Business plans for dummies (3^rd Ed.)

Your one?stop guide to creating a winning business plan from scratch

Whether you?re starting a new business or growing an established one, you?ll need a solid business plan to get you where you want to go. Revised for today?s rocky economic climate, this edition of the UK?s bestselling business plan guide gives you what you need to map out your business strategy and stay on course – including a complete sample plan that you can easily adapt for your business!

• Chart your course – assess the current state of your business and where you?d like to take it, and establish clear, achievable objectives

• Get to know your customers – learn the latest techniques for getting a better idea of who your customers are and what they want

• Scope out the competition – find out who your competitors are and what it?ll take to get your share of the market pie (and theirs)

• Sort out your finances – construct a value chain, examine your cash flow and calculate a sensible budget

• Enter the Dragons? Den – convince bankers, investors, venture capitalists and other funding sources your business is a good investment

• Read the tea leaves – learn to decipher changing cultural, political and technological trends and to alter your strategies as needed

Open the book and find:

• Tips on developing a sure?fire business strategy

• How to set realistic objectives

• Forecasting and budgeting strategies

• Keys to writing a motivational mission statement

• How to decipher the latest consumer trends

• Advice on building your brand and brand loyalty

• Tips for seeing and seizing opportunities before the competition

• Ways to adapt your plan to economic change

Learn to:

• Prepare a watertight business strategy

• Assess the marketplace

• Devise a sensible forecast and budget

Introduction 1

Part I: Determining Where You Want to Go 7

Chapter 1: Starting Your Business Plan 9

Chapter 2: Charting the Proper Course 19

Chapter 3: Setting Off in the Right Direction 35

Part II: Sizing Up Your Marketplace 51

Chapter 4: Checking Out the Business Environment 53

Chapter 5: Taking a Closer Look at Customers 77

Chapter 6: Dividing Customers into Groups 93

Chapter 7: Scoping Out Your Competition 111

Part III: Weighing Up Your Company’s Prospects 127

Chapter 8: Establishing Your Starting Position 129

Chapter 9: Focusing On What You Do Best 147

Chapter 10: Figuring Out Financials 163

Chapter 11: Forecasting and Budgeting 187

Part IV: Looking to the Future 215

Chapter 12: Preparing for Change 217

Chapter 13: Thinking Strategically 239

Chapter 14: Managing More than One Product 261

Part V: A Planner’s Toolkit 293

Chapter 15: Planning in Turbulent Economic Times 295

Chapter 16: Making Your Business Plan Work 309

Chapter 17: Learning from Others: A Sample Business Plan 333

Part VI: The Part of Tens 353

Chapter 18: Ten Questions to Ask About Your Plan 355

Chapter 19: Top Ten Business–Planning Never–Evers 359

Index 363

Primary market

• People starting – or hoping to start – a business.

Secondary market

• Business owners looking to revise their plans in the current economic climate.

Paul Tiffany is a management consultant and university professor. Steven Peterson is the founder of Home Planet Technologies, a management training company. Colin Barrow is the author of more than 30 books in the fields of entrepreneurship, business management and international property development.