HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 19
While each player should draft his or her part of the plan, one person should be assigned
responsibility for co-ordinating these inputs. The same individual could also be assigned the
duty of editing the contributions to ensure a consistent style for presentation and content.
This job will be made easier by good business-plan planning at the outset.
How to use this book
You are welcome to do anything you wish with this book, so long as it helps you to write
a better plan or improve the way that you run your business. Here are some suggestions.
You could:
Read it. I am not being sarcastic. The book is laid out sequentially, so that you can
read it from front to back if you wish – although here and there you will probably skim
through a section and return to it later when you tackle that specific part of your plan.
Dip in. The plan of the book on page 7 shows you where you can dip in for specific
information.
Take an accelerated path. Starting in Chapter 2, a ‘fast track’ is provided to
achieving the objectives of each chapter. More detailed information is provided in
the remainder of each chapter.
Copy it. There is a more-or-less complete business plan reproduced here. The
commentary from the sample plan is deliberately spotty, but the framework is
there and you could use it as a base for your own plan. (See box below.)
Delegate. I really want you to benefit directly from this book, but you could use it
as a basis from which your team will work. Figures 4.3 and 4.4 will help you set up
the process. Chapter 12 will help you decide whether to approve the team’s work.
Use it on the scales. There are some useful lists that you can draw up and use
to weigh your prospects. You will find them introduced at the start of Chapters 3
(SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), 4 (core competencies),
5 (competitive advantages), 6 (critical success factors) and 11 (limiting factors).
Brainstorm with it. There are many examples intended to provoke thought or
debate and stimulate action. For example, the strategies in Chapter 6 could give
your team some things to argue over.
As ‘owner of the plan’ you should delegate as much as possible of the
documentation process so that you are not distracted from the big picture.
You do not want to spend your time on fine detail and miss a gaping hole in
the overall business or sales strategy.
20 CHAPTER 1 WHAT‘S IT ALL ABOUT?
Use it as a microscope. You can use it to help you watch over others. Chapters
7–13 are particularly useful in this respect – how mischievous managers hide
things in the figures, ideas about risk management, what to look for when
approving or investing, checking performance against plan.
Use it to review management mechanics. This is discussed in Chapter 13.
Use it as an investment tool. Whether you are investing your own savings in a
business (see Chapter 10), or are an investment manager or a lender, the book will
help you assess the viability of an opportunity.
Use it to obtain the funding that you so desperately need. Chapter 12 contains
helpful advice.
Frankly, the list goes on and on. Have fun and be successful.
‘Make sure you have a Vice President in charge of Revolution, to engender ferment among
your more conventional colleagues.’
DAVID OGILVY
The fast track to your own plan
A sample business plan is included with this book (see the Appendix), although you
should not copy it. As you work through the book, you will see that the layout of your
own plan depends on the nature of your business, its stage of development and the
expected use for plan.
OK, an admission: if you are really in a rush you could use the framework given
here. As you fill in the gaps with your own words you will probably find yourself
naturally changing the headings and layout – which will take you fairly painlessly
to a unique plan of your own. Try to read or maybe skim this book before you start,
or if you are really pushed for time at least read the ‘fast track’ boxes in each chapter.
Also, take a look at Figure 12.3 on page 304 now to see where you are heading.
The key pages from the sample business plan are reproduced throughout this
book – as noted on the thumbnail sketches. The sample plan and other supporting
material may be downloaded from www.DefinitiveBusinessPlan.com. You can also
follow and interact with me on the following networks:
Twitter www.twitter.com/RichardStutely
Google+ www.gplus.to/RichardStutely
Facebook www.facebook.com/RichardStutely
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 21
A business plan to crib
Section of business plan Figure
Cover 2.3
Small print 2.2
Contact, document control, definitions 2.4
List of contents 3.1
Executive summary 3.2
Basic data, mission, history 4.1
Business organisation and the management team 4.4
Infrastructure, products 4.5
Market and competitive analysis 5.4
Business strategy 6.4
Sales 8.8
Financials 10.5
Risks 11.8
Annex
Sales forecast 8.9
Capital outlays 9.2
Employee costs 9.3
Operating costs 9.4
Expenditure commentary 9.5
Profit and loss account 9.7
Balance sheet 10.2
Cash flow 10.3
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