•    What is the purpose of your plan?
•    How much money are you requesting, in what form (equity or debt), and for what purpose?
•    What is the market potential of your product/service?
•    What are its significant features?
•    What are your product development milestones?
•    What financial results do you anticipate?

•    What is your business?
•    What are your principal products/services?
•    What are your principal markets?
•    What are the applications and needs for your product/service?
•    What is your distinctive competence (i.e., what are the chief factors that will account for your success?)?
•    What are your strengths and weaknesses?

A. Industry

•    What industry are you in?
•    How big is it now? How big will it be in five years? Ten years?
•    What are its chief characteristics?
•    Who are or will be the major customers?
•    What are or will be the major applications?
•    What are the major trends in the industry?

B. Target Markets

•    What are the major segments you will penetrate?
•    For each major application, what are the following:

C. Competition

•    What companies will you compete with, including those like you who are not yet in the market?
•    How do you compare with other competitive companies?
•    What competition will you meet in each product/service line?
•    How does your product/service compare with others, especially through the eyes of the customer?
•    What is the market share of each existing competitor?
•    Do you threaten the strategic objects or self-image of competition or just financial results (e.g., will competition see to destroy you at any cost)?
•    Do you interface with important, noncompetitive equipment that manufacturers might still be reluctant to support your product due to warranty, liability, or image considerations?

D. Reaction from specific prospective customers

•    What prospective customers have you talked to?
•    What was their reaction?
•    Have they seen or tested a realistic prototype of the product/service? If so, what was their reaction?

E. Marketing activities

•    What is your marketing strategy?
•    What are your plans for

F. Selling activities

•    Who will you identify prospective customers?
•    How will you decide whom to contact and in what order?
•    What level of selling effort will you have?
•    What efficiency will you have?
•    What conversion rates will you be able to obtain?
•    How long will each of the above activities take in person-days?
•    What will your initial order size be? What is the likelihood and size of repeat orders?
•    Based on the above assumptions, what is the sales productivity of each salesperson?
•    What is the commission structure? Does it have increasing or decreasing rates for exceeding quote? What will the average salesperson earn per year and how long will s/he have to wait to receive commissions?
•    What evidence do you have to back up your answers to the estimates above?

•    What is the essence and status of your current technology (idea, prototype, small production run, etc.)?
•    What is your patent or copyright position?
•    How much is currently patented or copyrighted and how much can be patented or copyrighted?
•    How comprehensive and how effective will the patents or copyrights be?
•    What companies have technology that is superior or equal to yours?
•    Are there additional means or protecting your technology?
•    What new technologies or scientific approaches exist that may become practical in the next five years? What factors limit their development or acceptance?
•    What are the key research and development activities and related milestones and risks?
•    What new products, hopefully derived from first generation products, do you plan to develop to meet changing market needs?
•    Are there any regulatory or approval requirements?

•    How will you accomplish production or conduct service operations?
•    How much will you do internally and by what methods?
•    How much through subcontracts, both initially and after several years?
•    What production or operating advantages do you have?
•    What is your present capacity for level or production or operations? How can this be expanded?
•    What are critical parts? Are any of these parts “sole-sourced” or do you have backup vendors?
•    What re the lead times of these parts?
•    What are the standard costs for production at different volume levels?

•    Who are your key managers?
•    How do you intend to attract and compensate key people?
•    What are their skills and, particularly, their experience, and how does this relate to the success requirements of your venture?
•    What has their track record been, and how does this relate to your requirements?
•    What staff additions do you plan, when and with what required qualifications?
•    Do any managers have outstanding “noncompete” agreements with previous employers?
•    Who is on your board of directors?
•    Who are your current stockholders, and how many shares does each own?
•    What is the amount of stock currently authorized and issued?

•    How many people will you need by type?
•    What compensation method will be used by type?
•    Show sample organizational structure for formative years and thereafter.

•    How much money do you require now?
•    How much will you require over the next five years, and when will it be required?
•    Who will these funds be used?
•    What portion of the funds will be raised from debt rather than equity?
•    What terms?
•    When do you plan to “go public”?

•    Present historical financial statements and projects for the next three to five years, including
•    What key assumptions have been made in your pro forms and how good are these assumptions?

•    What is the name of your business?
•    Has the name or trademark been searched?

•    Resumes of key managers.
•    Pictures of product.
•    Professional references.
•    Market studies, articles, etc.
•    Patents.