Amazon Privileged & Confidential
Creating a DSP Business Plan
What is a business plan?
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), a good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and
managing your business and you will use this plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your future DSP business. The
SBA (www.sba.gov) has additional resources to help you learn how to write a traditional business plan here.
Business plan structure
Your DSP business plan must incorporate the sections below to be considered complete, you may add additional content as you see
appropriate and relevant.
1. Introduction: This is the focal point of your business plan. Describe your business mission, vision, and values. Your mission
should address what you do today, who you serve, what you are trying to accomplish, and what impact you want to
achieve. Your vision should be forward-looking; where are you going? What do you want to achieve in the future? Your
values are what you stand for and how the company will measure success. Introduce your business name. Then, include any
other details you’d like regarding your overall strategy.
2. Recruitment, Hiring, & Managing Seasonality: How you will recruit, interview and hire your team? Why will you focus on
these specific recruiting and hiring platforms/methods? Why will Delivery Associates want to work for you? Will your
staffing structure change across the seasonality of the DSP business? If so, describe.
3. Team Structure & Management: Describe your personal brand as a DSP owner and the leader of your team. Why and how
are the values/qualities/characteristics you’ve selected important to the success of your particular team? How you will
create a positive, inclusive workplace culture while promoting safety and performance. Include what your corrective action
policy will be, as well as how you will mentor and coach your DAs to ensure their consistent attendance and safety on the
road. Additionally, address your employee retention plan and if/how you plan to delegate day-today-responsibilities.
4. Safety & Fleet: Safety is key at Amazon! How will you implement and uphold a culture of safety for your team? When will
you talk to your team about safety and how will you monitor their safety performance? How does fleet management tie
into your team’s safety on the road?
5. Risks: What are the risks of becoming a DSP? How will you mitigate risks such as weather and unsafe driving?
6. Financial management: What are your monthly vs. annualized vs. startup costs? Will you manage those costs differently?
How will parts of your business, such as fleet and team structure, impact your financial projections?
You may decide to incorporate other detail such as: building strong working relationships/partnership with Amazon, your team,
and vendors, strategies for negotiation, compliance, a mock work schedule for your team, and any other assumptions for your
business plan to succeed.
Formatting the business plan
As you build your plan, you have the liberty to format your business plan any way you would like. See below for some best practices.
• Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Pages
• 12-point font
• Include page numbers
• Calibri font type
• Be clear and concise; don’t overload your document with filler words (i.e. very, really, highly, most).
