N
ow that the plan is really under way, it is time to take a close look at your business.
This chapter takes you through the process of documenting the current ‘internal’
status. This is an easy and fairly mechanical exercise. However, it is not unimportant. It
helps both you and your readers understand your activities – and, critically, your compe-
tencies. It also helps lay the groundwork for the part of the plan that looks to the future. In
Chapter 5, we will look out of the window at the world at large.
Taking stock
One of the first activities in any planning exercise is to take stock of where you are today.
If you are feeling grandiose you will call this an internal audit. Conveniently you can use
the exercise to write a big chunk of the plan.
Start with the basics
You can make a gentle start on this section of your plan by listing some basic information
about your business. Think of this as the ‘personal details’ page of your company passport.
It allows you to be formally identified.
If you are preparing a document for external use or if the business is small you can list
the full details. If you are preparing a plan for internal management use and you are work-
ing for a long-established multinational it will probably be adequate to include a sensible
summary only. Either way, keep it clear and concise.
Give the full corporate name, the legal status (corporation, partnership, sole trader,
etc.), the address of the registered office, company and tax registration numbers, the
name(s) under which the business trades if different from the corporate name, and the
head office address. Depending on your location, you may need to include information
START WITH THE BASICS 57
Pause for thought – core competencies
Your special mission as you work through this chapter is to identify the core
competencies of your business – those things that you are really good at, where you
have special skills, knowledge, experience, etc. These are real strengths on which
you can build. I define these loosely to include assets, such as special equipment,
which give rise to competencies. In Chapter 5, you can compare these with your
competitors’ and see where you have competitive advantage (or disadvantage).
While you are writing and thinking about the current situation, keep careful track
of any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that you uncover.
t
58 CHAPTER 4 KNOW YOURSELF
such as the states in which you are authorised to operate, details of essential business
licences, and other similar information. If you are looking for external funding, you should
include a note of all classes of authorised, issued and paid-up capital.
On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, or at least livens up any report,
there are two charts to consider including at this point. The first is a diagram showing the
companies in the group and their relationship to each other. Of course, this is relevant only
if there is more than one company or business unit. If you are writing a plan for a subsidiary,
this is a good way to show where it belongs in the overall hierarchy of the group.
The second option is to include a simple organisation chart, showing the names of
the key executives and their areas of responsibility. Do this if you are going to push the
main business organisation section towards the back of the report because, for example,
you want to describe your strategies first and then show how reorganising or growing
the management team will help. Alternatively, it is unnecessary to include the chart if
the immediately following page includes a description of the business organisation.
Organisation charts are discussed later in this chapter (see page 69).
The fast track to knowing yourself
1 List basic information
name of business
status (sole trader, partnership, etc.)
capital (authorised, issued and paid-up)
registered office address
registration number
other relevant business licences, tax, social security numbers, etc.
websites, including links to networking sites used for the business
(e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc.)
head office address
location of major R&D, factory or retail premises
perhaps an indication of the number of employees in key locations
professional advisers (accountants, auditors, lawyers, etc.).
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.