Building an ISP Business Plan
   Part 6: Putting It All Together

Building a business plan is monumental task, and the most important part of all—presentation—is still ahead. After all, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

by Jason Zigmont
     HowToSell.net

I began this series with a simple statement that I'd like to reiterate, now that we're arriving at the end of our journey:

"You choose your destiny, and your business plan is your road map."

We've spent the past five columns examining the primary sections of a business plan, and their importance. To recap:

In Part 2, we looked at developing an Industry and Market Analysis and the Sales Forecast.

The first of these delves into the industry as a whole as well as the competition in your local or niche market. The second develops the framework for your Financial Plan and Marketing Plan.

In Part 3, we discussed the importance (and the organization) of a complete Marketing Plan.

Your Marketing Plan lays out your marketing strategy and describes the niche you are marketing to. In this ever-changing ISP market, many ISPs are solely marketing machines, and this may be the section that sets you apart from the rest.

In Part 4, we looked at Operating and Organizational Plans.

Your Operating Plan describes in detail how you will operate your ISP, your technology, and network topology. The Organizational Plan discusses who you are and the qualifications you have to run your ISP. After all, when someone invests in your ISP, they are investing in your plans and your ability to execute them.

In Part 5, we drilled down on Financial Plans.

Your Financial Plan demonstrates your current and future financial conditions. It should also describe your investor's return on investment (ROI) and your financial goals.

Now, we arrive at the culmination: how to put it all together and present it to the correct people.

Final act
When your business plan is finished, it should contain the following sections:

• Executive Summary
• Financing Proposal
• Business Description
• Industry Analysis
• Market Analysis and Sales Forecast
• Marketing Plan
• Operating Plan
• Organization Plan
• Financial Plan

The first five columns covered all of these sections in detail except for first two, the Executive Summary and the Financing Proposal.

Executive Summary
This is a super-condensed summation of the entire plan. It is the first page of text in your business plan and will be the first (and sometimes the only) thing in your business plan that gets read. Therefore it forms your readers' the first impression, and as the saying goes 'You never get a second chance to make a first impression'.

The Executive Summary is generally about one page long—with a maximum of two pages—and typically consists of the following sections:

• Business Concept and Mission Statement
• Operating Plan Summary
• Marketing Plan Summary
• Financial Plan Summary

While many people may joke about mission statements being meaningless, your Business Concept and Mission Statement should be the best explanation of your vision, background, and target market you can craft—and should take up four paragraphs or less.

Your Mission Statement should be something everyone in your company knows by heart—and your guiding light in making tough decisions. If you are a service-focused ISP, for example, you should explain that clearly in this section.

The Operating Plan, Marketing Plan, and Financial Plan Summaries are one- or two-paragraph condensations of the summaries found within the Operating, Financial, and Marketing plan sections. You should highlight the key points that are made in each section.

Your Operating Plan Summary should highlight the methods and procedures that make your ISP different.

Your Financial Plan Summary should highlight profitability and return on investment.

A sample Marketing Plan Summary might look like this:

QEI.net's product will be marketed to middle and upper income residential users and small office/home office users. The company's sales will be sufficient to break even and gain a market share of 5,000 users in the first planning year.

This plan includes intensive customer interaction to foster additional word of mouth sales, which is the largest source of sales for ISPs, and bring down the cost to acquire customers.