Basic Elements Of The Fiber Arts Business Plan

If you're wanting to rent a space for a retail business, or get funding from a private investor or bank, you should first write a business plan. A complete, well written business plan is your ticket to any financial help you need and will serve as a guide for you as you move through your business. For example, a knowledgeable landlord is not likely to show you a space without a business plan. They want to be sure that the potential business is going to work, and that you have the capital to make it through the lease for at least three to five years. A bank will not lend you money without a business plan and copies of your current financial information.

What exactly is a business plan? It's your ideas and dreams written down including financial information that shows your potential income and cash flow (cash flow is like your checking account statement). A business plan lets you see if your dream can come true (is it going to be able to support itself) and if it would be worth the investment of time and money (after I'm in business, how long will it take me to break even, how many hours will I need to work, realistically). Here's a basic outline of a business plan. It is the business plan that I used for StitchCraft. There are other ways of writing outlines, but here are my basic elements:

• Cover Page
• Statement Of Purpose
• Basic Business Description
• Market Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Location Information
• Organization and Management
• Supporting Documents
• Summery of Financial Sources and Uses of Funds
• Projected Income Statement (Three Years)
• Cash Flow Analysis (Three Years)

Writing your business plan can take months. You will  interview prospective landlords, vendors, check out your competition, understand your market, gather information on advertising costs, utility costs, insurance costs, interview an accountant to get a basic understanding of taxes and what type of business (Corporation, LLC, Sole Proprietor, etc.) would benefit your current financial situation. You will also need a good business lawyer. For this blog, I'm going to focus on the business plan outline above and break them down into more detail as I move from subject to subject. In this post, I address the Cover Page.

The Cover Page is your introductory page, and the easiest to complete. Mine was as follows:

Business Plan For
StitchCraft, LLC

Submitted To (Landlord)

By Nicholette Hoyer
Address
Phone and Fax Number
Email Address

Date

You can substitute Landlord with Bank, Potential Investor's Names, your mom, etc. And, you should make sure that if you give it to someone other than a Bank (most banks keep your plan confidential) that you have them sign a legal confidentiality note. You wouldn't want anyone to steal your business plan. In the best case scenario, I would have the prospective person meet with you and review the plan in your presence. That way, you're readily available to answer any of their initial questions.