If proper due diligence has been undertaken with researching and considering the various components of a business plan, then pulling those components together will provide a robust plan that the business may use to get stakeholders on board. Once approved, the business plan will be a valuable document in guiding a business’ operational and strategic priorities.
By the end of this chapter, you will understand:
- The various components of a business plan
- The importance of consulting with stakeholders
- How to finalise and check that your business plan is complete.
Stakeholders will already have an understanding of the goals and objectives of the business, but it is important to keep them involved in business planning so they understand how the business will arrive at its outcomes. This also offers stakeholders an opportunity to provide their influence and expertise on any matters. It also allows stakeholders to intervene in anything they think may be detrimental to their interests, at an early stage, before projects have commenced.
Once you have consulted with stakeholders and gained their approval, your business plan is ready to implement. Business plans are usually fluid documents that can be changed as the business changes. However, as with most strategic actions, the key components such as goals, objectives and measures are usually fixed for several years to allow time for them to be achieved properly.
Apart from being a legal requirement, the purpose of assessing and prioritising the risks that your workforce is exposed to is essential as:
- It protects your staff’s health and safety
- It helps you avoid unnecessary cost
- It reduces your legal liability
- It improves your processes
The purpose of establishing resources requirements aligned to business goals and objectives is really important as it:
- Maximises resource efficiency. It helps you see how much time your people and tools are engaged in any given task. And will help make the most out of the resources available to you.
- Helps you have an overview of the project. An overview allows you to track team and project progress, giving everyone better visibility and keeping you all up to date.
- Prevents miscommunication mishaps
- Gives you the ideal opportunity to understand the actual timeline of a project.
- Helps you take control. Control allows you to measure resource performance. Which helps you make the best choices for your company. In turn, this can help grow and expand your business.
The purpose of developing a business contingency plan is imperative as it:
- Helps you identify potential problems and take action to prevent them
- Gives clear instructions on what to do if an incident does take place
- Ensures that anyone can deal with an incident even if the primary responsibility holder isn’t available at the time
The purpose of risk management strategies is that they offer several benefits for every business as they help you deal with all identified risks. Like the contingency plan, having risk management strategies developed ensures anyone can deal with the risk. It gives a clear idea of the best way to deal with each risk according to its type and nature. Common risk management strategies include:
- Avoid the risk
- Mitigate the risk
- Transfer the risk
- Accept the risk
Use the following questions to check your knowledge.
- Explain why it is important to keep stakeholders involved in business planning.
- List two opportunities that arise for stakeholders when they are engaged in business planning.
- Identify a critical step that should occur before a business plan is ready to implement.
- Business plans are usually fluid documents that can be changed as the business changes.
True? False? - List the key components of business plans that are usually fixed for several years.
