Table of Contents

Introduction 1 Part I: Getting Started 7 Chapter 1: Letting Your Plan Take Flight 9 Chapter 2: Figuring Out What's So Special about You (and Your Business) 27 Chapter 3: Sizing up the Competition 39 Part II: Doing the Groundwork 57 Chapter 4: Budgeting for Start-Up Expenses 59 Chapter 5: Figuring out Prices and Predicting Sales 77 Chapter 6: Calculating Costs and Gross Profit 97 Chapter 7: Planning for Expenses 119 Part III: Checking Your Idea Makes Financial Sense 145 Chapter 8: Assembling Your Profit & Loss Projection 147 Chapter 9: Calculating Your Break-Even Point 169 Chapter 10: Creating Cashflows and Building Budgets 179 Part IV: Transforming Your Idea into Reality 199 Chapter 11: Separating Yourself from Your Business 201 Chapter 12: Developing a Strong Marketing Plan 219 Chapter 13: Staying One Step Ahead 243 Chapter 14: Managing Risk 259 Chapter 15: Pulling Together Your Written Plan 275 Part V: The Part of Tens 295 Chapter 16: Ten Tips for Using Excel in Your Business Plan 297 Chapter 17: Ten Ideas for a Well-Presented Plan 309 Chapter 18: Ten Questions to Ask before You're Done 319 Appendix: Sample Business Plan 327 Index 349

About the Author

Veechi Curtis is a qualified accountant and consultantwho specialises in small business finance, marketing andtechnology. She is the author of several bestselling Australian andNew Zealand business titles, including Small Business ForDummies, MYOB(R) Software For Dummies andBookkeeping For Dummies.