Business planning is a core activity that can help budding entrepreneurs or current small business owners examine and define how they would like their businesses to operate.
"Business Plans" Gale Business: Entrepreneurship,, Gale, 2020.
Business plans describe the strategies and goals of a company. For those just starting an enterprise, business plans define the business and service being provided, outline sales and marketing objectives, and estimate profits and losses the company expects to encounter. For established ventures, business plans summarize the annual operating costs and assess any market changes that may affect the company. Business plans help companies outline their future endeavors and provide a detailed description of their operations for those seeking additional information about the venture, particularly investors or financers.
Management experts encourage all types of companies to prepare annual business plans. Corporations and other large enterprises are more prone to devising continual business plans to offer to shareholders and potential investors. Small businesses rarely compile such plans unless under special circumstances. Apart from lacking the basic resources to put together an annual business plan, small companies are usually attentive to their markets and consistently plan to meet their customers’ needs. Small enterprises may prepare a business plan when seeking investors or financing, or when selling the business. Business plans of small companies tend to be more detailed than corporate plans and often focus on the means by which the business intends to succeed in its market.
Most business plans consist of the same general components. They begin with an executive summary, or statement of purpose, which identifies the reason for the plan and highlights what will be discussed in the coming pages. They also provide a description of the company and the industry it serves. The plans then analyze the market and discuss where changes should be implemented to promote continued growth. For existing businesses, plans tend to focus on how past, present, and future changes may affect ongoing business operations. New businesses mainly emphasize the need for their service in an ever-changing market, examining how their strategies will surpass the existing strategies of competitors.
Once the plans have assessed the current market environment, they explain how businesses will adapt to any issues and changes listed. Studies show that premeditative formulation of business objectives is linked to a higher success rate in achieving overall goals. Success rates can also be improved with good benchmarking techniques, which assess a business’s accomplishments on a periodic basis. Good business plans will have several alternative actions outlined in the event that one strategy fails to uphold or improve operations. After the market analysis and business objectives have been reviewed, the plans then turn to budgeting and calculate all possible costs and potential revenue. Comprehensive business plans may not be necessary for all ventures, but outlining relevant and realistic goals can be very helpful to both new and established enterprises.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Gale, a Cengage Company
Sample Business Plan
This is a sample business plan for CareerStar LLC, a company that helps job candidates maximize their prospects with expert career profile development services. The business, which specializes in health and dental careers, has been established by Chuck Green, an experienced recruiter with a large healthcare system in the Midwest. Green will begin CareerStar as a part-time enterprise, with a goal of transitioning to full-time operations during the business' second year. Green's new enterprise has significant potential, considering that explosive growth is expected in the healthcare industry. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, healthcare industry employment is projected to increase much faster than average between 2016 and 2026, growing 18 percent and resulting in the addition of approximately 2.4 million new jobs (more than any other occupational group). CareerStar will capitalize on this momentum by helping new and existing healthcare employees secure rewarding positions. This plan describes the owner's strategy for establishing the business and guiding its initial growth.p>
COPYRIGHT 2020 Gale, a Cengage Company
Sample Business Plan
This is a sample business plan for Wallace Security Solutions, LLC, an ethical hacker business. Data breaches occur in every industry. They dominate news headlines and come at a significant cost to the victims, which include organizations (businesses, schools, hospitals, government agencies, etc.) and the individuals they serve (customers, students, patients, citizens, etc.). In 2019, the typical data breach cost anywhere from $1.25 million to $8.19 million, averaging approximately $3.90 million, according to Digital Guardian, which cited the findings of an IBM/Ponemon study. Some data breaches may be serious enough to qualify as disasters. As the publication, Legal Monitor Worldwide, noted in 2019, a Forrester Research report suggested that, in the case of a municipal system, a ransomware attack could result in requests for federal disaster funding. Security breaches are not problematic only for large organizations and companies. In the case of smaller and medium–sized businesses, such incidents can be disastrous. Despite their best efforts to secure systems and prevent attacks, organizations are always at risk because hackers continuously learn new methods for compromising and exploiting IT systems.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Gale, a Cengage Company
Sample Business Plan
This is a sample business plan for Markham Compliance Solutions, Inc., a regulatory compliance consultant. Regulatory compliance is important to organizations in all industries, which must comply with a wide range of rules, laws, regulations, permits, and licenses. Some industries, including finance, healthcare, food production, transportation, and pharmaceuticals, are heavily regulated. In addition to employing whole departments devoted to complying with various regulations, organizations in these industries also turn to outside experts for guidance and to manage special projects. Markham Compliance Solutions, Inc. is a regulatory compliance consultancy specializing in the healthcare industry. The business, which specializes in serving hospitals, healthcare systems, clinics, and physician groups, has been established by Richard Markham, a seasoned healthcare executive with experience working for hospitals and consulting firms. The following plan details the owner's strategy for establishing Markham Compliance Solutions and achieving organic growth during its formative years.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Gale, a Cengage Company