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Writing a business plan.

Article Excerpt
[check] This checklist is designed as an aid to those responsible for constructing a business plan and provides a sequential framework for its compilation. The success of the business plan will depend as much on the clarity and realism of the thought behind it as on how it is expressed and put together.

Definition

A business plan is not only a requisite for seeking finance from investors, but also an essential document to describe aims and objectives and enable measurement of progress towards achieving them. The business plan provides the means to:

* appraise the present and future of the business

* work out short- and long-term objectives

* establish a framework for action to achieve those objectives.

It consists, essentially, of three elements: the operations plan, the financial plan and the marketing plan.

The operations plan will include supply of raw materials, technological requirements, key processes, resource needs and production and delivery targets.

* The financial plan will assess fixed and variable costs and dictate minimum financial requirements.

* The marketing plan will cover how market intelligence will be gathered and ensure that the organisation's strategies will meet market needs.

Advantages

Clear business plans:

* form a yardstick by which to measure performance

* are the starting-point for departmental or divisional operational plans

* provide a framework for offering incentives to managers

* demonstrate that the organisation knows where it is going

* form the bridge between the...

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