Product Development
The further along the product is in the development process and the more definite the manufacturing situation is, the more convincing the business plan will be, simply because it will be describing what has occurred rather than what is expected to occur. The product development process can be broken into four levels:
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Level 4-a completed product which has been sold to satisfied customers.
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Level 3-a completed product which hasn't yet been produced in significant quantity.
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Level 2-a prototype which requires additional evaluation and engineering.
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Level 1- an impressive product idea which hasn't yet been developed to the prototype stage.
The higher the level of product development, the more specific information that can be offered about such particulars of the production process.
Additional considerations include: awareness and support
1. The Company:
This section should summarize the enterprise's overall objectives, its origins, its expectations, and the management team. Investors should get a clear indication early on of where the company is going and how it plans to get there.
2. The Market:
Within the business plan, the definition of the market to be served by the company is second in importance only to the definition of the company itself. An important part of that market definition is a description of the benefits to the user of the company's product or service and why. That is, entrepreneurs must demonstrate that they focus primarily on the market their company will serve rather than on the technicalities of their product or service. Investors are interested in companies which are market-driven, not product driven.
3. Product (or service):
This section describes the company's products or services, including a summarized theory of operation and a statement about performance and present status. The proprietary, patented, or patentable features of the company's products should be summarized in this section.
4. Sales:
Investors will want to know precisely how the company plans to approach its customer prospects and thus capitalize on its potential.
In this section, the business plan