'To
accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream, not
only plan, but also believe'
Anatole
France
A Business Plan is a management document that
defines business goals and objectives, management strategies and
respective risk analysis. The initial purpose of a business plan
is to communicate the market opportunities available to the company,
subsequent uses include Programme Management and Risk Assessment.
The ultimate decision as to whether to go ahead with a new venture
depends unsurprisingly upon many attributes, including the strategic
importance of the targeted market and the financial viability of
the project.
There are many books and papers written on the subject of business
planning processes, all expelling the virtues of their own procedures
and traits, however the basic principles do remain common:-
 |
- Analysis
- Market sector / Internal audit - Situation analysis
-
Objectives - Clear business objectives for the intended
project
-
Strategy - Detailed strategy to meet the set objectives.
-
Tactics - Tactical plans that implement the above strategy.
-
Measurement and Control - How are we doing?- measure and
improve.
|
|
An important point to remember is that Business Plans are unique
documents to the organisation itself. Don't be tempted to use preformatted
templates without careful consideration. As many have found, the
problem with 'off the peg' business planning processes is they are
generic models and they never quite seem fit the organisation -
rather like a square peg in a round hole. With this in mind the
secret of successful business planning comes as no surprise i.e.
the architecture of business planning process must be in complete
harmony with the organisation.
A
successful business plan must therefore...
-
Have the right format for the organisation
-
Contain real information - that is factual and true
-
Have management buy-in and support
-
Have clearly defined objectives
-
Contain a strategy that can be understood at all levels within
the organisation
-
Be reviewed regularly and kept up to-date
-
Have defined critical success factors
-
Have commercial risk clearly defined and reviewed regularly
-
Have an owner who is responsible and accountable for the plan
-
Each section within the plan has its own action plan
Quality business plans are powerful documents and provide the company
with genuine direction and guidance if used correctly, however business
plans are often misused documents and fall quickly into disrepute.
There are many reasons for this including:
-
Plans are put together in haste and lack depth and credibility
-
Plans contain fictitious information - a result of poor market
intelligence
-
Over ambitious sales predictions - the classic hockey stick profile
- which never materialises
-
Plans contain only forecast sales information - they do not identify
any real prospects
-
Sections of the plan are not supported by all product team members
-
Plans are not kept up to date - 'a trophy for the shelf !' - thought
of as a one time exercise - remember plans should be working documents
-
No one person owns the plan - lack of any responsibility
-
Individual sections do not have action plans associated with them
Investment go-ahead does not provide funding for complete project
- re-justification every financial period required.
IPM - How can we help?
IPM has many years of experience writing business plans, we can
help in the following areas;
- Strategic
Planning
-
Market Research
-
Business Plan Authoring
-
Training - How to write and then use business plans
|
