Business Planning - an Overview

Planning is fundamental to business success. As the saying goes - ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. But the idea of putting together a business plan is a little nerve-racking for many small business owners. It’s not easy to do, it takes time – probably time you don’t have. And of course, where do you start? There are literally thousands of business plan templates out there on the web; most of them are very good. However, just filling in the blanks on a good template may keep the bank manager happy, but it may not necessarily benefit you or your business in the long run. To understand this, we need to take a look at why the process of business planning is so important.

A detailed business plan is your strategy, your marketing approach, your financial forecast, your action plan, and much more. In fact, a business plan is, or should be, a document that you can point to and honestly say ‘this is my business and this is how I will achieve my goals’. It’s about taking the brilliant ideas, the strategies and the visions you’ve had, and putting them all into a coherent and logical plan.

The following is an example of a business plan structure, basically its table of contents based on what has been discussed above. Remember the business plan can be structured in many ways; it’s really up to your personal preference and needs but I recommend that it contain the basic information we have discussed.

1. Executive Summary

2. Entity and Contact Information

3. Vision Statement

4. Mission Statement

5. History & Background

6. Operations Strategy

6.1. Scope of Operations
6.2. Organizational Structure
6.3. Plant & Equipment
6.4. Management Information Systems
6.5. Quality Systems
6.6. Operations, Location, Size and Layout
6.7. Purchasing
6.8. Process Technology
6.9. Stock Control
6.10. Operational Performance Indicators

7. Marketing Strategy

7.1. Product Strategy
7.2. Promotion/Advertising Strategy
7.3. Distribution Strategy
7.4. Pricing Strategy
7.5. Competitor Analysis
7.6. Customer Contact Plan
7.7. Market Research
7.8. Complaint Resolution
7.9. Marketing Performance Indicators

8. Human Resource Plan

8.1. Organizational Structure
8.2. Training/Employee Development Strategy
8.3. Skills Planning
8.4. Compliance
8.5. Reward & Incentives System
8.6. Performance Appraisals
8.7. OH&S Strategy
8.8. Motivation & Team Building
8.9. Industrial Relations
8.10. Current Staff Levels
8.11. Communication
8.12. Recruitment
8.13. Other Human Resource Issues
8.14. Human Resource Performance Measures

9. Financial Strategy

9.1. Financial History & Trends
9.2. Product/Service Costing
9.3. Capital Investment Strategy
9.4. Debtor Control Strategy
9.5. Funding Strategy
9.6. Funding Requirements
9.7. Dividend and Private Drawings Strategy
9.8. Cash Flow Management
9.9. Stock Management
9.10. Key Financial Performance Indicators
9.11. Budgets

10. Innovation Strategy

10.1. Idea Generation
10.2. New Product Development

11. Risk Management Strategy

11.1. Insurance
11.2. Loss of Key Personnel
11.3. Credit Control Policy
11.4. Obsolete or Slow Moving Stock

Appendix

a) SWOT Analysis
b) Action Plan task list
c) Detailed financial data