Executive Summary
Your executive summary is the first part of your business plan, but you usually write it last because it is a summary of all the important parts.
Your Executive Summary should get the reader’s attention quickly. Tell them about your remodeling business and how it is going. For example, are you just starting a business, do you want to grow it, or do you have more than one remodeling business?
Next, give an overview of every part of your plan that comes after this one. For instance, you could briefly describe the business of remodeling. Talk about what kind of remodeling business you own. Detail your direct competitors. Give a summary of who you want to reach. Give a quick summary of your plan for marketing. Find out who on your team is the most important. And explain how you plan to deal with your money.
Company Analysis
In your business analysis, you will say what kind of remodeling business you run.
You could, for example, run one of the following home improvement businesses:
- Residential remodeling is a type of remodeling business that only works on kitchens and bathrooms in homes.
- Design-Build and Whole House Remodeling are types of home remodeling that are done by residential general contractors. These contractors are in charge of the architecture, design, and construction management of large home remodeling projects.
- Restoration: Restoration contractors work with insurance companies to fix damage from fire, wind, or water and get the house back to how it was before the incident.
In the section of your business plan called “Company Analysis,” you need to explain what kind of remodeling business you will run and give some background information about it.
Be sure to answer questions like:
- When and why did you start your business?
- What big steps have you taken so far? Some examples of milestones include the number of finished projects, the number of good reviews, etc.
- Your legal structure. Do you have an S-Corp set up for your business? An LLC? A one-person company? Tell us about your justice system.
Industry Analysis
In your analysis of the Remodeling industry, you need to give an overview of the business.
This may seem like it doesn’t do anything, but it does.
First of all, learning about the business of remodeling gives you information. It helps you understand the market you’re in better.
Second, market research can help you make a better plan, especially if it shows you how the market is changing.
Doing market research is also a good way to show your readers that you know what you’re talking about. This is what you do when you do your research and write it down in your plan.
In the industry analysis section of your remodeling business plan, you should answer the following questions:
- How much money does the business of remodeling make?
- Is the market getting smaller or bigger?
- Who are your biggest market competitors?
- Who are the most important suppliers in the market?
- What kinds of changes are happening in business?
- How do you think the business will grow over the next 5–10 years?
- How large should the market be? That is, how large is the market that your remodeling business could serve? You can get this number by figuring out how big the market is in the whole country and then applying that number to the people in your area.
Customer Analysis
In the customer analysis section, you must explain who you serve and/or who you want to serve.
Some examples of customer segments are people who want to add on to their home or update it, people who recently had weather damage, and people who just bought an older home that needs updates.
As you might guess, the type of remodeling business you run will depend a lot on the type(s) of customers you choose. Marketing campaigns for homeowners and campaigns to help people who have been hurt by weather, for example, would be very different.
Try to figure out who your target market is by looking at their age, income, and what they think and how they feel. In terms of demographics, you should talk about your customers’ ages, genders, locations, and levels of income.
Psychographic profiles can tell you what your target market wants and needs. If you can understand and describe these needs well, it will be easier to find new customers and keep the ones you already have.
Competitive Analysis
In your competitive analysis, you should find out who your direct competitors are and then focus on them.
There are other companies that also do remodeling work.
Customers can also buy from indirect competitors instead of direct competitors. This includes both people who build new houses and general contractors who work on a large scale. You should also talk about competitions like this.
When it comes to direct competition, you should talk about the other remodeling businesses that you are directly competing with. Most likely, your biggest competitors will be the businesses near you that do remodeling.
Give an overview of each of their businesses and a list of their strengths and weaknesses. You won’t know everything about your competitors unless you have worked for one of them. But you should be able to learn important facts about them, like:
- Who are the clients they work with?
- What do they do for a living?
- How much (high, cheap, etc.) do they cost?
- What are they good at?
- Where do they not measure up?
Try to answer the last two questions from the point of view of your customers. Don’t be afraid to ask customers of your competitors what they like and dislike about them.
The last part of your competitive analysis is to list the ways you are better than your competitors. For example:
- Will you cut down on project times?
- Will you have services that your competitors don’t have?
- Will you give your clients better service?
- Will you have better prices?
In this part of your plan, you should think of ways you can do better than your competitors and write them down.
Marketing Plan
Usually, a marketing plan has four parts: the product, its price, where it will be sold, and how it will be promoted. In the marketing plan for your remodeling business, you should:
Product: In the product section, you should write again about the type of remodeling company you talked about in your Company Analysis. Then, explain in detail what you will be selling. For example, do you offer other services besides temodeling, like call design and architecture, project management, and so on?
Price: List your prices and how they compare to those of your competitors. In your marketing plan, the “product” and “price” sections are mostly about the services you offer and how much they cost.
Place: This is where your remodeling business is located. Write down where you are and how your position will affect your success. For example, is your remodeling business in a busy place, a business district, a stand-alone office, etc.? Talk about why your place might be the best one for your customers.
Promotions: The final part of your marketing plan The section on promotions is called “Remodeling.” Here, you’ll list how you’ll bring customers to your business (s). Here are some ideas for how to promote your business:
- Putting ads in local newspapers and magazines
- How to get in touch with sites
- Flyers
- Social media marketing
- Local radio advertising
Operations Plan
You wrote about your goals in other parts of your business plan. In the operations plan, you talk about how you’ll reach those goals. There should be two different parts to your operations plan.
Everyday short-term processes Include everything you need to do to run your remodeling business, such as giving free remodeling estimates, finding materials and workers, coordinating subcontractors, talking to clients, etc.
Long-term goals are the steps you’ll want to take to get there. These dates could be when you hope to get your Xth client or make $X. It could also be when you want to move your remodeling business to a new place.
Management Team
You need a strong management team to show that your remodeling business can be successful. Show the backgrounds of your key players, with a focus on the skills and experiences that prove they can help a company grow.
You or someone on your team should have worked on remodeling projects before. If so, talk about what you’ve learned and what you’ve done. But you should also talk about any business experience you have that you think will help your business do well.
If your management team is not strong enough, you might want to put together an advisory board. A board of advisors could have anywhere from 2 to 8 members. These people would help you with your business as mentors. They would answer questions and give planning tips. If you have to, look for advisory board members who have run a successful construction or remodeling business.
Financial Plan
Your 5-year financial statement should be a part of your financial plan. For the first year, it should be broken down monthly or quarterly, but after that, it should be done annually. Your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement are all part of your financial statements.
Income Statement: a profit and loss statement, or P&L, is what most people call an income statement. It shows how much money you made and how much it cost you, so you can tell if you made a profit or not.
In order to make your income statement, you need to make some assumptions. For example, do you only take on one new client at a time, or do you take on more than one? By how much will sales grow every year? 2% or 10%? As you might expect, your assumptions will have a big impact on the financial projections for your business. Do as much research as you can to try to back up your ideas with facts.
Balance sheets show what your assets are and what you owe. Balance sheets may have a lot of information on them, but try to focus on the most important parts. For example, if you spend $50,000 to get your remodeling business off the ground, you won’t start making money right away. Instead, it’s an asset that you hope will bring in money for years to come. Also, a check from a bank for $50,000 doesn’t have to be paid back right away. You’ll have to pay that back over time instead.
Cash Flow Statement: Your cash flow statement will help you figure out how much money you need to start or grow your business and make sure that you never run out of money. Most business owners and entrepreneurs don’t know that you can make money and still go bankrupt if you run out of cash.
Make sure that some of the most important costs you’ll have to pay to start or grow your business are on your Income Statement and Balance Sheet.
- Costs of business licenses and permits.
- How much tools and materials cost.
- From this account, salaries and wages are paid to employees and subcontractors.
- Commercial insurance
- Fees and permits
- Legal expenses