IDA participants are required to complete a business plan that is commensurate with the operations and complexity of their business. A typical business plan is approximately 10 pages with a one-year cash flow projection.

The purpose of a business plan is not to saddle you with lots of paperwork. Rather, the purpose is to help you think about the type of business that you want to start, what types of products or services that you will sell, who are your customers, how will you market to your customers, and how will you generate sufficient cash flow to make the business profitable.

Lane MicroBusiness offers up business plan classes throughout the year. SBA’s Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) has business plan templates available for download. These business plan templates walk you through the following topics:

• Executive Summary
  
• General company description
• Products and services
• Marketing plan
• Operational plan
• Management and organization
• Personal financial statement
• Startup expenses and capitalization
• Financial plan
• 12 month cash flow projection

An Excel-based 12-month cash flow projection is available from SCORE.