Executive Summary for Business Plans of Franchisees

Writing a business plan for a franchised outlet of a larger company to get funding or find investors is difficult because the franchisor already has a plan which is working, but until you are privy to it upon purchase you actually know relatively few details. The franchisor must keep this information proprietary to insure competitors do not steal the information, but the franchise buyer needs the information to prepare a business plan to get a loan from a bank. Thus a catch 22 exists and is further exacerbated by the fact there are laws against some types of disclosures, which many franchisors due to the litigious nature of franchising do not wish to disclose based on advice from their attorneys. So what do you do? Well, you do the best you can using the UFOC, uniform franchise offering circular or ask the franchisor to send in a business plan directly to your banker who, signs a waiver of non-disclosure and you cannot see it until purchase.

Yet if you are seeking private investors they will want to see a business plan and therefore you will have to try to put one together. I have bought 12 books on how to write a business plan with hundreds of complete business plans inside; none of the samples have anything to do with a franchised business. So, below please find a sample of an executive summary, which is the most important part of any business plan and probably for the most part all a banker will read. Some entrepreneurs accuse bankers of not being able to read and I am in that group. I recommend you read this and use it as a model to develop your own executive summary for your franchised business outlet business plan. This particular example was written for a mobile car wash franchise outlet, but serves as a fairly good example for you.

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The Car Wash Guys of Fairfax, VA is an owner/operator service firm. This will be a franchised business of Car Wash Guys International, Inc. This sole-proprietorship company is in the mobile car wash business.

Our mission is to achieve a minimum of 2.5% and a maximum of 10% market penetration while simultaneously uniting the entire community. To reach this goal we will use unique local and regional marketing tools provided by our franchisor who has much experience in this field.

Our franchisor has over twenty years of experience in the mobile washing industry. We will purchase from Car Wash Guys International, Inc. a turnkey business for $65,380. This purchase will include:

· Truck With Custom Built Truck Body

· Portable Car Washing Equipment

· Computer, Printer, Business Software

· List Of Clientele, Route and Customer Base

· Down Payment of Liability Insurance

· Down Payment of Medical and Health Insurance

· Licensing and Training (80 Hours Total)

· Complete Operations Guide Loaned For Franchise Term

· Start-Up Supplies (Wax, Soap, Etc.)

· Portable Cellular Phone With Credit Card Machine

· Uniform Supply for an Entire Crew

· Personal Planner with Computer Software Backup

· Exclusive Territory

· Initial In Depth Marketing Blitz

There is a $20,000 franchise fee for joining The Car Wash Guys team that is also provided for in the $65,380 cost.

Our target market is anyone owning a dirty car. Our other markets are:

· Aircraft Washing

· Boat Washing

· Fleet Washing

· Graffiti Removal

· Concrete Cleaning

· Industrial High Pressure Washing

We will charge $5.00 for a basic exterior wash, $10.00 for an in and out and $37.50 for a mini-detail on cars. Most of our customers will be office workers. Fifteen percent of our business will be small and medium sized fleets with five to one hundred cars, trucks, vans, etc. Twenty percent of our business will be industrial type cleaning.

We will market with other local businesses in a co-op situation. Other marketing will be by doing car wash fundraisers for kids groups.

Our car wash crews will wear matching yellow uniforms. They will be clean cut, well spoken, knowledgeable and friendly.

We will purchase our products from the franchisor via modem and credit cards for next day U.P.S. delivery.

We plan to eventually expand to up to five mobile car wash trucks, each averaging $6,000-$8,000 of gross revenue per month, in the next five years. Our royalties to the franchisor will be $35.00 per day times 21 working days per month ($735.00 per month). Each additional truck will pay $20.00 per day royalties or $420.00 per month. Car Wash Guys International, Inc. will provide the following on going support:

·Training of Managers for Each Truck

·Regional Directors for Trouble Shooting

·Spare Trucks in Case of Break Downs

·Combating Competition (Intensive Program)

·Assistance in Community Support Events

·Free Advise (On Any Operational Matters)

·Updating of Manuals and Computer Programs

·Periodic Newsletter

·Upkeep on Major Contract Bidder’s Lists

·Sales Leads (From Their Direct Mail Program)

·Compilation of Financial Reports

·Assistance in Finding Funding for Additional Mobile Car Wash Trucks and Personal Items (Homes, Cars, Etc.)

There are a couple of small time mobile detailers operating in our exclusive territory. Our service, quality and price are much more attractive to our target market. Our operating methods are far superior to that of our current competition. Generally all of the competition listed in the yellow pages as well as those we’ve talked with and observed admit that they have only been in the business a couple of years are not planning on making it a career. Further observations indicate that there is far more than enough business for everyone.

Our long-term goal is to wash cars for one out of every ten owners in our town. Ten percent market penetration can be achieved if we follow our franchisor’s system perfectly. We want to be the #1 franchise in the entire system. We plan on renewing our Franchise Agreement every five years at no charge to us. We will remain in good standing with our franchisor and follow their proven methods of operations in order to do this.

Your Business Plan – Keeping Your Executive Summary Clear and to the Point

An executive summary is a short, sharp snapshot of the key points contained in a document. It reflects the content of your detailed business plan and makes it easier for the reader to gain a good understanding of what the rest of the document will cover.

In order to prepare an effective executive summary, you will first need to write your business plan. And whilst there are many ways you can go about doing that, such as using software, writing it from scratch or using a business planning template, you will need to keep one key point at the top of your mind during the process – who the reader is. Without readily knowing who will be reading your plan, and basing decisions on what you include, then your document and executive summary may be quite confusing.

To help get this clarity up front, think about the purpose for writing your business plan. Is it for a banker or investor to review and consider loaning you money for your business? Is it for your staff so that they have a clear understanding of what the business will do in the next 1-3 years? Or is it for you, helping to shape your ideas and strategies for business establishment and growth?

Even though your plan should be applicable for all three types of readers, once you have determined who the audience is then you can shape your executive summary to highlight those areas of the plan that matter most to the reader.

For example, if your reader is a banker who you are asking for a loan, then they will want to know that the plan outlines the ways in which the business will make a profit and how you have come to your conclusions (such as market research and testing). They will also want to know how well you have captured the current and planned expenses of the business, and the projected income from the products/services you intend to sell. Including a budget in your plan will also help show the details of your financial projections which you can then refer to in your summary.

The bottom line is that an executive summary is a top-level outline of what the rest of the document is about. A good summary will mean that someone can read it and get a reasonable understanding of what you want to communicate, and then choose to dig into the plan for the areas that most interest them.

It needs to be engaging, succinct and to the point. No rambling sentences and repetition. Keep it short and sharp. As long as it communicates the essence of the plan, then it will be fine. It may help to structure your executive summary before you write it. Think about the major aspects of your plan and structure the summary in a way that each points leads to the next and builds a good understanding in the mind of the reader. You may also want to try explaining to someone what the plan is about and ask that person to write notes as you talk. Then, you can use these notes as the basis of your summary.

Your executive summary in the business plan will not be as long as the rest of the document, but it is probably the most important aspect of the entire plan. Without a good, clear and direct summary, your reader won’t get past the second page.

Business Book Summary: Teaming

In Teaming, Amy C. Edmondson explains how the increasingly complex and demanding nature of the business world poses learning challenges to organizations. Those who form flexible and collaborative teams to achieve their goals are more likely to be successful. Such collaboration does not come naturally, however, and Edmondson examines how hierarchical status, cultural differences, and distance often prevent individuals from teaming effectively. Leaders can overcome these barriers by recognizing them and modifying their leadership styles to support and facilitate teaming. Learning is paramount in this process, and much of the most useful learning comes from conflict and failure, which can only occur when leaders foster an atmosphere of psychological safety.

Amy C. Edmondson offers readers the following advice:

• Teaming is a dynamic activity, not a bounded, static entity. It involves coordinating and collaborating without the benefit of stable team structures, because many operations require a level of staffing flexibility that makes stable team composition rare.

• The power of teaming in complex operations is the ability to anticipate, solve, and diagnose problems, and reduce system risks in order to avoid consequential failures.

• In innovation operations, leadership is needed to create a receptive environment for exploration and experimentation. Teaming is essential for coming up with new ideas, reducing them to the most viable options, testing and refining them, and ultimately producing ground-breaking and useful new possibilities.

• Learning from failure is a crucial teaming skill. Unfortunately, most people see failure as unacceptable and therefore go to great lengths to avoid any association with it. This attitude is regrettable, as many failures provide useful information about improvement techniques or enhancing efficiency.

• To advance useful experimentation, leaders must reward both experimentation and failure, use verbiage that overcomes intellectual barriers to learning from failure, and devise insightful experiments that generate more smart failures.

• Essential learning in organizations occurs not through individuals working alone to sort through and solve important problems, but rather through people working and learning collaboratively in flexible teams.

Teaming by Amy C. Edmondson is written for executives, managers, project leaders, and supervisors who wish to study or promote the concept of teaming in order to improve organizational performance. The book provides guidelines to establish frameworks for comprehending and responding to the fluidities of collective learning. It is written in a scholarly, well-researched style and contains numerous tables and exhibits. Most chapters conclude with sections titled “Leadership Summary” and “Lessons and Actions,” which highlight key points and essential performance considerations. It was written to enable readers to navigate between chapters to locate specific information as needed, but it can also be read sequentially. Readers will find the book a useful aid in leading colleagues and organizations to overcome increasingly complex problems and challenges.

For more information, please visit http://www.bizsum.com.

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