Developing a Business Plan

• Author: Michelle Roy McSpurren/Rosemary Bocska
• Pages: 67-85

4

Developing a

BusinessPlan

Learning Outcomes

After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

• Create a business plan.

• Understand the purpose of client and market

profiles and how to develop them.

• Understand the purpose of market analysis and a

marketing plan.

• Understand basic principles of sound financial

planning and analysis, including start-up costs and

cash flow analysis.

• Create a management plan.

• Strategize for effective implementation of plans.

67

Business Plan .......................... 68

Executive Summary .................... 69

Client and Market Profiles ............... 69

Market Analysis ....................... 72

Marketing Plan ........................ 72

Budgeting and Financial Planning ......... 73

Operating Plan ........................ 74

Management Plan ..................... 74

Strategizing to Implement Plans ......... 77

Conclusion ............................. 77

Key Terms ............................. 78

Useful URLs ............................ 78

Review Questions ...................... 78

Discussion Questions ................... 79

Appendix 4.1 Sample Business Plan:

EvansLegalServices ................ 80

Append ix 4.2 Typical Items Included in a

CashFlow Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

© 2022 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

Business Plan

A business plan is a document that contains a summary of a business’s operational

and financial objectives, along with detailed plans and budgets that explain how the

objectives will be achieved. A detailed and realistic business plan makes planning a

business more manageable and more effective. A business plan is an essential tool of

a successful business.

For a paralegal business, a business plan is as crucial and foundational as architec-

tural plans are for a building; few people would ride an elevator to the top of the

CNTower if the building was not professionally designed and expertly engineered.

Legal services entrepreneurs should consider consulting professionals and should look

carefully at available sources of start-up funding when developing their business plans.

Business plans evolve as new information is gathered and as circumstances change,

so it is important to be flexible, but having a detailed framework prior to start-up is

equally important. A business plan can test the practicality of a business idea; it is a

risk-free rehearsal for opening the business. Because they allow flaws to be identified

and corrected (or at least minimized) before implementation, business plans can pro-

vide huge savings in time and money. The alternative process of trial and error can be

extremely costly, particularly for small businesses. Between 2013 and 2017, 72,920ser-

vice producing businesses were created and 68,820 closed on average each year.1

A detailed business plan is also often necessary for acquiring capital from third par-

ties. Banks more readily grant loans to, and investors are more willing to become involved

in, a business that has detailed plans available for their review and assessment.

The components of business plans vary, but generally include:

• an executive summary;

• client and market profiles;

• market analysis;

• a marketing plan, including the business’s mission and/or vision and values;

• an operating plan—detailing location, facilities, equipment, and staff;

• a management plan—setting out who will do what;

• a financial plan;

• appendixes (incorporation documents, resumés of key management players,

leases for office space and equipment, the licences of paralegals providing legal

services, shareholder or partnership agreements, copies of academic credentials,

and so on);

• milestones—objectives, goals, and action plans with dates; and

• SWOT analysis of competitors.

Your business plan should be specific and detailed enough to allow you to make

financially sound decisions and take reasonable risks.

1 Innovation, Science and Economic De velopment Canada, Small Business B ranch, Research Directorate, Key Small

Business Statistics—2020 (Ottawa: ISEDC, 2020) at 8, online (p df): <https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/vwapj/

KSBS_ 2020-v2-ENG.pdf/$F ILE/KSBS _2020-v2-ENG.pd f>.

business plan

a document that contains

a summary of a business’s

operational and financial

objectives, along w ith

detailed plans and budg ets

that explain how the

objectives will be achieve d

executive summary

often the first s ection of a

business plan, it provides

a brief overview of the key

points of the business plan

SWOT analysis

an analysis of strengths ,

weaknesses, opportunities,

and threats; it may be

used when considering

competition, changes

in technology, changes

inregulation, or the scop e

of a paralegal’s practice

68 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT FOR PARALEGALS

© 2022 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.