Business Planning Q&A

NickA good coffee shop business plan is exactly the same as any other business plan. Without one, how will you know where you are going and how will you recognise when you've reached your destination?There are good answers to this question within Savvy, here https://www.savvysme.com.au/question/595-are-business-plans-a-thing-of-the-past https://www.savvysme.com.au/article/3427-11-vital-questions-for-new-businesses

The skip tracing industry I have found to be pretty seasonal. My solution for this was to create another industry related product. I created an online skip tracing course and started promoting it. I have found that the industry tends to go through cycles. At times clients want to outsource then all of a sudden they want to try to do the work internally.

Either way I now have a solution, when they want to outsource they can come to me, if they want to do the work themselves they can come to me for training. And it doesn't stop there. Even if they do the work internally I have found they still want to outsource. Because I helped them with training and saved them money, it built trust and they come to me for advice and assistance with other areas of their business.

I have found the same with the data sales industry. There are peaks where a lot of companies want to buy data to help with marketing. To keep busy I worked out it was best to also offer the marketing services. So if they wanted to buy data they can however they could also hire our call center to make the calls or do the bulk mail runs.

As a result more clients and no peaks. Finding out why there are peaks and valleys can help you close the gap. In my case it was a matter of creating new products or offering more services.

As I have said a number of times in my posts, it came down to R&D. A little R&D can go a long way.

Hi Neil, while most would look at margins, I think that the ability to scale profit while keeping your cost base low is a better way to look at your business' future potential.
If you have to add more resources in line with scaling (which is the standard way to do it), then you're growing revenue but usually profit growth is low. 
Whereas, when you can grow revenue without needing to replicate the same resource to support delivering the revenue, you've got yourself a growth business which certainly will be more sustainable! 
Most people scale by adding more staff, or more services. Both of these add more admin burden which increases costs in line with revenue (sometimes even outgrows the revenue growth and it's where many businesses start to struggle!). 

There are times when they are essential, especially when dealing with finances. Banks and investors love them.  Likewise if you are thinking of selling your business.

For small businesses, they are of limited use. It is worth going through the topics in a business plan to make sure you could answer them because they are asking if you understand your business, your market, the competitors and your direction. 

But to actually spend the time to make one could take days.

Like all things in business, the magical question is "what's my ROI for the time I will spend on this?" 

If it is something that you make and it changes nothing then it is a waste of time.

If it reveals something that you need to act upon, and you act upon it, then it may be worth its weight in gold. 

We work with lots of startups, and as a starting point, I want to mention that it *is* important to have a business plan in some form or other. 

But as some of the other responses have mentioned, the first step is to think about why you need and/ or want one. Begin with the end in mind, as they say, and you’re much more likely to create a business plan that will effectively serve its purpose. 

Having said that, to answer your question, I do think it’s a combination of both. 

That is, a template can provide a great starting point for a business plan. But it’s unlikely to cover everything you need - this is where you’ll need to customise it. 

I’m a fan of efficiency wherever possible, so if you can (quickly) find a template that serves your needs, it will help you shortcut the process. Writing a business plan can be arduous, so anywhere you can get support and help is worthwhile, in my opinion! 

If you’re writing a business plan that needs to appeal to investors, make sure it includes the relevant info in an easily digestible format. Investors want to know your business will have a good return for them - make that your focus. 

The supporting document should be a financial model. A solid financial plan should capture as much information about the business plan as reasonably possible – the team, the value proposition and technology, the market, milestones and the competition – and translate these into measurable, financial values.

Hi Nitty, preparation is key in this situation. Make sure you invest time in creating comprehensive hand-over documents before you go, covering everything to do with the client accounts, your systems and processes, client communication expectations and service delivery standards, along with the general admin and record keeping you need for your own business. If you have any specific requirements, make sure you include templates in your hand-over documents so they are easy to refer to. It might seem like a bit of overkill, however I'd recommend a "more is more" approach, and not assume that your lady will "know" what to do if a situation arises, and by having it all in one easy manual/folder, your lady will be able to refer to it while you are away and not have to rely solely on remembering what you told her in the hand-over meeting. Also, the most important but easily overlooked piece of information to include is a master sheet of contact details for your clients, along with a master file of passwords for any software you use in your business - make sure you include these also.

Externally, it would be good to introduce your clients to the lady taking over, and explain the transition before you go, as this will put the client's mind at ease, knowing they will have a go-to person in your absence.

All the best. Erin

easy answer, Yes. A business plan isn't there to sell your ideal to an investor. It is there to ensure you are on the right track. A business plan will help you work out what your pros and cons are. What issues could appear, how to solve them. Your target market. KPI's to check if your on track. 

A business plan is just that. Without it you just have an idea.

Your building an App. So what is the timeline for Dev, what is Beta release. Who is going to take part in the Beta release. How will you measure success of Beta release. Once Beta is completed. How much time is allocated to more dev prior to launch. When you launch, how will you launch. 

Big part of your business plan is dev in the tech world. Do you have a Gant chart to help maintain a schedule for your projects? Pretty sure you would. A business plan is your "Gant chart" for your business.

I have setup businesses without a business plan, very quickly worked out that I needed one. A business plan is not a boring doc you write to make something official. It is a plan of attack.

This is a great question. I love it because many small businesses don't even have a strategy or don't consider asking someone to review. Congratulations!

To answer this question, i find it very difficult because it depends on too many aspects. It is like asking how much would a car cost. Do you mean a Mercedes or a Toyota? 

I can give you my own price because I dont want to mislead you. 
For us, it will be cca an hour with myself or my partner, and this would be $497 - and it would be disscussion rather than reading a document. 

Reviewing a document is way more difficult to price because it depends on what the document is and how much research needs to be done outside of the info there. 

We prefer to do an audit combined with the review of the strategy so we better understand the business. This may be cca $3,000. There may be money to be made easily which can come out of that audit and cannot be seen in a strategy that was done without an exterior eye. 

Hope this helps. and if you need further assitance, pls have a look at this video 
https://www.ozanagiusca.com/en/shop/consulting-services
It is about maximising the company's value and you will understand what is missing from what you have already. 

Of course, would love to help you further - just get in touch. 
ozana

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