TSAI

​​SAMPLE COVER LETTER

​​SAMPLE LETTER OF INQUIRY (LOI)

​​SAMPLE ABSTRACT

Sometimes federal government agencies collaborate on a highly competitive grant program that reflects the concerns of more than one agency (for instance, the Departments of Health, Education, and Justice may jointly issue a Request for Proposals). Below is a short example of an abstract that might lead off such a proposal, which would, in this case, provide $2,250,000 per year to winning applicants.

Abstract

The Rosemont School District South, a high-need, culturally and ethnically diverse district (75 percent of the students are non-English speakers whose family incomes fall below the poverty level) on the south side of Rosemont, in collaboration with three city government agencies (the police, health, and youth departments), the Third Street YMCA, the Rosemont South Teen Center, the Community Day Care Collective, the Southside Methodist Church, the Rosemont South Hospital, Rosemont Junior College, the William T. Rosemont Family Foundation, and many other individuals and groups, has designed ROSEMONT ROCKS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH!

This initiative will build on existing resources and coordinate new partnerships and linkages to create safe and drug-free schools and promote healthy child development for all of the 9,234 students (and their families and caregivers) in the target school district in the city of Rosemont.

To achieve its overall goal of safe and healthy students and ensure system-wide change in the target school district, ROSEMONT ROCKS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH! will conduct the following activities that are designed to meet the program’s objectives:

Because the literature (e.g., Smith’s 2018 landmark study on school violence) suggests that students in grades 6 and 7 are at the highest risk for violent activities, middle schools will serve as the hub for all project activities—with services radiating out to early childhood programs, elementary schools, high schools, and the community. It is expected that the $2,176,987 program will begin in September 2021.

​​SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SAMPLE BUSINESS PLAN

The following example is from the Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov); their website offers two models, traditional and “lean start-up.” We present the traditional model here.

Traditional Business Plan Format

You might prefer a traditional business plan format if you’re very detail oriented, want a comprehensive plan, or plan to request financing from traditional sources. When you write your business plan, you don’t have to stick to the exact business plan outline. Instead, use the sections that make the most sense for your business and your needs. Traditional business plans use some combination of these nine sections.

Executive Summary

Briefly tell your reader what your company is and why it will be successful. Include your mission statement, your product or service, and basic information about your company’s leadership team, employees, and location. You should also include financial information and high-level growth plans if you plan to ask for financing.

Company Description

Use your company description to provide detailed information about your company. Go into detail about the problems your business solves. Be specific, and list the consumers, organization, or businesses your company plans to serve.

Explain the competitive advantages that will make your business a success. Are there experts on your team? Have you found the perfect location for your store? Your company description is the place to boast about your strengths.

​Market Analysis

You’ll need a good understanding of your industry outlook and target market. Competitive research will show you what other businesses are doing and what their strengths are. In your market research, look for trends and themes. What do successful competitors do? Why does it work? Can you do it better? Now’s the time to answer these questions.

Organization and Management

Tell your reader how your company will be structured and who will run it.

Describe the legal structure of your business. State whether you have or intend to incorporate your business as a C or an S corporation, form a general or limited partnership, or if you’re a sole proprietor or LLC.

Use an organizational chart to lay out who’s in charge of what in your company. Show how each person’s unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture. Consider including résumés and CVs of key members of your team.

Service or Product Line

Describe what you sell or what service you offer. Explain how it benefits your customers and what the product lifecycle looks like. Share your plans for intellectual property, like copyright or patent filings. If you’re doing research and development for your service or product, explain it in detail.

Marketing and Sales

There’s no single way to approach a marketing strategy. Your strategy should evolve and change to fit your unique needs.

Your goal in this section is to describe how you’ll attract and retain customers. You’ll also describe how a sale will actually happen. You’ll refer to this section later when you make financial projections, so make sure to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales strategies.

​Funding Request

If you’re asking for funding, this is where you’ll outline your funding requirements. Your goal is to clearly explain how much funding you’ll need over the next five years and what you’ll use it for.

Specify whether you want debt or equity, the terms you’d like applied, and the length of time your request will cover. Give a detailed description of how you’ll use your funds. Specify if you need funds to buy equipment or materials, pay salaries, or cover specific bills until revenue increases. Always include a description of your future strategic financial plans, such as paying off debt or selling your business.

Financial Projections

Supplement your funding request with financial projections. Your goal is to convince the reader that your business is stable and will be a financial success.

If your business is already established, include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years. If you have other collateral you could put against a loan, make sure to list it now.

Provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. For the first year, be even more specific and use quarterly—or even monthly—projections. Make sure to clearly explain your projections, and match them to your funding requests.

This is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business.

Appendix

Use your appendix to provide supporting documents or other materials that were specially requested. Common items to include are credit histories, résumés, product pictures, letters of reference, licenses, permits, or patents, legal documents, permits, and other contracts.

​SAMPLE BUSINESS PLAN

We Can Do It Consulting Business Plan

This sample business plan is provided by the Small Business Administration.

Get help starting and running your small business at SBA.gov.

Rebecca Champ, Owner

Created on December 29, 2016

Executive Summary

Product

We Can Do It Consulting provides consultation services to small- and medium-sized companies. Our services include office management and business process reengineering to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs.

Customers

The target audience for We Can Do It Consulting is business owners, human resources directors, program managers, presidents, or CEOs with 5 to 500 employees who want to increase productivity and reduce overhead costs. Specifically, we specialize in consulting white collar executives on office processes such as job tracking, production, getting the most out of meetings, leadership, financial or hiring best practices, and other needs relevant to potential customers who serve in a management role within small or large organizations that may be bogged down by processes, bureaucracy, or technical experts with little leadership experience.

Future of the Company

Consulting is a fast-paced, evolving industry. In response to this climate, We Can Do It Consulting will offer other services, including facilitation and requirements analysis in the future.

​Company Description

Mission Statement

To provide quality services to our clients that will help their companies prosper and grow.

Principal Members

Rebecca Champ—owner, primary consultant

Guy Champ—business manager/sales

Sophie Roberts—account manager

Legal Structure

We Can Do It Consulting is an S Corporation, incorporated in Greenville, South Carolina.

MARKET RESEARCH

Industry

We Can Do It Consulting will join the office management and business process improvement consulting industry. Generally, larger consulting firms, such as KEG Consulting, work with international corporations while smaller consulting firms work with both large corporations and smaller organizations, usually closer to home. Consulting firms structured like ours also have a history of working with local, state, and federal government agencies. The consulting industry is still recovering from the economic recession. It was hit hardest in 2009 when the industry shrank by 9.1%. However, as the economy recovers, the industry is showing signs of growth. A recent study stated that operations management consulting is projected to grow by 5.1% per year for the next several years.

Detailed Description of Customers

The target customers for We Can Do It Consulting are business owners, human resources directors, program managers, presidents or CEOs ​with 5 to 500 employees who want to increase productivity and reduce overhead costs. Specifically, we specialize in consulting white collar executives on office processes such as job tracking, production, getting the most out of meetings, leadership, financial or hiring best practices, and other needs relevant to potential customers who serve in a management role within small or large organizations that may be bogged down by processes, bureaucracy, or technical experts with little leadership experience. To capitalize on opportunities that are geographically close as we start and grow our business, We Can Do It Consulting will specifically target executives within companies in the manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, and defense industries. This will allow us to take advantage of the company’s close proximity to hospitals (one of the largest employers in the region), automobile and vehicle parts factories, and government contractors supporting the nearby former Air Force base, now an aviation technology center.

Company Advantages

Because We Can Do It Consulting provides services, as opposed to a product, our advantages are only as strong as our consultants. Aside from ensuring our team is flexible, fast, can provide expert advice and can work on short deadlines, we will take the following steps to support consulting services:

Regulations

We Can Do It Consulting must meet all Federal and state regulations concerning business consulting. Specifically, Code of Federal Regulations in Title 64, Parts 8753 and 4689.62, 65, and 74 and Title 86.7 of the Code of South Carolina.

Service Line

Product/Service

Services Include:

Pricing Structure

We Can Do It Consulting will offer its services at an hourly rate using the following labor categories and rates:

Product Lifecycle

All services are ready to be offered to clients, pending approval of contracts.

Intellectual Property Rights

We Can Do It Consulting is a trademarked name in the state of South Carolina, and we have filed for protection of our proprietary processes and other intellectual property, such as our logo. We have also registered our domain name and parked relevant social media accounts for future use and to prevent the likelihood of someone impersonating one of our consultants.

Research and Development

The company is planning to conduct the following research and development:

​Marketing & Sales

Growth Strategy

To grow the company, We Can Do It Consulting will do the following:

Communicate with the Customer

We Can Do It Consulting will communicate with its customers by:

How to Sell

Currently, the only person in charge of sales for We Can Do It Consulting is the business manager, Guy Champ. As profits increase, We Can Do It will look to add an employee to assist with account management/coordination. This individual will also provide company social media and online marketing support. The company will increase awareness to our targeted customers through online advertising, proactive public relations campaigns, and attending tradeshows.