The following briefly defines the contents of a business plan and provides some questions to address within a business plan.
VISION
A vision is something that is ongoing without a specific end-point in time. Also, a vision is considered a soft skill because it may not be measurable. If your business is a structure to fulfill your greater purpose; what is the purpose? What is the long range picture of your business?
MISSION
A mission answers the following questions. What specific outcome does your business need to be focused on? What approach out of all possible approach’s to your vision does your business need to take? What is your market ‘niche’? In what product or service does your business specialize? How will you put your mission into words that will be meaningful and inspiring to your employees? How will you keep your company mission up in front of employees, clients and associates, so they will stay on course?
OBJECTIVES
Objectives are the ultimate goals of your business. What are the long-term and short-term goals of your business? Identify those goals that will achieve your objectives. Create clear and concrete measurements. How many? By when? Design measurement systems for each distinct area of your business which will be posted daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
STRATEGIES
Strategies are plans and skills that allow the business to achieve goals on the way to fulfilling your business mission and objectives. What is your action for your business? How will you get to where you are going from where you are now?
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
Standard operating procedures are the foundation and the rules of conduct for your business. This is the vehicle that will allow people to know if and when they are not operating true to company’s principles. What does your business stand for and what are the business commitments? What is the motivating force behind your business? By what principles will you operate? Write out an employee handbook or a company manual.
ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
Organization is the system by which your business achieves specific purposes. Write an organizational chart for your business. Write job descriptions for all jobs in your organizational chart. Define what the business, departments, and individual employees are responsible for and expected to perform.
HOW MANY BY WHEN
How many identifies the total amount of possibilities that will enable your business to achieve the objectives. By when is a specific time frame for accomplishment. What needs to happen and by what date?
EXECUTION
Execution explains the measurement of actual results vs. the budget. What resources will be necessary in order for your business to produce or achieve the ‘goals’? Where can these resources be obtained and what will they cost? What are the appropriate actions? What requests and promises are being made of whom? By when?
BUDGET
A budget is an estimate of income and operating expenses for your business. It becomes the measuring device for determining the effectiveness of your business plan. Prepare an operating statement for your business for all twelve (12) months.
MANAGING PROBLEMS and BREAKDOWNS
When goals are important they stretch people’s performance in order to accomplish the goals. Problems and breakdowns occur along the way. When a company is committed to a goal, the structure within which people can work in managing breakdowns makes the difference between success and failure.
An employee’s relationship to any business project or goal is directly shaped by that employee’s commitment to the goals. Having the freedom to experience personal breakdowns and manage problems will affect the overall outcome.
The Practical Business Plan - To learn more about this author, visit Chari Darneal's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 Lesson #1: Take Small Steps To Big Ideas
|
| |
 “Go as far as you can see,” said Morgan. “When you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.”
|
|
GOT MARKETING?
|
| |
 Why is Marketing your Small Business so Hard?
|
|
Designing A Performance Management System
|
| |
The design of a performance management system requires you to think about the features that would make performance management effective in your workplace. The goal is to design a performance management process that ...
|
|
Do You Know Where Your Disaster Recovery Plan Is
|
| |
Disasters of major magnitude are major news again after the Gulf coast region of the United States was hit by 2 major hurricanes. So it is very timely for me to ask each of you: “Do you know where your disaster re...
|
|
ACTION PLAN- (PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN)
|
| |
In order to attain your goals, it is crucial that you know exactly where you are now and where you want to be. Make sure that the goals you want to achieve are congruent with your different roles in life and reflect...
|
|
|
Chari Darneal
(Visit Chari's Website)
Chari Darneal is currently Vice-President
and a Senior Business Coach of
BusinessCoach.com.
Chari is a passionate expert of
organizational design, corporate culture,
employee satisfaction, strategic planning,
leadership and teambuilding.
Chari coaches clients, provides training
and co-develops other business coaches for
the organization.
Chari co-created the redesigned version of
the workbook that BusinessCoach.com uses
with their clients: The Complete Business
Coaching Workbook: Valuable Tools for
Creating Success & Fun in Business.
She is also an experienced keynote
speaker, speaking before private and
public organizations of groups as small as
5 and as large as 2500.
In addition to her responsibilities as
the Senior Business Coach, Mrs. Darneal
participates in on-going training and
development to further her knowledge of
the ever changing business world.
Education
B.S. Communications, Emphasis in
Organizational Communication University of
California, Davis
Affiliations
Chari is currently and active participant
of the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade
Organization and the Worldwide Association
of Business Coaches.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
