CREATING A SOLID BUSINESS PLAN FOR EXPANSION OF A RESTORE

BY JOE CONNELL

VICE PRESIDENT OF RETAIL OPERATIONSHABITAT FOR HUMANITY PORTLAND METRO

What is a Business Plan

“A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals.”

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan

Okay, now what does that mean?

It needs to be a written document!

State your goals. Where the heck are you going and why.

Write as if you are a for profit company.

Who is your audience?

Who are you writing this plan for? Who are your decision makers? Your ED? Your Board? The Bank? Angel donors? All of the above?

What do they want to know?

What your goals are? What you need to reach them [usually

money]? What the risks are? And they need to know, that you know,

what you’re talking about.

Decisions!

A Business Plan is a decision making tool. So you need to write it to help make it clear

what you are wanting to do, how you will do it, and how you will measure it.

Once you outline this then the decisions are easy.

So make it easy for your self, make a PLAN!

So! How do I make a Plan?

Identify your goals

State why and how they are attainable

Tell us how your are going to reach them.

Goals

Typical Goals Raise more money to build homes Keep more materials out of the landfill Provide jobs within the community Provide volunteer opportunities Increase awareness of the affiliate

Provide a written comment on each, depending on your audience.

Why are these goals attainable?

Here is where the demographics come in: “other stores in areas our size do twice the sales…” “people in our area don’t cross the river, so a

second store over there…” “Portland has three stores why can’t I…” Our dollars per sq’ are great, if we had more

space… “I can’t fit all the donations in our store, I am

turning donors away…

So…

Now you have to document all those lovely statements. How?

City and county demographics HFHI ReStore Other ReStores locally and nationally Talk to developers and realtors [they know

what’s going on].

Now the plan

This is your Action Plan: the part where you talk about who, what, where, and when.

At this point is should write its self. You have the info Put it all on paper Remember your audience, don’t overdo it Start by answering your own questions Then check with others, never trust your own

assumptions farther then you can throw Bo.

So what to include

An intro – long or short this is the big picture sell, like an elevator speech

Background info about the org – as needed

Your goals, stated simply and clearly Each goal should have reasons you think they

make sense, backed up by research Your numbers – decision makers love

numbers. Your conclusions and recommendation

Remember

Never trust your own assumptions Always trust your instincts Involve others, especially the ones you

tend to disagree with Have someone else proofread all your work Get someone younger and smarter then

you to make your power point presentation.

Have fun, or don’t do it.

One last thought

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

Dali Lama