Planning your way to success
Summer 2007
Having a business plan is an essential part of running a business, and so is the process of reviewing and updating it. While many firms need a plan to secure funding when they are starting up or looking to expand, all firms should have one to detail what they need to do to maximise financial results.
Regardless of how long you have been in business, or how your business is performing, a business plan should be a tool that you use to help you meet your goals. It should be revised regularly so that objectives can be adjusted if necessary and activities can be re-planned with the aim of improving your profits.
The end of each financial year is a good time to review your business plan. As with any annual business process, there should be an internal system in place for the review.
The most important part of the planning process is not the production of a document but the thinking that goes into analysing your business, its products and services, its customers and its financial performance.
Before writing or re-writing a business plan, you should have a clear strategic vision and direction for the future. The plan should contain a clear statement of overall business aims together with a set of around half a dozen realistic and measurable objectives which cover what you want your company to achieve and by when.
While preparing your plan it is important to ensure that you take an honest and objective view of your business to help highlight potential problems before they happen and to ensure internal and external expectations are both managed and realistic.
A typical business plan includes the following sections:
- Executive Summary: gives an accurate picture of the company overall.
- Market & Competition: describes the market and profile of customers.
- Marketing & Sales: details customers (existing and new), pricing policies, promotional activities and sales plan.
- Management & Personnel: outlines the current structure and any new skills required.
- Operations: details all operational capabilities and improvements that need to be made.
- Financial Forecasts & Performance: includes historical financial information for the last three to five years and financial forecasts for the next three to five years.
We can help you with all aspects of business planning and ensure that forecast figures in the financial sections are robust and can stand up to external examination.
