By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS March Madness, the annual college basketball tournament that glues Americans to their TVs and their brackets, is a bittersweet time for the Cornette family. Just 15 years ago Joel and Jordan, brothers and best friends, were stars on teams that advanced to the Sweet 16. […]
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By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew has been coming to spring training since the mid-1960s. But when he walked into the clubhouse at the Minnesota Twins spring training facility, it was the first time with a new heart. If you have questions or comments about this […]
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By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS How your teeth are faring as you age can also indicate how your heart is doing. The idea of oral and heart health being connected has been proposed for more than a century. Numerous studies have looked at how oral health affects overall health, and […]
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We’re just a week away from that annual shindig down in Augusta, and with Tigermania peaking, Rory streaking and Dustin staying away from staircases, this promises to be the most exciting Masters in years.
It truly is a tradition unlike any other, and along with the good folks at Wilson Staff, MyGolfSpy wants to make your Masters weekend a bit more interesting with the first of our four #SpyStaffSlam contests.
First prize is your choice of a fully customized set of Wilson Staff irons - anything from the super-duper game improvement D350’s all the way up to the super-sexy FG Tour 100 blades. It’s your choice.
The contest is pretty simple to enter. You pick a 4-person team, and if your team cops to the most total prize money, you win. As we said, 1st prize is a full set of Wilson Staff irons cut built to your specs, 2nd prize is Wilson Staff PMP wedge with the new Raw finish, and 3rd prize is a dozen Wilson DUOSoft balls.
And this is only the beginning. We’ll be doing the same thing all over again for the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA. Wilson Staff has won 63 of these things, you know.
It’s easy to enter, but make sure you follow the directions, so you don’t miss out.
First, if you haven’t already, you must join the MyGolfSpy Community Forum (click here to sign up).
Next, in the official MyGolfSpy Master’s Pool Thread in the Community Forum (click here), select and enter your team from the provided tiers. You’ll also need to enter your tiebreakers, just in case.
It’s pretty simple, but make sure to enter your selections only in the contest thread in the Community Forum. We’ll announce the winners in that thread Monday after the Masters.
You won’t get a green jacket, but then again, a green jacket won’t knock it stiff from 160!
Lately, I have been part of several project teams. Some of these experiences have caused me to sit back and analyze the project planning process to understand how project management planning and implementation could be improved.
Why do projects managed by talented people end up being delayed or not completed? Why do project teams sometimes feel that they are shooting at a moving target? I find that the lack of proper planning or failure to create a systematic approach can be fatal to projects.
Project planning is the process of defining your objectives and scope, your goals and milestones (deliverables), and assigning tasks and budgetary resources for each step. A good plan is easily shareable with everyone involved, and it’s most useful when it’s revisited regularly. Simply outlining a plan and never discussing it with your team again is a good recipe for wasted time and effort.
You can do your project planning in a simple Google doc, or you can use project management software. The benefit of using project management software is that you’re usually able to store all of your documents and deliverables in one place, and you can avoid losing important discussions and decisions to the email or Slack void. With a tool like Basecamp, for example, it’s easy to track progress and keep track of conversations and items that require collaboration with a few different people.
If you’re thinking about project management as an entrepreneur or within a fast-paced startup, it might seem like it all takes too much time at the outset. But, you’ll actually save a lot of time and resources if you document your project plan right from the start and use it as a roadmap to keep you and your team on track.
Here are seven keys to successful project planning to help you get started.
Every project needs a roadmap with clearly defined goals that should not change after the first phase of the project has been completed. All stakeholders benefiting from the outcome or involved in executing the project should be named and their needs stated during the initial project planning process.
Don’t assume that you automatically understand each stakeholder’s needs and goals. Before you get too far into documenting your project plan, talk to them to make sure you really understand the project and abilities and resources of everyone on the team.
Develop a list of all deliverables. This list should break down the larger project into smaller tasks that can be assigned to specific team members, and you should include estimated deadlines associated with each deliverable or task.
Make sure that you understand and document the approval process for each deliverable. If your project is for an external customer, make sure you are clear on their internal approval process, so that you’re not surprised by delays or slowed down with wading through competing opinions.
Identify by name all individuals and/or organizations involved in each deliverable or task, and describe their responsibilities in detail. Otherwise, miscommunication can lead to delays and situations where team members may have to redo their work.
Hold a kickoff meeting to talk to your team about your intended plan of attack. Ask them to help you think about the best way to get the work done. Not only will this help you be more efficient, it will help you get their buy-in because they’ll feel more ownership over the process. Using a project management tool like Basecamp can be helpful keeping everyone on track and storing documents and conversations all in one place.
If you use email to communicate about projects, consider using a team inbox email solution that will allow you to assign emails that need project-related attention to team members as appropriate, rather than endlessly forwarding huge conversation threads back and forth.
Determine the risks involved in your project. Think through what you’ll do if something takes much longer than expected, or if costs end up being much more than you initially anticipated.
You don’t have to have a specific course of action identified for every possible negative outcome, but you should spend some time with your team, thinking through what could go wrong. Then, you can do as much as you can to mitigate those risks from the outset, rather than being caught off guard later. Risk factors can also have some influence on how you budget.
Attached to your list of milestones and deliverables should be information about the project cost and estimated budget. Resist the urge to assign large dollar amounts to big projects without identifying exactly how the money is intended to be spent. This will help your team understand the resources they have to work with to get the job done. When you’re setting your initial budget, these numbers might be ranges rather than absolutes.
For certain items, you might need to get quotes from a few different vendors. It can be helpful to document the agreed upon project scope briefly in your budget documentation, in case you end up needing to make changes to the larger project based on budgetary constraints, or if your vendor doesn’t deliver exactly what you expected.
Use your list of deliverables as a framework for adding milestones and tasks that will need to be completed to accomplish the larger goal. Establish reasonable deadlines, taking into account project team members’ productivity, availability, and efficiency.
These can be monthly, weekly, or daily reports. Ideally, a collaborative workspace should be set up for your project online or offline where all parties can monitor the progress. Make sure you have a communication plan—document how often you’ll update stakeholders on progress and how you’ll share information—like at a weekly meeting or daily email.
Use the framework you set up when you identified your milestones to guide your reports. Try not to recreate any wheels or waste time with generating new reports each time you need to communicate progress. Keep in mind that using a project management software like Basecamp can keep stakeholders in the loop without cluttering up your inbox, or losing conversations in long Slack chats.
The secret to effective project planning and management is staying organized and communicating well with your team and stakeholders. Whether you decide to use project management software or not, think about where and how you store all the materials and resources that relate to your project—keep everything in one place if you can. Good luck!
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS With income tax time fast approaching and spring school and work activities dominating daily life, stress can creep in. How you respond to that stress makes a difference in your mental and physical health. Excessive stress can lead to emotional and physical symptoms, such as […]
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There may be no entity on Earth happier about the return of Tigermania than Bridgestone Golf. When Tiger plays, more people watch and the better Tiger plays, the more closeups of Tiger's ball. And as Tiger's ball is the Bridgestone Tour B XS, you can't put a price tag on that kind of branding gold.
Tiger still moves the needle like no golfer since Arnie, and Bridgestone is riding that wave. In a company press release, Bridgestone is claiming more than double sell-through of balls at national retail partners in the weeks that Tiger plays when compared to last year. The company also says it sees a similar increase in eCommerce sales.
So with proverbial iron red hot, why not capitalize with Limited Edition Tour B XS Tiger Woods Edition balls?
These are Bridgestone's normal Tour B XS balls, but with the same custom TIGER personalization Tiger uses on his gamers. You also get a sweet Tiger box, and Bridgestone donates a portion of the profits to the TGR Foundation.
The TGR Foundation is Tiger's official charity and is in its 22nd year. In Tiger's words, the TGR Foundation's purpose is to "equip kids with a solid education and the mindset to persevere. We are quietly impacting an entire generation for the better."
The program has served more than 165,000 students (88% are minority, 85% lie below the poverty line and 97% are first in their families to ever attend college), introducing them to STEM - or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math - education. According to TGR's website, the foundation helps students in need to thrive in school, their communities, and the working world. The Earl Woods Scholar Program enjoys a 98.7% graduation rate, one of the highest rates for a scholarship program in the U.S.
The Tiger Edition balls will retail for $49.99 per dozen - 5 bucks more than the non-Tiger models - and will be available beginning April 1st.
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Bridgestone's online ball fitting program is taking a bit of a leap forward with Find My Ball. The new fitting tool gives you three options: I'm New To The Game, I Know My Game, and I've Been Fitted.
I'm New To The Game is, obviously, for newbies and simply asks for your average score and your preference for either feel, accuracy or distance. I Know My Game is a little more in depth, asking for your age, gender, and current ball brand and model along with your average score and performance preference.
I've Been Fitted asks for launch monitor data, including driver club head speed, carry and total distance, ball velocity, launch angle, and spin, as well as current ball, average score, and performance preference. Once you give Bridgestone your email address, it'll make a ball recommendation and direct you to retailers as well as provide you with a link to buy online directly from Bridgestone.
You also get a reliability score - obviously, the more info you provide the more confident Bridgestone is with its recommendation. There are limitations to this type of online fitting tool, but then again, there are limitations to an in-person ball-fitting as well. Bridgestone bases its online recommendations on data collected from its in-person fittings.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS U.S.-born adults are more likely to report having been diagnosed with coronary heart disease and stroke than their immigrant peers, a new federal study shows. The study’s lead author Dr. Jing Fang, a cardiovascular epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said learning […]
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Throughout all its iterations dating back to 1953, the Ben Hogan Company has had its good days and its bad days. There have been major championships and changes in ownership, along with comebacks, setbacks, mothballing, bankrolling, shutdowns and other showdowns.
Love it or hate it, it’s the brand that simply refuses to die.
And not only is Hogan refusing to die, but it’s also actually insisting on being relevant again by following up last week’s Equalizer wedge release with an entirely new from-the-ground-up iron set bearing a classic Hogan name – Edge.
“It made a lot of sense, given the history and the heritage of the Edge name, to bring it back,” says Hogan CEO Scott White. The very first Hogan Edge iron was introduced in the late 80’s and became one of the most successful game-improvement irons in history. It was the first Hogan iron to feature perimeter weighting for extra forgiveness, along with the classic Hogan forged feel.
Will the new Edge live up to the standard set by its namesake? Not surprisingly, White says absolutely.
“I don’t like the term game-improvement. I’d rather call it game-enhancement,” White tells MyGolfSpy. “It’s for guys or women who are serious about their games, who play a bit and have some skill. It’s not a club with training wheels by any stretch of the imagination, but it does have some game improvement properties to it.”
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There’s plenty of perimeter weighting in the new Edge, but it’s well hidden internally. There’s still a cavity, and you can physically see the outline of the perimeter weighting, but the vast majority of the weighting is inside the head. The Edge is a two-piece forging: once the perimeter weighting is put in the proper place for each iron, the forged face is laser-welded onto the forged frame.
White says it bears the look of a traditional forging, but with a thicker topline and more offset than either the PTx or Ft. Worth 15 irons, which are both aimed at the better player. Overall, the head itself is about 12% larger than the PTx.
White says the Edge is for anyone ranging from a high single digit to around an 18 handicap.
“Hogan Tour staffers J.J. Henry and Mark Brooks both say the long irons may end up in their bags at some point,” says White. “It’s very forgiving, and it’s forged, so it feels great. It’s not a clunky, investment cast club that won’t give you any feedback on where you’re impacting the face. These will give you some feedback and help you improve.”
Last week we heard from a couple of readers quite vocal in their wishes for Hogan to bring back another iconic image – the Hogan sunburst logo. You’ll be happy to know Hogan was thinking the same thing.
As a former owner of the Hogan brand, Callaway still has rights to Hogan's other iconic name - Apex. White says that even thought Callaway did come out with irons named Edge a few years ago (and still sells them in a boxed-set to Costco), Hogan's lawyers have done their homework on the Edge name.
"Nobody owns the name 'Edge' outright. It's too generic. Our trademark is for 'Ben Hogan Edge,'"
When Hogan returned in 2015, its theme was “Precision is Back.” Instead of using iron numbers, Hogan irons were instead stamped with lofts – what the company called the PreciseLoftTM System – and every loft from 20- to 47-degrees was available. So instead of reaching for your 7-iron from 165 yards out, you’d be reaching for your 33-iron (or your 34, or 35, depending on your set makeup).
It’s fair to say the concept was polarizing. Some golfers were fine with it, others not so much. From a manufacturing and assembly standpoint, it had to have been a logistical and inventory nightmare.
For the new Edge irons, it’s back to basics.
“We’ve gone back to traditional iron numbers only,” says White, who adds Hogan is still committed to the basic tenet of the PreciseLoftTM System: 4-degree gaps between clubs in the set.
“The loft compression at the short end of most sets is, quite honestly, just ridiculous,” declares White. “It really eliminates your ability to score well. We find in a lot of competitive sets you’re hitting your 7-, 8- and 9-irons within 7 to 10 yards of each other. That’s just not the way we think irons should be developed and built.”
Edge sets start with a 22-degree 4-iron and go up to a 46-degree pitching wedge – lofts which, by today’s standards, are downright traditional.
“It’s not a competition to see who has the longest 7-iron,” says White. “That’s not our goal.”
“We’re not trying to manufacture our irons to win at Demo Day. We’re trying to provide the best tools for a golfer to score with. Hogan players tend to be more accomplished, more skilled. For them it’s not about distance. It’s about having the tools to get around the golf course strategically and in as few strokes as possible. A 7-iron you can hit 180 yards isn’t necessarily the best way to do that.” – Scott White, Ben Hogan CEO
Each iron can be loft-adjusted 3-degrees up and 2-degrees down, as well as lie adjusted, which Hogan will provide as standard customization at no extra charge. You’ll also have your choice of standard or midsize grips and of available shafts: KBS Tour V in Stiff or X-Still, KBS Tour 90 in Regular or Stiff, or UST Recoil 660 in A-Flex or Regular, or the 680 in Stiff.
The Edge irons will sell only on Hogan’s website for $105.00 per club or $735.00 for a seven club set. The price is the same for steel or graphite shafts and includes all loft, lie, and shaft-specific swingweight customizations.
Edge irons should be part of Hogan’s 14-day Demo Program in early April. White says he’s hoping to have 6- and 9-iron demo sets available right around the Masters.
As we mentioned last week, with the advent of the new Equalizer wedges, the Hogan TK 15 wedges will be phased out by the end of this year (you can buy them on Hogan’s website currently for $75/each). Some other changes are coming to the rest of the lineup, as well.
“PTx will stay in the lineup, but we’re going to eliminate two of the PreciseLoftTM configurations,” says White. Currently, Hogan offers the PTx in four separate loft configurations – it calls them Low, Mid, Mid-High or High launch. Low Launch, for example, is a 7-club set starting at 20-degrees and ending at 44-degrees. High Launch starts at 23-degrees and ends at 47-degrees.
“80% of our orders are for the Mid-High Launch, the one that starts at 22-degrees. So we’re going to offer that one, and the low launch as well – we get a lot of orders from people playing in the Texas wind – so we’re going to phase out the odd number lofts.” - Scott White
White says there may be some changes coming to the Ft. Worth 15 irons (“Film at 11,” he says), but any changes or enhancements won’t be coming for a few months. No changes are planned for the Hogan VKTR hybrids or Ft. Worth 15 Hi utility irons and don’t expect any metal woods from Hogan this year.
“We continue to work on them,” says White. “But we’re still not where we need to be.”
“If you dig it out of the dirt, it is yours forever.” – Hogan, quoted by Hueber
Mr. Hogan may have been talking about the golf swing, but it’s an apt analogy for this version of his company.
“A year ago, we really weren’t sure what was going to happen,” says White. “But by doing things simply, methodically, strategically and doing a few things well instead of a bunch of things poorly, it’s an easy formula.”
White admits that at this time last year, he really didn’t think Hogan would still be around. But once new ownership was in place and the Direct-to-Consumer model was launched, he knew Hogan was back in the game.
“These aren’t guys who just dabble in anything,” he says. “When they see an opportunity to upset the status quo and make an impact in an established industry like golf equipment, I knew then this was going to be a lot of fun. We’re staying focused on the serious, more accomplished golfer. As long as you have a direction and everybody understands it, it’s pretty easy to execute on it.”
Greek soap brand Elo differentiated themselves from the competition through unique branding.
Everyone’s talking about branding for a good reason:
Your brand is the identity of your company. It’s what sets you apart from your competitors.
Everything about it should evoke certain thoughts or feelings in your customers, compelling them to want to do business with you. Because your brand is your primary means of communicating what your company stands for, it extends far beyond just your logo or website.
Branding is even more important now that people have increasingly more access to products and services from anywhere in the world. A standout brand is the best way to attract their attention, but first, you need to know exactly who your customers are and what appeals to them. You should view the process as an opportunity to get more deeply in touch with your customers’ perspectives and expectations in order to craft a brand identity that truly speaks to them.
Research is the key to successful branding. With better insight into your customers and your own business, you can design your visuals and improve your messaging to communicate a consistent, highly targeted brand. It’s about more than just choosing your colors—a thoughtfully executed brand can boost your relationship with current clients and help you cultivate prospective customers.
When we branded our company, Hatchbuck, we did extensive research to ensure that our decisions were based on real data. Our goal was for the Hatchbuck brand to embody who we are, to serve our existing customers, and to reach prospective customers.
Through this research, we learned that small businesses were actually our biggest champions, so we wanted our brand to reflect the needs of small business owners.
“Unique,” “bold,” and “adventurous” were some of the entrepreneurial characteristics we injected into our new brand. From our color palette to our tagline, the branding focused on celebrating and inspiring our radical buyers—those small business owners who were our biggest promoters—and demonstrating that our company is the best choice for them because we are all about them.
The most difficult part of crafting your entire company identity is getting started. We found that tapping into our most loyal customer base was the spark that led our brand in a better direction.
Embarking on your own branding? Here are three steps you can take to create an effective brand identity that successfully connects with your target audience.
It’s one thing to think you know how well you’re serving your customers, but it’s another thing to actually ask. Happy or unhappy, most customers are more than willing to provide very honest feedback. In fact, a Market Force survey found that over the course of a year, 83 percent of consumers will complete a least one survey. Don’t let your customers’ thoughts go unheard.
Harness outside input through structured, targeted questions. Generally, soliciting open feedback only garners rambling responses that may not be credible or usable. Rather, ask customers pointed questions about their purchase and experience with your company. This will yield much more relevant and illuminating results. When everyone answers the same questions, you can easily compare responses, pick out trends, and disregard outliers.
Also, consider asking some of your most loyal customers to participate in a case study or even just to contribute their opinions to your branding or rebranding process. When Google rebranded, the company provided its users with an in-depth explanation of exactly what had been changed and why. This opened up room for Google’s fans to weigh in on the new look, which helped prove to them that their needs were central to Google’s redesign.
The feedback your customers can provide regarding what they do and don’t love will help you get to the heart of what your branding efforts should express.
Your research should go beyond your company and your customers. To differentiate your brand from others, you also have to look at your competitors. How saturated is the market for your product or service? How easy or difficult will it be to make a splash with your current product and brand?
You can discover how your company compares to others by asking your customers to provide a Net Promoter Score (NPS). This rating system groups consumers into categories based on how willing they would be to recommend your company. Your NPS can be especially helpful for small businesses, as it allows you to see how you stack up against competitors and determine whether you’re getting lost in the shuffle.
Let this be the foundation for developing a value proposition that stands out from your competitors’ value propositions. Evaluate your industry and the competitors who have a higher NPS. Are they direct competitors, solving the same problems for the same customers? Or are they indirect competitors with a similar value proposition for a different audience? Craft a value proposition that demonstrates how you provide a better or more exact solution for your target clients than these competitors do.
Your differentiators should be presented in a way that prioritizes your customers’ needs and the overall user experience. Do this through the visual and messaging components of your brand by telling your clients a story about them. After all, people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
To illustrate: Small business owners should see themselves in the Hatchbuck logo: the Diver, an intrepid explorer. And our tagline—”seize the opportunity”—should tell them exactly what to expect from working with us. Your brand should show clients that they have no better choice than you.
Once you have a clear picture of your customers and competitors, consider what your company is all about. The majority of American consumers base brand loyalty on shared values, so a huge part of your branding depends on your organization, the values you hold, and the persona you want to embrace.
Are you snarky? Are you professional? Humorous? Always on trend? Your messaging and visuals should work together to put those attributes front and center for prospective customers.
Every component of your visual design can communicate or undermine your brand. Consider how colors and imagery support your company’s personality. Bright, bold colors serve Hatchbuck’s “energetic” brand and story, for example. We also carried that story through to our Diver logo and nautical theme to reflect how we help our small business clients explore new depths.
Let your story drive your brand’s visuals, as Zonzo Estate, a popular wedding destination in Australia, did to bring a more modern feel to what most of its prospects might otherwise think of as a rustic winery and restaurant. Its design incorporates a versatile logo that can appear either fresh and youthful when printed in outline format on the menu cover or sophisticated and classic in gold foil.
Making sure that its visuals reflect the versatile nature of its offerings paid off for Zonzo Estate—bookings increased by 120 percent within two years of launching its new look.
Via Zonzo Estate.
Similarly, when Elo, a Greek soap manufacturer, wanted its brand to reflect how it was offering something new, the main story was all about differentiation. Elo’s line of Greek god-inspired olive oil soaps is a new take on a more traditional product, so its branded design is fresh and unlike competitors. This helps Elo stand out in a market oversaturated with touristy souvenir shops.
The customer experience is consequential to your branding efforts. According to a recent Forrester report, it’s a top priority for 95 percent of businesses. Whatever is most important to your customers is what you need to communicate through your brand. Research your target audience’s perceptions of your company and find out what differentiates you from competitors. Then, craft visuals, messaging, and a brand that speaks directly to your radical buyer.
By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS Several public health groups, medical organizations and pediatricians are suing the Food and Drug Administration over the federal agency’s decision to delay product reviews for e-cigarettes and cigars for several years. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, […]
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By AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION NEWS In the not-too-distant future, Dr. Jennifer Cowger envisions a cardiac transplant landscape where more donations are encouraged and utilized, genetically engineered organs can be created in a laboratory, and improved mechanical devices eliminate the need for an actual human heart. But in the meantime, there’s […]
The post Solving the dilemma of not enough hearts appeared first on News on Heart.org.
Your team matters just as much as your great business idea.
A company overview (also known as company information or a company summary) is an essential part of a business plan. It’s an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure. It usually appears after the executive summary in your business plan.
This is typically the shortest chapter of a business plan document, but that doesn’t reduce its importance. If you’re presenting this plan to people outside of your company, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself and your business, and you are going to want to put your best foot forward.
Imagine that the person reading your business plan document has never heard of you, and doesn’t know anything about your business.
What should be their takeaway? What do they need to remember about you and your company?
When composing this section of your business plan, focus on the highlights: who you are as the founder and owner, other prominent team members, your product or service, and why it is unique. Think of this chapter as the “who, what, when, where, and why” of your business.
Developing a business plan that suits your purposes means tailoring it to your audience. Sometimes that can mean eliminating a section that isn’t applicable to your current project. If you’re writing this chapter for an internal business plan, you could approach writing a company overview as a status update on the company. How did you get to where you are today? Who is currently in charge?
Depending on who is viewing and working with the business plan in the company, this chapter may not be necessary. However, an employee who is new to the company or project may appreciate some background information and context.
If this plan is for outside use or investment, consider the perspective of your audience. They won’t know your team, facilities, or legal structure yet—you want to fill in the blanks for them in a polished and organized way. Present your company like it is well poised to accept their financial backing and hit the ground running.
Now that we’ve set the groundwork on what should generally be included in this chapter of a business plan, let’s break it out section by section for more detailed information:
This is the meet and greet section of your business plan. If you were to eloquently write down your elevator pitch, you could put it in this section. Keep this brief, as you’re going to be expanding on what you say here in the next few sections.
This is the “Once upon a time…” of your business plan. The company history section will start out with when your business was founded and who was involved, and will go into a little of the backstory.
This section is going to vary depending on who this business plan is being presented to and what stage your company is in. Is this an internal plan? Historical data may not be essential. Is this a plan to seek funding? In that case, investors will want to know your backstory, and this section will allow you to provide some context for your business plan. Include how the company started, how it grew and changes made along the way. What led you to this point?
If you are an existing business seeking funding for expansion or a new project, the company history section is going to be pretty significant. You’ll want to make it clear that you have a strong track record of successful projects, weathering the tough times, and making good business decisions. Who did you decide to partner with? Have you launched new products over time? Made improvements to facilities or services? Streamlined operations?
If this is a business plan for a startup, you won’t have a company history per se, but you could use the company history section to give a concise description of how the founder or founders decided to start this venture. What was the “light bulb” moment? Who was involved?
The management team section of your business plan is your opportunity to paint a picture of your team and showcase their finest attributes. Again, for internal use, this may not be applicable, though you could use it to highlight new employees being brought in or existing employees that are taking on some new leadership responsibilities.
If you’re a startup or looking to expand, there may be team members you know you’re lacking. In that case, mention those roles, and what your plans are to fill those holes. Include which people might currently be taking on multiple responsibilities or sharing duties.
If you plan to present your plan to a bank or other potential investors, this is critical data. Who are the leaders in your company? What qualifies them for their positions and inspires confidence? Be sure to include details about yourself, usually at the beginning. Work experience, past successes, MBAs, and other degrees can be referenced for each person. You want to showcase everyone in their best light, remembering that investors invest in people first and ideas second.
Related to the management team, you may want to include a separate section outlining the legal structure and ownership of your organization.
The legal structure of your business is important data for any funding source to have. Are you an LLC? A C-corp? An S-corp? A sole proprietor? In a partnership? This will also affect how you file your taxes.
The ownership structure of your business is going to be important data to include. Who owns what percentage of your business? Banks and investors will want this information to be clearly spelled out.
Use this section to describe where you’re going to do business. Are you going to be purchasing a building for manufacturing? A storefront? Do you already have a great space?
Explain the circumstances of your use of any space mentioned in this section. Include whether you own or lease, and what the pertinent terms of that lease are if you have one. Make it clear what the long-term plan is for any space that you have, or what your needs will be for a future facility. If you have a home office, include that here as well.
Be as succinct as possible when crafting your mission statement. What idea can you distill into one or two sentences that conveys the primary mission of your company? This might be something you want to create with your management team if you have one, so it conveys a shared long-term vision.
For more information on the chapters to include in your business plan, and how to use a business plan to secure funding, here are some articles you’ll find helpful:
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