The Definitive Business Plan The Fast Track to Intelligent Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs

by Stutely, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780273761143
• ISBN10: 0273761145
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780273762898
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780273710967
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-23
• Publisher: Ft Pr
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

The widely-praised, comprehensive guide to creating business plans: an international best-seller, now fully updated throughout! Contains a new introduction and new information on technology, legislation, and business models. Shows how to create a plan that's robust enough to fund, launch, run, or revitalize any enterprise. Helps you give funders, investors, and top executives all the information they need to act positively. Easy enough for newcomers, detailed enough for experienced planners. Whether you need to raise start-up money for a new business, acquire venture funding from a corporate parent, or direct the operational management of a new or revamped venture, this book will help you build a business plan that gets the job done. An international best-seller, The Definitive Business Plan, Third Edition has been thoroughly revamped to reflect the latest issues business planners face, with an all-new introduction and new information on technology, legislation, and business models. Accessible enough for newcomers and detailed enough for experienced planners, this book shows how to: Tailor your plan for specific audiences. Align your plan to specific business objectives. Focus your attention on effective strategic planning. Build a plan that can help drive day-to-day operational management. And much more...

Author Biography

Richard Stutely has handled business plans on every scale – as a manager with HM Treasury (the UK finance ministry); a stockbroker and member of the London Stock Exchange; and subsequently as general manager of an international bank, where he saw business planning from a financial and funding perspective. Richard runs training courses, workshops, seminars and lectures for MBA students and corporate audiences. His books include The Definitive Guide to Business Finance, Brilliant Business The Economist Guide to Economic Indicators and The Economist Numbers Guide.

Table of Contents

About the author	p. v
Acknowledgements	p. vi
Foreword	p. xii
Introduction to the First Edition	p. xvii
Introduction to the Revised Second Edition	p. xx
Introduction to the Third Edition	p. xxii
Symbols used	p. xxiv
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. 6
What is a plan anyway?	p. 8
Why bother?	p. 9
Key objectives for your plan	p. 10
Your target audience	p. 12
Ten steps to a successful business plan	p. 13
Don't trust consultants	p. 17
Who writes the business plan?	p. 18
How to use this book	p. 19
A winning presentation	p. 23
A concise communication	p. 25
Computer software	p. 25
Make it feel good	p. 27
First thoughts on layout	p. 27
Creating an outline document	p. 30
Getting down to it	p. 39
Why?	p. 41
When you don't want to be a big fish	p. 42
What to do if you have several businesses	p. 44
Your list of contents	p. 45
The executive summary	p. 47
The conclusion	p. 50
Responsibilities - and the timetable	p. 50
Be a SWOT	p. 52
Where now?	p. 54
Know yourself	p. 55
Taking stock	p. 57
Start with the basics	p. 57
The central objective	p. 59
Are you visionary?	p. 61
How did you arrive here?	p. 65
Some numbers to please the bankers	p. 65
Building up value	p. 67
The all-important management team	p. 70
Business organisation	p. 71
Business infrastructure	p. 76
Products and services	p. 77
Core competencies	p. 78
The next step	p. 80
Know the world	p. 81
For or against you?	p. 83
The next steps	p. 84
Collecting information	p. 85
Understanding the world at large	p. 89
Business partners	p. 94
The market - what you are fighting for	p. 96
The industry - what you are up against	p. 100
Competitive advantages	p. 103
Now write about it	p. 105
Moving on	p. 105
The core of your plan	p. 107
A strategy and an operating plan	p. 109
What is strategy?	p. 110
Portfolio strategy - what businesses should you have?	p. 111
Business strategies to satisfy your desires	p. 114
Strategies for department managers	p. 119
Resource requirements	p. 127
Strategic objectives	p. 127
Documenting the strategy	p. 129
Creating an operating plan	p. 129
Documenting the operating plan	p. 134
Onwards	p. 135
About these numbers	p. 137
'The time has come,' the walrus said, 'to speak of other things'	p. 139
Varying views of the same numbers	p. 140
The way that bean counters think	p. 144
The planning horizon	p. 149
Looking back	p. 152
Estimating the present	p. 152
Crystal ball gazing	p. 153
Software tools	p. 154
Putting it to good use	p. 156
Getting to gross profit	p. 159
Breathe easily	p. 161
Forecasting sales volumes	p. 162
The big picture - the economy	p. 165
Up close and personal - industry and product demand	p. 170
Pulling it all together	p. 174
Cost of sales	p. 176
Gross profit	p. 184
Writing it up	p. 184
Getting to net profit	p. 189
Where the money goes	p. 191
Capital spending	p. 192
Capital assets that you already own	p. 193
Capital assets that you want	p. 195
Accounting for fixed assets	p. 198
Operating expenditure	p. 202
Net profit	p. 211
Other income and expenditure	p. 216
Moving on	p. 218
Funding the business	p. 219
Balancing your cheque book	p. 221
Balance sheets and cash flow mechanics	p. 222
Balance sheet headings	p. 228
Producing the paper	p. 232
Watching cash flow	p. 233
Using a surplus	p. 239
Getting it funded	p. 239
Debt or equity?	p. 240
What's the deal?	p. 247
Putting a price on success	p. 248
Does it all hold together?	p. 249
Managing risks	p. 251
Identify risks and improve planning	p. 253
It's normally like this	p. 256
How many coconuts do you need to sell?	p. 264
Marginal likelihood of shutting down?	p. 267
What you need, when you need it	p. 270
Will it pay off?	p. 271
What if?	p. 279
The economy	p. 281
If the worst comes to the worst...	p. 281
Grand finale	p. 282
Getting it approved	p. 283
Pulling it all together	p. 285
Focus	p. 286
What readers of the plan will look for	p. 288
Those financials again	p. 293
Final check on the plan	p. 303
They don't know what's coming to them	p. 303
Preparing for the meeting	p. 307
At last, the first meeting	p. 308
Meeting post-mortems	p. 311
Follow up	p. 311
Back to the drawing board	p. 312
Due diligence	p. 313
The contract	p. 314
Cash in the bank	p. 315
Now make it happen	p. 317
Time for a break?	p. 319
From plan to reality	p. 319
A change of focus	p. 322
Communicating the plan	p. 323
Where do you draw the line?	p. 324
Policies, rules and procedures	p. 325
Who does what?	p. 328
Employee objectives	p. 329
How much freedom?	p. 331
Financial objectives	p. 331
Monitoring other objectives	p. 337
Monitoring the world	p. 338
Confirming and revising strategy and plans	p. 338
Don't forget the carrots	p. 339
And into the next business plan	p. 340
Trying to catch the tail	p. 340
Tetrylus Inc business plan	p. 341
Index	p. 347
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.