Happy MLK Day

Hey peeps, I took off the last few days to work on a business plan for a new business I will be starting by years end. After nearly 20 years of running my family's riding stable, I left in August of last year to pursue other things like this blog and some other business interests I have. My experience and expertise in the riding business though has continually called for me in the back of my head though. So, when a dear old friend mentioned he wanted to invest in a business with me I decided that the route I would take would be to open a new riding stable here in the Disney area using all of my knowledge I learned in so many years of being involved with the family's stable. I want to lay out the basic set up I used in making my business plan. First I started with the intent of the business plan. Next I stated the mission. Its important that you know that there is a difference between the intent of a business plan and the mission of the people involved in the business. The intent of my business plan is to set up a horseback riding stable in the Disney area and my mission is to provide a family oriented experience while taking care of our animals and preserving a piece of Americana. Now, the meat of the plan starts with the needs in setting up the business like land,equipment,buildings,inventory,staff,and obviously in my business horses. Next I listed out the initial costs of those things using an average of 3 resources for each to get a good broad idea of what the market was for those things I need. After that was done I listed out what my monthly costs will be based on my knowledge of former costs in the other business. My marketing plan is next and at first needs to be general as I believe that a true marketing plan is always being tweaked and retweaked as the business takes off. In my business we utilize websites,vacation guides and road signage as our basic entry level marketing tools. Projected income is next, and should be used to help keep my monthly costs in line so that obviously I dont have more going out than I have coming in. I often project my income lower, kind of as a built in expense checker so I dont build more than I can afford too quickly. Make sense? Lastly I list what I bring to the table personally as far as experience, drive etc etc. It is important to do this whether I am presenting the plan to investors or if I am doing it all on my own as it reaffirms my ability to do it. Business isnt always easy and its important I stay firm in my beliefs that I CAN do it. Now, if I am buying the land and building a business on it then that creates 2 different values as far as assets go. One is the business itself and the other the land. I think of them separately because, in the event that i build the business and want to sell it,I have the option of selling the business only and leasing the land to that business to keep a stream of income coming in. In the old days it was always figured that it takes 3 to 5 years for a new business to break even. Todays standards are 5 to 7 years. So, if i take in a gross amount of say $500,000 my first year, I am going to value my business at 2.5 to 3.5 million dollars just off of the cash flow that it produces. I then can add in my inventory and other equipment, horses etc into my total value of the business. The land would be worth whatever the current market levels are at but still worth something on its own. I hope I didnt get to deep on you on this and please feel free to ask any questions via the comments section. See ya soon!!!