Your Business Strategy
Putting it all together
Is your strategy complete? Having reviewed your
SWOT Analysis,
Marketing Plan,
Operational Plan & Financial Strategy,
you are now ready to bring all these elements together and write your Business Plan.
The template below is my preferred style and is a tried and tested model. There are many others which will vary on emphasis depending on the type of business and personal style of the writer.
Cover Page
A simple report cover which details what it is e.g. Business Plan 2007-2012, your Company Name, the date and the author.
Table of Contents
The list of report contents by page number, as follows:
- Executive Summary
- Last Year’s Performance
- Sales & Marketing Plan
- Operations Plan
- Financial Plan
- Supporting Documents
1. Executive Summary
Vision and Mission
A summary of the business plan detailing the main targets and key pieces of information, so that the reader can quickly gain an overview of the report contents.
The "vision" is the plan and the "mission" is how it will be achieved.
TOP TIP - keep it to describing the essence of the report and nol longer than one page of A4 in length.
2. Last Year’s Performance
If you wrote a Business Plan last year, this section allows you to reflect on how successful you have been against each of the key areas.
It's an opportunity to go back and look at the assumptions you made and some of the unexpected things that arose, as well as the clear successes and failures.
This is a postive learning opportunity. It gives you a chance to reflect on your goals and make adjustments in your new plan ahead.
3. Sales & Marketing Plan
- Market Definition/CustomerProfile
This concentrates on which market you are selling into and the particular charcteristics and needs of your customers.
- Competition
Understanding who your competitors are and how you intend to beat them in the marketplace
- Risk
This section covers the threats to your business and also the sensitivity of some of the decions you may have to make e.g. Exporting to new overseas markets etc.
- Product Strategy
How you intend to market each product or service that you sell
- Research and Development
Particular areas for product development or where additional research is required.
- Advertising and Promotion
How you will spen your money in promoting the company and the sales revenue targets that should be achieved as a result.
- Sales Strategy
This will reflect your method of selling, how many salespeople you have and where they will operate etc
- Distribution Channels
How and where you intend to sell e.g. Retail, Internet, TV etc
4. Operations Plan
Detail of the performance and general improvement intiatives that will be undertaken e.g. the anticipated effect of a capital investment in reducing costs.
Engineering
The engineering costs and the targets for reducing downtime and improving performance.
Human Resources
This allows you to plan what you will do to really get the best performance out of the people who work for you e.g. Training, Payments, Recruitment, Communication etc.
Technology
Your IT plans and how they will be developed
5. Financial Plan
- Assumptions
- Financial Statements
- Capital Requirements
- Exit/Payback Strategy
6. Supporting Documents
Anything which supports your conclusions and helps act as a reference e.g. Financial Reports, Marketing Data, Production Graphs etc
If you want further help and support to ensure you generate success, please follow this link to
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Return from Putting your Strategy together to Business Plan
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