Unit 8: Anatomy of a Business Plan
Introduction
Strategic business planning is a development process for creating, sustaining, and renewing business objectives which meet changing market opportunities.
A well thought out business plan will help you identify any factors which will affect your profits and your competitive advantages.
In this module, you will be given guidelines on what information to include in a business plan. Then, you will have the opportunity to prepare a business plan for your own business.
What You Will Learn
This module is divided into the following sections:
Section One: Business Plan
Section Two: Company Profile
Section Three: Objectives and Action Plan
Section Four: Human Resources
Section Five: Products/Services
Section Six: Supplier Relationships
Section Seven: Markets
Section Eight: Territory
Section Nine: Strategic Alliances
Section Ten: Competition
Section Eleven: Advertising and Promotion
Section Twelve: Financials
Section Thirteen: Executive Summary
Learning Outcomes
After reviewing this module you should be able to:
Write a detailed overview of your planned company, products and services.
Write clear, measurable, specific, and achievable statements of what you intend to accomplish and how you will achieve these.
Develop an organizational chart and job descriptions for all positions.
Write a detailed description of products and/or services which you plan to offer.
List your primary and secondary sources of supply.
Identify your target markets based on your market research.
Describe the area(s) in which you plan to conduct business.
Identify any potential strategic alliances.
Identify your major competitors and describe their strengths and weaknesses.
List the methods of advertising you plan to use, frequency of use, and associated budget.
Prepare revenue forecasts and cash flow.
Collect any supporting documents for your business plan.
Summarize the major contents of your business plan in a concise, energetic executive summary.
Complete a business plan for your new venture.