Homestead Harvest & Butchery
Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is the most important part of your business plan. Often, it’s the only part that a prospective investor or lender reads before deciding whether or not to read the rest of your plan. It should convey your enthusiasm for your business idea and get readers excited about it, too.
Write your Executive Summary LAST, after you have completed the rest of the business plan. That way, you’ll have thought through all the elements of your startup and be prepared to summarize them.
The Executive Summary should briefly explain each of the below.
An overview of your business idea (one or two sentences).
A description of your product and/or service. What problems are you solving for your target customers?
Your goals for the business. Where do you expect the business to be in one year, three years, five years?
Your proposed target market. Who are your ideal customers?
Your competition and what differentiates your business. Who are you up against, and what unique selling proposition will help you succeed?
Your management team and their prior experience. What do they bring to the table that will give your business a competitive edge?
Financial outlook for the business. If you’re using the business plan for financing purposes, explain exactly how much money you want, how you will use it, and how that will make your business more profitable.
Limit your Executive Summary to one or two pages in total.
After reading the Executive Summary, readers should have a basic understanding of your business, should be excited about its potential, and should be interested enough to read further.
After you’ve completed your business plan, come back to this section to write your executive summary on the next page.
(Write after you’ve completed the rest of the business plan.)
Company Description
This section explains the basic elements of your business. Include each of the below:
Company mission statement
Homestead Harvest and Butchery increases resilient food system capacity by allowing for the harvest, process and value added production of animal proteins for local farmers and ranchers in Hawaii. By creating a replicable, quality, local focused, steward owned slaughter/process model, we are able to increase value and redistribute wealth to farmers, ranchers, the land, and community as a whole, and create a more resilient local food system.
Company philosophy and vision
What values does your business live by? Honesty, integrity, fun, innovation and community are values that might be important to your business philosophy.
Honesty
Integrity
Shared mana’o
Vision refers to the long-term outlook for your business. What do you ultimately want it to become? For instance, your vision for your doggie day-care center might be to become a national chain, franchise or to sell to a larger company.
The vision for Homestead Harvest & Butchery is to enable restorative economics for producers and land stewards. To allow for ownership and equity for historically disadvantaged groups and to help provide a food system model that can be a beacon for other parts of the world through the lens of an archipelago economy.
Company goals
Specify your long- and short-term goals as well as any milestones or benchmarks you will use to measure your progress. For instance, if one of your goals is to open a second location, milestones might include reaching a specific sales volume or signing contracts with a certain number of clients in the new market.
Long-term goals (10 years)
increase capacity for hawaii’s food system
accomplish 10% market share for each respective meat category with locally raised and processed products
have educational pathway programs for workforce development and continuity
Short-term goals (2-5 years)
Business and funding plan
Operational to reverse downward trend
Break even operation
House hui brand developed
New farmer/rancher access and education program
mentorship to replace existing and aging demographics
Target market
You will cover this in-depth in the Marketing Plan section. Here, briefly explain who your target customers are.
Our main customers are our steward owners. The farmers and ranchers raising animals across the state as well as the folks who purchase the proteins from them for whitelabel and independently branded processing. Our secondary customers will be institutional purchasers and distributors like DOE, DOPS, Hospitals, etc.
Industry
Describe your industry and what makes your business competitive: Is the industry growing, mature or stable? What is the industry outlook long-term and short-term? How will your business take advantage of projected industry changes and trends? What might happen to your competitors and how will your business successfully compete?
Hawaii industry
Global industry
mention current federal funding opportunities and global supply chain focus specific to meat
Legal structure
Is your business a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership or corporation? Why did you choose this particular form of business?
Mention steward ownership model here and elaborate after discussion with Tony
If there is more than one owner, explain how ownership is divided. If you have investors, explain the percentage of shares they own. This information is important to investors and lenders.
Dive into division of ownership, investors, etc.
After reading the Company Description, the reader should have a basic understanding of your business’s mission and vision, goals, target market, competitive landscape and legal structure.
Products & Services
This section expands on the basic information about your products and services included in the Executive Summary and Company Description. Here are some items to consider:
Your company’s products and/or services: What do you sell, and how is it manufactured or provided? Include details of relationships with suppliers, manufacturers and/or partners that are essential to delivering the product or service to customers.
Products and services include:
Slaughter - Federal & Custom Exempt
Beef
Pork
Sheep
Goat
Cut-wrap - wholesale packaged
Half-carcass
Quarter Carcass
Primals
Value added processing - branded retail packaged and wholesale packaged
sub primals
portion cuts
stew meats
ground products
marinated products
sausages, luncheon meats, snack products
The problem the product or service solves: Every business needs to solve a problem that its customers face. Explain what the problem is and how your product or service solves it. What are its benefits, features and unique selling proposition? Yours won’t be the only solution (every business has competitors), but you need to explain why your solution is better than the others, targets a customer base your competitors are ignoring, or has some other characteristic that gives it a competitive edge.
Currently 80% of slaughter and process is controlled by one entity. Barriers to access are high and increasing with the announcement of decreased slaughter dates and raising fees leading to a decline in local food supply specifically for pork and lamb while demand for local products is increasing due to local focus from Covid-19
Any proprietary features that give you a competitive advantage: Do you have a patent on your product or a patent pending? Do you have exclusive agreements with suppliers or vendors to sell a product or service that none of your competitors sell? Do you have the license for a product, technology or service that’s in high demand and/or short supply?
Existing agreements with leading MSU providers
Team with proven global industry leadership
How you will price your product or service: Describe the pricing, fee, subscription or leasing structure of your product or service. How does your product or service fit into the competitive landscape in terms of pricing—are you on the low end, mid-range or high end? How will that pricing strategy help you attract customers? What is your projected profit margin?
Include any product or service details, such as technical specifications, drawings, photos, patent documents and other support information, in the Appendices.
After reading the Products & Services section, the reader should have a clear understanding of what your business does, what problem it solves for customers, and the unique selling proposition that makes it competitive.
Use the Product and Service Description Worksheet on the next page to help you complete this section.
Marketing Plan
This section provides details on your industry, the competitive landscape, your target market and how you will market your business to those customers.
Market research
There are two kinds of research: primary and secondary. Primary market research is information you gather yourself. This could include going online or driving around town to identify competitors; interviewing or surveying people who fit the profile of your target customers; or doing traffic counts at a retail location you’re considering.
Secondary market research is information from sources such as trade organizations and journals, magazines and newspapers, Census data and demographic profiles. You can find this information online, at libraries, from chambers of commerce, from vendors who sell to your industry or from government agencies.
This section of your plan should explain:
The total size of your industry
Trends in the industry – is it growing or shrinking?
The total size of your target market, and what share is realistic for you to obtain
Trends in the target market – is it growing or shrinking? How are customer needs or preferences changing?
Barriers to entry
What barriers to entry does your startup face, and how do you plan to overcome them? Barriers to entry might include:
High startup costs
High production costs
High marketing costs
Brand recognition challenges
Finding qualified employees
Need for specialized technology or patents
Tariffs and quotas
Unionization in your industry
Threats and opportunities
Once your business surmounts the barriers to entry you mentioned, what additional threats might it face? Explain how the following could affect your startup:
Changes in government regulations
Changes in technology
Changes in the economy
Changes in your industry
Use the SWOT Analysis Worksheet on the next page to identify your company’s weaknesses and potential threats, as well as its strengths and the potential opportunities you plan to exploit.
Product/service features and benefits
Describe all of your products or services, being sure to focus on the customer’s point of view. For each product or service:
Describe the most important features. What is special about it?
Describe the most important benefits. What does it do for the customer?
In this section, explain any after-sale services you plan to provide, such as:
Product delivery
Warranty/guarantee
Service contracts
Ongoing support
Training
Refund policy
Target customer
Describe your target customer. (This is also known as the ideal customer or buyer persona.)
You may have more than one target customer group. For instance, if you sell a product to consumers through distributors, such as retailers, you have at least two kinds of target customers: the distributors (businesses) and the end users (consumers).
Identify your target customer groups, and create a demographic profile for each group that includes:
For consumers:
Age
Gender
Location
Income
Occupation
Education level
For businesses:
Industry
Location
Size
Stage in business (startup, growing, mature)
Annual sales
Key competitors
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in a business plan is to claim you have “no competition.” Every business has competitors. Your plan must show that you’ve identified yours and understand how to differentiate your business. This section should:
List key companies that compete with you (including names and locations), products that compete with yours and/or services that compete with yours. Do they compete across the board, or just for specific products, for certain customers or in certain geographic areas?
Also include indirect competitors. For instance, if you’re opening a restaurant that relies on consumers’ discretionary spending, then bars and nightclubs are indirect competitors.
Use the Competitor Data Collection Plan on the next page to brainstorm ways you can collect information about competitors in each category.
Competitive Analysis Worksheet
For each factor listed in the first column, assess whether you think it’s a strength or a weakness (S or W) for your business and for your competitors. Then rank how important each factor is to your target customer on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very important; 5 = not very important). Use this information to explain your competitive advantages and disadvantages.
Positioning/Niche
Now that you’ve assessed your industry, product/service, customers and competition, you should have a clear understanding of your business’s niche (your unique segment of the market) as well as your positioning (how you want to present your company to customers). Explain these in a short paragraph.
How you will market your product/service
In this section, explain the marketing and advertising tactics you plan to use.
Advertising may include:
Online
Print
Radio
Cable television
Out-of-home
Which media will you advertise in, why and how often?
Marketing may include:
Business website
Social media marketing
Email marketing
Mobile marketing
Search engine optimization
Content marketing
Print marketing materials (brochures, flyers, business cards)
Public relations
Trade shows
Networking
Word-of-mouth
Referrals
What image do you want to project for your business brand?
What design elements will you use to market your business? (This includes your logo, signage and interior design.) Explain how they’ll support your brand.
Promotional budget
How much do you plan to spend on the marketing and advertising outreach above:
Before startup (These numbers will go into your startup budget)
On an ongoing basis (These numbers will go into your operating plan budget)
Use the Marketing Expenses Strategy Charton the next page to help figure out the cost of reaching different target markets.
Pricing
You explained pricing briefly in the “Products & Services” section; now it’s time to go into more detail. How do you plan to set prices? Keep in mind that few small businesses can compete on price without hurting their profit margins. Instead of offering the lowest price, it’s better to go with an average price and compete on quality and service.
Does your pricing strategy reflect your positioning?
Compare your prices with your competitors’. Are they higher, lower or the same? Why?
How important is price to your customers? It may not be a deciding factor.
What will your customer service and credit policies be?
Use the Pricing Strategy Worksheet on the next page to help with your pricing.
Location or proposed location
If you have a location picked out, explain why you believe this is a good location for your startup.
If you haven’t chosen a location yet, explain what you’ll be looking for in a location and why, including:
Convenient location for customers
Adequate parking for employees and customers
Proximity to public transportation or major roads
Type of space (industrial, retail, etc.)
Types of businesses nearby
Focus on the location of your building, not the physical building itself. You’ll discuss that later, in the Operations section.
Distribution channels
What methods of distribution will you use to sell your products and/or services? These may include:
Retail
Direct sales
Ecommerce
Wholesale
Inside sales force
Outside sales representatives
OEMs
If you have any strategic partnerships or key distributor relationships that will be a factor in your success, explain them here.
If you haven’t yet finalized your distribution channels, use the Distribution Channel Assessment Worksheet on the next page to assess the pros and cons of each distribution channel you are considering.
Operational Plan
This section explains the daily operation of your business, including its location, equipment, personnel and processes.
Production
How will you will produce your product or deliver your service? Describe your production methods, the equipment you’ll use and how much it will cost to produce what you sell.
Quality control
How will you maintain consistency? Describe the quality control procedures you’ll use.
Location
Where is your business located? You briefly touched on this in the Company Overview. In this section, expand on that information with details such as:
The size of your location
The type of building (retail, industrial, commercial, etc.)
Zoning restrictions
Accessibility for customers, employees, suppliers and transportation if necessary
Costs including rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance and any buildout or remodeling costs
Utilities
Legal environment
What type of legal environment will your business operate in? How are you prepared to handle legal requirements? Include details such as:
Any licenses and/or permits that are needed and whether you’ve obtained them
Any trademarks, copyrights or patents that you have or are in the process of applying for
The insurance coverage your business requires and how much it costs
Any environmental, health or workplace regulations affecting your business
Any special regulations affecting your industry
Bonding requirements, if applicable
Personnel
What type of personnel will your business need? Explain details such as:
What types of employees? Are there any licensing or educational requirements?
How many employees will you need?
Will you ever hire freelancers or independent contractors?
Include job descriptions.
What is the pay structure (hourly, salaried, base plus commission, etc.)?
How do you plan to find qualified employees and contractors?
What type of training is needed and how will you train employees?
Download the Job Analysis Worksheet and use it to help you answer the questions above.
Inventory
If your business requires inventory, explain:
What kind of inventory will you keep on hand (raw materials, supplies, finished products)?
What will be the average value of inventory (in other words, how much are you investing in inventory)?
What rate of inventory turnover do you expect? How does this compare to industry averages?
Will you need more inventory than normal during certain seasons? (For instance, a retailer might need additional inventory for the holiday shopping season.)
What is your lead time for ordering inventory?
Suppliers
List your key suppliers, including:
Names, addresses, websites
Type and amount of inventory furnished
Their credit and delivery policies
History and reliability
Do you expect any supply shortages or short-term delivery problems? If so, how will you handle them?
Do you have more than one supplier for critical items (as a backup)?
Do you expect the cost of supplies to hold steady or fluctuate? If the latter, how will you deal with changing costs?
What are your suppliers’ payment terms?
Credit policies
If you plan to sell to customers on credit, explain:
Whether this is typical in your industry (do customers expect it)?
What your credit policies will be. How much credit will you extend? What are the criteria for extending credit?
How will you check new customers’ creditworthiness?
What credit terms will you offer?
Detail how much it will cost you to offer credit, and show that you’ve built these costs into your pricing structure.
How will you handle slow-paying customers? Explain your policies, such as when you will follow up on late payments, and when you will get an attorney or collections agency involved.
After reading the Operational Plan section, the reader should understand how your business will operate on a day-to-day basis.
Management & Organization
This section should give readers an understanding of the people behind your business, their roles and responsibilities, and their prior experience. If you’re using your business plan to get financing, know that investors and lenders carefully assess whether you have a qualified management team.
Biographies
Include brief biographies of the owner/s and key employees. Include resumes in the Appendix. Here, summarize your experience and those of your key employees in a few paragraphs per person. Focus on the prior experience and skills that have prepared your team to succeed in this business. If anyone has previous experience starting and growing a business, explain this in detail.
Gaps
Explain how you plan to fill in any gaps in management and/or experience. For instance, if you lack financial know-how, will you hire a CFO or retain an accountant? If you don’t have sales skills, will you hire an in-house sales manager or use outside sales reps?
Advisors
List the members of your professional/advisory support team, including:
Attorney
Accountant
Board of directors
Advisory board
Insurance agent
Consultants
Banker
Mentors and other advisors
If they have experience or specializations that will increase your chances of success, explain. For instance, does your mentor have experience launching and growing a similar business?
Organization Chart
Develop and include an organization chart. This should include both roles that you’ve already filled and roles you plan to fill in the future.
After reading the Management & Organization section, the reader should feel confident that you have a qualified team leading your business.
Use the Management Worksheet and Organization Chart on the next two pages to highlight your management team.