA

I used LivePlan to develop a business plan for a class project. Turns out, the project became part of a business plan competition where I placed second out of over 200 entries.

Sheila Austin Student

LivePlan provides your students with the tools to

Know the competition

No business operates in a vacuum. LivePlan incorporates real–world industry data, so students can better understand competitors, plan businesses around industry realities, and confidently execute data–driven strategies.

Build business dreams together

From sharing feedback and engaging in discussions, to simultaneously working on different parts of the plan, students can easily collaborate in groups using LivePlan.

Create a plan that fits their needs

Whether small or big, LivePlan can build out the right–sized business plan for your classroom projects. In LivePlan, students can develop a simple lean plan that focuses their ideas, or create a full business plan with all the details and steps necessary to persuade investors, attract partners, and turn their idea into a profitable reality.

With so much happening in the classroom, you need a tool that works with you, not one that makes you do extra work. Used by educators, consultants, entrepreneurs, and students all around the world, LivePlan has been regularly improved and streamlined so it's easy to use.

Develop confidence in their plan and themselves

It's one thing to plan a business. It's another thing to know how to talk about a business plan. Students can develop talking points and practice their pitch in LivePlan so they can discuss their enterprise with confidence and authority.

With LivePlan your students exceed expectations

With LivePlan, students create business plans that:

• Guide them from concept to actionable plan
• Build the confidence necessary to be entrepreneurs
• Combine pitching, forecasting, and collaboration

LivePlan streamlines projects for educators

LivePlan eases project management in the classroom, so instructors can:

• Pinpoint feedback and suggest improvements
• Monitor project progress
• Teach business planning instead of managing multiple apps

Go beyond business plan examples

LivePlan easily integrates into business courses, includes all materials and curriculum to support classroom business projects, and comes with free phone, email, and chat technical support.

The students very much appreciate the guidance the LivePlan program offers. I love the ability to act as a contributor to their plans. The help resources are phenomenal and easy to navigate.

John Shaw Assistant Professor of Management, Davis College of Business – Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL

See how LivePlan can upgrade your student's education

Fill out the form below and our LivePlan Partnership Team will be in touch shortly.

Get Your Free LivePlan Account Today

Thanks an educator advocate will be contacting you shortly to set up your free liveplan account..

If you'd like to talk to us before then, please call 1–888–498–6136 Phones are open M–F, 8am–5pm (Pacific time)

Teachers and students love LivePlan

LivePlan really facilitated communication between students who were in a team on the business plan project. Students could comment on sections of their business plan and collaborate on what to change in their plan without having to meet face–to–face.

Amy Valente Assistant Professor of Business, Cayuga Community College, Auburn, New York

LivePlan helped us easily set up the business plan for our startup during our MBA. As soon as the other students saw it, they also wanted LivePlan. The time we saved on planning we could use for operational tasks. It was the ideal solution for us.

The product we produced by using Live Plan was exceptional, far exceeded our expectations, and came out so much better than we could have ever done on our own.

This product is a game-changer. It allows the non–MBA founder to unleash their potential through strategic planning and beautiful design. Highly recommended.

Answers Neuroscience

LivePlan is simply awesome.

Amit Agrawal

How to: Create Business Plans: Sample Business Plans

• Idea Generation
• Industry Research
• Market Research
• Financial Data
• Sample Business Plans

Ready to Present?

Want to use design software to create a professional looking business plan? Use this map of computer software and equipment across campus to find the technical resources you need.

CCTEC Support

The Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University (CTL) establishes, protects and promotes beneficial interactions between Cornell researchers and industry by marketing, patenting and licensing innovation from Cornell research.

Need a Good Example?

If you've never looked at an actual business plan, you may be surprised at the amount of research involved in making the business case. The Business Plans Handbook , available via the Gale Virtual Reference Library, has 24 volumes filled with sample business plans and a business plan template.

Selected Books, etc.

• Business technology marketing benchmark guide Call Number: Management Library Reference HF5410 M34 Marketing Sherpa's Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007-08 provides practical data for B-to-B software, hardware, & services marketers. (Management Library, Ready Reference HD30.2 B88 2007/2008)
• Consumer Behavior Available in full text via Richard K. Miller & Associations Publications. Consumer Behavior provides trends in consumer behavior, tells what’s hot and provides market survey links and articles cited in the bibliography.

Frequently Asked Questions

"business blog".

Feed from Entrepreneur.com's "Business Blog"

• << Previous: Financial Data
• Next: Contact Us >>
• Last Updated: Feb 27, 2024 2:50 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/eship

Business Plan Research Guide

• Competitors
• Financial Ratios
• Going Global
• Sample Plans

Samples in Library Resources

• Small Business Planner (SBA) Business plan basics and advice from the US Small Business Administration.

Sample Plans Available

Babson Business Plans are not available for viewing, but students can view Business Plan Competition presentations, listed in the library catalog.

Other Free Sources

• Bplans.com Free Sample Business Plans 100+ free plans
• The Balance Business Plan Samples
• Business Plan Preparations From the University of Colorado.
• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Business Plans & Profiles Index Lists plans by industry with links to online plans
• << Previous: Customers
• Last Updated: Feb 29, 2024 11:59 AM
• URL: https://libguides.babson.edu/businessplans

20+ SAMPLE University Business Plan in PDF

University business plan, 20+ sample university business plan, what is a university business plan, common marketing strategies used by universities, creating a university business plan, what are some of the benefits of a business plan, what are some of the different types of planning, what are college grants.

University Business Plan Competition

University Business Plan Importance

University Small Business Development Plan

Developing Business Plan for the University

University Business Plan for Expansion

University Academic Business Plan

State University Business Plan

University Business Plan Summit

Successful Business Plan of University

University Small Business Development Center Plan

University Transnational Program Business Plan

University Library Business Plan

5 Year Business Plan University

University Basic Business Plan

University Business Plan Implementation

University Business Plan Development for Online Learning

University Standard Business Plan

University Business Plan Program

University Park Community Center Business Plan

University College Strategy and Business Plan

What is a university business plan      , common marketing strategies used by universities    , 1. executive summary, 2. market analysis, 3. university offerings, 4. marketing strategy, 5. financial planning, share this post on your network, file formats, word templates, google docs templates, excel templates, powerpoint templates, google sheets templates, google slides templates, pdf templates, publisher templates, psd templates, indesign templates, illustrator templates, pages templates, keynote templates, numbers templates, outlook templates, you may also like these articles, 5+ sample investment company business plan in pdf.

What do you do when you have tons of spare cash lying around your home or burning a hole in your wallet or expensive jeans pocket? For some people, the…

41+ SAMPLE Unit Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word

As a teacher, you might know about every school policy, the steps to keep classrooms safe for intellectual development, how to set up an organized classroom, and the proposed…

browse by categories

• Questionnaire
• Description
• Reconciliation
• Certificate
• Spreadsheet

Information

• privacy policy
• Terms & Conditions

How to write a business plan for a technical and vocational college?

Writing a business plan for a technical and vocational college can be an intimidating task, especially for those just starting.

This in-depth guide is designed to help entrepreneurs like you understand how to create a comprehensive business plan so that you can approach the exercise with method and confidence.

We'll cover: why writing a technical and vocational college business plan is so important - both when starting up, and when running and growing the business - what information you need to include in your plan, how it should be structured, and what tools you can use to get the job done efficiently.

Let's get started!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a technical and vocational college?

What information is needed to create a business plan for a technical and vocational college.

• What goes in the financial forecast for a technical and vocational college?
• What goes in the written part of a technical and vocational college business plan?
• What tool can I use to write my technical and vocational college business plan?

Having a clear understanding of why you want to write a business plan for your technical and vocational college will make it simpler for you to grasp the rationale behind its structure and content. So before delving into the plan's actual details, let's take a moment to remind ourselves of the primary reasons why you'd want to create a technical and vocational college business plan.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

Small businesses rarely experience a constant and predictable environment. Economic cycles go up and down, while the business landscape is mutating constantly with new regulations, technologies, competitors, and consumer behaviours emerging when we least expect it.

In this dynamic context, it's essential to have a clear roadmap for your technical and vocational college. Otherwise, you are navigating in the dark which is dangerous given that - as a business owner - your capital is at risk.

That's why crafting a well-thought-out business plan is crucial to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of your venture.

To create an effective business plan, you'll need to take a step-by-step approach. First, you'll have to assess your current position (if you're already in business), and then identify where you'd like your technical and vocational college to be in the next three to five years.

Once you have a clear destination for your technical and vocational college, you'll focus on three key areas:

• Resources: you'll determine the human, equipment, and capital resources needed to reach your goals successfully.
• Speed: you'll establish the optimal pace at which your business needs to grow if it is to meet its objectives within the desired timeframe.
• Risks: you'll identify and address potential risks you might encounter along the way.

By going through this process regularly, you'll be able to make informed decisions about resource allocation, paving the way for the long-term success of your business.

Need a convincing business plan?

The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

To maintain visibility on future cash flows

Businesses can go for years without making a profit, but they go bust as soon as they run out of cash. That's why "cash is king", and maintaining visibility on your technical and vocational college's future cash flows is critical.

How do I do that? That's simple: you need an up-to-date financial forecast.

The good news is that your technical and vocational college business plan already contains a financial forecast (more on that later in this guide), so all you have to do is to keep it up-to-date.

To do this, you need to regularly compare the actual financial performance of your business to what was planned in your financial forecast, and adjust the forecast based on the current trajectory of your business.

Monitoring your technical and vocational college's financial health will enable you to identify potential financial problems (such as an unexpected cash shortfall) early and to put in place corrective measures. It will also allow you to detect and capitalize on potential growth opportunities (higher demand from a given segment of customers for example).

To secure financing

Crafting a comprehensive business plan for your technical and vocational college, whether you're starting up or already established, is paramount when you're seeking financing from banks or investors.

Given how fragile small businesses are, financiers will want to ensure that you have a clear roadmap in place as well as command and control of your future cash flows before entertaining the idea of funding you.

For banks, the information in your business plan will be used to assess your borrowing capacity - which is defined as the maximum amount of debt your business can afford alongside your ability to repay the loan. This evaluation helps them decide whether to extend credit to your business and under what terms (interest rate, duration, repayment options, collateral, etc.).

Similarly, investors will thoroughly review your plan to determine if their investment can yield an attractive return. They'll be looking for evidence that your technical and vocational college has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and consistent cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand the importance of creating a business plan for your technical and vocational college, let's delve into the necessary information needed to craft an effective plan.

Need inspiration for your business plan?

The Business Plan Shop has dozens of business plan templates that you can use to get a clear idea of what a complete business plan looks like.

Writing a technical and vocational college business plan requires research so that you can project sales, investments and cost accurately in your financial forecast.

In this section, we cover three key pieces of information you should gather before drafting your business plan!

Carrying out market research for a technical and vocational college

As you consider writing your business plan for a technical and vocational college, conducting market research becomes a vital step to ensure accurate and realistic financial projections.

Market research provides valuable insights into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies, and other key factors that can significantly impact the commercial success of your business.

Through this research, you may uncover trends that could influence your technical and vocational college.

You may find that potential students may be more interested in flexible learning options, such as online or part-time courses. Additionally, you could discover that there might be a need for more courses related to emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence or big data.

Such market trends play a significant role in forecasting revenue, as they offer valuable data about potential customers' spending habits and preferences.

By incorporating these findings into your financial projections, you can present investors with more accurate information, helping them make informed decisions about investing in your technical and vocational college.

Developing the marketing plan for a technical and vocational college

Before delving into your technical and vocational college business plan, it's imperative to budget for sales and marketing expenses.

To achieve this, a comprehensive sales and marketing plan is essential. This plan should provide an accurate projection of the necessary actions to acquire and retain customers.

Additionally, it will outline the required workforce to carry out these initiatives and the corresponding budget for promotions, advertising, and other marketing endeavours.

By budgeting accordingly, you can ensure that the right resources are allocated to these vital activities, aligning them with the sales and growth objectives outlined in your business plan.

The staffing and equipment needs of a technical and vocational college

Whether you are at the beginning stages of your technical and vocational college or expanding its horizons, having a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) is vital to ensure your business's success.

To achieve this, both the recruitment and investment plans must align coherently with the projected timing and level of growth in your forecast. It is essential to secure appropriate funding for these plans.

Staffing costs for a technical and vocational college might include salaries for teachers, administrators, and support staff, as well as benefits such as health insurance and retirement contributions. Equipment costs could include computers, software, textbooks, lab equipment, and other materials needed for teaching and learning.

To create a financial forecast that accurately represents your business's outlook, remember to factor in other day-to-day operating expenses.

Now that you have all the necessary information, it's time to dive in and start creating your business plan and developing the financial forecast for your technical and vocational college.

Need a solid financial forecast?

The Business Plan Shop does the maths for you. Simply enter your revenues, costs and investments. Click save and our online tool builds a three-way forecast for you instantly.

What goes into your technical and vocational college's financial forecast?

The financial forecast of your technical and vocational college's business plan will enable you to assess the growth, profitability, funding requirements, and cash generation potential of your business in the coming years.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a technical and vocational college are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The projected P&L statement

The projected P&L statement for a technical and vocational college shows how much revenue and profits your business is expected to generate in the future.

Ideally, your technical and vocational college's P&L statement should show:

• Healthy growth - above inflation level
• Improving or stable profit margins
• Positive net profit

Expectations will vary based on the stage of your business. A startup will be expected to grow faster than an established technical and vocational college. And similarly, an established company should showcase a higher level of profitability than a new venture.

The projected balance sheet of your technical and vocational college

Your technical and vocational college's forecasted balance sheet enables the reader of your plan to assess your financial structure, working capital, and investment policy.

It is composed of three types of elements: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: represent what the business owns and uses to produce cash flows. It includes resources such as cash, equipment, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: represent funds advanced to the business by lenders and other creditors. It includes items such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers), taxes due and loans.
• Equity: is the combination of what has been invested by the business owners and the cumulative profits and losses generated by the business to date (which are called retained earnings). Equity is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Your technical and vocational college's balance sheet will usually be analyzed in conjunction with the other financial statements included in your forecast.

Two key points of focus will be:

• Your technical and vocational college's liquidity: does your business have sufficient cash and short-term assets to pay what it owes over the next 12 months?
• And its solvency: does your business have the capacity to repay its debt over the medium-term?

The projected cash flow statement

A cash flow forecast for a technical and vocational college shows how much cash the business is projected to generate or consume.

The cash flow statement is divided into 3 main areas:

• The operating cash flow shows how much cash is generated or consumed by the operations (running the business)
• The investing cash flow shows how much cash is being invested in capital expenditure (equipment, real estate, etc.)
• The financing cash flow shows how much cash is raised or distributed to investors and lenders

Looking at the cash flow forecast helps you to ensure that your business has enough cash to keep running, and can help you anticipate potential cash shortfalls.

It is also a best practice to include a monthly cash flow statement in the appendices of your technical and vocational college business plan so that the readers can view the impact of seasonality on your business cash position and generation.

The initial financing plan

The sources and uses table or initial financing plan is a key component of your business plan when starting a technical and vocational college.

It shows where the capital needed to set up the business will come from (sources) and how it will be spent (uses).

This table helps size the investment required to set up the technical and vocational college, and understand how risks will be distributed between the business owners, and the financiers.

The sources and uses table also highlights what the starting cash position will be. This is key for startups as the business needs to have sufficient funding to sustain operations until the break-even point is reached.

Now that you have a clear understanding of what will go into the financial forecast of your technical and vocational college business plan, let's have a look at the written part of the plan.

The written part of a technical and vocational college business plan

The written part of a technical and vocational college business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Throughout these sections, you will seek to provide the reader with the details and context needed for them to form a view on whether or not your business plan is achievable and your forecast a realistic possibility.

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

The executive summary, the first section of your technical and vocational college's business plan, serves as an inviting snapshot of your entire plan, leaving readers eager to know more about your business.

To compose an effective executive summary, start with a concise introduction of your business, covering its name, concept, location, history, and unique aspects. Share insights about the services or products you intend to offer and your target customer base.

Subsequently, provide an overview of your technical and vocational college's addressable market, highlighting current trends and potential growth opportunities.

Then, present a summary of critical financial figures, such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

You should then include a summary of your key financial figures such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Lastly, address any funding needs in the "ask" section of your executive summary.

2. The presentation of the company

The second section in your technical and vocational college's business plan should focus on the structure and ownership, location, and management team of the company.

The structure and ownership part provides an overview of the legal structure of the business, who the owners are and how much each has invested and owns. If you are seeking financing it is important that the reader gets a clear picture of which legal entity is receiving the funds, and who controls the business.

The location part should give an overview of the premises from which the company is operating, and why that location is of particular interest (catchment area, accessibility, amenities nearby, etc.).

When describing the location of your technical and vocational college, you may emphasize its access to a large labor market and highly skilled workforce.

You could also note that the region is home to several major universities and colleges, providing students with access to a highly educated population. Additionally, the area may have a diverse economy with a variety of industries, providing students with access to a range of internship and job opportunities.

Furthermore, the region could be a prime location for a technical and vocational college due to its proximity to major transportation hubs, allowing students to access other regions easily. Finally, you could emphasize the region's ability to attract students from a variety of backgrounds, as the area could be known for its vibrant cultural attractions and diverse communities

Finally, you should introduce the management team. Explain each member's role, background, and experience.

It is also important to emphasize any past successes that the members of the management team have achieved, and how long they've been working together, as this will help potential lenders or investors understand why they should trust in their leadership.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your technical and vocational college business plan should include a detailed description of what your company sells to its customers. 

For example, your technical and vocational college might offer a variety of online and in-person courses in areas such as business, technology, engineering, and hospitality. Additionally, your school might offer career counseling services to help students identify and pursue job opportunities that align with their skills and interests. Finally, the college could provide job placement services to assist with resume writing, interviewing techniques, and networking. These services can help students gain the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to launch successful careers.

The reader will want to understand what makes your technical and vocational college unique from other businesses in this competitive market.

When drafting this section, you should be precise about the categories of products or services you sell, the clients you are targeting and the channels that you are targeting them through. 

4. The market analysis

When outlining your market analysis in the technical and vocational college business plan, it's essential to include comprehensive details about customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and relevant regulations.

The primary aim of this section is to give the reader an understanding of the market size and appeal while demonstrating your expertise in the industry.

To begin, delve into the demographics and segmentation subsection, providing an overview of the addressable market for your technical and vocational college, key marketplace trends, and introducing various customer segments and their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

Next, shift your focus to the target market subsection, where you can zoom in on the specific customer segments your technical and vocational college targets. Explain how your products and services are tailored to meet the unique needs of these customers.

For example, your target market might include individuals who are looking for career-oriented education. This could include students who have just graduated high school but are looking for a more specialized education, as well as people who are looking to switch their career paths. This could be anyone from a recent college graduate to someone looking to pursue a new career several years into their current role.

In the competition subsection, introduce your main competitors and explain what sets your technical and vocational college apart from them.

Finally, round off your market analysis by providing an overview of the main regulations that apply to your technical and vocational college.

5. The strategy section

When crafting the strategy section of your business plan for your technical and vocational college, it's important to cover several key aspects, including your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

In the competitive edge subsection, clearly explain what sets your company apart from competitors. This is particularly critical if you're a startup, as you'll be trying to establish your presence in the marketplace among entrenched players.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you aim to maintain profitability while offering competitive prices to your customers.

For the sales & marketing plan, outline how you plan to reach and acquire new customers, as well as retain existing ones through loyalty programs or special offers.

In the milestones subsection, detail what your company has achieved thus far and outline your primary objectives for the coming years by including specific dates for expected progress. This ensures everyone involved has clear expectations.

Lastly, in the risks and mitigants subsection, list the main risks that could potentially impact the execution of your plan. Explain the measures you've taken to minimize these risks. This is vital for investors or lenders to feel confident in supporting your venture - try to proactively address any objection they might have.

Your technical and vocational college faces many risks. One risk your college may face is a decrease in student enrollment. This could be due to a change in the local economy or a lack of interest in the educational programs offered. Another risk your college could face is the inability to secure funding for new programs or initiatives. This may be due to changes in the availability of government grants or a lack of local philanthropic support.

6. The operations section

The operations of your technical and vocational college must be presented in detail in your business plan.

The first thing you should cover in this section is your staffing team, the main roles, and the overall recruitment plan to support the growth expected in your business plan. You should also outline the qualifications and experience necessary to fulfil each role, and how you intend to recruit (using job boards, referrals, or headhunters).

You should then state the operating hours of your technical and vocational college - so that the reader can check the adequacy of your staffing levels - and any plans for varying opening times during peak season. Additionally, the plan should include details on how you will handle customer queries outside of normal operating hours.

The next part of this section should focus on the key assets and IP required to operate your business. If you depend on any licenses or trademarks, physical structures (equipment or property) or lease agreements, these should all go in there.

You may have physical assets such as buildings and tools, as well as intellectual property such as proprietary software or trade secrets. The college might also possess the expertise of its staff and the support materials used in its courses, which could be valuable for potential investors.

Finally, you should include a list of suppliers that you plan to work with and a breakdown of their services and main commercial terms (price, payment terms, contract duration, etc.). Investors are always keen to know if there is a particular reason why you have chosen to work with a specific supplier (higher-quality products or past relationships for example).

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will include the financial forecast we discussed earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of what goes into a technical and vocational college business plan, let's look at some of the tools you can use to create yours efficiently.

What tool should I use to write my technical and vocational college's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main solutions for creating a technical and vocational college business plan:

• Using specialized online business plan software,
• Outsourcing the plan to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your technical and vocational college's business plan

Using online business planning software is the most efficient and modern way to create a technical and vocational college business plan.

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

Hiring a business plan writer to write your technical and vocational college's business plan

Outsourcing your technical and vocational college business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

These writers possess valuable experience in crafting business plans and creating accurate financial forecasts. Additionally, enlisting their services can save you precious time, enabling you to concentrate on the day-to-day operations of your business.

It's important to be mindful, though, that hiring business plan writers comes with a cost. You'll be paying not just for their time but also for the software they use, and their profit margin.

Based on experience, a complete business plan usually requires a budget of at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax, and more if revisions are needed after initial meetings with lenders or investors - changes often arise following these discussions.

When seeking investment, be cautious about spending too much on consulting fees. Investors prefer their funds to contribute directly to business growth. Thus, the amount you spend on business plan writing services and other consulting services should be negligible compared to the amount you raise.

Another aspect to consider is that while you'll receive the output of the business plan, you usually won't own the actual document. It will be saved in the consultant's business plan software, which will make updating the plan challenging without retaining the consultant on a retainer.

Given these factors, it's essential to carefully weigh the pros and cons of outsourcing your technical and vocational college business plan to a business plan writer and decide what best suits your business's unique needs.

Why not create your technical and vocational college's business plan using Word or Excel?

Using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write a technical and vocational college business plan is not advisable. Allow me to explain the reasons.

Firstly, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel or any spreadsheet demands technical expertise in accounting principles and financial modelling. Without a degree in finance and accounting and significant financial modelling experience, it's unlikely that the reader will fully trust your numbers.

Secondly, relying on spreadsheets is inefficient. While it may have been the go-to option in the past, technology has evolved, and software now performs such tasks much faster and more accurately.

The second reason is that it is inefficient. Building forecasts on spreadsheets was the only option in the early 2000s, nowadays technology has advanced and software can do it much faster and much more accurately.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Moreover, software offers ease in comparing actuals versus forecasts and maintaining up-to-date forecasts for clear visibility on future cash flows, as we discussed earlier in this guide. Such tasks are cumbersome when using spreadsheets.

Now, let's address the written part of your technical and vocational college business plan. While it may be less prone to errors, using software can significantly boost productivity. Word processors lack instructions and examples for each section of your business plan. They also won't automatically update your numbers when changes occur in your forecast, and they lack automated formatting capabilities.

In summary, while some entrepreneurs may consider Word or Excel for their business plan, it's far from the best or most efficient solution when compared to specialized software.

• Having an up-to-date business plan is key to maintaining visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 parts: a financial forecast highlighting the expected growth, profitability and cash generation of the business; and a written part which provides the context needed to interpret and assess the quality of the forecast.
• Using business plan software is the modern way of writing and maintaining business plans.

We hope that this guide helped you to better understand how to write the business plan for a technical and vocational college. If you still have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a 5 years business plan
• Business plan myths

Know someone who owns or wants to start a technical and vocational college? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

Create a convincing business plan

Assess the profitability of your business idea and create a persuasive business plan to pitch to investors

500,000+ entrepreneurs have already tried our solution - why not join them?

Not ready to try our on-line tool ? Learn more about our solution here

Need some inspiration for your business plan?

Subscribe to The Business Plan Shop and gain access to our business plan template library.

Need a professional business plan? Discover our solution

Write your business plan with ease!

It's easy to create a professional business plan with The Business Plan Shop

Want to find out more before you try? Learn more about our solution here

School Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

School Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their schools.

If you’re unfamiliar with creating a school business plan, you may think creating one will be a time-consuming and frustrating process. For most entrepreneurs it is, but for you, it won’t be since we’re here to help. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a school business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a School Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your school as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a School

If you’re looking to start a school or grow your existing school, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your school to improve your chances of success. Your school business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Schools

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for schools are donations and gifts, tuition, personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and angel investors. When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for schools.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a school.

If you want to start a school or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The guide below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your school business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of school you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a school that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of schools?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan.

• Give a brief overview of the school industry.
• Discuss the type of school you are operating.
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers.
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team.
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of school you are operating.

For example, you might specialize in one of the following types of schools:

• Private K-12 school : this type of school typically charges tuition, and may be affiliated with a religious organization, or specialize in a particular learning method.
• Charter school: this type of school offers primary or secondary education for a tuition, and may receive some public funding, and/or donations. These schools require their students to take state-mandated exams.
• Special subject school: this type of school specializes in teaching a specific subject, such as driving, first-aid, self-defense, fine arts, language, or general tutoring.
• Preschool: this type of school typically serves children who are aged 3 and 4. These schools prepare young children to enter formal education, and are funded by some combination of tuition, donations, and government grants.

In addition to explaining the type of school you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of students served, the number of students accepted into elite formal education institutions, etc.
• Your legal business Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the school industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the school industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your school business plan:

• How big is the school industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your school? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your school business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: families with elementary-aged children, families with high-school-aged children, families with preschool children.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of school you operate. Clearly, families with high schoolers would respond to different marketing promotions than families with preschoolers, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

Finish Your School Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other schools.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes public schools, virtual schools, and families who do homeschooling. You need to mention such competition as well.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of students do they serve?
• What type of school are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide specialized instruction, either in subject or in method?
• Will you offer courses or services that your competition doesn’t?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a school business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of school that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide religious-focused K-8 education, college preparatory courses, or single-subject instruction like driving or fine arts?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your plan, you are presenting the courses and/or extracurricular activities you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the site of your school. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your school located in a growing neighborhood, in the city center, or will you operate purely online? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your school marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your school, including answering calls, planning and delivering instruction, applying for grants, fundraising, performing administrative tasks, overseeing instructors, handling discipline, scheduling and monitoring extracurricular activities, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to enroll your Xth student, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your school to a new city.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your school’s potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing schools. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in running a school or experience with public school administration or who has served on a public school board.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenue and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you enroll 100 or 1,000 students per semester, and/or offer extracurricular activities? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your school, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a school:

• Cost of equipment and supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your school location lease or a list of elective courses or extracurricular activities you will offer.  

Writing a business plan for your school is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the school industry, your competition, and your customers. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful school.  

School Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my school business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your school business plan.

How Do You Start a School?

Starting a school is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your School
• Create Your School Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your School
• Secure Startup Funding for Your School (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your School with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your School
• Buy or Lease the Right School Equipment
• Develop Your School Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your School
• Open for Business

Learn more about   how to start your own school .

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your School business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to learn about Growthink’s business plan writing services .

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

• Business Templates
• Sample Plans

FREE 10+ College Business Plan Samples in MS Word | Google Docs | Apple Pages | PDF

Businesses can be something that is extremely difficult to manage, especially when you’ve only started your venture and would essentially want it to succeed. It can be overwhelming to have to keep track of things that are closely related to your business to make sure that it doesn’t just fall out of the market after some time. That is why a lot of business experts would highly suggest that you draft a comprehensive pla n to keep you on track for your venture. A layout or a plan keeps everybody that is working on your business on the loop for its entire duration. Help make sure that nothing can go wrong, and if something does, handle it with relative ease. Keeping every business operation relatively smooth.

College Business Plan

10+ college business plan samples, 1. college business plan template, 2. college business plan, 3. sample college business plan, 4. standard college business plan, 5. basic college business plan, 6. college strategic business plan, 7. college school business plan, 8. printable college business plan, 9. formal college business plan, 10. university college business plan, 11. editable college business plan, what is a college business plan, elements of a college business plan, what are the five elements of a business plan, who reads a business plan, what is a good business plan.

The document that we have just talked about right now is called a business plan . Business plans can be very pivotal documents that any business has to come up with so that they can have a guideline or a map that they can follow in order to reach any milestone that they have set for themselves. A tool that would help the venture become a successful business.

A well drafted and well written business plan can go a long way for you. Help you easily take advantage of the demand on the market and capitalize over it. College businesses can be incredibly overwhelming because a lot of these ventures tend to be startups, or managed by college students themselves. So you can really use the additional benefits that a well written business plan can provide for your business like being able to experiment with projects without having to invest too much time and resources into said experimentation. So try to get to know the document properly by checking out these college business plan samples that we have listed for you down below. Once you’ve acquainted yourself with the document, feel free to use these samples as guides or maybe even as templates for your own college business plan.

• Google Docs

Size: 506 KB

Size: 29 MB

Size: 648 KB

Size: 472 KB

Size: 292 KB

Size: 744 KB

Size: 519 KB

A college business plan, or just about any business plan, is a document that aims to present how a company will describe their objectives and what steps the management are willing to take in order to reach the objectives that they have set. A business plan simply acts as a roadmap that the company can follow, depending on the point of views from their different departments like marketing, financial, and operational. These documents can be extremely valuable since they can also double as mediums that can attract potential investors and partners even before the business has been properly established. A good way to secure funds, resources, and even business partnerships in the earliest stages of your venture.

Even though the document can be very useful for startup businesses and companies, it is still highly recommended that business or company should be able to come up with their own business plan, even if they have already been established for a while. Writing a business plan will essentially give them a document that they can review and update periodically to see how much progress they have made in trying to reach their goals, and how the circumstances that they have been working on has changed over time. A well written business plan should be one that is able to present the outlined costs and expected outcomes of this venture, as well as inspect the possible pitfalls of every decision the management has made. Despite the document being widely used and prominent in the business and corporate industry, it is still relatively rare to see two identical business plans at the same time. This is because every company has their own unique way of dealing with internal and external issues in their venture.

The length of the document that you are about to draft varies greatly depending on the nature and the scope of the business that the document will focus on. Though it is pretty common for all the information in your document to fit into about 15 to 20 pages. Despite the fact that no two businesses are alike, they still often operate with about all the same elements. These elements will be listed below, and will be discussed in more detail.

• Executive summary The document should begin with an introductory section that talks about the company and the details regarding the company’s mission-vision values, company leadership, employees, operations, and where the business will be located. This section is known as the executive summary, talking about the nature of the business, and other forms of information that needs to be present at the introduction.
• Products and services The business plan should then present the products and the services that they will offer. Include the list of the pricing, product lifespan, duration of services, and other benefits the customer can receive when engaging with your business. Other factors that may be present include the process behind the production and manufacturing, patents, and proprietary technology that the business may have.
• Market analysis As a business owner yourself, you should be able to have a crystal clear idea of what your target customers are and their respective demographics. Get to know your customer base more. Proper market analysis will give you a better idea of the market, identify who or what the present competition is, and how to stay on top of that competition.
• Marketing strategy Once you’ve analyzed the market, think about the strategies that the business can use to attract the customer base and keep them engaged with your business. Talk about how you plan to reach the customers by creating a clear distribution channel within including marketing and advertising campaigns, as well as through which mediums will those campaigns be led through.
• Financial planning The company should be able to present their own financial planning to further attract the  audience of the business plan. A well laid-out plan can look very good especially for investors who wish to invest on ventures that are capable of returning a good investment. Financial statements, balance sheets, and other information that needs to be presented.
• Budget All kinds of businesses must have a comprehensive budget in place. This includes costs, staffing, manufacturing, development, marketing, and other expenses of the business.
• Situation Analysis
• Product position
• Setting objectives
• Overall strategy

Members of the organization, those who work in and around the company like employees, are given an outline or a summary of the business plan. While outsiders like investors, clients, suppliers, and other executives, are often presented with the entire plan.

The plan should be concise. You should be able to present the basic premise of the business in three to five sentences.

One last very important thing to remember when writing this document is that business plans are ‘live’ documents. Meaning that it should be able to adapt and evolve with your business as your business prospers. Regularly updated and reviewed to get the best of the business plan.

Related Posts

Free 50+ strategic planning samples in google docs | pages | pdf | ms word, free 10+ construction project plan samples in ms word | google docs | apple pages | pdf, free 10+ construction marketing business plan samples in ms word | google docs | pdf, free 17+ construction business continuity plan samples in ms word | google docs | pdf, free 11+ construction business development plan samples in ms word | google docs | pdf, free 20+ budget planning samples in pdf, free 20+ workout plan samples in ms word | google docs | pages | pdf, free 20+ lesson planning samples in pdf, free 14+ employee work plan templates in pdf | ms word, free 8+ sample weekly meal plan templates in pdf, free 17+ sample classroom management plan templates in pdf | ms word, free 13+ homework planner samples and templates in pdf | ms word, free 14+ leadership development plan samples in ms word | pages | google docs | pdf, free 15+ sample math lesson plan templates in pdf | ms word, free 11+ gym business plan templates in pdf | ms word, free 16+ how to make a smart marketing plan, free 13+ sample daycare business plan, free 12+ school operational plan samples, free 11+ bakery business plans.

Accounting College Business Plan Sample

Recently, there is an increased demand for accounting and finance-related jobs in America.  You can consider producing the right talent for these high demand jobs by establishing your own Accounting School.  This accounting college business plan sample is written exclusively for you by our professional business plan writers.

Executive Summary

“BTS Center” (herein also referred to as “Business Technology & Systems College” or “BTSC”) was incorporated on June 3, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio by Co-Founders, Richard Harrison and Beth Harrison.  The Business Technology and Systems College (BTSC) is in the process of applying to become a private career college (PCC) offering non-vocational courses, and intends to offer vocational programs upon approval in the fields of technology, business, accounting, bookkeeping and taxation. BTSC is now looking to open a physical campus in Columbus, Ohio to run all future programs and courses.

In the education industry, traditional college degrees do not adequately prepare students with job-specific skills such as aptitude in key technologies or a knowledge of traditional bookkeeping or accounting requirements. As such, private career colleges are increasingly offering specialized courses that aim to upskill and train individuals with in-demand skills for today’s workforce. With a specialization in highly sought after skills, BTSC is well positioned to serve a niche market within the education sector that aims to upskill and prepare professionals for highly demanded roles in today’s evolving workforce.

Both co-founders bring unique experience and specialization to this opportunity. Mr. Harrison has over twenty years of experience in program design, instructing, and educational consulting, and Harrison has deep industry experience in the fields of information technology and computer science. With close proximity to America’s major finance and business hub, the Columbus campus provides a strong opportunity for the Business Technology and Systems College to fill an existing market gap.

The Business Technology and Systems College is currently seeking a $175,000 loan from the SBA Loan Program to support the initial start-up costs associated with opening the Columbus campus. These include setting up the campus classrooms and office administrative space, necessary renovations, and purchasing required equipment and inventory to run the college. With support from stakeholders, BTSC can bring its vision to life and successfully establish and scale its operations to become a top tier profitable and respected private career college in America.

Business Overview

The Business Technology and Systems College (BTSC) operates in the education sector offering professional training courses and career pathways for specific job seekers in the business, accounting, bookkeeping and technology fields. BTSC offers both vocational and non-vocational training courses through ‘pathways’ which include various short courses to equip students with the skills, knowledge, and key technical skills required to succeed in various roles. BTSC plans to open a campus in Columbus, Ohio in the next few months to offer courses in a centralized location within close proximity to Columbus, America’s largest economic hub and finance center.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide high quality vocational and non vocational education to job seekers, providing students with the tools and knowledge to excel in  business, technology, accounting and bookkeeping roles.

Vision Statement

Our vision is an education system that provides job specific training to professionals, enabling individuals to gain meaningful employment in top tier industries and fields.

Core Values

The BTSC team chooses the following core values to guide all business decisions and operations:

• Creating a safe, accepting learning environment for staff and students
• Top quality instructional design
• Competitive and striving to for excellence
• Honestly and integrity
• Staying nimble and adaptive to ever changing working and economic conditions
• Developed the Bookkeeping and Taxation Pathways
• Developed a Quickbooks specific training course
• Successfully taught over 2,500 students since 2014
• Developed and led a number of free workshops to generate brand awareness

Goals and Objectives

• Generate $197,000 in revenue in year one
• Experience 40% increase in revenue between year one and year two
• Experience 60% increase in revenue between year two and year three
• Develop and offer non vocational training courses to accompany current vocational training courses
• Develop additional Career Pathways in Accounting, Bookkeeping, Taxation and Technology
• Become known as a leader in education and job training in the fields of technology and business

Market Analysis

The Business Technology and Systems College operates in the education and executive education industry. It is a private college offering specialized career training to finance professionals. The courses offered will be both vocational and non-vocational, with a certificate of completion offered after each track is completed.

Government Regulations

Private Career Colleges Act 2005

All private career colleges in Ontario are governed by the 2005 Private Career Colleges Act. In Ontario, a private career college is defined as “an education institution or other institution, agency or entity that provides one or more vocational programs to students, administered through individual written contracts with the students, for a fee”. The act lays out financial and administrative matters, prohibitions, registration guidelines, approval of programs, and operational guidelines.

Vocational Education Regulations

According to the Government of America, to sell and market vocational education, schools must be qualified as ‘an organization that is established and operated primarily to provide students with correspondence courses, or instruction in courses, that develop or enhance students occupational skills’. In order to reach these requirements, the college must file articles of incorporation, articles of amendment, and memorandum of agreement and by-laws. The business must also operate primarily to provide correspondence on courses or instruction in courses, with more than 50% of revenues coming directly from the provision of courses that improve occupational skills.

Market Trends

BTSC operates in the education sector, with a focus on finance, bookkeeping, technology and taxation education. Specifically, the company operates as a private training college, offering vocational and job specific training and instruction.

Education Market Trends

The American College and University market is valued at $42.7BN with a compound annual growth rate of 2.0% between 2021-2026. The market is made up of 206 institutions employing over 322,000 individuals in education or administrative roles. The certificate and associate degree segment makes up 24.2% of the entire market, responsible for $10.33BN annually. Key drivers of growth in this market include the national unemployment rate, government consumption and investment, corporate profit, R&D expenditure, number of adults aged 20-64, and per capita disposable income.

In America, certificate and professional training courses are typically regarded as job specific training, and are increasingly being used as industry standard versus formal university education. In particular, the financial industry has been conforming to professional and associate training degrees to a higher extent than other fields. Specific vocational training programs to teach skills such as financial analysis, wealth management, wills and estate planning, bookkeeping, tax, and payroll are typically required in order to gain employment in specific roles within the industry. As such, BTSC’s programming and courses fill a specific niche within the market, appealing to working professionals or those entering the workforce, looking for job specific training and professional development.

Payroll and Bookkeeping Services

The American payroll and bookkeeping industry in America is valued at $5.9BN in revenue, with a compound annual growth rate of 2.1% between 2022-2027. The industry employs 20,697 businesses employing over 31,000 individuals. The market is composed of three segments, payroll administration (56.7%), bookkeeping and billing services (25.2%) and other payroll services (18.1%).

As corporate profit and the rising number of businesses increases in America, so does the need for increased payroll and bookkeeping services in America. It is expected that companies will increasingly outsource these services to third party companies, as well as rely on key technologies and softwares to manage payroll and basic HR admin. Payroll and bookkeeping professionals are required to contain the knowledge and skills to effectively manage the financial responsibilities as well as utilize increasingly mainstream payroll and accounting softwares such as Ceridian, Intuit, and Payworks.

Tax Planning Services

The American tax planning services industry is valued at $1.6BN in revenue, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.6% between 2022-2027. The industry is made up of 3,848 businesses employing 22,680 individuals. Growth in this market is expected to accelerate alongside a decrease in the unemployment rate across America. Larger organizations will typically employ a tax planning team to deal with all tax planning and compilation and consulting for the business. The market is segmented into three categories, client income and tax return preparation services (62.2%), business tax preparation services (4.6%) and assisted software tax preparation services (33.2%).

Many tax planning professionals are trained in using specific software to manage corporate tax filings. As these softwares continue to expand services, so will the need for tax planning professionals to learn the skills and tools for comprehensive tax preparation and filing.

Products and Services

Business Technology and Systems College offers both vocational and non-vocational diploma programs for individuals looking to enter the business, technology and bookkeeping industries. Within the first year, the company will launch vocational and non-vocational courses for accounting, bookkeeping, and taxation with a goal of expanding into the technology education sector in year two.

• Business Administration (Vocational Course)
• Administrative Assistant (Vocational Course)

Accounting and Bookkeeping

• Accounting and Payroll Administrator (Vocational Course)
• Bookkeeping Course (Non Vocational)
• QuickBooks Online Course (Non Vocational)
• QuickBooks Desktop Course (Non Vocational)
• Payroll Course (Non Vocational)
• Income Tax T1 Course (Non Vocational)
• Income Tax T2 Course (Non Vocational)
• GST/HST Course (Non Vocational)
• Web Development (Non Vocational)

Pricing Model

Non Vocational Courses: Course fees will be paid 100% upfront to confirm position. Two payment installments may be granted on a case by case basis

Vocational Courses: Course fees will be priced at $9,000 for nine month courses. The payment structure will be in monthly installments of $1,000 per month

BTSC will accept payment by Credit, Debit, E-transfer and Direct Deposit

Competitive Advantages

BTSC’s competitive advantages that will enable the college to be successful at capturing substantial market share are as follows:

Quickbooks specific training: Quickbooks is an accounting software that currently occupies 80% of the North American market share. Mr. Harrison specializes in Quickbooks training and is an expert in not only using the software, but also teaching students how to excel at all functions. Despite Quickbooks being widely used by companies across America, there are few courses or educational institutions that focus on practical usage, resulting in professionals often using Google or YouTube to effectively learn how to fully use the software. As such, having a Quickbooks training course will provide BTSC with an opportunity to tap into an underserved educational niche, creating an opportunity to offer a necessary course for an extremely in-demand skill.

Competitive Pricing: BTSC is offering its high quality instructional courses for a very competitive and reasonable price. As such, the college aims to compete on price with other educational institutions, while also making vocational and non-vocational training more accessible and available to the American market.

Personalized Teaching: Harsh and Neha have taken active roles in both designing and teaching the lessons and courses at BTSC. The close level and active involvement on behalf of the founder and lead course designer enables students to get a deeper and more personalized experience and understanding of the course content, ensuring a superior and unique learning experience overall.

4.3 Key Success Factors

BTSC as defined their key success factors as the following:

• Strong Curriculum Design: The founding team has years of industry knowledge and expertise in finance, business, technology and education. The team will apply this knowledge to design strong curriculums that provide exceptional training and preparation for a number of roles across industries.
• Free content sharing and contributing to the finance community: Beyond paid instructional courses, the BTSC team will continually spread knowledge and actively contribute to the finance and education community at large. Staff will share knowledge by hosting and distributing free content (workshops, blogs, videos) to generate brand awareness and a strong customer goodwill.
• The BTSC Alumni Network: After graduating from BTSC, students will enter a wide alumni network where they have the opportunity to connect with other professionals in their respective fields of study. The alumni network will serve as a community hub to network, recruit recent grads, share industry knowledge, and create and promote collaborations and business opportunities.
• Committed to Quality Education: Above all else, the Business Technology and Systems College is committed to offering quality education and training. The team is skilled, experienced and qualified to deliver high quality vocational and non-vocational training, preparing students for careers in the business, technology, taxation and bookkeeping industries.

Sales and Marketing Plan

This section outlines the company’s target customers, digital marketing strategy to reach new customers, KPIs and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Target Customers

There are five target customers for BTSC, including:

Newcomers to America

This target customer is looking to gain the skills and education required for a career with the opportunity for advancement and higher pay.

In College Seeking Non Vocational Courses

This target customer realizes that a college education alone will not provide the real world experience to successfully execute in their professions, hence they evolve their skillset with BTSC.

Professionals Seeking a Career Change

This target customer is unhappy with their current career and they seek a new opportunity.  By improving their education and skill set with BTSC they can access a new and exciting career.

Already in the Field Seeking Specialized Courses

This target customer is already working in the field, but requires additional, specialized training to better perform and gain access to new opportunities.

Accounting Firms

This target customer reaches out to BTSC to improve their team’s skillset, so they can collectively perform at a higher level, and become more competitive as an accounting firm.

Key Channels

This section outlines the company’s digital marketing strategy for reaching new and existing customers:

Free Workshops

Harsh will continue providing free workshops to welcome new leads to the funnel.  This is a proven approach that has welcomed tens of new leads to the funnel.  Workshops will be recorded and posted on the company site.  The company’s data shows that recording and posting free workshops on the site attracts plenty of leads that eventually convert into paying students.

Harsh is an active blogger on the company site.  This helps the site rank on search engines for relevant keywords and assists in fostering a community interested in improving their skillsets.  Additionally, the  FAQ section of the site is proven to attract visitors, and the optional syllabus download.

Facebook Ads

The company runs Facebook Ad campaigns to reach new leads that have not garnered awareness of BTSC yet. Individuals with Facebook “interests” relevant to accounting, bookkeeping and technology are targeted and ads appear through Facebook impressions.

Social Media

BTSC is active on Instagram and Facebook.  Harsh is focused on building a community which learns and contributes from BTSC’s evolving curriculum.  This provides a central place to post regularly, receive comments and support from past and current students.

A great deal of students have come from other students referring them to BTSC.  This “word of mouth” marketing decreases advertising spend, and improves brand recognition.  The company anticipates continued referrals by providing effective and meaningful education to all students.

SWOT Analysis

Operational Plan

BTSC operates as a college of business and technology offering both vocational and non-vocational courses. Specializations are offered as course ‘pathways’, which include up to six courses on specific topics.

The operational plan for the college will include an operational process for the day to day running of courses, an analysis on the chosen location of Columbus for the physical campus, and a layout of the required inventory and investments in order to prepare the campus for operations.

Operational Process

BTSC operates as a private career college, skilling and upskilling professionals in the fields of technology, business, taxation and accounting. The BTSC Columbus campus will provide skills and training for the four upcoming and established pathways, Business, Technology, Accounting and Bookkeeping, and Taxation.  Pathway training courses take place over five steps, with a Certificate of Completion offered after each step. All courses can be taken full or part time,  complete with a career coaching course to ensure students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to find meaningful employment.

Equipment & Inventory

BTSC will use the funds from the SBA Loan Program to procure property, plant and equipment (PP&E).

The company plans to open a campus in Columbus, Ohio due to the proximity to New York, one of America’s major financial center, as well as the lack of existing educational institutions within the Columbus city center.

Proximity to Columbus

Columbus is the business and economic center of America, contributing 20% of the nation’s GDP. Columbus is home to the headquarters of America’s major financial institutions, and is the key city for the finance, media, technology, and entertainment industries in America. Columbus’ financial industry employs over 210,000 workers, while the technology industry employs 90,000 workers. As such, the BTSC campuses close proximity to this major urban center will provide students with easy access to a robust job market, while also providing opportunities for students to continue developing their careers through networking, internships and job placements during and post graduation.

Lack of educational institutions in Columbus city center

Despite being located less than one hour from the Columbus City Centre, the city of Columbus, OH is substantially lacking in educational institutions in the city center. As such, a Columbus campus will provide easy access to Columbus, enabling students to continually participate in the active business community both on and off campus during their studies, and post graduation.

Risk Analysis

Management Team

Richard Harrison

School Principal

Mr. Harrison has been a school administrator in the last 20 years.  He discovered the need for an accounting and finance school that will provide the deficiency of accounting and finance talents in the market.  Being a business major himself, he aims to collaborate with educators and business mentors to build a pool of accounting and finance graduates who are ready to take on the demands of the ever-changing business world.

Beth Harrison

School Superintendent

Ms. Beth Harrison, is an educator for more than 10 years.  She has managed the operations of a local bookkeeping center in her hometown for 5 years.  She has closely worked with members of the school district and has contributed several short and long term plans for the institution such as creating new curriculums, new policies and new facilities.

Key Personnel

Over the next three years, BTSC plans to hire the following key personnel:

Instructor, Bookkeeping / Taxation

• Responsible for teaching courses which are related to accounting and payroll
• Teaching specific courses such as business mathematics, business finance, business law and ethics
• Prepared to complete administrative work in between classes; answering emails, phone calls
• Offering career counseling support to students in deciding what they should study and aim for

Instructor, Technology Courses

• Teach and supervise students using lectures, demonstrations, discussion groups, laboratory workshop sessions, seminars, case studies, and independent or group projects.
• Develop curriculum and prepare teaching materials and course outlines.
• Prepare, administer and mark tests and papers to evaluate students’ progress.
• Provide consultation services to government, business or other organizations.
• Provide individual tutorial or remedial instruction to students who require it.
• Supervise independent or group projects, field placements, or hands-on training.
• Supervise teaching assistants.

Receptionist, College Administrator

• Managing the front desk of the campus while providing excellent customer service
• Supporting the administrative functions of the campus to enhance the student experience
• Ensuring campus supplies and equipment are kept stocked and in good working order
• Acting in a manner that upholds the College standards
• Support and assist the leadership in handling and processing College documentation and student files.
• Perform daily sorting, filing, scanning and archiving of school or student documents and records.
• Managing incoming phone calls and emails

Financial Plan

Pro Forma Income Statement

Pro Forma Cash Flow Statement

Pro Forma Balance Sheet

Let's Get Started!

• Your Name *
• Email Address *
• Phone Number

How can we help you?

Get in touch with us or visit our office

Don't bother with copy and paste.

Get this complete sample business plan as a free text document.

Online College Bookstore Business Plan

Start your own online college bookstore business plan

The College Cafe

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

The College Cafe is a student-to-student Internet marketplace providing college students with the opportunity to buy, sell and trade college textbooks, participate in auctions, post classified ads, provide teacher evaluations, and buy products for college.  The College Cafe’s target market consists of over 15.8 million college students who spend $200 billion annually.  The College Cafe was founded in July and is presently in its start-up stage.

1.1 Solution

The College Cafe will enable students to buy, sell, and trade used textbooks directly to other students, by-passing the university bookstores.  By selling textbooks to other students, the seller can receive more money than the bookstore will pay and the buyer can pay less than the bookstore charges.  In addition to textbooks, students will be able to sell class notes, old tests, computers, dorm accessories, used CDs, tutoring services or anything students wish to sell via an online student-to-student marketplace.  In addition, the College Cafe will offer other services such as classifieds, teacher evaluations, weblogs (bloggers), specialized content and retail. 

The College Cafe will establish itself as the leading online student-to-student marketplace by combining extensive market-specific expertise with Internet technologies to generate revenue while creating a win-win solution for students.  The College Cafe will achieve market dominance by utilizing extensive domain experience, a local grass roots marketing strategy, an exceptional management team, superior software, and the formation of strategic alliances, memberships and partnerships with companies within the college market.

The U.S. college student market is a growing yet underserved niche market.  The U.S. Department of Education expects the U.S. college student market to grow from 15.8 million students to 17.2 million in the next five years.  According to Harris Interactive college students are expected to spend over $200 billion this year. 

1.3 Opportunity

College students are eager to find ways to get “quick cash” at the end of every semester.  One method college students use is to sell their old textbooks at the end of every semester, however the re-sell market is controlled by the local university bookstore.  Because university bookstores monopolize the market, students receive only a fraction of the value paid for the book, typically 75% or less of the purchase prices.  The bookstores then re-sell the books back to other students, receiving over 125% profit.  The current situation creates a lose-lose situation for students and a win-win situation for bookstores.  Students are looking for convenient, money saving ways to purchase textbooks and to receive more value when re-selling textbooks at the end of each semester.

1.4 Financial & Capital Requirements

According to the opportunities and requirements for The College Cafe described in this business plan, we have determined the following financial projections:

• Generate exceptional revenues by the end of year one.
• Report profits during the 9th month of operation.
• Exceed a 1.5x increase in sales and profits by the end of year three.

The College Cafe will require an initial seed investment as well as later rounds of investment.  The initial seed capital will be used for marketing and customer acquisition, software and website development.

1.5 Objectives

The College Cafe will strive to achieve the following objectives:

• Become the leading Internet student-to-student marketplace
• Attract 500,000 registered users in the first year
• Achieve 50,000 visits per month
• Establish sustainable profitability within the first year

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

The College Cafe was founded in July and is presently in its start-up stage.  The College Cafe website has been in operation with limited functionality since August of last year.  The College Cafe is currently being test marketed at Georgia State University.

2.1 Company Locations and Facilities

800 Peachtree Street – Unit 8429 Atlanta, GA 30308 United States

www.thecollegeCafe .com www.thecollegeCafe .net 

The College Cafe’s data center is hosted and maintained by Atl-Connect Internet Services.  Atl-Connect is located in Atlanta, Georgia.

2.2 Mission

The College Cafe’s mission is to provide college students a valuable and unique source for products, services and information.  In order to achieve our mission, The College Cafe commits to the following philosophies:

• It’s all about the product.
• Our customers are our employers.
• Don’t be greedy.
• Keep our employees happy.

2.3 Ownership

The College Cafe is a Limited Liability Company and is solely owned by its founder, Gerald Owens.

2.4 Keys to Success

Our key to success will lie in our ability to execute our business model.  In order to achieve success, we need to focus on the following areas to establish The College Cafe as a successful and profitable enterprise.  They are:

• Recruit an exceptional management and marketing team with extensive domain experience in the college market.
• Create and maintain a “Grass Roots” marketing campaign.
• Offer innovative and unique products and services.
• Form strategic alliances and partnerships with companies suppling products to the college market.

2.5 Management Summary

The strength of The College Cafe’s management team stems from the combined expertise in both management and technical areas.  The College Cafe recognizes that additional staff is required to properly support marketing, sales, research, and support functions.  Currently, The College Cafe is supported by three people with experience in e-commerce strategy, website architecture and design and graphic design.  Additional employees may be required in the areas of senior level management, Web development, marketing, sales, human resources/recruiting, administration, customer support and other critical operational positions.

The College Cafe will utilize current college students to fill positions in the areas of regional campus marketing, local advertisement sales, administration, customer support other non-critical operational positions.  These positions will be full-time, part-time and intern positions depending on the local market.  Using current college students will enable The College Cafe to receive inexpensive local employment and valuable market feedback from The College Cafe’s target market while also providing real world work experience to college students.

The College Cafe will utilize consultants and contractors during website enhancements and development efforts.

Board of Directors

At this time The College Cafe is seeking individuals for a Board of Directors.  These individuals will include highly qualified business and industry professionals/experts along with members of the investment team.  These individuals will assist our management team in making appropriate decisions, forming strategic alliances and taking the most effective action to be the industry leader.

2.6 Management Team

Our management team consists of three dedicated employees and two technical advisors.  Their backgrounds consist of more than 30 years of experience in e-commerce, marketing and the Internet technology.  In addition to their professional experience, the management team has over 30 years of college domain experience. 

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

Kelly Mitchell – Online User Experience and Marketing Ms. Mitchell has 7 years’ experience in the interactive space, specializing in online branding, marketing, and user experience design.  Her most recent position involves leading a user experience team for a Fortune-50 company.  Ms. Mitchell has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia and has received art direction training from the Woodruff School of Art in Atlanta.  She is an active member of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association.

Andréa Powers – Marketing and Communications Ms. Powers has 10 years marketing and communications experience.  She has worked for two major corporations headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and has experience  in sales, employee communications, public relations, interactive communications and technology marketing.  Ms. Powers has a wealth of knowledge regarding interactive web management, project management, account/vendor management, customer needs analysis, concept strategy, and building quality strategic interpersonal relationships.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Florida State University.

Chris Durant – Advisor Mr. Durant has 10 years technology and business experience in system integration.  He has worked for both large corporations, such as Georgia Pacific Corporation, and small start-up firms.  Mr. Durant has a Bachelor Business Administration in Management Science and Computer Information Systems from the University of Georgia as well as an MBA and graduated top of the MS/CIS program from Georgia State University with a concentration in electronic Commerce.  He also holds extensive network design experience and is an industry certified Network Engineer.

Brian Dupree – Advisor Mr. Dupree has 20 years experience in the technology industry.  He has extensive experience managing and developing mission critical software systems for business applications.  Recently, he has worked as a senior consultant for an e-business consulting company where he has participated in advanced web application projects.  Mr. Dupree holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a MBA with a concentration in e-commerce from Georgia State University.

2.7 Start-up Summary

Our start-up costs assumptions are shown in the following table and chart, and include Web hosting, software, development and marketing expenses.  The start-up costs were financed by direct owner investment.

Product Summary

The College Cafe will offer college students a unique blend of products, services, and content that is not offered by any single company on the Internet.  The College Cafe will aggregate participants, products, services and content to create a student-to-student marketplace and retail website targeting 15.8 million college students.  The following describe The College Cafe’s revenue models:

3.1 Textbook Exchange

The College Cafe will offer functionality to allow students to buy, sell and trade their used textbooks with other students.  Specifically, the Textbook Exchange functionality allows students to post their textbooks online for sale or trade, upload images, and indicate the condition of the book.  Students looking for used textbooks will be able to search for used textbooks for sale or trade in their local area or nationwide.  A fee will be charge for posting textbooks.  The fee may vary based on the asking price of the textbook.  Sample textbook categories include:

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Political Science

3.2 Auctions

The College Cafe will offer a powerful auction package.  The Auction functionality will have many features such as Standard, Reverse, Multi Item, Dutch and Blind auctions; Flash Buy and Proxy Bidding.  A fee will be charged for posting items to be auctioned.  The posting fee structure will be similar to eBay’s.  Sample auctions categories include:

• Class Notes
• Used CDs & DVDs
• Computer Equipment
• Electronics
• Dorm Furnishing

3.3 Classifieds

The College Cafe will offer fee based, student targeted, classifieds ads.  Here many features such as image upload, Web links and nested categories will be offered.  A fee will be charged for posting a classified.  The amount charged will be based on the length of time the classified will be posted.  Sample classified categories include:

• Room Wanted
• Help Wanted

The College Cafe will sell products targeted to college students.  Margins will range from 10% to 50% depending on the product.  Sample product categories include:

• CDs & DVDs
• Dorm Furnishings
• University Merchandise
• General Merchandise

3.5 Teacher Evaluations

The College Cafe will enable students to post and review teacher evaluations.  The teacher evaluation functionality will be a value added service encouraging students to visit the site each semester.  Revenue for teacher evaluations will be generated from the sale of banner ad space located within the teacher evaluation pages.  Banner ad sales will be targeted toward local businesses on or around campus.  The fee for banner ad space will be determined by the length of posting, number of users for teacher evaluations and demand.

3.6 Bloggers

The College Cafe will offer Weblogs (Bloggers) services with topics tailored toward students.  Weblog functionality will be a value added service to encourage students to return to the site.  Revenue for the Weblog will be generated from the sale of banner ad space located within the Weblog pages.  Depending on the Weblog topic, banner ad sales will be targeted toward either local businesses in or around campus or national companies.  The fees for banner ad space will be determined by the length of posting, number of users for the Weblog and demand.  Weblog topics will include: 

• College Sports
• Entertainment

3.7 Future Products

Overall, we conclude that our current products, services and banner ad strategy will ensure a strong market presence and continued revenue growth.  However as part of our growth model, we will regularly examine new services, products, categories and content to support demand.

Brick & Mortar Locations – The College Cafe will evaluate opening retail outlets in proximity to college campuses to support and complement the online presences.  Franchise rights may also be available.

Employment Opportunities – The College Cafe will offer a local and national job posting service so that students may search for new opportunities within the local community and nationwide.  A fee will be charged for posting jobs.

Apartment Finder – The College Cafe will offer a local and national apartment finder service so that students may search for apartments within the local community and nationwide.  A fee will be charged for postings.

Club & Organization Finder – The College Cafe will offer a local and national club and organization finder service so that students may search for clubs and organization within the local community and nationwide.  A fee will be charged for posting.

• Wine & Dine
• What’s Happening

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

The U.S. college student market is a growing yet under-served niche market.  The U.S. Department of Education expects the U.S. college student market to grow from 15.8 million students in 2003 to 17.2 million in 2008.  According to a Harris Interactive study conducted in the spring of 2002, college students spend an estimated $200 billion dollars per year.  As of 2003, it is estimated that college students were spending $1.4 billion online.

John Geraci, Vice President of Youth Research at Harris Interactive concludes: “The college consumer is easily overlooked since most information sources that marketers rely on for tracking consumer behavior tend to under-represent college students.  However, it is a consumer group that marketers should recognize as offering substantial opportunity.  Connecting with consumers during the college years can pay great dividends, both now and well into the future.”

4.1 Market Growth

According to the findings from the 360 Youth/Harris Interactive College Explorer Study estimated the U.S. college market will spend nearly $200 billion dollars a year.

University Bookstores The National Association of College Stores estimated U.S./Canadian university bookstore sales to be $11.12 billion for the 2001-2002 academic year and online textbooks sales to be an estimated $1.8 billion.  University bookstores sell a variety of items, ranging from textbooks to toothpaste.  The following table display the estimate of average product sales in the entire university bookstore market, from largest to smallest segments[1].

Textbooks The total textbook/course materials market is estimated to be $7.8 billion based on sales data for the 2001-2002 academic year.  The textbook market is made up of three segments – new texts, used texts, and custom-published materials(or course packs).  The percent of total store sales and estimated market size of each segment is provided below. 

Online Retail Jupiter forecasts that online retail spending in the will grow by 28 percent in 2003 to $52 billion.  The research company estimates that by 2007, online retail spending will reach $105 billion and account for five percent of all retail spending.  Jupiter estimates that the online retail will grow at an average annual growth rate of 21 percent between 2002 and 2007. 

[1] National Association of College Stores (2000-2001) 

4.2 Market Trends

The follow statistics indicate that college students are receptive to the Internet channel for the products, services and content offered by the College Cafe.  The following U.S. college student statistics were based on a report by the Student Monitor and the Harris Interactive Explorer Study. 

• Students average 10 hours per week listening to the radio

According to the Harris Interactive Study, college students spend an average of $287 per month on discretionary items (which is defined as spending on anything other than tuition, room/board, rent/mortgage, books/school fees).

Participation/Spending by College Students on Entertainment and Leisure Activities

Projections based on Spring 2002 360 Youth/Harris Interactive College Explorer Study; this represents a partial list of categories for entertainment and leisure activities.

The National Association of College Stores estimates U.S. college store sales to be $11.12 billion for the 2001-2002 academic year.  College stores sell a variety of items, ranging from textbooks to toothpaste.

4.3 Market Segmentation

The following table illustrates the future growth of rate of college students by age group and sex.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, Nos. 1092, 1095, and “National Population Estimates,” December 2001, and “Annual Projections of the Total Resident Population: 1999 to 2100,” January 2000

4.4 Target Market Segment Strategy

The potential market for The College Cafe consists of 15.8 million college students enrolled in over 4,180 institutions.  For the Phase 1 launch of The College Cafe, we plan to focus our marketing effort on a subset market located in the Southeastern U.S.  We plan to expand to new markets with a phased approach focusing on a new region of the country each semester.  The Phase 1 target market segment will consist of the following universities:

Phase 2 will focus on additional colleges and universities located in the southeast with the addition of colleges and universities in the Northeast.

4.5 Competitive Anaylsis

Competitors of The College Cafe includes traditional university bookstores, online textbook retailers, textbook exchange sites, textbook price comparison sites, online auction sites and online content specific sites targeting the college student market.

4.5.1 University Bookstores

The major objective and strategy of university bookstores is to maintain competitive pricing and customer service.  The strengths of the traditional university bookstores are current customer relationships and location to the University.  The major weaknesses of university bookstores are the limited product selection and lack of value added services that can be offered online.

The National Association of College Stores estimates U.S./Canadian university bookstore sales to be $11.12 billion for the 2001-2002 academic year. 

There are approximately 4,840 college bookstores serving 4,182 institutions in the United States and 170 college stores in Canada.  Larger universities will often have several stores to serve students, smaller schools in a local area may be served by a single store, and several schools in an urban community may share multiple retail outlets.  While many college stores share a common mission, they vary widely in size, location, ownership, and customer base.

The majority of stores are owned or operated by the university they serve.  On-campus stores are mostly institutional, but they may also be contract managed, cooperatives, or student associations.  Off-campus stores are typically privately owned.

According to the NACS College Store Industry Financial Report 2003, college stores returned a median net income of 7.3% of net sales to their institutions.

NACS Membership by Sales Volume

4.5.2 Online Bookstores & Retail Websites

The major objective and strategy of online competitors is to maintain brand awareness, offer value added services, product selection/availability, order fulfillment and customer service.  The strengths of existing online bookstores and retail sites are current customer relationships and brand awareness.  The major weaknesses of online competitors is barriers to entry, concern about security & fraud, shipping charges, on-time fulfillment and returns processing.

Based on the 2003 College Store Industry Financial Report, total online sales at university bookstores for 2001-2002 are estimated to be $150 million or 1.41% of total college store sales.  With a “click and mortar” strategy, the university bookstore can offer the convenience of web ordering, paired with:

• Ease of returns
• The ability to pick up items for immediate use
• One-stop shopping
• Accurate information on what textbooks students need for their courses
• The trust and security of buying from a well-known source with an on-campus location

The following table lists some of the major independent online retailers not associated with a university bookstore:

Marketing Strategy

The College Cafe’s customers will be the 15.8 million college students in the United States.  This segment is a niche market that has no single business entity accounting for any significant percentage of total aggregated college student purchases.

The main business model for The College Cafe relies on college students providing textbooks, auctions, classifieds and teacher evaluations available on the website.  Therefore, our focus will be on the marketing strategy to increase student traffic and usage.  In turn, visitor volume and transactions will maintain the inventory of products and services offered.

The College Cafe recognizes the key to success as an extensive promotion strategy to attract users.  Once additional funding is secured the advertising and promotion plan will be implemented.

5.1 Strategic Alliances

The College Cafe is looking to form relationships with major companies in the college student market.  Companies that we will approach included university merchandise manufacturers or resellers, specialized content suppliers, new and used textbook wholesalers and local businesses.

5.2 Promotion Strategy

The College Cafe’s overall advertising and promotional objectives are to:

• Acquire customers and generate sales.
• Position The College Cafe as the market leader.
• Increase company awareness and brand name recognition among college students.
• Collect market research to create immediate and long-term marketing plans.

5.3 Marketing Programs

The College Cafe will attract customers by using a mixture of traditional and online advertising strategies to create a grassroots marketing campaign. 

Since the majority of The College Cafe’s customer acquisition will result from direct promotion local to universities, The College Cafe will recruit current college students to fill positions in the areas of campus marketing, local advertisement sales and implementation of a “grassroots” marketing campaign. 

The following is a list of advertising and promotional channels The College Cafe will utilize:

• Posting Flyer in and around campuses
• Direct Mailings
• University and local newspaper advertising and inserts
• Promotional item distribution
• Advertisements at on-campus kiosk
• “Welcome Back to School” registration booths 
• “Welcome Back to School” care-package inserts
• Sponsorship of recreational/intermural team sports
• Sponsorships of campus or community events
• University and local newspaper advertising
• Indoor/outdoor billboard advertisements at college sporting events
• Banner ads on select related sites with a significant level of traffic
• Links on related web sites
• Traditional media including direct mailings, magazines, radio and TV
• Registration with all the major search engines

The main business model for The College Cafe relies on college students providing the textbooks, auctions, classifieds and teacher evaluations that are posted on the website.  Therefore, our focus relies heavily on the marketing strategy that will increase traffic and usage and, in turn, maintain our inventory of products and services. 

For the retail business component we will establish relationships with manufacturers or distributors that offer drop-shipments direct to the customer.  This will allow The College Cafe to keep expenses associated with inventory and distribution to a minimum.

We will be contracting students as subject matter experts to provide the content in the weblogs.  The use of students as weblog content experts will help keep costs to a minium yet still providing interesting and relevant content.

For content and other value added service we will establish relationships with 3rd party vendors.  This will enable The College Cafe to offer a wide variety of products and services online yet allow The College Cafe to focus on the key business elements; textbooks, auctions, classifieds and teacher evaluations.

Services and Technology

The website is designed with the needs of the college student as the focus.  The College Cafe is built using Microsoft technologies which will provide the flexibility to easily expand products and service offerings in the future.  The College Cafe will initially host the website with an external web-hosting vendor thus reducing initial start-up cost.  At a later date, The College Cafe may elect to bring hosting in-house for better support and maintenance. 

The Textbook Exchange, Auction, Classified, and User Administration software was purchased from Xcent Software, Inc and modified to support The College Cafe’s business needs.  The rights to the source code of the Xcent’s software were included in the purchase price of the software.  This will enable our programmers to customize the software to support The College Cafe’s growing business needs.

The College Cafe website and databases are hosted by Atl-Connect Internet Services which guarantees 99.99% uptime.  In addition to Web hosting, Atl-Connects provides site monitoring and statistical performance metrics that include uptime, page views, unique users, banner impressions, search keywords stats and link stats from other sites.

The accompanying table lists important milestones with dates and managers in charge.  The milestone schedule also indicates our initial beta launch of the website at Georgia State University.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

The following are the summarized points from The College Cafe’s financial plan.  All charts and tables supporting these results are included in the appendix at the end of the business plan:

• The College Cafe will generate assertive revenues by the end of year one.
• The College Cafe will start reporting sustained profits during the 9th month of the 1st year.
• Sales and profits by year three will top 1.5x that of year one.
• The College Cafe will require an initial investment in capital to finance the marketing campaign and launch strategy.
• The College Cafe will require additional investment to fund additional Web development, sales and marketing efforts and general operating expenses.

The College Cafe will provide a complete student-to-student marketplace.  Investment contacts have already been approached and their expressions of satisfaction and encouragement are numerous.  We intend to continue our advances with more unique and effective business solutions for the the college market.  Based on the attached financial projections, we believe that this venture represents a sound business investment. 

9.1 Important Assumptions

The financial projections are based on the following assumptions and facts for the industry as outlined in our market analysis:

• As of 2003, college students spend and estimated $200 billion annually.
• There are over 15.8 million college students.
• The founders have contributed significant capital.
• The fee for posting textbooks will equal $3 per textbook.
• The fee for posting classifieds will equal $5 per classified.
• The sales margin for products sold will average 15% and vary based on product.

9.2 Start-up Funding

In order to implement The College Cafe Phase 1 marketing campaign and launch strategy, we are seeking an initial seed investment of $150,000.  An additional investment of $1 million will be required for operational expenses, continuing marketing campaigns, additional website enhancements, maintenance and support as necessary to establish and maintain The College Cafe as the leading online student-to-student market place.

As detailed in the Cash Balance chart for one year, The College Cafe will be able to begin and sustain its operations with the above mentioned investments.  We are confident the opportunities in the market place are so compelling that with year one cash flows, The College Cafe will grow and take advantage of the growth in the college market.

9.3 Use of Funds

Initial funding proceeds will be used primarily for marketing, additional website development and maintenance.  All the equipment needed will be leased or purchased, and included in the operational expenses.  The rest of the funds will be used as working capital to maintain the operations until revenues generated by The College Cafe will be at the point where we can sustain operational expenses.

9.4 Exit Strategy

The financial projections indicate that The College Cafe will have generated enough cash in the next five years to permit the exit of the outside investors if so desired.  It is the founders’ choice to continue with the company’s profitable operations until The College Cafe is presented with a viable offer for acquisition or the opportunity of an IPO is contemplated.

9.5 Key Financial Indicators

The following chart shows changes in key financial indicators: sales, gross margin, and operating expenses.

9.6 Break-even Analysis

A break-even analysis table has been completed on the basis of average costs/prices. 

9.7 Sales Forcast

The table and charts below show our forecasts for sales and costs of sales.  Annual figures for three years are shown.  Monthly estimates for the first year are included in the appendix.

9.8 Personnel Plan

The table below shows our forecasts for personnel.  Annual figures for three years are shown.  Monthly estimates for the first year are included in the appendix.

9.9 Projected Profit and Loss

The table and charts below present our forecasted for profit and loss.  Annual figures for three years are shown.  Monthly estimates for the first year are included in the appendix.

9.10 Projected Cash Flow

The table and chart below show our cash flow predictions.  Annual figures for three years are shown.  Monthly estimates for the first year are included in the appendix.

9.11 Projected Balance Sheet

The table below details our projected balance sheet.  Annual figures for three years are shown.  Monthly estimates for the first year are included in the appendix.

9.12 Business Ratios

Business ratios for the years of this plan are shown below. Industry profile ratios based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 5942.9904, College book stores, are shown for comparison.

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software