The course introduces a pragmatic and process-based approach to developing and implementing business plans. The course offers participants the tools to transform ideas into strategic goals and to outline the operational and financial strategies needed to achieve these goals. The course expands on how to use the business plan as a communication, negotiation and persuasion tool. This is critical when collaborating across different aspects of the business plan is required.
A well written business plan should provide decision makers with enough insights to assist them in deciding the viability and feasibility of new ideas, strategies and initiatives. This course is designed with this key objective in mind.
Course Methodology
This course is highly interactive. From the onset, participants find themselves engaged in identifying business initiatives or opportunities within their company or on their own. Subsequently, they embark on developing the required business plan. The course follows a workshop approach where teams are formed, roles are defined and every team member contributes to the development of the business plan. Participants get the opportunity to work with different types of business analysis tools to evaluate and decide the direction of their ideas or initiatives. In addition, teams will present their work to the other teams in the class and they will end up with a complete business plan which they may share with their colleagues and superiors at work if they choose to.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Explain the importance of a well thought-out business plan for the success of the organization
Describe the structure of a business plan and how it caters to market and organizational needs
Apply the business plan development process to create a well-structured, convincing business plan covering all vital elements
Develop a business plan that includes a detailed, practical and effective implementation strategy
Evaluate the progress of the implementation of the business plan and take necessary corrective steps
Target Audience
Department heads, senior managers, managers and supervisors, project managers, team leaders, sales managers, marketing managers, entrepreneurs and others who would like to develop their business planning skills.
Target Competencies
Creative thinking and business planning
Collaboration and teamwork
Market and situation analysis
Financial analysis, forecasting, and break-even analysis
Resource scheduling and budgeting
Communicating and presenting
Course Outline
Understanding the business plan
Definition of a business plan
Types of business plans
Benefits of a business plan
Business plan overview
Components of a business plan
The process behind the business plan
The importance of the business plan to a firm’s value chain
Securing the buy-in from stakeholders
Developing the business plan
Mapping vision, mission and values
Conducting a situation analysis
Setting goals, objectives, and business strategies
Developing tactics, programs and action plans
Forecasting, pricing and applying breakeven analysis
Sourcing, allocating and scheduling
Understanding basic financial concepts
The income statement
The balance sheet
Cash-flow analysis
Program Budgets
Writing the executive summary
Creating appendices and references
Implementing the business plan
The communication phase
Job assignments
Reporting structure
Knowledge base
The controlling phase
Dealing with deviations
Causes analysis
Providing constructive feedback
Corrective actions and adjustments
The corrections phase
Goal revisions and expectations
Scheduling challenges
Budget adjustments and additional financial support requests