Business Planning

Learn to make a Business Plan

Planning is the best insurance you can have against failure. 

Running a business, starting a small business, or starting a company: all require proper planning if you want to avoid, or at least minimize failure.

Spending 100 hours on this course can give you the tools to avoid loosing very significant amounts of time and money in your future.

Lesson Structure

There are 11 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to Business Planning
   • The business plan, strategic and operational planning, feasibility studies, the executive summary.
2. Focus and Direction
   • Deciding on direction, visualising future business directions, vision and mission statements
3. Legal and Administrative Requirements
   • Legal structure of a business, business names, taxation, regulations, licenses and permits, types of business ownership
4. Developing Objectives and Strategies
   • Setting goals and objectives, SWOT and GAP analyses, strategies for achieving objectives
5. Planning for Growth
   • Planned as opposed to runaway growth, subcontracting, franchising, licensing, the growth plan
6. Risk Management and Contingencies
   • Approaches to risk management, identifying business risks
7. Systems
   • System components, the quality audit, benchmarking, business plans as a mechanism of control
8. Marketing Plans
   • The definition of marketing, marketing requirements, the marketing process, market research, implications of unplanned marketing
9. Operation Plans
   • Control of business operations, writing an operation plan
10. Human Resource Plans
    • The value of human resources, occupational health and safety, skills and competencies of different staff
11. Financial Plans
    • The importance of financial planning, establishment costs and start up capital, cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Describe what a business plan is, and it main components
• Differentiate between a vision statement and a mission statement
• Discuss legal and administrative requirements of a business
• Explain the importance of a business name
• Explain the importance of setting goals and objectives in a business setting
• Describe strategies for coping with growth
• Describe different types of business risks
• Explain marketing process
• Explain operations planning
• Explain the importance of human resources
• Explain the purpose of financial planning

What You Will Do

• Interview a business owner regarding their business plan
• Visualise the state of a current business in 12 months time
• Contact a Government Department to determine the relevant licenses, permits, approvals and registrations necessary to set up a business
• Interview current business owners to determine their strategies and objectives for the next year
• Identify aspects of a business that would need attention in high growth periods
• Identify risks to a proposed business
• Investigate mechanisms for protection of intellectual copyright
• Investigate the potential of a business currently for sale
• Evaluate the operations of a current business
• Develop an operations plan for a newly conceived business proposal
• Identify potential hazards of a proposed business
• Identify expenses relevant to setting up a proposed business

Start A Business, or Work in Business Management

• What is Successful?
• What is the future?
• How to make money?
• How to improve?
• How to sell?

Whatever your need, you can learn how to move forward in the business world through this course. If you have a particular area of interest and would like some Free advice first, take advantage of our free Business Advice Service -click here