Developing A business plan
Oct 28, 2014
Developing A business plan
The four questions of the business plan
• What to do?• How to do it?• When to do it?• WHAT TO expect?
The Importance Of Business Planning
Planning Can Eliminate Business Risks.
Planning reduces risks by giving the entrepreneur clarity on many areas of the business, enabling
him/her to make accurate decisions.
Planning Can Minimize Costs Of production.
Building a business takes up a lot of resources, but planning effectively cuts down on the unnecessary
spending by giving the entrepreneur clear details on where he/she should invest.
Planning Can Detect The Weaknesses Of The
Business’ Operations.
Planning helps the entrepreneur find the weak joints in his/her business by revealing
certain areas that could be improved.
The principles of Business Planning
Planning must be realistic.
Plans must be done with the current available resources in mind - whether they be human, financial or physical resources.
Planning must be based on felt needs.
Plans must be made to meet the needs of the community.
Planning must be flexible.
Business plans should be flexible enough to be adjusted when the
situation demands it.
Planning must start with simple projects.
Starting small gives the entrepreneur the advantage of being able to test the waters
to see how prof-itable they could be.
The Stages Of Business Planning
The Unplanned Stage
During the early stages of the business growth, the entrepreneur pours his time and attention to the daily operations of his/her company or business.
The Budgeting-System Stage
Once business popularity and presence starts to rise, the entrepreneur begins to realize that he/she
will need a budgeting system in order to keep expenses and profits in place.
The Annual Planning Stage
At this point, the company has already established a name for itself in the community, so the
entrepreneur begins to draft annual plans to maintain the operations of the company.
The Strategic Planning Stage
Once the company reaches the enterprise point, the entrepreneur begins to draft long-term plans
that could be adjusted to whatever conditions may come the company’s way.
Criteria Of Effective Planning
The plan should clearly state its objectives.
The plan should provide measures for a satisfactory
accomplishment of the objectives in terms of
quantity, quality, time and cost.
The plan should state the policies which should guide
people in attaining the objectives.
The plan should indicate what department or unit will be
involved in accomplishing the objectives.
The plan should indicate the time which should be allowed for each activity.
The plan should specify the required resources and their corresponding costs.
The plan should designate the officers who will be held
accountable for the accomplishment of the
objectives.
The Components Of Business Planning
SWOT Analyses
SWOT analyses are used to evaluate the survivability of a product or service
in the market.
Objectives
Objectives give a clear definition as to what a business plan is about, and what
the company should be.
Strategies
Strategies provide the methods on how to attain the set objectives.
Time Frame
Each business plan has its own time frame that has to be met in order to say that the plan was successfully
implemented.
Characteristics Of A Sound Business Plan
Objective Clear
Logical Simple
Flexible Stable
Complete Integrated
Obtaining The Facts For a Business Plan
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1. What is unique about my product/service?2. Who are my competitors?3. How will my customers buy?4. What is my share in the market?5. What is the market potential?6. Who are my customers and where are they located?7. Where will I put up my business?8. How big should be my plant or place of business be?9. What equipment will I need and what size?10. How will I create customers?11. How will I organize my enterprise?12. What personnel do I need?13. What kind of records do I need?14. How much capital do I need?15. How profitable will the business be?16. How financially healthy will I be?17. What is break-even point?
Steps In Business Planning
Evaluate Your Personal Resources And Interests,
And The Resources Of The Community.
Determine whether you have the skills and resources to successfully start and run the
business, as well as whether or not you really want to enter that field.
Analyze Your Market.
Check out how in-demand your product or service is, and how many competitors
you will have in that field of business.
Choose a Proper Business Location.
Visit the place so you can see whether or not it is easily accessible not just to your potential customers, but also to your
resources. Always be conscious of things like water and electricity supply, as well as the cost of buying or renting that
place.
Prepare a Financial Plan.
Take some time to look at how much money you will make and how much it will
cost you to start and run the business.
Prepare a Production Plan.
See if it is better to purchase or rent production equipment, and make sure that you will have enough
of them to make sure that you produce enough products to satisfy the demands of your target market.
Prepare an Organizational Plan.
Choose the best organizational design for your business by studying the aspects, advantages
and disad-vantages of each one.
Prepare an Management Plan.
Develop clear goals and strategies to implement them. Always keep your employees informed of updates, and develop programs to help them
improve.
ThankYou!