Business Plan in Enterprise Education †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Business Plan in Enterprise Education. Answer: Introduction A business plan is a document that frameworks the operations of a business venture that is going to be commenced. It has all the necessary information regarding the business starting from the process of incorporation to the revenue streams that are expected from the business. It is a document that helps entrepreneurs to attract the investors as it talks about the prospect of the business with financial figures to back up the propositions (Schaper et al. 2014). In this assignment two business plans are going to be compared in order to understand the concept clearly and recognize entrepreneurial business plan strategies that facilitated the organisations to achieve their objectives and be successful. The business plan of the organisations that is going to be compared is Blueprints Business Planning Pty Ltd (BBP) and Growth Management and Strategies (GMS). I have chosen Growth Management and Strategies from Bplan.com as it is from the same industry as Blueprints Business Planning Pty Lt d. The comparison will be held section wise according to the sections presented in the example. Including the appendix the Bplan of BBP is divided in 7 sections, whereas for GMS there are 8 sections. An executive summary is the prologue of the plan and should be divided in proper rational sections in order to prepare the reader for the contents in the following document. The executive summary of BBP is sectioned in four categories, the headings used are self explanatory, the first section is business idea and goals it clearly states the name, nature, address and the names of the employees of the company along with the purpose or the goal. It also mentions all the services of the company as well as the target market (Finch, 2016). The sales and the revenue expectation of the first year of commencement are also mentioned. It provides a clear idea of what the company is about and what are the objectives in brief. The next segment is marketing; this section briefly states the target market and the methods of marketing that will be used to promote the business to the mentioned market. It also states some of the figures that the company has found form the market research. The operations segment states the designation of the employee and the base of operation along with an idea of the equipments that is necessary (Mason and Stark, 2004, p. 227-248). One of the major aspects of a business plan is the financial segment here it states that the company will be self-funded and the amount of initial capital that will be provided by the directors of the organisation is also mentioned. It also states that that the company will not borrow unless there is dire need for money (Verbovskiy, 2014, p.2) Growth Management and Strategies Here the executive summary is divided in three sub-sections the introduction of the executive summary provides an idea of the company as well as the objective of the company along with the objective of the plan which. Here there is a graphical representation of the sales, gross margin and net profit expected figures for the next three years. The next sections are the objectives which are written in crisp clear language, this helps in understanding the steps that the company will take better. The mission section of the executive summary states the target market in brief, as well as some of the values and principles that the company will follow in the course of the venture. The employment strategy is also briefly stated along with the some of the human resource strategies. The third sub-division stated in bullet points what the company is going to do in order to achieve the objectives that have been stated. Comparison: The executive summary of BBP is clearly more structured and provided much more information of the company than that of GMS, BBP states all the necessary information regarding the company and the business and what the reader immediately understands what to expect from the information in the following document. Market research is essential part of the BBP plan is evident it is a strategy that provides a company with concrete base to from the arguments upon. On the other hand, the graphical representation provides a better idea of the forecasted figures. Background or Company Summary The first subsection is the mission statement, this portion clearly states the goals and mission of the company along with the values and principles based on which the organisation will operate in the future. This is the first step of strategic management. Here the company mentions the four most important stakeholders of the company to be the client, the community, the employees and the owners. The next section is a brief history regarding the story behind the process of incorporation, this information extents the readers idea of the company. Lastly business goals, it provides information regarding short term as well as long term proceedings of the company along with projected figures. The exit strategy of the company has also been stated which makes it a holistic approach to the business plan. The second section is called the company summary and it has two sub sections, start-up summary and the company ownership. The introduction paragraph states the background of the owner and the skills and resource that he has at disposal for the organisation. The first subsection is a comprehensive graphical as well as tabular explanation of the finances of the start up venture. It provides a holistic view of how the owners propose to carry on the business. It states the start up expense and requirements in terms of expense and assets. The total assets and liabilities along with the investment has been listed along with the figures in a tabular format which is easy to understand. The third portion is the ownership summary which states the nature of the business, and the name of the owner, which is repetitive information as it was stated in the introductory paragraph itself the only information that is additional is the exact nature of the business that is LLC. Comparison: The approach of the second section is different for both the companies, BBP has a structured information process without any figures or graphs, on the other hand the information stated by GMS is repetitive but the most important information is supplied in comprehensive tabular format along with the graphs. As a part of strategic management the company has to sure of the initial requirements, assets and liabilities in order to invest the correct amount. It is also important to recognise the importance of the stakeholders of the company in order to make plans and strategies to benefit them (Thomas et al., 2014, p. 34). Marketing or Service/ Market Analysis The third section is divided in many heading and sub headings providing a comprehensive idea of the strategic plan that the management of the company has for the success of the venture. The first heading in this section is Market research; it lists all the information sources and the process by which the company has initiated the market research process. Market analysis is the next category, industry analysis, seasonality; competition in the market as well as potential strategic alliances has been discussed in this section. These are important information for the management to make strategic management decisions in order to keep up with the business environment. The SWOT analysis of the company offers an idea of the internal and external analysis brief of the company and its potential (Brooks et al. 2014, p. 23). The next section is a comprehensive marketing plan where the marketing activities along with the information to back up the plan have been stated. All the four Ps of the marketing mix is answered in this segment. This section not only focuses on the Promotion or IMC part of marketing it also focuses on the strategic management part, in understanding the target market, requirements of the customers and their behaviour towards the service that the company has to offer (Khan, 2014, p. 95). It also states the inputs that the company has to make in order to reach out to the customers. Lastly the section covers the pricing policy of the services and an explanation for the price that has been quoted (Sutton, 2013). Here the two sections of the Bplan is going to be discussed first is service section which briefly states the services and the pricing policy, the information in this section is incomplete as it does not state the exact service and the reason for the pricing policy, the only relevant information here is the fact that the company will offer a customised service for the clients along with the fixed services which will have fixed rates. The next section is market analysis summary, it includes market segmentation, target market analysis, industry analysis. The introduction states briefly about the clientele that the company will serve and the gap that the service is going to fill. The market segmentation projects the potential customers and the following section explains the target market of the company in three tiers. This section is differently from the previous as it explains the target market and the strategic planning behind the process (Abrams, 2003). Like the previous company the industry analysis is provides an idea of the opportunities and threats that the company have in terms of external business environment. Though there is no SWOT analysis undertaken, the customers and buying behaviours are also discussed which is an addition to the strategic management process. Comparison: The BBP business plan states all the aspects of the 4Ps of a marketing mix but the GMS plan lacks the pricing strategy, explanation of the service as well as the promotional aspect it just focuses on the market analysis of the business. In the strategic management of a business marketing plays an important role in order to make sure that the company is reaching out to the correct target market and developing the services or products according to the requirement of the customers. Operations or Strategy and Implementation Summary This section answers all the particulars regarding the operation process of the start up, as it is a new company therefore there are a number of legal operations the company has to undertake in order to incorporate the business, it mentions the shareholders and the ownership divisions as well as the licensing that has to be initiated. This is followed by the management details. Organisation structure and staffing is the following section, another important decision of the strategic management process. The staffing goal that has been stated are for a period of two to three years, the per annum salary along with the job role requirement criteria is mentioned in this section. The next section has additional information regarding the professional advisers who will work as third party help for the business operations like lawyers, bookkeepers, insurance brokers etc. This segment is followed by insurance and the security measures that the company needs to take, business premises and equipments that are required in the long run as well as in the short run is also mentioned. This is important as all these factors add up to the expenses of the company (Jones and Penaluna, 2013, p. 804-814). The approaches that the company will take in order to assure the quality of the service is mentioned in the production process segment which is followed by the implementation of technology and the risks that are associated with the venture. It also explains a contingency plan that will allow the company t mitigate the risks. Risk management is a significant in management as it helps the company to be papered by the dynamic of the industry. Growth Management and Strategies This section is like a miscellaneous segment in the business plan it talks about all the strategies that are going to be undertaken by the company to achieve the objectives. The first sub section is regarding the strategies that the company will use to gain competitive advantage, not only that it also states why the strategies are going to work. As the service is not yet clear the competitive advantage may seem a little vague (McKeever, 2016). Marketing strategies are the following section where the exact plan or strategy is not discussed rather the way to decide upon the plan of action is mentioned. It says that the focus will be three-tiered but does not give out a holistic view of the actions that the company will take. Sales strategies are mentioned in a comprehensive way, it briefly states about the employment opportunities of the company followed by the process that will be undertaken. The sales forecast of first year and the next two years are shown but are arbitrary and lack logical base (McKenzie, 2017, pp. 2278-2307). Comparison: The BBP structure of the business plan is more concrete and gives out information that are relevant than the GMS one. With the help of the BBP plan it is clear that in order to establish a business in the service sector it is important to strategies about the operations clearly (Bridge and Hegarty, 2013). As a business plan is documented before the business is running there are a number of assumptions that the management has to consider these assumptions and market information that are gathered from the base of the financial projections. Sales mix forecast, cash flow forecast, projected profit and loss statement, owners personal expense along with assets and liabilities are provided in a tabular form in order to determine the success or failure of the business (Hiduke, and Ryan, 2013). Much like the BBP, the financial plan of GMS also follows the same pattern; there is also use of graphs in the document which makes the projections easy to understand and the numbers easily comprehendible. There are a number of assumptions which are briefly stated. Comparison: The assumptions are important in a business plan and the absence of these in the GMS makes the document less argumentative from the entrepreneurs end. The BBP plan has a good explanation of the expected ROI based on a market research (Feenstra, 2014, p. 116). Conclusion From the above discussion it is clear that the Business plan is one of the most important documents while venturing in a new business and the Bplan presented by BBP is more a comprehensive, structured and educative than GMS. The strategic management steps that has been highlighted in the process is the importance of a market research, understanding the customer and their needs and specifying the product or service, stating the stakeholders importance, values and principles based on which the objectives and mission of the company is based. It is also important to have a logical flow of information while documenting the business plan. Reference list: Abrams, R.M., 2003. The successful business plan: secrets strategies. The Planning Shop. Bridge, S. and Hegarty, C., 2013. Beyond the Business Plan: 10 Principles for New Venture Explorers. Springer. Brooks, G., Heffner, A. and Henderson, D., 2014. A SWOT analysis of competitive knowledge from social media for a small start-up business. The Review of Business Information Systems (Online), 18(1), p.23. Feenstra, D., 2014. The Standout Business Plan: Make Irresistible-and Get the Funds You Need for Your Startup or Growing Business. 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Schaper, M.T., Volery, T., Weber, P.C. and Gibson, B., 2014. Entrepreneurship and small business. Sutton, G., 2013. Writing winning business plans: how to prepare a business plan that investors will want to read and invest in. RDA Press, LLC. Thomas, D.F., Gudmundson, D., Turner, K. and Suhr, D., 2014. Business Plan Competitions and Their Impact on New Ventures' Business Models. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 10(1), p.34. Verbovskiy, V.A., 2014. Basics of successful startup development in the field of innovation. Journal of Economics and Social Sciences, (5), p.2.