Let’s start with three givens:
(1) College students love chocolate chip cookies and will buy them if affordable and delicious.
(2) You have a special talent for baking cookies and want to build a business making and selling them.
(3) You’re always broke and need to raise money to start the business.
Given these three conditions, you’ve come up with the idea of starting an on-campus business—selling chocolate chip cookies to fellow students. As a business major, you want to do things right by preparing a business plan. First, you identified a number of specifics about your proposed business.
You’ll bake the cookies in the kitchen of a friend’s apartment.
You’ll charge $1 each or $10 a dozen.
Your purpose is to make the best cookies on campus and deliver them fresh. You value integrity, consideration of others, and quality.
Each cookie will have ten chocolate chips and will be superior to those sold in nearby bakeries and other stores.
You expect sales of $6,000 for the first year.
Chocolate chip cookies are irresistible to college students. There’s a lot of competition from local bakeries, but your cookies will be superior and popular with college students. You’ll make them close to campus using only fresh ingredients and sell them for $1 each. Your management team is excellent. You expect first-year sales of $6,000 and net income of $1,500. You estimate start-up costs at $600.
You’ll place ads for your product in the college newspaper.
You’ll hire a vice president at a salary of $100 a week.
You can ship cookies anywhere in the United States and in Canada.
You need $600 in cash to start the business.
There are six bakeries within walking distance of the college.
You’ll bake nothing but cookies and sell them to college students. You’ll make them in an apartment near campus and deliver them fresh.
Share anything additional that you would want to take into consideration.
