What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. Business plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, tax-payer, or larger community. A business plan having changes in perception and branding as its primary goals is called a marketing plan.

Business plans may be internally or externally focused.

Externally focused business plans target goals that are important to external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. They typically have detailed information about the organization or team attempting to reach the goals.

Internally focused business plans target intermediate goals required to reach the external goals. They may cover the development of a new product, a new service, a new IT system, a restructuring of finance, the refurbishing of a factory or a restructuring of the organization. An internal business plan is often developed in conjunction with a balanced scorecard or a list of critical success factors. This allows success of the plan to be measured using non-financial measures. Business plans that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans.

Operational plans describe the goals of an internal organization, working group or department. Project plans, sometimes known as project frameworks, describe the goals of a particular project. They may also address the project's place within the organization's larger strategic goals.

SOURCENOTE: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; en.wikipedia.org

IIB Services

The IIB has experts from any type of business imaginable and who are experienced in various areas of business. We can help you develop any of the following plans:

• Business plan
• Marketing plan
• Strategic plan
• Operational plans
• Project plans

We can also provide you with an Executive Associate who can facilitate your Strategic Planning Workshop.

Contact Geordie van der Nest & Associates to discuss how we can help you to plan your route to business success.