Brainstorm ideas for a new business you (or your team if you work with other students–you may work in a team of maximum three people) want to start in the future–it can be a physical good or a service, but make sure your business is legit and ethical. In the Modules section under Final Project: Business Plan Information, I have uploaded a list of questions that you should cover in your business plan, a sample Word template (BA 100 Business Plan Submission Template.docx, also available in “Modules_Business Plan”) that you can use to organize the sections, as well as a sample Excel spreadsheet for the income statement section. Feel free to edit or format the template as needed. Please answer all questions but do not copy the entire questions directly to your document, as copying and pasting questions could impact the similarity score report from Turnitin.
Choose a business idea that is appropriate for college learning. It could be fictional or real. Maybe you’ve already participated in a family business (e.g., a family restaurant) and want to expand it or improve the sales–that is great. If fictional, state clearly that it is for a future business and all numbers are estimated. Your estimates (e.g., sales and costs) should be realistic. For example, very few people will be able to borrow or make millions of dollars when starting a business. The best way to get good estimates is to observe a similar business nearby, count the number of customers per hour, and estimate the amount each customer spends. Then you can estimate daily/weekly/monthly/annual sales. Make sure that you stay safe and follow social distancing rules if you choose to observe a business.
At the end of your business plan, include a simple income statement for next year that include expected sales, revenue, profit, expenses