Kyla wanted to apply for a loan so she could expand her sailboat business. Her goal was to secure enough funds to make a major capital investment and finance her move into a new market. She talked with the loan officer at her bank. The loan officer reviewed her statements that documented her business's cash flow and took notes as she described the growing demand for her high-end sailboats. He then asked for a copy of her business plan.
Business plan?! Why did she need a business plan when she already had a successful company—which she simply wanted to expand? How could she convince the loan officer to lend her money?
What would you do?你会怎么做？
Even though Kyla already runs an established, successful company, she should take the time to prepare a business plan. A business plan is essentially a map for your business, a detailed guide that depicts your business concept, the business opportunity, the competitive landscape, the keys to success, and the people who are, or will be, involved.
Preparing and then writing a business plan is a time consuming process, but well worth the effort. It's an important sales tool to use when you want to borrow money or gather support to launch a new product or service.
In this topic, you'll learn how to write a business plan designed to inform and motivate the people who will be reading it.
Even if you have a financially successful business, you need a business plan to guide future decisions, sell your ideas to investors, and help you manage growth effectively.
Topic Objectives主题目标
This topic will help you:
• Learn the kinds of information that need to be contained in a successful business plan
• Present that information so that your readers get what they need and understand quickly what you're asking of them
The need for a plan制定计划的必要性
Every business needs a business plan, a plan to meet the expected and unexpected opportunities and obstacles the future holds. Every business—whether it's a start-up company,an expansion of an existing firm, a spin-off from a parent corporation, or even a project within a company's 
marketing or new products department—needs a guide to navigate successfully through its own unique competitive environment.
Preparing a business plan is part of the process of preparing for a business. A business plan is not simply a document that's written quickly, passed around once, and then relegated to some dusty shelf. It's not a slightly modified version of a standard template drawn from a how-to book or an Internet site. Preparing a business plan is an intensely focused activity. It's an activity that
requires honest thinking about your business concept, the business opportunity, the competitive landscape, the keys to success, and the people who will be involved. You'll find that your analysis results in more questions than answers, and so the next step in the process is to do the research
to answer those questions.
Writing the business plan is the final step in the arduous process of preparing the business plan, and preparing the business plan is only one stage—though a critical stage—in developing a healthy, thriving business enterprise.
Leadership Insight: Planning for success
领导力洞察力：成功规划
Talking about business plans, my first venture failed because I didn’t have one. Let me tell you the whole story. I’m on an airplane, and I meet this person sitting next to me, and we start discussing an idea. And suddenly I realize, yes, it’s a great idea. I fall in love with the idea and decide to invest. We partner, and I think about creating a business plan, writing all about it, talking about the risks, what we could do. And then I said, "No, the idea is pretty good, my gut feeling is right. Let’s go ahead." I invest. Three months down the road, I’m wondering, what’s the output? My partner says, "We’re doing good. Let’s go ahead. Everything is going to be all right." And nine months down the road, I see the writing on the wall. I made a bad judgment. The idea was good. It felt good, but people wouldn’t buy it. I had to close down the venture.
A few years later, another idea comes into me. I come across this set of people, but I realized my mistake, and I say, "Not this time, not without a business plan." I sit down, I think through the whole plan. I weigh my assumptions, talk to people, check with them. Are my assumptions OK? Am I thinking in the right direction? Is everything going to be all right?
And then when I create a business plan and invest in it, I’m so much more confident. I think things are going to be great. Three months into the venture, I’m feeling pretty OK, very confident, we are on the right track. And it has been seven years since. Now it is a thriving business. See? The power of the business plan. 
When I get into my MBA, I enter my business plan into competitions. I present my business plan to investors. Those people bite into it. They are willing to invest in my venture there and then, just because I have a sound business plan. And this is where I feel that a business plan is critical for your success. There is no way around it.
Without an appropriate business plan, an investment can crash and burn.
Prashant Pundrik Supply Chain Associate, ConocoPhillips Asia Ventures Pte Ltd.
Prashant Pundrik is a Supply Chain Associate for ConocoPhillips Asia Ventures Pte Ltd. ConocoPhillips (COP) is the third-largest integrated energy company in the United States, based on oil and natural gas proved reserves and production. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company operates in nearly 40 countries around the world.
Before joining COP, Prashant worked at the manufacturing facility of Asian
Paints, India's largest paint company. His previous experience also includes
information technology consulting.
Prashant has a master's degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of
Business Administration from National University of Singapore.
Define your purpose明确你的目标
Depending on the size and state of your project, the process of preparing, developing, and writing the business plan can take some time to accomplish. And once that's done, the business plan should be used and reused often to see whether your critical assumptions about key success factors are becoming realities. So before you plunge in, think about some of the overarching issues that can help shape the process of preparing the business plan. Start by asking yourself why you are preparing a business plan and what you are trying to accomplish by this undertaking.
If your plan is to be a proposal within the resource-rich environment of a large corporation, then certain sections of the business plan, such as the marketing or operations plans, could be short and less developed than other sections. If, on the other hand, you are in a resource-constrained environment and you are using the plan to raise money from venture capitalists, then you should focus on the sections they might consider key, such as the opportunity itself, the competitive analysis, the management team, and the financial expectations.
Key Idea: Define your audience
关键理念：定义你的受众
Key Idea
Know who will be reading the plan and why. Different types of audiences (or readers) will look for different information in a business plan. If you are clear about who your readers will be, then you can be more successful in providing them with the information they consider most important.
• If your venture is intrapreneurial, then your plan will be directed toward the board of directors or a management committee making capital investment decisions. If your venture is entrepreneurial, then your audience may be lenders or investors. Lenders will be considering the riskiness of the loan as they look at payback periods and cash -flow data. Investors, on the other hand, may want to know what the breakeven points are and what the return on investment will be; investors will be interested in the longer-term potential of the business.
• In all cases, a smart audience will be considering the value of your business based not just on the financials, but on the soundness of the plan as a whole—the opportunity in the market, the differentiated product or service you will offer, the people involved, the competitive landscape, and, most importantly, what the financial returns will be.
• Ask yourself what you expect from each type of reader. Do you want a corporate stamp of approval or the active support of upper management? Do you want funding alone, or do you want connections with other investors or other business partners?
Do you want a loan to be repaid, or are you willing to share ownership and profits? Do you know how to maximize the impact of your business plan on your most important audience? Learn the essential questions you should ask yourself before you begin.
Determine your information needs
确定您的信息需求
Before you begin to put the plan together, determine whether you have all the information you need for the plan. You may have to do some research first. For example, have you confirmed the necessary production costs for your product? Have you checked out options for office space? Is your competitor analysis complete and up-to-date? Have you selected the most appropriate legal
structure for your business?
Information sources信息来源
Where can you find answers to these questions? There are many sources for information—some are simple and inexpensive and some take time and money to discover. Before hiring market research professionals, check the readily available resources.
• The local library is an easy and rich source of information.
• The local chamber of commerce has programs, networks, and support for growing businesses.
• The Internet has a wealth of industry-, market-, and company-specific information, but be careful about the sources. Use only official sites, such as the Small Business Administration, the IRS, the Census Bureau (a good source of geographic and demographic data for industries and markets), the Association of Small Business Development Centers (they have valuable pamphlets and training programs, and also offer various funding options), or Standard & Poor's. In addition, the Wall Street Journal is online, as well as many major accounting and financial services firms.
• State departments of economic development provide publications, grants, and programs for businesses.
• Industry publications, trade shows, and professional journals are all good sources for up-todate news and issues.
• Even your competitors, perhaps those beyond your geographic market, can be useful sources of information about various marketing strategies and customer buying patterns.
Structure overview结构概述
The most common business plan structure is to move from short, general summaries to more detailed explanations. Thus, the opening sections—the executive summary and the business description—are both brief overviews of the business. The body of the plan consists of more indepth descriptions of the fundamental elements and concerns of the business—the who, how, what, and where of the business. The attachments at the end include the most detailed
information—the financial data, management résumés, etc. A typical structure for the business plan follows:
• Cover page and table of contents
• Executive summary
• Business description
• Business environment analysis
• Industry background
• Competitive analysis
• Market analysis
• Marketing plan
• Operations plan
• Management summary
• Financial plan
• Attachments and milestones
Not all business plans follow this model precisely, of course. A plan may combine some elements, add new sections, and eliminate others, but the critical information the readers need to know for a particular business must be included.
For example, the business plan for Private Communications Corporation (PCC), which will be used as an example throughout this topic, has all the components listed above, but the marketing plan and operations plan have been combined into one section. Despite variations in the structure of business plans, all basic business plans will comprise descriptions of the opportunity, the context, the managers, and the financial risk and reward.
Leadership Insight: Crossing the river
领导洞察力：过河
When I started my career back in the 1960s, I always thought it was going to be a very linear process. That I'd start, I'd do these certain things, and I'd end up at a certain destination. And what I learned is that it was never that linear. And that's what it's like when you're building a business: it's not linear. You get started and you learn along the way. And you take lots of different paths.
So I always liken it to crossing a river. It used to be, the way we taught you'd build a business is that you'd start on one side, you'd say, "I'm here. And look at all the stones I need to step on to get from here to there." And then, only once I've figured out all the stones along the way, would I get started. And I'd take that linear path and then you'd stop.
But really what it's like today is people say, "I'm here on this side of the river. I look across the river and I say, ‘I want to get somewhere over there.' And I see this stone and I see this stone, but I don't see any other stones." How do you get started? What do you do? If you wait, you'll never get started.
So the key is that you try to step back and say, "I've got a direction that I'm going in. I'm going to take this stone. I'm going to take this stone. And then, I'm going to learn along the way and be open to where I go next."
We think about it in terms of three different time frames. There's the long-term vision of where you're going and the direction you want to go. There's the medium-term positioning — maybe like an island in the middle of the river — where you say, "This is where I think I'm going to get to next." But then it's a journey, not a destination.
And you take one step and another step and you learn along the way.
Building a business is not a linear process. Know your direction, but be alert to different paths.
Cover page and table of contents
封面和目录

Cover page封面

It's worth making sure that your cover page is a sign of what's to come. The cover page is the first thing your audience will see; it's like a newspaper headline that gives the reader the quick information needed to decide whether to pass over this story or to continue reading. To ensure a positive first impression, your cover page should:
• Have a clean, professional appearance
• Include the name of the business or project
• Give your name and contact information
• Display the company logo or emblem
Table of contents目录
The next page of the plan, the table of contents, is another kind of headline for readers, letting them know at a glance what topics will be covered. Your readers will check the table of contents to see if it is inclusive—if all the important topics are listed. They will also note the maneuverability of your plan—that is, how easy is it to flip through the plan and quickly find the sections they want to read.
Key Idea: Executive summary sections
主要观点：执行摘要部分
Key Idea
An executive summary may be the only section a reader uses to make a quick decision on the proposal, so it should fulfill the reader's expectations.The executive summary is a concise presentation of the main points of the business plan; it is a kind of abstract giving a  brief overview of the business venture. What information can be included in an executive summary? As succinctly as possible, the executive summary should describe the following:
• The industry and market environment in which the opportunity will develop and flourish.
• The special and unique business opportunity—the customer problem your
product or service will be solving.
• The key strategies for success—what differentiates the product or service from the competitors' products or services. Indicate how your company will be the first to market with the product or service, or how your company will have a more efficient distribution system than the competitors, or that you have acquired strategic partners in the venture.
• The financial potential—the anticipated risk and reward of the business.
• The management team—the people who will achieve the results.
• The resources or capital being requested—a clear statement to your readers
about what you hope to gain from them, whether it is capital or other resources. The executive summary may be the only part of your business plan a reader sees. Learn what is essential to include to capture the reader's attention immediately.
Formal executive summary
正式执行摘要
In its most direct mode, the executive summary is a formal statement presenting the company facts. As part of a legal document, Private Communications Corporation's executive summary (called the Company Overview) is an example of the formal type.
Private Communications Corporation's sample business plan
Company Overview Private Communications Corporation ("PCC") was incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida on November 8, 1996. Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California. The Company was formed for the purpose of developing and marketing a unique phone service product, more specifically described below. The Company has filed a petition with the Internal Revenue Service seeking to qualify as an "S Corporation" for
tax purposes, in accordance with relevant provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.
Although the Company anticipates that it will qualify, it has yet to receive confirmation of approval. The Company was founded by Edward R. Defty and Andrew P. Laszlo who along with Paul Hoff and Ann Meceda are actively managing the Company. The management team, together with certain members of Cohen, Berke, Bernstein, Brodie & Kondell, P.A., a commercial law firm located in Miami, Florida, own 100% of the Company's issued and
outstanding common stock.
The Company has developed a unique product (the "Product") which is designed to permit people to talk and socialize over an ordinary telephone, with complete anonymity and privacy. People can converse openly, yet without having to reveal their phone numbers, true identities or other personal information. The Product is being targeted initially at users of online chat rooms and online and off-line dating match services. Generally, it will be
marketed through strategic alliances with proprietary online service providers (OSPs), Internet service providers (ISPs), chat rooms and dating match services. Additionally, the Company will promote the Product through targeted advertisements distributed over the Web and through more traditional print media. The Company has scheduled the public launch of the Product for early April 1997, following the completion of a beta test, which is currently underway.
Mission statement
使命宣言
Drive thy business, let not that drive thee.
–Benjamin Franklin
The purpose of the executive summary is to give the reader a quick understanding of the proposal, but it can also serve to capture the reader's interest in the business. This type of executive summary can function more like a movie trailer than a condensed abstract to encourage the viewer to read on and see the whole picture. One component that can capture a visionary sense of the business is the mission statement. The mission statement should express the opportunity and business philosophy in one brief sentence.
For example, Private Communications Corporation's mission could be the following: PCC's mission is to provide the consumer with a unique telephone service that offers all the benefits of telephone communication while protecting the user's privacy.
Purpose of the business description
业务描述的目的
The business description is another summary, but it focuses more directly on the business concept itself by giving a brief yet informative picture of the history, the basic nature, and the purpose of your business. State clearly what the business objectives are and why the business will be successful. The business description gives you the chance to introduce your business in terms of its unique qualities and the positive business environment existing for your product or service. Here you can give pertinent background information that makes it clear why your concept is exciting, and you can express your commitment and capacity for making the business succeed.
Thus, the purposes of the business description are to:
• Express clearly your own understanding of the business concept
• Share your enthusiasm for the venture
• Meet the expectations of the reader by providing a realistic picture of the business venture
Contents of the business description
业务描述内容
What goes into the business description? You should include information about the business, answering questions like:
• What is the history of the concept or the business—is it on the drawing board, at the startup stage, or ready to expand?
• What markets will the business serve?
• What kind of business is it—manufacturer, retailer, or service business?
• What is the product or service?
• Why will people use it? What problem will the product or service solve for the customer?
• What is the financial status?
You may decide to also include the following information:
• Who will manage the business
• What the structure of the business is (partnership, corporation, affiliate)
• Where the business will be located
Product or service description产品或服务说明
In some cases, the product or service is so unusual or technical that it deserves its own separate section to explain what it is and how it functions. A separate section will highlight for the reader the product or service's special features and unique points of differentiation.
For example, following the business description, Private Communications Corporation provides the reader with an in-depth product description as well.
Private Communications Corporation's sample business plan
私人通讯公司的商业计划样本
Product Description产品描述
The Company has developed a unique telephone service which enables consumers to engage in two-way telephone conversations, using ordinary telephones, without either party having to risk disclosing their true phone numbers.
PCC's first product, directReach™, will be launched in April 1997. Employing a
sophisticated switching system and proprietary software, the Product will enable customers to receive telephone calls on any designated telephone line, through a toll-free number and private extension. The Product provides three important benefits that address the target end user's needs: privacy, flexibility, and convenience.
The Product is a full-featured call management service that supports multiple extensions, several call handling options, and voice mail. When a customer establishes an account, he or she is granted a personal extension number that can be assigned to a specific telephone number such as a home, office, or cellular number. By giving others the extension number, in conjunction with the directReach™ toll-free number, the customer is able to receive phone calls and engage in totally private, anonymous telephone conversations.
The service is fully customizable, allowing the customer to configure the service to meet his or her unique needs. The user controls all Product features through a complete management system on the Web or through an easy to use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone interface. Through this control system, the customer can easily:
• Register and activate the product using a credit card
• Specify the receiving number, and modify that number at any time
• Program different receiving numbers for different times
• Terminate an extension and obtain new extensions
• Customize voice mail and check for new messages
• Review account usage and change monthly calling plans
The software programming and product design are proprietary to PCC. This allows the Company to offer such important features as ease of use, flexibility, and convenience for both the caller and the customer. By enabling the customer to access all features through an easy to use interface, the customer can have complete control over the calls he or she receives. The ability to change a number of calling options allows customers to adapt the service to their schedules and needs each day. In addition, customers and their
acquaintances may call one another at any time, without having to first prearrange or coordinate a call.
Purpose of the business environment analysis
商业环境分析的目的
Understanding the industry, the competition, and the market in which your business will grow is fundamental to the development of a robust business plan. Your study will show that you have identified a real opportunity that solves a real customer problem. The result of the analysis will:
• Provide you with a thorough understanding of the business environment
• Guide you in developing an effective marketing plan
• Persuade the readers of your business plan of the realistic potential of your business venture.
The purpose of the business environment analysis is to show the reader what the business opportunity is in this industry and market. What is the problem you are solving for the customer? What pain are you easing? What special technology, new perspective, or unique concept will you offer the customer that will induce them to purchase your product rather than your competitors'
products?
Understand the industry, competition, and market
了解行业、竞争和市场
Market is often used to describe the various elements of the total business environment. Here, however, the terms industry and market are used to describe separate but overlapping parts of the broader business environment. The industry is the group of companies that produce and sell products or services to the market. The market is where your product or service will be sold. The industry defines both your colleagues and your competitors; the market determines your opportunity and your customers. The area of intersection represents your business opportunity— that space in which the customer need and the product or service meet. The key questions to be considered in the business environment analysis are the following:
• What is the industry? What characteristics define the industry?
什么是行业？什么特征决定了这个行业？
For example, does the industry manufacture shoes, including running shoes?
Produce software for computer training? Provide temporary employment services for businesses?
• Who are your competitors within that industry? What companies sell the same or similar products or services to customers within your market?
• What is the market? For example, your market could be geographically defined as Boston or Atlanta, or it could be demographically defined as the teen market or the marathon runner market or the computer user market.
• Who are your customers within that market? Are you selling a product directly to teenagers themselves? To their parents? To clothes retailers selling to teens?
These questions are answered in the industry background, competitive analysis, and marketing analysis sections of the business plan.
Leadership Insight: Emerging markets
领导力洞察力：新兴市场
I work with entrepreneurs, in developing countries in particular, helping them to develop their business plans. Developing a business plan in an emerging economy is not too different from developing a business plan in a place like the U.S., except in some really important ways. Probably the most important way is getting the information that you need.
In a place like the U.S. or Europe, we have databases, we have small business
associations, we have governmental organizations, that go out there and find data that you can use, and it's not necessarily a difficult thing to put it together. Analyzing it, that is one thing, but just getting the data is not hard.
It is an entirely different matter if you are in certain other countries of the world. There, getting the information that you need that is so critical — making sure that you're sizing the marketing properly, understanding the customers, knowing how they'll use products, knowing if they'll use products — really comes down to doing a lot of networking, and finding the right people. They could be in government, they could be in business, and they could just be out in a village somewhere.
It really comes down to networking and getting out there, feet on the ground, doing a lot of work yourself. I think that is probably the critical difference, and it makes it a much more daunting challenge to start a new business — an ambitious new business — in a new country. On the other hand, doing that work is what's going to ensure your success.
How can leaders develop business plans when data is not readily available?
Key industry questions
关键行业问题
The industry background provides your reader with information to understand the shape, size, trends, and key features of the industry, and to understand how your product or service will fit into the industry. The important questions that this section must answer:
• What are the products or services produced by the industry?
   ◦ What is the range of products or services encompassed by this industry?
   ◦ Is it an electronics industry or a television manufacturing industry?
   ◦ Is it a food industry or a cereal-making industry?
• What is the size and shape of the industry?
   ◦ What is its production capacity, its unit sales, and its overall profitability?
   ◦ Is the industry spread out geographically or is it concentrated near 
      the sources of raw material or near the end user for efficient distribution?
• What are the industry trends?
    ◦ What is the predicted growth rate?
    ◦ What new patterns of growth are emerging?
    ◦ What factors might contribute to future growth?
    ◦ Is the industry fragmented, consisting of many small competitors?
    ◦ Are a few major competitors controlling the industry?
    ◦ Is it moving quickly on the edge of technology, or is it a traditional industry        offering stable products or services?
• What are the barriers to entry for this industry?
    ◦ What resources, knowledge, or skills does it take to enter this industry?
    ◦ Are there restrictive federal or international regulations, large capital      
     requirements, or areas of sophisticated technical knowledge associated with 
     providing the products or services?
In Private Communications Corporation's case, the industry background provides a brief history of the recent phenomenon of chat rooms on the Internet. To indicate the growth potential of the PCC business, entrepreneur Andy Laszlo describes the rapid development of the chat room and other possible niches, such as dating match services.
Private Communications Corporation's sample business plan
私人通讯公司的商业计划样本
Industry Background
行业背景

Starting in 1995, Internet usage began its rapid ascent in popularity, due in part to the introduction of user-friendly browsers—such as Netscape's Navigator software—which made accessing the World Wide Web (the "Web") easy and inexpensive. Other factors fueling the rapid growth in Web usage included the large and growing installed base of PCs, advances in the performance of PCs and modems, and improvements in network infrastructure. Web usage had grown from 1 million users in late 1994 to between 19 million and 38 million users by the end of 1996. This rapid pace of growth was expected to continue, with projections ranging from 100 million to 170 million users by 2000.1 Chat rooms were one of the earliest applications on the Web to gain popularity. Chat
rooms were virtual communities where people could hold anonymous conversations with other participants by typing out their comments on their computer keyboards. Some sites were totally dedicated to chat, such as www.talkcity.com, while others offered separate chat rooms as part of their sites.
For example, the ESPN Web site offered a number of different chat rooms where participants could discuss specific sports-related topics with players or game analysts.
Yahoo!, the Web's most widely used search engine, offered users the opportunity to chat about a number of general topics at any time, in addition to offering scheduled discussions with soap stars, authors, and other celebrities.
Many chat rooms also allowed users to move into "private chat rooms" to hold more private conversations. America Online (AOL), the largest online service, hosted more than 1 million hours of chat per day through some 14,000 chat rooms.2 Many Web sites were adding chat rooms in an effort to build a sense of community around their sites, which in turn was believed to be a key driver behind generating traffic at a site. In fact, studies demonstrated that adding a chat room to a Web site could boost traffic by as much as 50%, and users of chat rooms stayed on a site for over four times as long as non-chat room users.3 Many industry analysts projected that chat room usage could grow even faster than Internet usage. One leading analyst projected that there
would be 7.9 billion hours of online chat by the year 2000.4
In addition to chat rooms, online match services had also become quite popular. These services enabled participants to submit personal profiles and search a site's database for the personal profiles of other participants to find potentially interesting partners. Some sites, such as www.match.com, were entirely dedicated to online match-making, whereas other sites offered match services as just one of many options, such as AOL's [email protected] and Yahoo!'s "perfect match" personal classified service. PCC estimated that there were well over 200,000 users of online match services in 1997.
As interest in chat rooms and match services grew, so too did concerns over personal privacy. Databases housing confidential personal information stored on computer networks could sometimes be accessed using only a person's social security number or telephone number. As concern increased, a number of companies had emerged to sell products to improve computer and telecommunications security.
Leadership Insight: Adapt to the market
领导力洞察力：适应市场
In early 2009, we launched a new business in India. Our insight was, there was a big opportunity to disrupt the laundry services market. You see, if you're wealthy in India, you can afford every modern convenience. You've got great washing machines at home, you've got great ways to get clean clothes. If you're not wealthy, there are very affordable solutions available to you, village dhobis who will come pick up your clothes, wash them in large communal pools, beat them against rocks, and return them about seven days later at very low price points. Not always the cleanest clothes, and sometimes it takes a while, but it's
affordable.
There's a big missing middle in between those two extremes. So we innovated. We introduced a kiosk-based format with an integrated washing machine and dryer that provides convenient, affordable, high-quality cleaning services.
The economics of this model would allow us to give the rig operator, the person working at the kiosk, really nice wages. We thought this would allow us to do a great job at attracting and retaining talent to allow the business model to work.
A few months into operations, we had a puzzle. We were paying people very high wages for the work we were doing, yet we had very low retention. People were leaving the rigs and we had to continue to hire and retrain, and the business model wasn't working.
Well, we worked with some local consultants who really understood the market, and they said, "The problem is you're applying a Western mindset to the Indian market. Pay people a fair wage, and then the extra wage you were going to pay them, break it into chunks. Give them a bus pass, give them a meal allowance, give them healthcare. Give them little bitesized chunks that allow them to lead their life in a better way. That's what's going to work for this particular employee in this particular market."
We did that, and retention went through the roof, and the business model began to work really nicely. There were a couple of key things I learned from this. First, it's always important to remember that no matter how smart you are, a business plan that looks great on paper won't always work in the marketplace. To borrow an old military adage, no business plan ever survived its first encounter with the marketplace. You've got to get out there and test and learn to figure out how your idea is wrong.
The second thing to remember is to never discount the importance of expertise, people who understand a market, who know its nuances. It's very hard if you've got an orthodoxy, if you've got a way of looking at the world, to build a new market without an injection of some form of fresh thinking, because you'll bring your old mindset to the new business, and that can lead to all sorts of trouble.
If you remember those two things, you can dramatically increase your ability to innovate. And if you're ever in Bangalore, make sure you stop by the Village Laundry Service rig.
Sometimes a business plan on paper is no match for reality. Figure out how your idea needs to be adapted to the market.
The competitive analysis
竞争分析
Competitors can be companies within the industry producing similar products or services, such as motorcycles within the motorcycle industry. Or competitors could be companies in rival industries producing products or services that fall into another industry category but that solve the same consumer problem—for example, if the problem being solved is finding a low-cost alternative to owning and driving a car, then owning and riding a motorcycle or taking public transportation  would both be competitive solutions. The readers of your business plan will want to know who the direct and potential competitors of your business venture are because they represent a threat to the success of your venture. Understanding who and what your competitors are can reduce the risk of the failure of your business. Here are some questions your readers may ask:
• Who are the competitors? Think in terms of what companies solve the same problems for the customer. Identify the major competitors, their products and services, and their strengths and weaknesses. How much market share does each competitor control? What are their marketing strategies? What are their key success factors?
• What differentiates your product or service from the competitors' products or services? How are you responding to a customer need in a new, useful, and unique way?
• How much of a threat are your competitors to your venture? Do they enjoy strong brand recognition of their products? Will they aggressively block the entrance of a new rival? Will they recognize your special differentiating attributes and appropriate them for their own products or services?
Private Communications Corporation's competitive analysis identifies the competition and emphasizes PCC's competitive advantages—convenience, flexibility, strategic alliances, etc. 
Private Communications Corporation's sample business plan
私人通讯公司的商业计划样本
Competitive Analysis竞争分析
Direct competitors直接竞争对手
To the Company's best knowledge, there is only a single competitor, PeopleLink Inc., which is presently offering a similar product. PeopleLink tested its product in October 1996 with a beta test that lasted several weeks. The company is promoting its product through a Web site which will permit people to establish new accounts and receive an extension number online. It is not known whether (and if so, to what extent) the system will be modified now that the beta period has been completed. PeopleLink is positioning its product as a "call conferencing system designed for chatters." It is advertising a general
release date of Winter 1997. Although the Company has reason to believe that PeopleLink's price structure and marketing plans may be similar to those of the Company, PCC's Product is clearly distinguishable from, and more attractive than, PeopleLink's product. PeopleLink's product is essentially a private teleconferencing service. For two people to talk over their telephones using the PeopleLink system, they must both call into the same phone number virtually simultaneously (i.e., within a three minute window). Otherwise, they cannot be
connected. Thus, PeopleLink's system requires users to pre-arrange and coordinate beforehand each and every call they wish to make.
In contrast, PCC's product is flexible and convenient, permitting people to call one another whenever they desire, without the need to pre-arrange contact. Customers have complete control over where and when they answer their phone, and can direct calls automatically to voice mail if they do not answer the call, or choose not to accept it. Management believes that its system is superior to that of PeopleLink and that its product differentiation will give the Company a material advantage over its competition.
Potential competitors潜在竞争对手
Generally, there are few natural barriers to entry (e.g., capital requirements, proprietary technology) that would prevent new market entrants from launching competing products.
Consequently, prospective competitors will likely develop and promote competing products once they learn of the Company's success. Anticipating the threat of new market entrants, the Company is seeking to erect two strategic barriers to entry aimed at preserving the Company's competitive advantage. One barrier will arise through the formation of purposeful strategic alliances with those enterprises that maintain the gateways to chat rooms and dating match services, such as OSPs, ISPs, chat room Internet sites, and dating match services. The Company is presently negotiating advantageous revenue sharing agreements with several potential partners, whereby the partners will promote and build services around the Company's product on an exclusive basis. The Company believes that these exclusive arrangements will effectively preclude
potential competitors from reaching the Company's target markets in a cost-competitive fashion. Additionally, the Company is seeking to establish a second barrier by creating a brand identity for its Product so that consumers will come to recognize the Company's brand as a reliable service that ensures high quality, convenient telephone communications with complete privacy and anonymity.
Internet telephony因特网电话
Internet telephony is an emerging technology designed to permit people to make long distance phone calls, using either their personal computers or ordinary telephone handsets as receivers and the Internet as the communications channel. Generally, firms developing Internet telephony intend that the technology will provide an alternative to ordinary long distance telephone service, without any long distance charge or for a charge 
substantially lower than the customary charge. Moreover, Internet telephony may support anonymous long distance telephone services, and some chat rooms are seeking to incorporate Internet telephony features into their programs. To date, consumers have failed to embrace the technology. Many agree that the voice transmission is poor and, in most cases, is not real time. Furthermore, most Internet telephony software applications require that callers have compatible hardware and software to use the system. In short, the technology is newly emerging, and the Company does not believe it poses a
competitive threat in the immediate near term. However, it is possible that, should the technology improve and become a part of the PC mainstream, the technology could pose a substantial competitive threat to the Company's business.
The market analysis市场分析
In this section, focus on your target market, that group of people who will choose to purchase and continue to purchase your product or service because you solve a problem or meet a need for them. Here is where you answer the questions: Is there an opportunity within this market? Can we capitalize on this opportunity?
Your reader will be interested in the site of opportunity; therefore, you should include the following information:
• An indication of how large the market is and how fast it is growing. These are two key considerations for any business looking to enter a market or market niche. Is there room for your presence in that market? Can the market expand to include you? Will market demand for your products or services grow? For example, the market for video rental retailers may be peaking as new technology, such as DVDs, satisfies the customer demand for home
entertainment. As another example, consumers are finding the convenience of shopping online attractive so that e-commerce is booming, and the opportunities for finding profitable niches selling on the Internet may prove to be extremely lucrative.
• A definition of your target market. Who are they? Where are they from? What characteristics describe them? Consider the market from different points of view such a geographic location or segmentation (national, state, suburban, city, neighborhoods), demographic features (age, gender, race, income level, occupation, education, religion, etc.), and behavioral factors (customers' attitudes and responses to types of products).
• An explanation of why customers in the target market will purchase your product or service. What are your solutions to customer problems? What customer pain will your product or service ease? Do you have a better-designed pillow to ease back pain? Or do you have a way to filter out banner ads on the Internet, easing online irritation? Emphasize the reasons customers will buy your product. What are the benefits for those buyers? How will your customers differentiate your product from your competitors'? For example, why
would a customer purchase books at a local bookstore rather than from an online book retailer?
Private Communications Corporation's market analysis first defines the overall market for its business as "online and Internet communications" and describes the market size.
Next, Laszlo focuses on the target segment of the market—"users of online chat rooms and dating match services"—and shows what the market need or opportunity is—privacy in telephone communications.
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