What to Write About Manufacturing & Distribution in Your Business Plan

Business Foundations Questionnaire - Manufacturing & Distribution

Questionnaires in This Series:

1. Business Foundations Questionnaire - Cash Flow
2. Business Foundations Questionnaire – Internet Sales, PR, and Advertising
3. Business Foundations Questionnaire - Customer Service
4. Business Foundations Questionnaire – Manufacturing, Production & Distribution

No business owner can produce products for free and your business plan and feasibility study (as well as your business model) need to address the many, and often complex issues of manufacturing and distributing your goods.

The following questions serve as a foundational guideline for developing your business plan, feasibility study, or business model.

Business Foundations Questionnaire – Manufacturing & Production

1. Who will make or provide your products and services?

2. What materials will you need and where will you get them?

3. Where will you manufacture your products? (What facilities will you need? Walk-in store, commercial warehouse, professional office space, home-based office, manufacturing plant, or other facilities?)

4. Do you need special permits or licenses?

   • Legal Requirements for Business Registrations, Licenses, Permits, and Names

5. Will you need patents or trademarks?

   • Copyright Law Information and FAQs
   • Patents and Patent Law Information

Business Foundations Questionnaire - Distribution

1. How will you get your products or services to the customer?

2. What physical buildings (store, office, warehouse, outside fulfillment services, etc.) will you need to facilitate distribution?

   • Leasing Commercial Office, Retail and Industrial Spaces

3. Who will pay for shipping and what shipping options will you offer?

4. How will, and can customers return items to you for refund of exchange?

Why You Need a Technical Feasibility Study

The Technical Feasibility Study assesses the details of how you will deliver a product or service (i.e., materials, labor, transportation, where your business will be located, technology needed, etc.). Think of the technical feasibility study as the logistical or tactical plan of how your business will produce, store, deliver, and track its products or services.

A technical feasibility study is an excellent tool for trouble-shooting and long-term planning. In some regards it serves as a flow chart of how your products and services evolve and move through your business to physically reach your market.

• How to Write a Technical Feasibility Study – Calculating Materials Required

If you need to ship items from one place to another, how will you transport these items? Small items can be shipped via local carriers, DHL, USPS, but heavy or bulk items may need to be transported via a freight or trucking company.

If you are shipping perishable items, you will need special overnight handling. You may also need special permits to ship certain items, and nonprofits organizations should consider applying for discounted postal rates. These are all things that affect the technical, or “how” of moving your goods from one place to another.

If you offer services, how will trainers, educators, consultants, sales personnel get to customers and clients? These, and more, are issues you need to address.

• How to Write a Technical Feasibility Study - Labor, Physical Location, Transportation & Technology Requirements