Tool Box
Issue No. 55 - October/November 2010
How to educate your business
by Alan Green
When people commence a new business the enthusiasm and energy levels are at a fever pitch; the whole excitement of embarking on a new adventure in life has begun.
Six months later these new business owners are often exhausted due mostly to hour upon hour of hard work, without any formal forward planning.So what are the things that you should do prior to commencing business?
Prepare a Business Plan
1. An Executive Summary stating where the business needs to be in the next 5 years and what it will look like
2. Vision and mission statement reflecting direction, what the business stands for and the journey
3. Key strategies includes Financial, Sales and Marketing, Human Resources and Operational reports
4. Products and Services consisting of the gross margin in respect of each product or service
5. Marketing plan comprising of Branding, Client Acquisition and Client Retention
6. Human Resource Plan including Job Descriptions, Mentoring process, Competency library and O. H. & S. plan
7. Operational Plan outlining the key driver and the measurement process
8. Systems reflecting both financial and non-financial in a flow-chart format together with a procedures manual
9. Financial Plan includes Budgets compared with actual results together with the analysis and measurement process
10. Risk Management Plan identifies the major areas of risk and the actions to minimise risk
Create a Management Control Process
As part of your Management Control process, review the monthly performance of:
1. Financial statements
2. Sales and Marketing ...
