Archive for the ‘Business Plan’ Category
Plan to Succeed With Good Business Planning
A plan is therefore a pre-determined course of action for reaching agreed objectives. Its purpose is to increase the probability of reaching objectives, by reducing the need to make ad hoc decisions when the business is faced with dangers and problems in the future. Planning can increase effectiveness (i.e. the probability of reaching agreed objectives) and efficiency (i.e. the cost of doing so).
Planning will not guarantee success, but research clearly shows that is increases the probability of succeeding. Plans are needed when additional finance is being sought, but their greatest value is as a blueprint or road map for managing growth and change.
Plans may be classified by time – short and long term. A more useful distinction is to classify planning into strategic and operational sectors. Strategic planning relates to creating and maintaining the firm’s competitive advantage, which is the basis of its survival in the market place. It is broad in scope, and has a long term perspective (at least once a year for small business) and is more concerned with external rather than internal (i.e. operating issues).
Specifically it involves:
Setting objectives; Determining the firm’s thrust in the market place – its product/service mix; Identifying its target market(s) and market opportunities; Assessing the firm’s strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats; Deciding how, in which direction and how fast the business should grow; Deciding what resources will be needed; Evaluating location and forecasting future environmental factors likely to enhance or threaten the firm’s survival capacity. Operational (and administrative) planning is more limited in scope and time (usually for six to twelve months ahead). It relates to the tangible and day-today work within the various functional areas of the business – budgets, work schedules, selling, employee training and supervision, cost and credit control, inventories, maintenance, pricing and general administrative work.
Such work absorbs the greater bulk of time, effort and attention in most businesses, and most planning (if done at all) is of this type.
Clearly, strategic planning has a significant flow-down effect on operations and administration, and on their planning.
Most small businesses do little or no planning, and those which do, don’t usually do it very well. Those owner operators who say they have a plan in their heads don’t really have a plan at all. Effective planning in small enterprises needs to be relevant to the situation, when compared with large corporations. In successful small businesses, planning has the following features:
It has a fairly short time horizon (up to one year in detail and rarely beyond two years); It is written; It is built on quite specific objectives, rather than on vague and often unrealistic aspirations of owner/operators; It involves help from employees and sources of advice from outside the business (i.e. accountants, consultants, and bankers); It is done consistently, and not on a ad hoc basis; It is as much dependant on experience, intuition and judgement as on detailed economic and financial data; It addresses both strategic and operational dimensions of the firms’s future It is a unified (and unifying) process rather than a collection of disparate and fragmented parts. Planners are business leaders – the evidence is clear! Good management is not really possible without good planning, and small enterprises without good management invariably will fail.
The basic choice is: to plan; or increase the risk of business failure…
Planning will not guarantee success, but research shows clearly that it increases the probability of succeeding!
By: John Duffield
About the Author:
Subscribe to the UMACS Business Zone monthly newsletter which gives you great tools, tips and ideas on how to manage and grow your business. Subscribe now and receive a FREE e-book “Relationships that Show the Health of Your Business”. http://www.umacs-business-solutions.com/umacs-business-zone.html
John Duffield is the owner and Managing Director of UMACS Business Solutions. Operating successfully for over 7 years specialising in providing results and growth strategies for business. John has an extensive background in Senior Management in corporate Australia over the past 25 years and teaches International Marketing and International Finance regularly in China.
Visit us at http://www.umacs-business-solutions.com
Business Plan Templates – Identifying Good Templates for Your Business Plan
Before launching a new business, you should have researched and analyzed every aspect of your business separately. The business plan is the culmination of this process in which you bring the separate pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together and see what the whole thing looks like. Think of it as both a blueprint and a route map to guide the business through the future. Just as you would not dream of building a new house without a proper blueprint or proper directions, you should not dream of launching a new business without a proper business plan.
A proper business plan:
enables you to review the business as a whole as well as each important segment. enables you to spot strengths and weaknesses. You can use these to leverage opportunities and far more importantly, decide on how you are going to cope with threats. You can then prepare contingency plans and measures to deal with the situation. help you to spot the areas that need to be beefed up possibly with the help of outside expert opinion. provides the basis for taking important long-term decisions such as applying for business loans, recruiting your key people and planning for infrastructure and facilities.
There are many business plan templates and models available on which you can base your business plan. No matter which method of planning you choose, there are three key areas you need to keep in mind:
Business objective: Every business needs to have an ultimate goal towards which every aspect of the business is geared. Because the objective of business is to make a profit and create wealth, it helps if the objective is spelt out in financial terms. There are a number of profit and wealth creation measures available such as return on investment, return on capital employed, return on net worth, market capitalization and so on. Choose the measure that suits you best and preferably use a single measure to provide clarity.
Business strategy: If the business objective defines what you want to achieve, business strategy defines how you are going to achieve it. Whether this strategy involves sales and marketing plans or production and quality standards or a mix of several different strategies, you need to be able to demonstrate that the objective is achievable through the implementation of your chosen methods. The financial section of the business plan is the demonstration of your success.
Human resources: Because a business behaves just as people do, your available human resources will determine your ultimate success. For instance, there is no point in having aggressive objectives and strategies if you do not have the right people in place. Any new business plan that ignores this critical aspect will struggle to succeed.
When reviewing suitable business plan templates to employ in your business planning efforts, ensure the templates address the three areas above and you will be half way to creating a good foundation for your business.
(c) 2010 George Osawaye
By: George Osawaye
About the Author:
George Osawaye is an entrepreneur, executive coach and business consultant, specializing in business incubation, operations strategy and business optimization. His passion is helping aspiring Entrepreneurs, Business Owners and Managers attain freedom, personal fulfillment and success by teaching them how to start, grow and maximize the value of their businesses. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School with concentrations in finance, strategy and entrepreneurship.
Begin your entrepreneurial journey today by signing up for our complimentary 20-Part Business Training Videos at http://www.Management-Training-School.com
Everyone Needs a Good Business Plan
Mention the need for a business plan to the uninitiated, and they will likely give you a lot of reasons why they don’t need one. But anyone who has successfully completed a business plan knows it is a healthy learning process that enables you to manage risk and confidently start or grow your business.
Keep the body of your business plan brief. Attach important detail and supporting information in the appendices. In the body of your plan, make reference to the appendices so your readers will know where to find details.
Write for your average reader. Don’t try to baffle your reader with big words. Explain any terms that might be confusing. Break the complex down until it becomes simple.
Clarify your assumptions for the reader. You will be doing some guessing. If you’re assuming an interest rate of 8 percent, say so. Use only the safest assumptions, and use them sparingly.
Support your narrative and financial assertions with relevant documentation. There are a number of possible appendices that might add to the credibility of your business plan. For example, if your resume will help your reading audience to understand why your experience qualifies you to own and operate the business, attach it to your business plan.
Good Business Web Hosting Plan Is Not Necessary Expensive
Contrary to the belief that quality should come with extra cost, a good business web hosting plan need not necessarily be expensive. In fact, there are a lot of business web hosting plans that are excellent and yet very affordable. If you only know what to look for in a web host, you will definitely get the best deal.
While cost is one of the major considerations in choosing a hosting company, quality and performance should not be compromised. The benefits that a good business web host offers can never be equaled by any amount. In any business web site, it is very important to sell products and services directly through the site itself. Thus, eCommerce hosting solutions are important considerations in choosing a business hosting service as well.
Although a lot of businesses most often fail to see the importance of having the right business web host, most of them still prefer having a good hosting company for their business needs. Basically, small business web site hosting requires these standard features from its hosting provider.
First and foremost are powerful Linux or Windows servers that are grounded on reliable hardware and software. These are very important in making your web site work. Regardless of the fancy design and programming, if your site is not working, no one will be able to do business with you.
Second is 24/7 technical support. Even the best monitored servers even go astray at times. Thus when this happens, it is important that the hosting company is able to provide you with solutions fast. Whether it might just be for some errors that need to be corrected, or a more serious technical problem, a reliable hosting provider offers technical support around the clock including holidays.
On top of these standard features, a good business web hosting plan should be able to allow you to manage your web site yourself through the control panel that comes with the plan. With this set up, you can have access to virtually everything occurring on your web site and make suitable changes whenever necessary. Moreover, a web host should be able to back up your web site daily. Not all companies provide this feature, but this is essential for any business web site.
In addition, the hosting company should be able to provide your customers with security. The features and tools that you offer in your site should have the same level of security as that which gives you security through SSL certification.
More importantly, a good business web hosting plan should be able to save you a lot of money through affordable prices and even discount promos. The good news is there are actually a number of these hosting companies that offer affordable, qualitative, and excellent business hosting plans for small to medium sized businesses.
By: Darren W Chow
About the Author:
Inmotionhostingreview.org is always the best place to search for inmotion review and inmotion coupon. Find inmotion hosting uptime and speed test review from this inmotion hosting review website.
Five Crucial Components of a Business Plan
The format of a Business Plan is something that has been
developed and refined over the years and is something that should
not be changed. Like a good recipe, a business plan needs to
include certain ingredients to make it work.
When you create a business plan, don’t attempt to recreate its
format. Those reviewing this type of document have expectations
you must meet. If they do not see those crucial decision-making
components, they’ll see no reason to proceed with their review of
your business plan, no matter how great your business idea.
Executive Summary Section
Every business plan must begin with an Executive Summary section.
A well-written Executive Summary is critical to the success of
the rest of the document. Here is where you need to capture the
attention of your audience so that they will be compelled to read
on. Remember, it’s a summary, so each and every word must be
carefully selected and presented.
Use the Executive Summary section of your business plan to
accurately describe the nature of your business venture including
the need that you plan to fill. Show the reasons why people need
your product or service. Show this by including a brief analysis
of the characteristics of your potential market.
Describe the organization of your business including your
management team. Also, briefly describe your sales and marketing
plan or approach. Finally include the numbers that those
reviewing your business plan want to see – the amount of capital
you seek, the carefully calculated sales projections and your
plan to repay the loan.
If you’ve captured your audience so far they’ll read on.
Otherwise, they’ll close the document and add your business plan
to the heap of other rejected ideas.
Devote the balance of your business plan to providing details of
the items outlined in the Executive Summary.
The Business Section
Be sure to include the legal name, physical address and detailed
description of the nature of your business. It’s important to
keep the description easy to read using common terminology. Never
assume that those reading your business plan have the same level
of technical knowledge that you do. Describe how you plan to
better serve your market than your competition is currently
doing.
Market Analysis Section
An analysis of the market shows that you have done your homework.
This section is basically a summary of your Marketing Plan. It
needs to show the demand for your product or service, the
proposed market, trends within the industry, a description of
your pricing plan and packaging and a description of your company
policies.
Financing Section
The Financing section must show that you are as committed to your
business venture as you expect those reading your business plan
to be. Show the amount of personal funds you are contributing and
their source. Also include the amount of capital you need and
your plan to repay this debt. Include all pertinent financial
worksheets in this section: annual income projections, a
break-even worksheet, projected cash flow statements and a
balance sheet.
Management Section
Outline your organizational structure and management team here.
Include the legal structure of your business whether it is a
partnership, corporation or limited liability corporation.
Include resumes and biographies of key players on your management
team. Show staffing projection data for the next few years.
By now you’re probably thinking that you don’t need Business Plan
just yet. Well you do, and there is business plan building
software that can help you through this immense project. These
software packages are easy to use and affordable. Use one today
and produce a professional-quality Business Plan – including all
critical components – tomorrow!
By: Cavyl Stewart
About the Author:
Copyright © 2004 Cavyl Stewart. Get more software tips, strategies and recommendations to help you create your business plan by signing up for my Exclusive 100% free, 100% original content ecourse: “How To Failure-Proof Your Business Instantly.” To sign up please visit: [http://www.find-small-business-software.com/bizplan-ecourse.html]
How to Make a Business Plan Template
A good business plan template contains two main parts. A narrative followed by a series of financial worksheets. The narrative part of the business plan template embodies all the details and the strategy of the business plan and is further divided and subdivided into various sections. It is highly recommended that you work on creating a business plan template in a systematic way to avoid missing out on the inclusion of important facts and points.
Answering the question of how to make a business plan template begins by the realization that the first step is the creation of a rough draft, where you end up with a set of notes on each and every topic of the template. The next step is to work on these points and edit them to create a professional narrative that has a smooth flow. The purpose of creating the template is not to speed up the process of deriving the final business report but thinking about your business in an intelligent, smart and planning fashion. While going through the various facts and ideas, you gradually get involved in looking at ideas and business models in a more critical way. Though this process may initially appear to be a waste of time, the process of creating the template also has the power to prevent a poor decision that could prove to be a disaster in the long run, if not properly addressed upfront.
There is a generic template that is available for all types of businesses. To make a business plan template, you need to modify the standard template that is suitable for your industry and business. The style of writing, the overall organization and the presentation of the ideas is what makes a good business plan template. Creating a template involves a significant amount of research, re-thinking and planning. Detailed notes regarding the sources of information and the underlying assumptions that support the financial data and information must be kept carefully for quick and easy reference as and when needed.
To make a business plan template usually begins with the name and the details of the owners of the plan. This is followed by a table of contents that constitutes an executive summary, a general description of the company, the products and services the company offers, the marketing plan, the operational plan, and the management and organizational structures. These elements complete the narrative part of the business template. The financial part of the template should contain a financial statement, startup expenses and capitalization details, and a complete financial plan that encompasses the goals of the company.
The answer to how to make a business plan template is to create an organizational structure that will allow a company to present its assets, ideas, strategies and goals in document form so that a reader will be lead to the desired conclusion.
By: Rich Riley
About the Author:
If you are seriously looking for legitimate, proven methods to generate additional income online then click here and discover for yourself how education and opportunity can change your life
For a no cost look at a surprisingly simple way to increase your income click on Build Internet Solutions