Preparing a Business Plan

by Matthew Record

For a manager a business plan is one of the most important documents they will have to produce, whether just starting out in business, or already trading. This book aims to show how to produce a well thought out and carefully structured plan which could be crucial to the survival and long-term success of the enterprize. Poor planning has been identified as the major cause of business failure - a third of all new businesses fail in their first year, and of the rest 95 per cent will not make it beyond five years. This book aims to help ensure that businesses get off to the right start.

The need for planning; stating your business idea; identifying the market; the marketing plan; the operational plan; forecasting sales; financial analysis; appendices to the plan; presenting your plan; running the business to plan.