HOW TO: Convert your Top 100 Dealer application into a business plan

If you’re a Top 100 Dealer applicant, you have a leg up on most other dealers writing a business plan for the first time, or even those updating one. Much of the information you provided for the Top 100 application can be copied right into your business plan. Here is a guide on how to do exactly that.

Top 100 Application Question:

Company Data Section, Questions 1-17 – In this section, you provide your company name, address, contact info, number of locations, description of locations, photos of locations, year founded, succession plan, number of full-time and part-time employees, boat brands, engine brands and other products and services. This is exactly the kind of information that should be included in your business plan’s Executive Summary. If you went into any depth regarding your products and services, you may want to save those details for the Products & Services section of your business plan.

Company Data Section, Question 21 – This question asks you to describe your dealership’s short- and long-term goals. You may want to consider including the highlights of these goals in the summary of management’s future plans within the business plan’s Executive Summary.

Sales & Profits Section, Questions 14 and 16 – These questions ask you to explain the organizational structure of your sales and F&I departments and how you incorporate F&I products and services into your business. Those of you that submitted organizational charts for Question 14 may want to include those in your business plan’s Appendix. In addition, an explanation of how these two departments work together is appropriate for inclusion in the business plan’s Company Description.

Sales & Profits Section, Question 17 – This question asks you to explain the special consumer promotions you use to encourage potential customers to purchase from your dealership. This is a core piece of your marketing strategy and thus should be included in your business plan’s Marketing & Sales Strategies section.

Sales & Profits Section, Question 19 – This question asks you to explain your strategy for selling pre-owned boats. Your answer should be included in the Marketing & Sales Strategies section of your business plan.

Service and Customer Satisfaction Section, Question 1 – This question asks you to explain the organizational structure of your service and parts departments. If you provided an organizational chart for this section, it should be included in your business plan’s Appendix. In addition, you may want to include some of this content in the Company Description section of your business plan if it sheds some light on how these two departments function within your company at large.

Service and Customer Satisfaction Section, Question 6 – This question asks what promotions you use to increase service department revenues and profitability. Your answer speaks to your marketing strategy for this department and thus should be considered for inclusion in the Marketing & Sales Strategies section of your business plan.

Service and Customer Satisfaction Section, Questions 8 –13 – Each of these questions ask you to describe a different aspect of interaction with your customers. In many cases, your strategies related to your relationship with customers represent your competitive advantages in your market and thus should be an important part of the Marketing & Sales Strategies section of your business plan.

Marketing Section, Question 1 – Once updated for the current year, your answer to this question regarding your business development and marketing plan strategy should make-up the backbone of the Marketing & Sales Strategies section of your business plan.

Marketing Section, Question 5 – Your answer to this question regarding research conducted into the needs and desires of boating consumers in your area is exactly the kind of content you’ll want to include in the Market Analysis section of your business plan.

Marketing Section, Questions 6, 7 and 8 – The answers to these questions regarding your boat show, in-store and community event strategies should be inserted directly into your business plan’s Marketing & Sales Strategies section.

Marketing Section, Question 9 – One option the U.S. Small Business Administration proposed within the business planning section of its Web site was to create a Web section of a business plan. If you feel the Internet is a significant portion of your business, you may want to dedicate a section of your business plan to those strategies. Otherwise, your answer to this question regarding how you use the Internet in your business should be incorporated into the Marketing & Sales Strategies section of your business plan.

Marketing Section, Questions 10 and 11 – Your answers to these two questions regarding lead-fulfillment should be included as part of your business plan’s Marketing & Sales Strategies section.

Marketing Section, Question 12 – Your answer to this question on what sets you apart from your competition is a key part of the message you want to send in your business plan. You may want to consider including a summary of it in your business plan’s Executive Summary. In addition, it could be a good fit in the Market Analysis and Company Description sections of your business plan.