OPPORTUNITY & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

How To Start A Business, Without Any Knowledge

Here is a form that will make life and business easier and faster.  There is no need to join a line at the consultant office, but what you need to do is to print this form and start write; taking in consideration that you have done your research on your business.

Business Form:

1. Owner’s Name/Business Name/Trading As Name:

_______________________________________________________________________

1.   i.  Brief Description of the Business

When do you want to start the business & by whom
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ii. Say if the business will be registered as a Trading As/Sole proprietorship/Company
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iii. Say if the Business will be registered with, for  example an Agriculture Society
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iv. Location of Village, Town, Parish
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v. Features of the Location – Acreage, topography, weather pattern

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2.     Overview of the Industry

i. Overall Production in Parish/Island
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ii. Product/Produce uses

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iii. Potential for Growth

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vi. Support Available

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v. Value Added Opportunities

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iv. What is the Jamaican reaction?

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      Any other significant information

3.    Description of Product/Services

i. Type of Farming

ii. Products/Produce

iii. Production Method

vi. Quantity & Potential Yield

v. Value-added Potential

iv. Demand

vii. Growth Potential

4.    Key Personnel

i. Leadership/Management

ii. Supporters/Staff

ii. Outsourced Services

5.    Key Support

6.    The Market – Researching the Market

Target Market:  Who are the primary customers and what percentage of the business they will represent?

Customer	Total Percentage of Business
1.
2.
3.
4.

Customers will be targeted by:

1.       Product Line ______________________________________________________________

2.      Geographic area? Which areas? __________________________________________

3.      Sales?  We will target sales of? _____________________________________________

4.      Industry?  Our target industry is _____________________________________________

How much will the selected market spend on our type of product this coming year? $____________________________

7.    Competition:  Who are the competitors?

Name: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________________________________________________________________

Address:  _____________________________________________________________________

Years in Business:  _____________________________________________________________

Market Share:  ________________________________________________________________

Price/Strategy:  _______________________________________________________________

Product:  _____________________________________________________________________

Features:  ____________________________________________________________________

Name: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________________________________________________________________

Address:  _____________________________________________________________________

Years in Business:  _____________________________________________________________

Market Share:  ________________________________________________________________

Price/Strategy:  _______________________________________________________________

Product:  _____________________________________________________________________

Features:  ____________________________________________________________________

How competitive is the market?

High  __________________________________

Medium  _______________________________

Low  ___________________________________

List below your strengths and weaknesses compared to your completion (consider areas such as:  location, size of resources, reputation, services, personnel, etc.)

Strengths	Weaknesses
1.	1.
2.	2.
3.	3.
4.	4.

8.    Environment

The following are some important economic factors that will affect our product of services (such as trade area growth, industry health, economic trends, taxes, rising energy prices, etc.)

The following are some important legal factors that will affect our market:

The following are some important government factors:

The following are some other environmental factors that will affect our market, but over which we have no control:

9.    Product Analysis

Describe here what the product is and what it does.

Comparison:  What advantage does our product over those of the competition (consider such things such as unique features, expertise, special training, etc.)?

            What disadvantage does it have?

            Some Considerations:  Where will you get your materials and supplies?

            List any other considerations

10.  Marketing Strategies – Market Mix

Image:  What kind of image do we want to have (such as cheap but good, or exclusiveness, or highest quality or convenience, or speed, etc.)

            Features:  List the features we will emphasize:

1.       __________________________________________________________________________

2.      __________________________________________________________________________

3.      __________________________________________________________________________

4.      __________________________________________________________________________

5.      __________________________________________________________________________

6.      __________________________________________________________________________

Pricing:  We will be using the following pricing strategy:

1.      Mark-up on cost ______________________ What percent (%) markup?__________

2.      Competitive ______________________________________________________________

3.      Below Competition________________________________________________________

4.      Premium Price_____________________________________________________________

            

11.   Customer Service:  List the customer service we provide

1.       __________________________________________________________________________

2.      __________________________________________________________________________

3.      __________________________________________________________________________

4.      __________________________________________________________________________

These are our sales/credit terms:

1.      __________________________________________________________________________

2.      __________________________________________________________________________

3.      __________________________________________________________________________

4.      __________________________________________________________________________

The competition offers the following services:

1.      __________________________________________________________________________

2.       __________________________________________________________________________

3.      __________________________________________________________________________

4.      __________________________________________________________________________

Advertising /Promotion:  These are the things we wish to say about the business

We will use the following advertising/promotion sources.  Please circle: (TV, radio, internet, direct mail, personal contacts, Trade Association, Newspaper, Magazine, Yellow Pages, Billboard, flyers, Other)

The following are the reasons why we consider the media we have chosen to be the most effective:

General Notes: