Business Planning

Content of a Business Plan
Structure

a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed

attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals.

and branding by the customer, client, taxpayer, or larger community.

When the existing business is to assume a major change or when planning a new venture, a 3 to 5 year business plan is required, since investors will look for their annual return in that timeframe.

new organization, business venture, or product (service) or
Expanding, acquiring

or improving any of the above.

may be internally or externally focused. Externally focused plans target

goals that are important to external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. They typically have detailed information about the organization or team attempting to reach the goals.

entities: investors and customers;
Non-profits include: donors and the clients of

the non-profit's services;
For government agencies tax-payers, higher-level government agencies, and international lending bodies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, various economic agencies of the United Nations, and development banks.

Goals:
the development of a new product, a new service,
a

new IT system;
a restructuring of finance;
the refurbishing of a factory;
a restructuring of the organization.

An internal business plan is often developed in conjunction with

a balanced scorecard or a list of critical success factors. This allows success of the plan to be measured using non-financial measures.

that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general

guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans.
Operational plans describe the goals of an internal organization, working group or department.
Project plans, sometimes known as project frameworks, describe the goals of a particular project. They may also address the project's place within the organization's larger strategic goals.

before you implement those plans.
To get the commitment and

participation of those who will implement the plans, which leads to better results.
To establish a roadmap to compare results as the venture proceeds from paper to reality.
To achieve greater profitability in your organization, products and services -- all with less work.
To obtain financing from investors and funders.
To minimize your risk of failure.
To update your plans and operations in a changing world.
To clarify and synchronize your goals and strategies.

many different formats, depending on the audience for the plan

and complexity of the business.
Though business plans have many different presentation formats, business plans typically cover five major content areas:


Background information
A marketing plan
An operational plan
A financial plan
A discussion of the decision making criteria that should be used to approve the plan.

There is no fixed content for a business plan.
Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience. A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a goal.

business environment analysis
industry background
competitor analysis
market analysis
marketing plan
operations plan

management summary
financial plan
attachments and milestones

Typical structures for a business plan for a start up venture.

History
2.3 Management team
3 Marketing plan
3.1 Pricing
3.2

Demand management
3.3 Distribution/Positioning
3.4 Promotion and brand development

Typical structures for a business plan for a start up venture.

and communications technology plan
4.2.1 Staffing needs
4.2.2 Training requirements

4.2.3 Intellectual property plan
4.2.4 Acquisition plan
4.2.5 Organizational learning plan
4.3 Cost allocation model
5 Financial plan
5.1 Current financing
5.2 Funding plan
5.3 Financial forecasts
6 Risk analysis
6.1 Risk evaluation
6.2 Risk management plan
7 Decision making criteria

Personnel.
3. Project Description.
3.1. General description.
3.2. State of project’s affairs.

Schedule of investment project.
4. Market Analysis.
4.1. Industry description.
4.2. Company

position on the market.
4.2.1. Description of the product and services.
4.2.2. Consumers.
4.2.3. Competition.
4.2.4. SWOT analysis

Financial plan.
5.1. Conditions and assumptions.
5.2. Plan of incomes.
5.3. Plan of

expenditures.
5.4. Financial strategy.
5.5. Prognostic financial reports (P&L, CF, Balance Sheet)

7. Risk analysis.

business plan.
It should define the decision to be made

and the reasons for approval.
The specific content will be highly dependent on the core purpose and target audience. To get a sense of the difference the purpose and target audience can make, here are three different sets of key points for an executive summary - one for a loan request, one for a start-up seeking venture finance, and one for an internal plan.

information:
Company information: name of company, years in business, legal structure,

minority and majority owners
Brief description of project
Amount and length of loan
Objective reasons why the bank should be confident that the loan will be paid back. This likely will include
Financial track record
The future revenue stream
Any contracts in place that might guarantee the revenue stream is more than just a forecast.

information: name of company, proposed legal structure, current legal structure,

minority and majority investors.
Amount of investment requested
Expected terminal value
Description of market opportunity
Objective reasons why the market opportunity can be exploited by this particular team

look like this:
Company information: not applicable
Description of project
Project

mandate: who requested the proposal, who is being assigned to carry it out
Strategic, tactical and financial justifications
Summary of resources needed: staff, funds, facilities