Spring 2009
BUSINESS PLANNING
WHAT IS A BUSINESS PLAN
It is a story! Makes an argument and
conservatively predicts the future
Or :
 It is the process of examining the environment,
setting goals, explaining objectives and
mapping out a plan to achieve these goals and
objectives

WHAT IS A BUSINESS PLAN

A business growth plan is the articulation and
explanation of why your chosen strategy makes
sense, what resources you will need to implement
the strategy, who will make up the team that will
have the vision and leadership to execute the
strategy and what path you will follow to achieve
your growth objectives.

It will also answer the following questions about
your company
A BUSINESS PLAN WILL ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY
Who are you?
 What do you do?
 What is your business model

 How
do you make money
 Who is your customer
 What problem do you solve
 How do you solve it better, faster and/or cheaper
than your competitors
A BUSINESS PLAN WILL ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY
How do your customers pay you?
 How loyal are they?
 How should you grow?
 Why is the strategy that you have chosen better
than others that may be available?
 What do you need to implement the growth
strategy selected?
 How crowded is the market? Who are your current
customers as well as likely future customers?

A BUSINESS PLAN WILL ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR COMPANY
 What vehicles ( and at what costs ) will you use
to sell the customer your product or service?
Why are they the best vehicles?
 What market research have you done to be
sure that anyone wants to buy this product or
service at this price – or at all ?
 Does your company modify the way business is
being done in your industry (as a change agent)
or is this more of a fad or trend?
WHAT MAKES BUSINESS PLANNING IMPORTANT

It is critical to your company’s success and its
ability to raise capital and sustain growth
YOUR ANALYSIS IS CRITICAL BECAUSE...

Not even the most savvy investor or the most
veteran entrepreneur can predict with certainty
which strategies will work and which won’t, but
the better the analysis the better the chances
that most goals set forth in the business plan
will be achieved.
OVERSELLING OR UNDERSELLING YOUR
BUSINESS PLAN ?!
A well written business plan doesn’t oversell
the good, undersell the bad or ignore the ugly!
 Business planner should acknowledge that
growth and success are moving targets, risk is
constantly moving and can be minimized by
anticipating as many future circumstances as
possible that will affect the company’s
objectives.

PREPARING THE BUSINESS GROWTH PLAN

Who uses a business plan?


A. Established companies
B. Emerging companies
i.e. A company operating for several years will need to
draft a plan to raise the necessary capital to reach
the next stage in its development.
PEOPLE INVOLVED IN MAKING OF A BUSINESS
PLAN
In any instance the business growth plan should
be prepared with the assistance of a financial
consultant, an investment banker and the
internal management team and should be
thoroughly vetted by attorneys and
accountants.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
Term Paper
Participation
Article Review
Article
Final Term Paper 60 %
10%
Presentation 10%
Quizzes
General Class
Participation 10%
Bonus 10%
Term Paper
Participation
Article Review
Article
Quizzes
General Class
Department of Business Administration
Final Term Paper 60 %
10%
Presentation 10%
Participation 10%
Bonus 10%
Business Planning
Instructor: Payman Shafiee
e-Mail: [email protected]
40 Hours: Sundays 5:30 – 8:30
Room number: 310
Administrative matters
The final grade is calculated from 3 elements: in-class participation (30%), term paper (60%), and Quizzes (10%). There
will be no final exam for this course
In-Class Participation
This course intends to promote in-class discussion by students. Accordingly, 30% of the grade will be determined by the
quality of your participation. This will be distributed between general class participation (10%) and one in-class
presentation and written article review (20%).
Quizzes (your bonus)
There will be a maximum of 6 unannounced quizzes given at the beginning of some classes. Each quiz will cover the
material discussed in the immediate previous class with few questions from other former chapters. Quizzes are
bonuses! You can earn complete mark from this section by demonstrating knowledge over the subject. There will be
no grade but only pass or fail for this component
Article reviews
Two page Article review, 10%. Presentation 10%
1.
Write a summary report on the assigned article, Present the article in class (10 - 30 minutes)
2.
Analyse the article's key points
3.
Demonstrate through understanding of the article and explain the business terminology used in the paper
4.
Explain how the article’s key areas and our subject “Business Planning” are tied. A clear picture of their association
must be drawn
Attendance
Attendance is taken at the beginning of every class. We strongly recommend you to attend all classes; however there is no
grade for attendance. Please remember that school regulations do not allow for more than 3 legitimate classes
missed during one semester
COURSE OUTLINE
Term paper must cover:
1.
[1]Executive summary; i.e. identify, business goals and objectives
2.
SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)
3.
Discuss customer needs
4.
Financial plan; indicate source and cost of finance to provide liquidity and profitability
5.
External Environment; community profiles, Business standards and trends, mission and laws
6.
Production/Services and distribution plan
7.
Market analysis and Marketing plan; identify best marketing and promotion strategies; market
exposure
8.
Capitalization; Stakeholders are identified; analyse their interest, and contribution
9.
Risks; potential threats are identified and at least one risk management strategy is specified
10. Operations plan; human resources, staffing
11. Specialist services and sources of advice are identified and cost must be considered in accordance
with available resources (n.3)
12. Monitoring and evaluating plan implementation
13. Exit strategy; develop a contingency plan to address the top two possible areas of non conformance
to plan
14. Identify an alternative business plan; point out advantages and disadvantages of the alternative plan
and explain why your plan is more plausible than the alternative
Term Paper
Final Term Paper 60 %
Participation
Article Review
10%
Article
Presentation 10%
Quizzes
General Class
Participation 10%
Bonus 10%