WHY A BUSINESS PLAN?

1. How do you get to specific address the first time?

a. You drive there based upon experience

b. You call the person and ask for directions

c. You use a local map

d. You load the address into your GPS

e. You go on-line and do a “Mapquest”

2. What is the purpose of a business plan?

a. Clearly defines why we are in business

b. It defines who and what the customer is to us, the business

c. It defines specific outcomes and deadlines

d. It establishes our vision as to where we are going in the future (3 to 5 years)

e. If we use it, it keeps us focused

f. It is a road map to the goals we have established

g. It is a report card

h. It is a performance measurement standard

i. It is the best communication tool you can use with vendors, customers and ee’s

3. Kinds of business plans

a. The fund raising business plan

b. The corporate business plan

c. The divisional business plan

d. The department business plan

e. The personal business plan

4. To achieve operational success one needs a corporate/personal plan

a. Why One Page Plan

i. Action/results focused

ii. Easy to communicate

iii. Great way to engage ee’s when developing the plan

iv. Great discussion document with ee’s

v. Has ability to engage entire corporation/staff or one ee

vi. Ability to measure performance to plan

vii. Easy to update and change as events present themselves

viii. SIMPLE – KISS

5. Where do we start

a. SWOT analysis

b. Create a Scrabble game of words to include in Vision and Mission

c. Generate Objectives for the time period (1 to 12 mos.)

d. Generate Strategies that support the Objectives

e. Create Action Plans that fit the strategies and achieve the objectives

f. Report, Update and Communicate regularly

g. It is never ending