PLANNING & RESEARCH: ENTREPRENEURIAL ESSENTIALS
Business Goals & Objectives Worksheet
When assessing a new business opportunity, you should consider your short-term goals (within one year) and long-term goals (within two to three years). Goals are usually measured in dollars and other tangible outcomes. Each goal must be clearly defined so that you can track your progress toward it. In other words, each goal must be measurable.
Objectives are specific strategies for reaching goals. A goal may have several objectives, but every objective must be measurable and assigned to a specific person within your business.
You can set goals and objectives for any aspect of your business, including:
Sales volume | Customer satisfaction
Owner compensation | Profit
Number of employees | Market share
When setting goals and objectives, ask yourself the following questions:
What will I do? | Who can help me do it?
Why should I do it? How will I do it? | What problems will I face? How will I overcome these problems?
When will I do it? | What will the outcome be?
To understand the difference between goals and objectives, consider the following example:
I own a small bakery in a midsized metropolitan area. My goal is to be bigger than my largest local competitor within three years. My objectives are:
To get out of my current location and into a suitable leased space
To sell outside of my immediate metropolitan area
To take 25 percent of market share from my largest local competitor
Step 1	Identify at least three short-term goals and objectives for your business and list them in order of importance. (Remember: Objectives include what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and who is responsible for doing it.)
Step 2	Identify at least three long-term goals and objectives for your business and list them in order of importance.
Business Goals and Objectives Worksheet
SHORT-TERM GOALS & OBJECTIVES (Year 1)
Goal 1:
Objective | Deadline | Who’s Responsible?
Goal 2:
Objective | Deadline | Who’s Responsible?
Goal 3:
Objective | Deadline | Who’s Responsible?
LONG-TERM GOALS & OBJECTIVES (Years 2 and 3)
Goal 1:
Objective | Deadline | Who’s Responsible?
Goal 2:
Objective | Deadline | Who’s Responsible?
Goal 3:
Objective | Deadline | Who’s Responsible?
Mission Statement Worksheet
Your mission statement briefly sums up your values, your vision and the purpose of your business. Creating a mission statement helps to focus your efforts, guide your strategies and communicate your business’s aspirations. It’s helpful to begin by working on these elements one at a time, using the worksheet on the following page.
Step 1	Your business values
Business values reflect your ethics and describe how you will treat employees and customers.
Step 2	Your vision
What do you want your business to be and do for your customers? How will it contribute to or enrich their lives? What would you like it to be known for in your community?
Step 3	Purpose of your business
You should determine the purpose of your business in two ways. First, you should use an internal measure of success. Second, the primary external purpose of any company is to serve customers and solve their problems.
Try to integrate your values and vision when defining the purpose of your business. Together, they provide the framework for your business concept.
Example: I love worms. The internal purpose of my business is that it will give me a chance to work with worms. The external purpose of my business is to provide composting, soil improvement and fertilizer services to area gardeners.
Step 4	Your mission statement
Your mission statement should include all of the above elements: values (the philosophy of your business); vision (what you want your business to be and do); and purpose (what your business does to serve its customers).
It should be short and focused (no more than 35 words). It is stated in the present tense, in positive terms and without qualifiers.
Example: Vulpinex Consulting helps its small-business clients succeed by providing them with honest, ethical, affordable project implementation assistance in such areas as management training, merchandising and business planning.
Many companies proudly display their mission statement in a place visible to customers, employees and suppliers. Of course, posting it on a wall is easy. The challenge is to live up to it!
Mission Statement Worksheet—contINUED
1.	What values guide your business? How will it treat customers, employees and partners?
2.	What do you want your business to be and do? What would you like it to be known for, now and in the future?
3.	What is the purpose of your business, internally and externally?
4.	Based on your previous answers, write a draft mission statement:
Business Description Worksheet
1.	What business are you in? What are your key products?
2.	Why will customers want to buy your product?
3.	Provide a general description of how your business will operate.
4.	What stage of development is your business in?
5.	Describe your plans for growth.
Business Description Worksheet—contINUED
6.	Write an initial business description. Based on your answers to Questions 1 through 5, write a simple but complete description of your business idea as you currently understand it. Describe your key products and explain why you think customers will want to buy them. As you work through the plan, you can come back and edit this section as necessary.
Sources of Industry Data Worksheet
Use the following questions to identify secondary data resources that will get you started on your search for current industry information.
1.	What is your industry? (Be as specific as possible.)
2.	What is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for your industry? (You can find this number at www.census.gov/eos/www/naics; it will help you to find industry data from online government and industry sources.)
3.	Identify trade associations that offer industry information for your type of business.
4.	Identify industry magazines, publications and websites. Most industries have publications that offer valuable information about managing a business in that industry. Your librarian can help you find these publications.
5.	Identify state and federal government publications and websites that offer data on your industry.
6.	Identify other good sources of industry data and trend information.
Key Contacts Worksheet
Smart entrepreneurs keep a list of local, regional and industry contacts who can provide information, solve problems or locate primary research data. Use the following steps to build your contact list.
1.	Who is the director of your local chamber of commerce? Contact the director and find out what help is available for small businesses.
2.	Who is your trade association contact? Find out if someone in your trade association can help you on a local or regional level.
3.	Who is your local business librarian? Visit your library and find out what assistance, databases, business records and tools are available.
4.	Who is your local SBDC, SCORE or BIC director? Local Small Business Development Centers and SCORE chapters can provide counseling and other help to small-business owners. If you live in a larger metropolitan area, the Small Business Administration (SBA) may have a Business Information Center that can help you.
5.	Identify local business and civic organizations. Being active in local organizations and networking with your community is a key to success for many entrepreneurs.
6.	Identify social networking sites or online forums where you can make contacts. Look for sites where people in your industry gather to network, get advice or trade strategies. Whether you participate in these forums or simply read them, they can provide invaluable information.
7.	Identify supplier representatives. Many business owners think of suppliers simply as the people that sell them products. However, suppliers often have expert knowledge of your industry. Get to know more about your supplier representatives and their backgrounds.
Industry Research Worksheets
Using trade association information, industry publications, websites and the other resources you identified in the previous exercises, research the following information about your industry. At a minimum, your industry research should reveal your industry’s size and current stage (new, growing, stable, declining) and identify trends that are likely to affect it in coming years.
Step 1	Industry background
The industry’s current size in terms of total sales, number of customers and number of businesses
The industry’s historic growth rate
Do large or small businesses dominate the industry?
Step 2	Current and future trends
Current trends (industry life cycle stage, current and predicted growth)
Economic outlook for the industry, and for small businesses within the industry
What niche markets are currently hot?
Future trends predicted by industry experts (document your sources)
How are small businesses in this industry affected by large companies, international competition and franchises?
Opportunities and threats relating to current and future technology
Opportunities and threats relating to current and future government regulations
Step 3	Business fit in the industry
How does your business compare to other businesses in your industry?
Why does the opportunity exist for you to enter or improve your position in this industry? (Possible answers include: a strong trend toward smaller, local businesses; e-commerce; a financing opportunity; weak competitors; a new delivery system.)
How is your business positioned to profit from the trends and opportunities you identified in Step 2? How will it avoid any threats you identified?
Industry Background
1.	What is the current size of your industry? (Consider annual sales, number of businesses and number of customers.) What is its historic growth rate?
2.	What type of businesses dominate your industry (micro, small, medium, large)? State the percentage of each, if possible.
3.	Does your industry show seasonal trends? If so, explain.
4.	How and where do businesses in your industry promote, sell and deliver products?
Industry Research Worksheet—contINUED
Current and Future Trends
5.	Is your industry new, growing, stable or declining?
6.	How does your industry compare to the economy as a whole? Is it doing better, worse or about the same? Explain.
7.	How do small businesses operate within this industry? Are they currently prospering? Why, or why not? Is the outlook for small businesses in this industry good or bad over the next three years? Why? What are the major opportunities and threats?
8.	How are small businesses in your industry currently affected by large competitors (e.g., chain stores, franchises or online retailers like Amazon)? What trends are expected?
9.	What niche markets are currently hot in this industry? Explain the trends.
10.	What political, economic, social and technological trends are being predicted by industry experts? (Document your sources.) How will these trends affect small businesses in your industry over the next year? How about the next two to three years?
Industry Research Worksheet—contINUED
Business Fit in the Industry
11.	How does your business compare to other businesses in your industry? How is it similar? How is it different?
12.	How do your products and business fit into the industry? Relate this to your discussion of current and future trends.
13. Why is there an opportunity to enter this industry? How will you take advantage of it? What threats and risks do you face? How will you address them?
14.	How is your business positioned to profit from the trends you identified?

Worksheets Assignment for Session 3
Complete the following worksheets: Business Goals & Objectives Worksheet Mission Statement Worksheet Business Description Worksheet Sources of Industry Data Worksheet Key Contacts Worksheet Industry Research Worksheet For best results, review all your answers to the worksheet questions before starting the assignment.
Writing Your Business Plan
Use the information from this session to write the sections of the NxLeveL® Business Plan shown below. Start with the headings and subheadings just as they are shown here. Then, follow the instructions in italics under each subheading. Section II. Business Concept A. Business Description Review the Business Description Worksheet and write a simple but complete description of your business idea. Include your mission statement, as set forth in your Mission Statement Worksheet. Describe your key products and explain how they will meet customer needs. Write this section so a stranger can read it and understand exactly what your business hopes to be and do. B. Business Goals and Objectives Review the Business Goals & Objectives Worksheet. Summarize your short-term goals (within one year) and long-term goals (two to three years in the future). Include the objectives or steps you’ll take to reach each goal. You can write this section using your goals as a main sentence, and put bullet points under the sentence to show the steps you’ll take to reach each goal.
Writing Your Business Plan—contINUED
Section II. Business Concept C. Industry Information Industry Background Review your answers to Questions 1 through 4 on the Industry Research Worksheet. Summarize the information to describe the current size of your industry in terms of dollar sales and number of businesses or customers. Discuss whether large or small firms dominate the industry, and note any seasonal trends. Explain how and where products and services are currently promoted, sold and delivered in this industry. Current and Future Trends Review your answers to Questions 5 through 10 on the Industry Research Worksheet. Explain whether the industry is growing, stable or declining. Summarize the economic outlook for the industry and for small businesses within the industry. Identify and explain important niche market trends that relate to your business. Describe the impact of current and future political, economic, social and technological trends on small businesses within your industry. Business Fit in the Industry Review your answers to Questions 11 through 14 on the Industry Research Worksheet. Then, describe how you see your business fitting into this industry. Will your business be like most others in the industry, or will it be different? Explain any unique aspects of your business that you feel improve its chance to succeed in this industry. Where possible, relate your fit in the industry to important trends you identified in the previous section.