Business Planning Course

Why study a business planning course?

If fail plan you are planning to fail.  When starting or revitalising any business, proper and prior planning is essential. This business planning course will teach you how.

What exactly is a business plan anyway?

A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the why they are attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. As such business planning is the process of planning a business and the outcomes that is summarised into one comprehensive document.

Therefore a good business plan explains the business concept, summarizes the objectives of the business, identifies the resources, in terms of funding and people, that will be needed by the business, describes how those resources will be obtained, and tells the reader why the business will succeed.

This business planning course helps you to develop such a document in a way that is practical and clearly focused.

Course Aims:

• Describe what a business plan is, and it main components
• Differentiate between a vision statement and a mission statement
• Discuss legal and administrative requirements of a business
• Explain the importance of a business name
• Explain the importance of setting goals and objectives in a business setting
• Describe strategies for coping with growth
• Describe different types of business risks
• Explain marketing process
• Explain operations planning
• Explain the importance of human resources
• Explain the purpose of financial planning

Course Outline:

There are 11 lessons in this course.

1. Introduction to Business Planning
   • The business plan
   • Strategic and operational planning
   • Feasibility studies
   • Executive summary
2. Focus and Direction
   • Deciding on direction
   • Visualising future business directions
   • Vision and mission statements
3. Legal and Administrative Requirements
   • Legal structure of a business
   • Business names
   • Taxation
   • Regulations
   • Licenses and permits
   • Types of business ownership
4. Developing Objectives and Strategies
   • Setting goals and objectives
   • SWOT and GAP analyses
   • Strategies for achieving objectives
5. Planning for Growth
   • • Planned as opposed to runaway growth
     • Subcontracting
     • Franchising
     • Licensing

   The growth plan

6. Risk Management and Contingencies
   • Approaches to risk management
   • Identifying business risks
7. Systems
   • System components
   • Quality audit
   • Benchmarking
   • Business plans as a mechanism of control
8. Marketing Plans
   • The definition of marketing
   • Marketing requirements
   • The marketing process
   • Market research
   • Implications of unplanned marketing
9. Operation Plans
   • Control of business operations
   • Writing an operation plan
10. Human Resource Plans
    • The value of human resources
    • Occupational health and safety
    • Skills and competencies of different staff
11. Financial Plans
    • The importance of financial planning
    • Establishment costs and start up capital
    • Cash flow forecasts
    • Profit and loss statements

Buy 2 and save – bundle this course with Starting A Small Business or Financial Planning.