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!