Business Planning

Planning begins the journey from where your business is today to where you want it to be in the future.

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there"

Lack of focus can spell disaster for your business as you invest time and money to achieve a goal most aptly described as "I'll know it when I see it".

A well conceived and executed business strategy is the surest road to business success. 

A business plan is necessary to define the organization and resources which will most effectively achieve strategic goals.

Uses for A Business Plan

        • Startup Financing
        • Operational Framework
        • Allocation & Management of Resources
        • Basis for Approvals
        • Institutional Financing
        • Informing Investors
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Basis for Business Valuation

13 Steps to a Successful Plan

The chart below outlines the steps in a successful planning process. Note it is an iterative process. Identification of risks and opportunities may cause a rethinking of the strategy and/or timeframe to achieve the objectives. The results of projecting revenue, profit and cash flow may also be cause for reconsideration of strategy.

Our Approach to Planning 

There are two distinct business planning situations and therefore we take different approaches to these planning processes.  In either case we counsel management to consider the "balanced scorecard" approach to planning and performance measurement which balances financial measures with other business sucess factors.

Early Stage Companies

First are early stage companies with little or no history or in some cases, more mature companies whose history does not reflect future operations or organization. For these companies we typically architect the process, develop financial models, and collaborate with management to actually produce a comprehensive plan document. In some limited engagements we are requested only to build a financial model and work with management to project alternate scenarios.  These plans are typically used to raise private equity and debt financing in addition to being a guide for structuring and operating the business.

Later Stage Companies

For later stage companies or those with established planning processes, our goal is to free senior management from the logistical aspects of the planning process, allowing them to focus on strategy. We therefore become facilitators and coordinators performing the following roles:

  • Work with senior management on goal setting
  • Arrange company-wide planning meetings & agendas
  • If necessary, create & distribute templates for data collection
  • Work one-on-one with department managers to plan for their functional areas
  • Monitor planning progress
  • Collect and consolidate information
  • Analyze results
  • Develop balanced scorecard metrics 
  • Other activities as requested by management