Helping You Plan for a bright, strong future

Business Planning

So, go to Google and type in “business plan” and see how many thousands come up! Yes we all have them, Business Plan Templates. If you go to any high street bank they will give you a free template in both paper form and on a CD, if you look in any business bookshop you will find plan templates and if you consult any business software supplier they will have a package for planning. You can even buy software packages that have more than 600 business plan templates on their discs!

WHO NEEDS 600 BUSINESS PLAN TEMPLATES FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

Why plan?

“Without a plan, there’s no attack. Without attack, no victory”
Curtis Armstrong

Think about this: did you go abroad for your holidays this year? Did you:

Know where you were going before you went?
Know what mode of transport you were going to use?
Arrange to park your car at the airport?
Organise some foreign currency?
Purchase some travel insurance?
Get yourself and your family vaccinated?
Do your washing and ironing?
Stop the milk?

WHY OH WHY, DO PERFECTLY SANE PEOPLE TAKE SO MUCH TIME AND TROUBLE OVER PLANNING A 2-WEEK HOLIDAY, AND THEN SET UP A LIFE CHANGING BUSINESS AT THE BLINK OF AN EYE WITHOUT THE MOST BASIC OF PLANS?

There are 2 main reasons for doing a business plan.

Reason 1 – THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON

For yourself: to help you focus, to help you realise what you are getting yourself into, to give you the opportunity to change things BEFORE they happen and to give you the opportunity to STOP and take stock if you realise it WONT WORK!

Would you jump into a deep dark well if you could not see the bottom? So why would you take such a leap of faith by starting a business without all the facts?

Reason 2

For others: to help you gain the valuable finance you need to take your ideas forward. If you go to see a bank and ask them to set up a business bank account they will ask for ID and do some credit checks then you will get your bank account. BUT, if you also need to borrow some money, they will not even consider lending to you without a business plan.

Take a look at the free downloads page for our start-up business plan template and guidelines on completion but before you do have a look at our hints and tips.

Hints and Tips for completing your business plan

Try to take a step back from your emotional attachment to be objective about your business (this is a lot harder than it sounds)
Pay equal attention to each part of the plan (even the bits you don’t want to do)
NEVER underestimate the value of any part of the plan, if it had no value it wouldn’t be there!
If you put your heart and soul into the plan your enthusiasm will increase, if you half heartedly do the plan your enthusiasm will decrease.
Think about the plan – in the shower, in the car, in the kitchen, in the supermarket – you will be amazed how inspiring it can be and how many ideas you will get whilst you are doing other things.
Get used to the idea of being a business owner; you need to start thinking like one!
Be realistic, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was worth the wait!
Involve others; especially your staff if you are going to employ people, they are a wealth of ideas and information.
Take ownership, it is YOUR PLAN, it is YOUR BUSINESS, don’t ask or expect your business adviser to do it for you!

PASSIONATE ABOUT PLANNING!

Every business should set time aside for business planning at least once per year, and if you are not a new business you will need more information than is outlined in our start-up download, you at least need to add these headings:

The story so far – history of the company
Executive summary – what the plan hopes to achieve in brief
Achievements in the past 12 months
Aims and Objectives (if you are not sure about these, ask us, we can help)
A 12 month plan
A 36 month plan
A 60 month plan
A PESTEC analysis (ask us)
ACTIONS using SMART targets (yes, ask us again) so that everyone knows what they have to do

A quote from our leader on Business Plans...

“When an Architect builds a house he does not leave the plans in a drawer when he goes out on site, a Business Plan is a living breathing document and NOT a tablet of stone. You should visit your business plan on a regular basis, make sure there is space for your notes, write on it in red ink (or purple), what you achieved before target date, what you changed because it wasn’t working, and remember, if it’s not working, STOP DOING IT!”
Jenny Ramsdale
MD JR Associates