YOUR LIST OF CONTENTS 45
For the moment, I want to talk about planning as if you had just one tightly focused
product line or business area. Examining several products or activities is discussed in
Chapter 6 when we look at ways of analysing your overall portfolio of businesses.
‘Any corporate policy and plan which is typical of the industry is doomed to mediocrity.’
BRUCE HENDERSON
Your list of contents
When you have defined why you are writing the business plan, sketch out the list of con-
tents. The main objective is to lead your readers logically to the required conclusion. You
want them to run through the plan and put it down nodding sagely and thinking that
they will back you and your business activities.
As already discussed in Chapter 1, there is no hard and fast order for the contents.
Figure 3.1 provides a sample. You do not have to follow this. For example, in a start-up
situation you might want to describe the product and market first and save discussion of
the business organisation until later. The only essential requirement is that you avoid rep-
etition and that your readers know where to find the information they need.
This book follows broadly the order suggested in the example. Not least, it is conve-
nient because it accords closely with the planning process.
1 You take stock of the factors that are under your control – your current situation –
and identify your core competencies.
2 You then consider external factors (the economic environment, your market, your
competitors) and identify opportunities and your competitive advantages. Your
readers can now picture your business in the context of the market as a whole.
3 In an iterative process, you develop a strategy, set objectives, and create an
operating plan. This includes a financial operating plan – usually (misleadingly)
known as a budget.
4 You re-examine the risks and confirm or amend your objectives, strategy and plan.
As a slight digression, the word budget originates from the French word bougette, itself
a diminutive of bouge, a leather bag. This indicates the danger inherent in the term.
Managers often start the year with the attitude, I have a bag full of money to spend. This is
incorrect. In the corporate planning context, a budget is a guideline not a commitment.
‘The freedom to fail is vital if you’re going to succeed. Most successful people fail time
and time again, and it is a measure of their strength that failure merely propels them into
some new attempt at success.’
MICHAEL KORDA
46 CHAPTER 3 GETTING DOWN TO IT
MegaProjects Inc Doc no BP2011.01 30 Oct 2011 Business Plan
Contents
Preliminary details
Contact information 3
Document control 3
Professional advisers 3
Definitions 4
Executive summary 5
Current situation 6
Basic corporate information 6
Vision, mission, values 7
History 7
Business organisation 8
Products and services 9
Core competencies 10
External environment 11
The economy 11
Market analysis 12
Competitor analysis 13
Competitive advantages 14
Strategy and plans 15
Objectives 16
Business strategy 17
Operating plan 18
Financial analysis 20
Breakeven analysis 20
Sales projections 20
Capital spending 21
Operating costs 22
Profit and loss account 23
Balance sheet 24
Cash flow and funding requirements 25
Risk analysis 26
Overview 27
SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats 29
Limiting factors 29
Critical success factors 29
Alternative scenarios 30
Specific risks and their solutions 31
Conclusion 32
Annexes
A. Current projects 35
B. Detailed financial data 41
C. Biographies for the top management 51
TRADE SECRET AND CONFIDENTIAL
Copyright © 2011 MegaProjects Inc Page 2 of 20
Figure 3.1 Sample list of contents
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