Planning a Business

How can anyone have a suggestion if we have no idea what kind of business you have in mind?

The most common advice is to have a minimum of enough cash to cover six months expenses after the business is open.

. . .and to expect either a loss or just to break even during the first fiscal year. From there, the business should show some profitability or else you're doing something wrong.

My first business venture was a flop. Fortunately, I didn't have enough to take a loss. I was fishing crawdads out of the Arkansas river and decided most people would want at least one for a pet. I was kind of young at the time, but the experience did point up the need for a little marketing research, which should be a part of the Business Plan.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream has never had a business plan, but it's generally a good idea.

Hello Friends,

A business plan is a formal statement of 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. Business plans may also target changes in perception 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 time frame.
The format of a business plan depends on its presentation context. It is common for businesses, especially start-ups to have three or four formats for the same business plan:
1. An "elevator pitch" - a three minute summary of the business plan's executive summary. This is often used as a teaser to awaken the interest of potential funders, customers, or strategic partners.
2. A pitch deck with oral narrative - a hopeful, entertaining slide show and oral narrative that is meant to trigger discussion and interest potential investors in reading the written presentation. The content of the presentation is usually limited to the executive summary and a few key graphs showing financial trends and key decision making benchmarks. If a new product is being proposed and time permits, a demonstration of the product may also be included.
4. A written presentation for external stakeholders - a detailed, well written, and pleasingly formatted plan targeted at external stakeholders.
5. An internal operational plan - a detailed plan describing planning details that are needed by management but may not be of interest to external stakeholders. Such plans have a somewhat higher degree of candor and informality than the version targeted at external stakeholders and others.

Best Regards
amli Nagar

Hello Friends,

Effective business planning has to begin with an honest and realistic appraisal of the current position of the business. The formal term for this is “situational analysis” and there are several planning tools and methods which are helpful in putting the analysis together. The true purpose of situational analysis is to determine which opportunities to pursue:
1. Analyse the external environment
2. Analyse the internal environment
3. Define the business and mission
4. Set corporate objectives
5. Formulate strategies
6. Make tactical plans
7. Build in procedures for monitoring and controlling

Thanks And Regards,
Romen Esko