Your Scrapbooking Business Plan

You need a scrapbooking business plan if you want to succeed in business. Yet how many of us forget to do this. It’s one of those legal things, the paperwork you think you should get to later. You are busy creating. But do try to get to creating your scrapbooking business plan as soon as possible.

It is a good thing to have a scrapbooking business plan hammered out. Most businesses eventually seek out financial footing from a bank. The bank will want to see that you have a plan, especially if you had a previous business that failed. Second, a scrapbooking business plan can also be your visionary plan – helping you keep on track with your goals. Topics to consider including in your scrapbooking business plan are the following:

Your Audience

Whom are you writing for? If you are writing for third parties outside your business, their needs and expectations will determine the type of information and level of detail in your scrapbooking business plan. Your neighborhood banker will be more concerned with the financial performance than with salary structure for your employees.

Planning Horizon

How are out in the future will your plan extend? Five years, ten? Twenty? How will your scrapbooking business plans figure into personal retirement goals? This is all something to think about.

Type of Business

The classification of your scrapbooking business as a service provider, product producer or seller, or mixed provider of products and services will have a huge impact on the type of information in your plan.

Sources of Information

What information is available to you in creating a scrapbooking business plan? How can you reduce the time and effort required to analyze your idea?

Reasonable Assumptions

How can you set yourself up for success by taking a realistic look at internal and external conditions of your scrapbooking business, so as to make reasonable predictions about the future?

Writing Your Business Plan

The following information to help in writing your scrapbooking business plan comes from the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA).

The Executive Summary

This is the most important section of our scrapbooking business plan. This is to be a concise overview of the entire plan along with a history of your company. It tells your reader where your scrapbooking business is and where you want to take it. Most importantly, it tells the reader why you think your scrapbooking business idea will be successful.

While it is the overview and the first part someone will read of your scrapbooking business plan, it will be the last section you write. Contents of the Executive Summary should be:

The Mission Statement – The Mission Statement briefly explains the driving force of your scrapbooking business. It could be in two words, two sentences, a paragraph, or even a single image. It should be as direct and focused as possible, and it should leave the reader with a clear picture of what your business is all about.

Other details of your scrapbooking business plan should include the • date your business started,

• names of founders and the functions they perform,

• numbers of employees,

• location of business and any branches or subsidiaries,

• descriptions of plant or facilities,

• products manufactured and services rendered, and

• banking relationships and information regarding current investors

Also include a summary of company growth including financial or market highlights, such as did your number of visitors double, became the first in your industry to provide a certain service or product type.

A Summary of management’s future plans – With the exception of the mission statement, all of the information in the Executive Summary should be highlighted in a brief, even bulleted, fashion. Remember that these facts concerning your scrapbooking business plan are laid out in-depth further along.

Elements of a Scrapbooking Business Plan

1. Cover Sheet

2. Statement of Purpose

3. Table of Contents

i. The Business

a. Description of Business

b. Marketing

c. Competition

d. Operating Procedures

e. Personnel

f. Business Insurance

ii. Financial Data

a. Loan applications

b. Capital Equipment and Supply List

c. Balance Sheet

d. Break-even analysis

e. Profit and Loss statements

f. Three-year summary

g. Detail by month the first year

h. Detail by quarters, second and third years

i. Assumptions on which projections were based

j. Cash flow

iii. Supporting Documents

a. Tax returns of principals for last three years - Personal financial statement (all banks have these forms)

b. For franchised businesses,a copy of franchise contract and all supporting documents provided by the franchiser.

c. Copy of proposed lease or purchase agreement for building space.

d. Copy of licenses and other legal documents.

e. Copy of resume’s of all principals.

f. Copies of letters of intent from suppliers, etc.

An Exit Plan

Should you decide to get out of your scrapbooking business, what is your exit plan? For a proprietor, it is as easy as quitting a job. For other business structures, however, it is a multi-step process that can take from weeks to years depending on the size of the organization and the reasons for exiting. In most cases, the end goal is to maximize the value of your scrapbooking business and convert that value to cash.

Getting professionals to guide you through the exiting process is highly recommended. Some cases may involve lawyers, accountants, business brokers, auctioneers, tax experts, bankers, and the IRS. Look for referrals from satisfied customers and trusted business associates.

For a checklist on closing a business, visit IRS.gov – businesses – closing a business checklist.

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