WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK 5
Who should read this book
Frustration with the lack of a practical guide to business planning – initially for my own
use and later to give to others – led me to write this book for you. You might be:
the chief executive of a successful enterprise wanting to take a long hard look at
your planning process;
running a business, perhaps going through a rough patch, maybe struggling with
the effects of recession or changing market conditions – and wanting to find a fast
route back to rosier days;
involved with a non-profit making organisation that needs a plan;
working in a large company having just landed the job of writing a business plan –
a task that needlessly strikes terror into hundreds of thousands of people just like
you every year;
planning to throw off the shackles of corporate life and join the growing team of
entrepreneurs starting their own businesses – perhaps looking for venture capital
for the first time;
a director of an organisation, wanting to ensure that the management is doing its
job properly;
reviewing business plans before granting approvals, providing funding, or making
a personal investment;
a student – which is where we all started – coping with concepts that might
sometimes seem complex because they are new, but which you will soon know
are simple in reality.
I think that it is fair to say that I have worn all of these hats, plus some others that are also
relevant. For example, I once grappled with public expenditure planning and control at
HM Treasury – the UK finance ministry – in perhaps one of the largest of all business plan-
ning exercises.
Why am I telling you this? I want you to understand that I am entirely on your side. I have
prepared and contributed to business plans for boards and bankers. I have tailored plans to
suit the predilections of a succession of venture capital providers. I have reviewed business
plans when sitting in comfortable ivory towers of bankers and cramped city offices of stock-
brokers and investment bankers. My mission here is to try to pass on to you what I have
learned about drawing up and writing plans – and reading and interpreting them.
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