OVERVIEW

You are required at the end of the semester to submit a Final Project in the form of a Business Financial Plan.

For the Final Project you will be developing a business financial plan for a fictional product or company of your choice. Your financial data and other information while fictional must be based on actual industry information. You will need to research this information and can use data from the industry overall or from specific companies within that industry that market a similar product or service. For example, if you were developing a fast food menu item you could look to the fast food industry or to data from chains such as McDonalds and Burger King.

STRUCTURE

You need to format your final project just as you would format a formal business/financial plan for your company. Make sure your business/financial plan is structured the following way:

• A mission statement (no more than half a page)

• A vision statement (no more than half a page)

• Business research on the industry (one to two pages)

• A marketing plan (one page)

• An operational plan (one page)

• A financial analysis (two pages based on your financial statements, ratios, and SWOT analysis)

Note that the financial statements and ratios page count is in addition to the above commendatory. All written commentary should be double-spaced.

Mission Statement Section

In the first section you need to identify clearly your business and a strategic business plan to identify your product or service. You will need to conduct an industry analysis for the past three years (longer if appropriate).

Vision Statement Section

Keep in mind that you are presenting your plan to either company management for support or outside venture capitalists for financing depending on the product/company you select to use.

Marketing Section

In the marketing section, develop a plan and budget that will be incorporated into your final financial statements for the company.

Operations Section

In the operations section, identify the applicable operation components that may include facilities, inventories, capacity, distribution channels, technology, and quality control. Develop your operational budget to incorporate into your final financials for the company.

Financial Analysis Section

In your financial analysis section, discuss the capital structure of your company and include all appropriate financial documents including an administrative cost of capital budget, an income statement, a balance sheet, cash budget, and a cash flow statement. Remember your marketing and operational budgets need to calculate into these statements.

Your analysis should include a ratio analysis of the appropriate business ratios for your company found in Chapter 4, Analysis of Financial Statements, of the text. Since the numbers in the financial statement will provide the basis for your ratio analysis the ratio discussion will need to be completed after you have developed your financial statements.

Be sure to include a discussion of your companys capital budgeting decisions and a forecast of where you expect your company to be in three years. Include a discussion of the risks that face your company. A SWOT analysis will reflect essentials that your company will need to consider.