| Business Planning |
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Do you really know the direction you are taking your business ?
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Are you bouncing around from one crisis to another ?
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Why do I need a business plan?
A business plan is necessary for four primary reasons:
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It gives business owners a current assessment of the business as well as a roadmap for the future. |
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It helps a business grow, both organically and through outside funding. |
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It enables the business to secure financing, ranging from an overdraft facility or bank loan to venture capital and; |
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It provides a valuable tool for decision making |
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A business plan is a living document that should be continuously reviewed in light of the business environment and actual performance. This enables the directors to oversee business performance.
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Do I need outside help?
A business plan to be effective needs to be owned by those who have to implement it . So, it cannot just be delegated to consultant. But an experienced business facilitator can add value to the process, whilst ensuring that ownership is in-house.
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Objectives
The key objectives of a business plan are:
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To develop and communicate a plan of action that will achieve the company's strategic objective |
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To provide a means of monitoring progress towards that objective, and |
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To stimulate alternative action if the objective is unlikely to be met by the original plan. |
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Note: These cannot be achieved unless the plan defines the strategic objective and includes benchmarks or performance measures at key stages during the year. |
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The Process
The planning process can be a major contributor to team building and a means of motivating ownership and commitment to the plan. It is important to involve those who will be significant in its implementation. So the plan is not perceived as having been impose on them
The key components to developing an effective plan are:
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Analysis of current year financial results |
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Financial Modelling - Profit & Loss and Cash flow forecasts |
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SWOT analysis - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats |
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MOST analysis - Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics |
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Brainstorming - for alternative scenarios, opportunities, strategies |
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Identifying strategic objectives and Indicators |
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Be conservative but challenging on sales and optimistic with overheads |
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Identify key milestones in the implementation programme |
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need to know more....
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