The Bainbridge Island and Poulsbo Chambers of Commerce will be sponsoring a series of workshops aimed at assisting business owners, or those planning on going into business, in preparing a useful business plan for their company. The classes will be taught by well-known Bainbridge Island banker Ron Tweiten.

Classes will be held on Monday nights at the Bainbridge Island Library and on Tuesday nights in the training room at the Poulsbo branch of Frontier Bank in Poulsbo.

Class time will be allocated for working on each business plan component, and after lecture and group discussion, participants will have time allocated to write down ideas and action items specific to their individual plan. According to Tweiten, the difference between this class and most others, is that at the end of the course, participants will have a viable business plan tailored to their specific needs.
Participants will have the opportunity to work both individually as well as in groups, and additional assignments will supplement the class work so each participant can more fully develop any or all of the business plan components as needed. There will also be discussion time to “bounce” ideas off the instructor and the other members of the class.

The class is structured as follows:
• March 19-20 — Overview of a business plan and the process of creating a business plan. Creating a vision statement including company goals and values.
• March 26-27 — Industry analysis. Decide what business you are really in,
• April 2-3 — Customer profile. Who are your customers, What do they want and how do you identify and market to niche segments.
• April 9-10 — Looking close at your competition.
• April 16-17 — Self analysis: Resources, limitations, and identifying core competence.
• April 23-24 — Marketing plan. Assessing change, strategic thinking, and developing a blueprint.
• April 30, May 1 — Developing a financial plan. Cash flow forecast and proforma balance sheet.
• May 7-8 — Work session to help participants as they develop their individual financial plan.
• May 14-15 — Reality check. Does your business plan work for you?
• May 21-22 — Presentation (optional) of business plan executive summary to class.