for my business class... for my own reference

[Will Bozarth]

PARTNERSHIPS
In a Partnership, two or more people share ownership of a single business. Like proprietorships, the law does not distinguish between the business and its owners. The Partners should have a legal agreement that sets forth how decisions will be made, profits will be shared, disputes will be resolved, how future partners will be admitted to the partnership, how partners can be bought out, or what steps will be taken to dissolve the partnership when needed;. Yes, it’s hard to think about a "break-up" when the business is just getting started, but many partnerships split up at crisis times and unless there is a defined process, there will be even greater problems. They also must decide up front how much time and capital each will contribute, etc.
Advantages of a Partnership
o Partnerships are relatively easy to establish; however time should be invested in developing the partnership agreement.
o With more than one owner, the ability to raise funds may be increased.
o The profits from the business flow directly through to the partners' personal tax returns.
o Prospective employees may be attracted to the business if given the incentive to become a partner.
o The business usually will benefit from partners who have complementary skills.
Disadvantages of a Partnership
o Partners are jointly and individually liable for the actions of the other partners.
o Profits must be shared with others.
o Since decisions are shared, disagreements can occur.
o Some employee benefits are not deductible from business income on tax returns.
o The partnership may have a limited life; it may end upon the withdrawal or death of a partner.
Types of Partnerships that should be considered:
11. General Partnership
Partners divide responsibility for management and liability, as well as the shares of profit or loss according to their internal agreement. Equal shares are assumed unless there is a written agreement that states differently.
12. Limited Partnership and Partnership with limited liability
"Limited" means that most of the partners have limited liability (to the extent of their investment) as well as limited input regarding management decisions, which generally encourages investors for short term projects, or for investing in capital assets. This form of ownership is not often used for operating retail or service businesses. Forming a limited partnership is more complex and formal than that of a general partnership.
13. Joint Venture
Acts like a general partnership, but it is clearly for a limited period of time or a single project. If the partners in a joint venture repeat the activity, they will be recognized as an ongoing partnership and will have to file as such, and distribute accumulated partnership assets upon dissolution of the entity.
Federal Tax Forms for Partnerships
(only a partial list and some may not apply)
o Form 1065: Partnership Return of Income
o Form 1065 K-1: Partner's Share of Income, Credit, Deductions
o Form 4562: Depreciation
o Form 1040: Individual Income Tax Return
o Schedule E: Supplemental Income and Loss
o Schedule SE: Self-Employment Tax
o Form 1040-ES: Estimated Tax for Individuals
o Employment Tax Forms
Location: Merchandise and sales are dealt with at my house, where all band profits are collected and kept in a safe for future use. When at gigs, money is collected from merchandise brought.

Products: Hats, t-shirts, stickers, compact disks, entertainment.
Vision Statement: The purpose of the band is to bring forth a type of music that entertains more than one audience. We may be a metal band, but we combine styles to the point of gaining the interest of more than just fans of metal.

Mission Statement: Not only do we combine the fast elements of death and thrash metal; we contain slower, more melodic sections of doom metal, while having slow-moving and melodic acoustical sections.
S.W.O.T Analysis

Strengths: One in particular will be the satisfaction of playing my music for people that could possibly enjoy it. This will boost record sales, because people will find out about us. Most of a band’s profit comes from touring, so that will boost the amount of money we make.

Weaknesses: A touring schedule calls for less sleep, possibly more stress, and possible money loss, embarrassment if things go wrong, illness if you eat strange foods from other countries, injury from faulty equipment.

Opportunities in Marketplace: To the diehard fans of this genre of music, we would most likely get a lot of recognition. Sweden, Norway, Germany, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania are large marketplaces for death metal. By advertising the band online
Threats in Marketplace: The current state of music is the following: MTV and the radio tell the youth what to listen to. For a band to get well-known these days, it would involve playing rap, pop, or punk.
Marketing Plan

Competition: While on tour – People buying merchandise will have to choose between which band’s shirts, hats, CD, etc they would like to buy. Not on tour – other bands in a music store. Other genres of music

Advertising Plan: The Internet is a great place to advertise any and all aspects of a band. You can advertise shows, CDs, videos, music, graphics, anything at all. You can advertise on message boards, music news web pages. You can also put advertisements in local music shops, telephone poles, news papers, car windshields at concerts, and music magazines.

Price/Product/Place/Promotion: Price of demos are $5. Price of CDs are $12. Price of shirts are $12. Price to get in to concerts is generally $5 a head. Place to be sold. Merchandise will be sold online, at shows, and by request in person. We will play wherever will have us. If it is further than 80 miles away, we will need gas money and some type of profit. Promotion for shows and merchandise will be online, at shows, and around the neighborhood.
Managing Plan: In the early stages, shows will be planned out of my house, like they are now. Merchandise is handled out of my house, as well. Money is sent to the house, and the stuff is sent out. Once a record label is established, they will pay for merchandise and tours. They will handle everything involving that type of stuff.
Operations Plan: At the current time, our demos are made using my CD-R drive and label maker. Hats are made at a store on Rt. 45. Our band practices are in Ian’s garage. We write and organize our songs and setlists for each show there. Our garage recordings are recorded on my digital 12-track recorder/mixer. They are then recorded on to my computer, which are then sent to people world-wide.
Financial Plan

Startup Costs: For a band that is financing themselves, organizing shows can be a little hectic. Renting out the Pennsauken Youth Athletic Association Field House is $300 for a 4 hour time slot. VFWs generally cost around $250 for 4 hours. To record in a studio, it costs around the area of $25 to $60 an hour. To get hats made, it costs $4.50 per hat. For screen-printed t-shirts, each individual color costs $20. That is a one-time fee. The shirts cost around $6 or $7. Then, there’s always the cost of traveling (filling the car with gas!). You have to eat, so there’s $5 a person at McDonald’s.

Financing Needs: For buying hats, they are $4.50 each. We usually borrow the money from my mom. We charge $8 for them, so she gets her money back, and we make a profit at the same time. If we go over time with recording during the summer time, parents could possibly spot us the money. They would be paid back from the sales of the cd.

 

[Will Bozarth]

Executive Summary (2 pages)
* Business Description (form of ownership, location, products/services)
* Mission Statement
* Vision statement
* SWOT Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities in mktplce, Threats in mktplce
* Marketing Plan – Competition, Advertising Plan, Price/Product/Place/Promotion
* Management Plan
* Operations Plan
Financial Plan (start-up costs, financing needs, projected balance sheet, income statement)

WRITING THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Executive summaries are much like other summaries in that their main goal is to provide a condensed version of a longer report's content. The key difference, however, is that executive summaries are written for someone who most likely DOES NOT have time to read the original. The dramatic increase in the sheer amount of information available on most topics has spawned a corresponding growth in the size and number of reports. Unfortunately, there has not been a similar expansion in the amount of time available to executives or policy makers to read these increasingly lengthy reports. The solution to this problem is the executive summary.
An executive summary may be called an abstract when it accompanies a scholarly document, although there are differences. The definition of an abstract is helpful: An abstract is a shortened form of a work that retains the general sense and unity of the original. Generally, this definition could be applied to an executive summary with one major difference. An abstract is basically a miniature version of the original...it looks like the original. An executive summary goes beyond this: it seeks to let the reader in on what the real significance of the report is--what is the reader expected to respond to? The reader is a decision maker who will have the responsibility of deciding on some issue(s) related to the report. The executive summary must be written with this need in mind.
The executive summary is usually no longer than 10% of the original document. It can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the report's length. They are a self-contained, stand-alone document. Although this may not always be the case - for this assignment executive summaries make recommendations. Accuracy is essential because decisions will be made based on your summary by people who have not read the original.

Functions of an Executive Summary
• Gives readers the essential contents of your document in 1-10 pages.
• Previews the main points of your document enabling readers to build a mental framework for organizing and understanding the detailed information in your document.
• Helps readers determine the key results and recommendations reported in your document.

Processes for Writing an Executive Summary
Executive summaries are typically written for longer reports. They should not be written until after your research is finished. Before writing your summary, try to:
• Scan your research to determine what the content, structure and length of the report would be.
• Highlight key points; determine purpose/central theme of the report.
• Review your research and determine what the key ideas or concepts are.
• Group ideas in a logical fashion and prepare a point form outline of the summary.
• Edit the outline to eliminate secondary or minor points; use your judgement to keeping the summary concise.
• Determine whether subtitles, bullets, selective bolding or some other type of organizational structure will add to the clarity of your summary.
• Write the summary in your own words, using a professional style.
• Read it aloud or even tape record yourself reading your summary.

Elements of an Executive Summary
Following is a list of elements that may be included in an Executive Summary. The elements that you include in your Executive Summary and the amount of space that you give to each element will depend on the purpose and nature of your document. Therefore, you should choose the elements that make sense for your document and omit the ones that don't.
1.Purpose and scope of document
2.Methods
3.Results
4.Conclusion
5.Recommendations
6.Other supportive information

Questions to Ask Yourself as You Write
1. What is your research about?
2. Why is it important?
3. What is included in the research?
4. What is included in each section?

Concise Statement of your Findings
As a cover sheet to a document, an executive summary need not go into ANY mention of how you conducted your analysis and/or what you're basing your conclusion(s) on. Instead, begin with a concise statement of the conclusion(s) you reached after conducting your analysis and/or research in the paper that would normally be attached. How you word the conclusion will differ depending on your audience and what they care most about. The wording must change given an audience's needs.

Writing Recommendations
After beginning with a summary statement of your findings, the executive summary should go on to provide a specific recommendation for action geared toward your audience. Finally, an executive summary provides an analysis and/or justification for the proposed action in terms the audience will consider important. In many cases, this might involve an economic or ethical, but actions can be justified many ways, depending on the concerns of the audience and the topic of the research.
Include justification for the recommendation by referring to information summarized. A recommendationís justification is usually based on a reference to material already provided in the summary. In other cases, the justification for the recommendation might be complicated enough to justify a summary of causes for the justification. In this case, the recommendation paragraph usually begins with a summary of how the writer reached the conclusion that leads to the justification.

For Writing Policy Recommendations
Key Elements of an Environmental Policy Statement
• A call to action (the policy)
• A justification for the policy
• Those to whom the policy should apply
• Those responsible for implementing the policy
• How the policy should be implemented and evaluated
• Include guiding principles if necessary

 

[Zob Rombie]

rotfl... chandler... haha what a douche

 

[Will Bozarth]

dude, chandler rules

 

[some_dude]

Interesting read

 

[WhiteBeastofWotan]

^ Profanity?!?

 

[some_dude]

^ Profanity?!?

No

 

[Dead_Lioness]

^ Profanity?!?

hahahahaha

 

[Zob Rombie]

dude, chandler rules

you have absolutely NO idea how boring capsers class is right now

 

[Brett]

Just yell out "Fuck". That should provide you with some entertainment.