Coming up with a Business Plan

At the end of my final semester at Carbondale, I had two internet classes.  In 2005, it felt like they were trying something new, or the teachers were just being lazy.  But, for me it was a procrastinators nightmare.  

I had a pretty good attendance record for my in person classes & didn't mind taking notes once I made it there.  But, living in a party house, it was hard to chalk out some time to do the assignments "remotely."  

So, I waited until after Thanksgiving break to get started on the two.  One was Marketing 400-something & the other, Finance 400-something.  Basically I had to create a fictitious business & document a full-on business & marketing plan for it.  

Naturally, I chose Mad Munch, Inc. as my prototype.  However, early on my professor told me that, "Your business is not incorporated so get rid of the, 'Inc.'"  That's how the Mad Munch Grilled Cheezer Co. name was born.  But, I learned so much more than that.  

With my business degree hanging in the balance & my parents calling every week to make sure I was really going to graduate in December, I found a quiet place in the library & wrote my first business plan.  Sometimes it takes your back against the wall to find the answers to all of the questions.

Who's your ideal customer?  What's your niche?  What promotions will you run to gain market share?  What's the size of your market, your demographics?  What percentage will you capture? 

(I ended up with an 82% grade on my marketing plan).

For the financial portion of it I had to do market research online for restaurants in the area to get an idea of how much they were making.  From those big numbers I made projections for Mad Munch & highlighted them in tables, charts & graphs.  

This part was probably the most nerve-racking for me.  Math wasn't always my strong suit.  You had to make it look profitable but not like you didn't need to borrow money.  There were loans, depreciation schedules, a break-even analysis, a balance sheet, along with complex cash flow & income statements.  

By the end of it, I was happy that it wasn't real.  I didn't want anymore stress.  I just wanted to move out, go back home & find an easy job that I didn't require so many numbers.  

And, that's what I did.  I graduated that December, moved back in with my parents & eventually found a job working at a call center helping people register their pool filters for warranties.