It should be noted that there is no special software required to use these templates. All business plans come in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel format. Each business plan features:

• Excecutive Summary
• Company and Financing Summary
• Products and Services Overview
• Strategic Analysis with current research!
• Marketing Plan
• Personnel Plan
• 3 Year Advanced Financial Plan
• Expanded Financial Plan with Monthly Financials
• Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
• FREE PowerPoint Presentation for Banks, Investors, or Grant Companies!

1.0 Executive Summary

The purpose of this business plan is to raise $250,000 for the development of a trade association and organization while showcasing the expected financials and operations over the next three years. The Trade Association, Inc. (“the Foundation”) is a New York based 501(c)(3) corporation that will provide for the furtherance of the Foundation’s targeted industry in order to further promote business and relationships among its members. The trade association will distribute four periodicals per year showcasing new trends in the industry, industry statistics, and will host two events per year so that people from the target industry can network with each other. The Foundation was founded by John Doe.

1.1 Products and Services

As mentioned above, the Trade Association will be actively engaged in developing a periodical that will be distributed to its membership base on a quarterly basis. The Foundation will charge a yearly fee of $199 in order to receive this publication. The Trade Association will also maintain an expansive website in which members can log on to find potential business partners and discuss ways that the industry is changing.

Each year, the Trade Association will hold two major events in which all members will be invited. For these events, the Foundation will sell sponsorship advertising to members that want to have their business’ name prominently featured at these events and within all literature that is associated with the Trade Association.

The third section of the business plan will further describe the operations offered by the Trade Association.

1.2 The Financing

Management intends that the first round of capital will come as a sponsorship grant for $250,000, which will be used to launch the trade association operations of the Foundation. As the organization is a non-stock corporation, no equity position or distribution of EBITDA income will be distributed to any party that provides capital for the Foundation. After immediately receiving the capital infusion, the Foundation will establish its office and begin to launch the operations as discussed above. The initial funds will be used for the following:

• Establishment of the 501(c)(3) entity.

• Financing for the initial capital to be used for the Company’s initial Trade Association publications.

• General working capital for the Foundation

The second section of the business plan will further document the initial uses of the grant/sponsorship funds.

1.3 Mission Statement

The Trade Association’s mission is to provide outstanding support and networking capabilities for people within the target industry.

1.4 Mangement Team

The Company was founded by John Doe. Mr. Doe has more than 10 years of experience in the trade association industry. Through his expertise, he will be able to bring the operations of the business to profitability within its first year of operations.

1.5 Sales Forecasts

Mr. Doe expects a strong rate of growth at the start of operations. Below are the expected financials over the next three years.

1.6 Expansion Plan

The Founder expects that the business will aggressively expand during the first three years of operation. Mr. Doe intends to implement marketing campaigns that will effectively target companies that will want to enroll in the Foundation’s trade association. These marketing campaigns will be further discussed in the fifth section of the business plan. In time, ancillary benefits may be provided to members once the Trade Association expands.

2.0 Company and Financing Summary

2.1 Registered Name and Corporate Structure

Trade Association, Inc. The Company is registered as a corporation in the State of New York.

2.2 Required Funds

At this time, Trade Association, Inc. requires $250,000 of funds. Below is a breakdown of how these funds will be used:

2.3 Investor Equity

As the business is a non-stock corporation, no formal ownership will be held by donors, Management, or corporate sponsors.

2.4 Management Equity

The non-stock corporation exists as its own entity. Management will retain no formal equity interest in the corporation.

2.5 Exit Strategy

In the event that Foundation wishes to cease operations, the Management will file the appropriate articles of dissolution, and the assets of the Foundation will be liquidated.

3.0 Products and Services

As stated in the executive summary, the Trade Association intends to provide outstanding opportunities to its members by being able to provide them with up to date information regarding the target industry. Primarily, the Foundation will distribute quarterly publications that are 100 to 150 pages in length that focus on issues pertaining to the trade industry, advertisements among businesses that want to do business within the industry, and changes in the industry. The Foundation will solicit a number of experts to write articles regarding how the target industry intends to grow, recent changes in legislation (if applicable), and ways in which individual entrepreneurs and trades people can increase the size of their operation.

In each of these publications, the Foundation will feature a number of sponsored company’s advertisements. These advertisements, in addition to the fees that are charged to members on a yearly basis, will ensure that the Foundation is able to remain cash flow positive at all times.

Additionally, the Trade Association will host two annual events, in major cities, that will allow every member of the Foundation to meet, network, and potentially conduct business transactions. There will be a moderate fee charged to individuals that want to attend these events. As the Trade Association intends to operate in a not for profit capacity, the fees that are collected to host these events will be generally limited to the cost of obtaining a venue, entertainment, food, and a moderate amount of capital raising activities.

It should be noted, in time, that the Trade Association may seek to provide ancillary benefits to its members including a structured group healthcare insurance policy plan. This has been one of the foremost changes in the trade association industry as many entrepreneurs, individual contractors, and even large corporations are finding it more difficult to provide health insurance to their employees and for owners. As such, by being able to arrange for a potentially very large group health insurance policy – the Trade Association will be in a strong position to effectively recruit new members very quickly. However, this type of service would not be offered until the Trade Association is at least three years old.

4.0 Strategic and Market Analysis

4.1 Economic Outlook

This section of the analysis will detail the economic climate, the trade association not for profit organization industry, the customer profile, and the competition that the business will face as it progresses through its business operations.

Currently, the economic market condition in the United States is moderate. Unemployment rates have declined while asset prices have risen substantially. However, with many entrepreneurs and businesses seeking to increase awareness of their brand names while concurrently learning about how to expand their businesses – the demand for membership in trade associations that provide significant benefits has increased significantly. As such, the Trade Association should be able to maintain a positive cash flow at all times from the membership revenues and sponsorship revenues that are produced from its membership base.

4.2 Industry Analysis

Within the United States, there are more than 45,000 trade associations and business associations. Each year, these associations (which are all registered as not for profit entities) generate more than $60 billion of revenues and provide jobs to more than 345,000 people. Annual payrolls in each of the last five years has exceeded $15 billion.

The growth trend of the trade association industry is expected to remain on par with that of the general economy. The one area of the trade association industry that will continue to grow at a faster rate is expected to pertain to alternative energy companies and sub-segments of the technology industry.

4.3 Customer Profile

Management has outlined the following demographics of businesses that are anticipated to enroll in the Trade Association’s membership program:

• Annual revenues of $250,000 to $3,000,000

• Has 5 to 25 employees

• Is seeking to network with other companies within the industry

• Annual EBITDA of $50,000 to $1,000,000

• Will spend $200 to $500 per year on Trade Association activities and publications.

• May have a need to enroll in a large scale health insurance policy.

4.4 Competitive Analysis

This is one of the sections of the business plan that you must write completely on your own. The key to writing a strong competitive analysis is that you do your research on the local competition. Find out who your competitors are by searching online directories and searching in your local Yellow Pages. If there are a number of competitors in the same industry (meaning that it is not feasible to describe each one) then showcase the number of businesses that compete with you, and why your business will provide customers with service/products that are of better quality or less expensive than your competition.

5.0 Marketing Plan

The Trade Association intends to maintain an extensive marketing campaign that will ensure maximum visibility for the Foundation in its targeted market. Below is an overview of the marketing strategies and objectives of the Foundation.

5.1 Marketing Objectives

• Develop an online presence by developing a website and placing the Foundation’s name and contact information with online directories.

• Regular hold large scale events that will generate publicity for the Foundation within the Trade Associations target industry.

• Establish relationships with large business trusts and corporate benefactors.

5.2 Marketing Strategies

Management intends to use a number of marketing strategies to make individual companies and entrepreneurs within the target industry aware of Trade Association’s operations and the benefits of joining the trade association. Foremost, the business intends to use the power of the internet as many businesspeople now use the internet to find specific information on the industry in which they operate. The Foundation will develop an extensive website that has a number of content rich articles so that the Trade Association’s website appears on the first page of many search results when industry keywords are put into search engines.

The business will conduct several mass mailings several times per year in order to gain continual support from companies that operate within the target industry. In each of the quarterly publications that are distributed by the Trade Association, the Foundation will include an insert for individuals that want to make additional donations or sponsorships to the trade association. PPublicity activities will be designed to generate ongoing coverage about the Foundation in targeted media by providing writers and editors with newsworthy releases, features, stories, briefs, and visual material for their columns and stories. In depth coverage may also be obtained about the Foundation by hosting in-house interviews to be conducted by the Foundation’s spokesperson.

5.3 Pricing

In this section, describe the pricing of your services and products. You should provide as much information as possible about your pricing as possible in this section. However, if you have hundreds of items, condense your product list categorically. This section of the business plan should not span more than 1 page.more than 1 page.o:p>

6.0 Organizational Plan and Personnel Summary

6.1 Corporate Organization

6.2 Organizational Budget

In this section of the business plan, you should write a two to four paragraph biography about your work experience, your education, and your skill set. For each owner or key employee, you should provide a brief biography in this section.

7.0 Financial Plan

77.1 Underlying Assumptions

The Company has based its proforma financial statements on the following:

• The Trade Association will have an annual revenue growth rate of 14% per year.

• The Foundation will initially be seeded with $250,000 of grant capital.

7.2 Sensitivity Analysis

The Foundation’s revenues are sensitive to the overall condition of the financial markets. For many businesses (especially small businesses) the costs associated with belonging to a trade association are a luxury, and as such, during times of economic recession, the Foundation expects that its membership may decline or new members will be harder to find. Management will enact several procedures to ensure that the Foundation can survive severe decreases in its revenue.

 

7.3 Source of Funds /b>

7.4 General Assumptions

7.5 Profit and Loss Statements 

7.6 Cash Flow Analysis

 

7.7 Balance Sheet

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7.8 General Assumptions

7.9 Business Ratios

Expanded Profit and Loss Statements

Expanded Cash Flow Analysis