The Definitive Business Plan The fast track to intelligent business planning for executives and entrepreneurs

by Stutely, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780273710967
• ISBN10: 0273710966
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-11-30
• Publisher: FT Press

Summary

The challenge of preparing and presenting intelligent business plans is one of the few that faces both entrepreneur and executive alike. Whether your goal is raising start-up finance for a new business, requesting venture funding from a corporate parent or directing operational management, The Definitive Business Plan will help you deliver the information that the decision-makers are really looking for.

Author Biography

Businessman and author Richard Stutelyhas handled business plans on every scale. He was a manager with HM Treasury, a stockbroker, a general manager of an international bank and more recently an MD of a multinational technology company. He has written many other books including The Economist Guide to Economic Indicators (1861974671) and written extensively for publications such as The Economist, The Accountant  and The Banker.

Table of Contents

About the author	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. viii
Foreword	p. xiv
Introduction to First Edition	p. xviii
Introduction to the Revised Second Edition	p. xxi
Symbols used	p. xxii
What's it all about?	p. 1
Have you heard the one about...	p. 3
Who should read this book	p. 5
A quick fix or a longer-term tool?	p. 7
What is a plan anyway?	p. 8
Why bother?	p. 8
Key objectives for your plan	p. 10
Your target audience	p. 11
Ten steps to a successful business plan	p. 12
Don't trust consultants	p. 16
Who writes the business plan?	p. 17
How to use this book	p. 17
A winning presentation	p. 21
A concise communication	p. 23
Computer software	p. 23
Make it feel good	p. 24
First thoughts on layout	p. 25
Creating an outline document	p. 28
Getting down to it	p. 35
Why?	p. 37
When you don't want to be a big fish	p. 38
What to do if you have several businesses	p. 39
Your list of contents	p. 41
The executive summary	p. 43
The conclusion	p. 46
Responsibilities - and the timetable	p. 46
Be a SWOT	p. 47
Where now?	p. 49
Know yourself	p. 51
Taking stock	p. 53
Start with the basics	p. 53
The central objective	p. 55
Are you visionary?	p. 56
How did you arrive here?	p. 60
Some numbers to please the bankers	p. 60
Building up value	p. 62
The all-important management team	p. 65
Business organization	p. 65
Business infrastructure	p. 69
Products and services	p. 69
Core competencies	p. 71
The next step	p. 72
Know the world	p. 73
For or against you?	p. 75
The next steps	p. 76
Collecting information	p. 77
Understanding the world at large	p. 80
Business partners	p. 84
The market - what you are fighting for	p. 85
The industry - what you are up against	p. 89
Competitive advantages	p. 91
Now write about it	p. 93
Moving on	p. 94
The core of your plan	p. 95
A strategy and an operating plan	p. 97
Portfolio strategy - what businesses should you have?	p. 99
Business strategies to satisfy your desires	p. 102
Strategies for department managers	p. 106
Resource requirements	p. 113
Strategic objectives	p. 113
Documenting the strategy	p. 115
Creating an operating plan	p. 115
Documenting the operating plan	p. 120
Onwards	p. 120
About these numbers	p. 121
'The time has come', the walrus said, 'to speak of other things'	p. 123
Varying views of the same numbers	p. 124
The way that bean counters think	p. 128
The planning horizon	p. 132
Looking back	p. 134
Estimating the present	p. 135
Crystal ball gazing	p. 135
Software tools	p. 137
Putting it to good use	p. 139
Getting to gross profit	p. 141
Breathe easily	p. 143
Forecasting sales volumes	p. 145
The big picture - the economy	p. 148
Up close and personal - industry and product demand	p. 152
Pulling it all together	p. 155
Cost of sales	p. 157
Gross profit	p. 163
Writing it up	p. 164
Getting to net profit	p. 167
Where the money goes	p. 169
Capital spending	p. 170
Capital assets that you already own	p. 171
Capital assets that you want	p. 172
Accounting for fixed assets	p. 176
Operating expenditure	p. 179
Net profit	p. 185
Other income and expenditure	p. 190
Moving on	p. 191
Funding the business	p. 193
Balancing your cheque book	p. 195
Balance sheets and cash flow mechanics	p. 196
Balance sheet headings	p. 202
Producing the paper	p. 205
Watching cash flow	p. 207
Using a surplus	p. 212
Getting it funded	p. 212
Debt or equity?	p. 213
What's the deal?	p. 219
Putting a price on success	p. 219
Does it all hold together?	p. 220
Managing risks	p. 221
Identify risks and improve planning	p. 223
It's normally like this	p. 225
How many coconuts do you need to sell?	p. 233
Marginal likelihood of shutting down?	p. 236
What you need, when you need it	p. 239
Will it pay off?	p. 240
What if?	p. 247
The economy	p. 249
If the worst comes to the worst ...	p. 249
Grand finale	p. 250
Getting it approved	p. 251
Pulling it all together	p. 253
Focus	p. 254
What readers of the plan will look for	p. 256
Those financials again	p. 261
Final check on the plan	p. 268
They don't know what's coming to them	p. 268
Preparing for the meeting	p. 272
At last, the first meeting	p. 273
Meeting post-mortems	p. 275
Follow up	p. 275
Back to the drawing board	p. 276
Due diligence	p. 277
The contract	p. 278
Cash in the bank	p. 279
Now make it happen	p. 281
Time for a break?	p. 283
From plan to reality	p. 283
A change of focus	p. 286
Communicating the plan	p. 287
Where do you draw the line?	p. 288
Policies, rules and procedures	p. 290
Who does what?	p. 292
Employee objectives	p. 292
How much freedom?	p. 294
Financial objectives	p. 294
Monitoring other objectives	p. 299
Monitoring the world	p. 300
Confirming and revising strategy and plans	p. 301
Don't forget the carrots	p. 301
And into the next business plan	p. 302
Trying to catch the tail	p. 302
Tetrylus Inc business plan	p. 303
Index	p. 309
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.