Proposal guidelines for infrastructure projects over $100,000 (Quebec Fisheries Fund)

The following 9 sections are part of a standard business plan.

On this page

• Cover page
• Table of contents
• Executive summary
• Industry description
• Business description
• Opportunities
• Production plan
• Marketing plan
• Financials

Cover page

The cover page introduces the company and business idea. It should include:

• the legal name of your business
• your business and marketing plan title (for example, ‘Business and marketing plan for Smith and Smith, Inc.’)
• the date your plan was prepared or modified
• contact information of the person who prepared the plan, including:
  • name
  • address
  • phone number
  • fax number
  • email address
• any necessary notices, such as:
  • advising that the plan is confidential
  • a copy number of the business plan to control distribution
• your business’ official trademark or logo
• your business website address

Table of contents

Your business and marketing plan should be clearly laid out and easy to use. To make it fast and easy for readers to access the various sections, include:

• a full table of contents listing all key sections
• numbered pages

Executive summary

While the executive summary is the first part of any business and marketing plan a reader sees, it may be best to write it last. Leaving it until the end will allow you to better focus, refine and polish the key messages after you’ve finished the main business plan.

The executive summary is ideally just 1-page long (2 pages maximum), as it’s intended to provide a summary overview. Though concise, it should interest the reader enough for them to finish reading the whole plan. If your executive summary has done its job, the reader will get the full story of your business idea.

Address the following areas in your executive summary.

• Introduce your business, for example:
  • what it is
  • what it does
  • how it does it
  • who manages it
  • location
  • its markets
  • competition
• Provide mission and vision statements that outline what your goals are and where you want to be in 5 years.
• Provide information like:
  • if the business is a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation
  • the business opportunity, expected growth rate and potential for good return on investment (details will be in the main document)
  • the total financial requirements of the business, funding sources and repayment schedules (again, details in the main document)
  • brief outlines of your operational and marketing plans

End with a declarative sentence that answers why the proposal should be funded.

Industry description

This is where you will showcase your in-depth research and understanding of your industry. Within the detailed description of what your industry looks like right now, you should include:

• the size of your industry and how many sectors it includes
• key information on industry markets, demographics and niche areas
• who the major players are in your industry (your competition)
• the suppliers and/or distributors in your industry (if applicable)
• key industry and economic trends affecting your industry
• social, cultural, environmental or geographical factors impacting your industry
• required:
  • certifications, such as from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  • insurance
  • industry regulations
• an outline of government regulations affecting your industry
• the overall growth potential of your industry

Demonstrate that you’ve analyzed the risks and know where your business fits in this industry. Examples of points to include are:

• what sector of the industry you plan to enter or expand into
• what will distinguish you from any competition in this area (for example, what’s your competitive edge)
• who your direct and indirect competitors are, and their anticipated reactions to your new enterprise
• a detailed analysis of any other potential obstacles/risks

You may also want to identify the key challenges or difficult issues facing the business. Include any appropriate contingency plans in your industry description.

Business description

In this section of your business and marketing plan, you describe your business and explain why investors and lenders should be interested in getting involved in your business idea.

Briefly reiterate your business introduction from the executive summary with more details about:

• your products and/or services
• your facilities and assets
• the history of why and how your business came to be, including any milestones
• your success factors (what you do really well) and your niche in the industry
• your sales volume (existing and projected)
• any innovative products, services, processes and/or ideas being developed

Provide detail about the management team, your staff and key external professional advisors, including:

• owners and managers, such as who they are and what strengths they bring to the business in terms of experience and expertise
• staff, such as how many are full- and part-time workers, what skillsets and experience they possess, and the positions and responsibilities of each
• plans for training and expanding staff as your business grows
• your external professional advisors, such as:
  • lawyers
  • accountants
  • bankers
  • consultants
  • mentors
• members of the board of directors or advisory board (if applicable) and their business experience

Include an organizational chart for the business, if available.

Opportunities

This is the part of your business and marketing plan where you promote:

• your business concept
• your vision for the future
• why your enterprise will succeed

In a clear, concise and positive manner, base your statements on facts and address areas of interest, such as:

• why the market will buy your product and/or service
• how large the market is and how much you expect to capture
• what the future prospects are for your product and/or service

When addressing these issues, don’t hesitate to use as much research and data as possible to describe and promote your product or service, including:

• why your targeted market wants or needs your product and/or service
• what innovative features and compelling value your product and/or service offers
• how your offering is better than that of your competition
• if you’re selling something new (whether it’s protected by patent, copyright or other legal means)
• how your product and/or service will have longevity in the marketplace (will it soon become obsolete)
• what your plans are for modifying or updating it in the future

Production plan

Regardless of which industry you’re in, it’s essential that you demonstrate a thorough grasp of how to manage business operations in a cost-effective manner. You’re offering a product/service to a target market and it takes careful planning to deliver quality on time and on budget.

This part of your business and marketing plan should include the following information.

Facilities and assets

• the location and size of your facility, including floor plans
• your facility’s capacity for materials and equipment, percentage being used and how long that will last
• whether you lease or own the facility and equipment
• your proximity to suppliers, if applicable
• the quality of your machinery and equipment (is it the best available technology and does it meet industry standards)
• your access to transportation
• any future considerations for expansion or moving
• any renovation considerations and associated costs

Materials and supplies

• the number and reliability of your suppliers
• whether you have adequate storage facilities for materials
• any regulations or permits for supplies/materials
• any risks associated with materials and supplies, such as:
  • customs regulations
  • transportation concerns
  • environmental issues

Personnel

• your number of employees, including past, present and future projections
• an organizational chart showing how your staff is organized
• the skills, training and experience required of your employees, including the cost of training
• what compensation and benefits you provide each position, including all:
  • salaries
  • wages
  • overtime and/or fringe benefits

Operations

• the industry standards for production, such as:
  • ISO requirements
  • environmental
  • health and safety standards
• any relevant government regulations, such as:
  • environmental safety
  • hazardous material handling
  • insurance
• if you’re starting a new business, how long it will take to acquire facilities, equipment and personnel before setting up your operations and completing your first production run

Marketing plan

Your marketing plan is a crucial component of the larger business plan. Here you describe your product and/or service in detail, emphasizing its unique or innovative features. Then you outline your strategic plan for selling your offering within your target market.

The following is a list of elements you should cover in this section.

The market

• Describe your potential market and your target customers.
• Estimate your total potential market (for example, your number of potential customers and your immediate target market).
  • Support these estimates with factual data.
  • With all forecasts, include assumptions that support your estimates, such as:
    • interest rates
    • economic trends
    • inflation
• Define your competitive advantage and how your offering satisfies the needs of this market.
• Estimate the growth potential of your immediate market and possible future markets, including national and international markets.
• Include your estimated market share.

Competition

• Identify your major direct competitors, for example:
  • who they are
  • where they’re located
  • their market share
• Identify any indirect competition.
• Compare your product and/or service with that of your major competitors, such as:
  • brand name
  • quality
  • image
  • price
• Compare your company to major competitors, such as:
  • reputation
  • size
  • distribution channels
  • locations
• Assess the degree of difficulty for your competition to enter your target market.
• Describe what you’ve learned from watching your competition.
• Determine whether competitors’ sales are increasing, decreasing or remaining steady, and why.

Technology

• Describe how technology impacts your product and/or service.
• Consider how new and emerging technologies will impact your product and/or service, and when investment in new technology may be required.
• Describe how your company can adapt quickly to change.

Other

• Include other situational factors that will affect your marketing plan, such as:
  • regulatory changes
  • access to venture capital
  • trade barriers or world economic issues
• Define problems and opportunities.
  • Identify problems or potential problems, as well as opportunities that affect your business idea, and state what you’ll do about them.
• Define objectives.
  • Outline your business objectives in precise, measurable terms.
  • Make sure you can quantify your targets.
• Define strategies.
  • Outline how you’ll reach your objectives, including steps you’ll take in planning, production and marketing to meet your targets.
  • Ensure that you’ve taken into account the previously mentioned problems and opportunities, and have considered potential reactions of your competitors.

Your action plan

In this section, you’ll need to add information about your product, price, promotion and placement (distribution). Explain the following marketing areas.

• Your product or services.
  • Describe the quality, branding, packaging, modification, servicing of your product and the location of your service.
• Your prices.
  • Describe how you’ll price your product or service so that it’ll be competitive, yet profitable.
• Your promotion plans.
  • Describe how, where and when you’ll advertise and promote your offerings.
• Your placement/distribution methods.
  • Describe where people will buy your product or have access to your service.
• Outline your selling methods and sales force: personal selling, mail order or online.
• Include information such as the number of salespersons and training required.

Financials

The financial section of your business and marketing plan should provide accurate and understandable information that clearly shows the bottom line.

Present your business idea as an attractive investment opportunity. You may use any preferred format, or use the tables below as templates.

The following items are suggestions for what to list in this section.

• Provide project costs estimates (cash and in-kind costs) to be covered by all sources of funding in Table 1 below.
  • Include a brief description of the project costs to be funded and the amount requested for the whole duration of the project.
• Identify all sources of funding confirmed or expected, including the Quebec Fisheries Fund contribution requested, and any in-kind support in Table 2 below.
  • Each organization must be listed using separate rows.
• The projected date when lenders can expect repayment.
• Any liability limits and insurance coverage necessary to handle environmental and other risks.
• Your projected return on investment.
• Economic assumptions that affect your estimates and forecasts, such as:
  • inflation
  • economic trends
  • interest rates
• An approximate timeline for return on investment.
• State any amounts owed to government in respect to taxes or government withholdings (municipal, provincial or federal).
• Provide any relevant supplier quotes.

Commercial applicants must provide:

• their independently prepared financial statements (audited or review engagement) for the last 3 fiscal years
  • these financial statements must include:
    • the independent accountant’s report
    • balance sheet
    • income statement
    • statement of cash flows
    • accompanying notes to the financial statements
• complete T1 tax returns for the last 3 years for a sole proprietorship or partnership
  • NOTE: black out applicant’s social insurance number and date of birth on all tax return pages
• the latest monthly interim financial statements (which can be company prepared)
• as appendices, 3 years of financial projections for the company for the duration of the project, including:
  • balance sheets along with the accompanying key assumptions used in their preparation
  • income statements
  • statements of cash flow

Non-commercial applicants can satisfy this requirement by providing both historical and current financial statements, and detailed proof of financial commitment from key collaborators.