1. Marketing

One of the most important aspects of the preparation of a business plan is to firstly consider the business market and the business' marketing plan.
Questions to consider include:
· - Do you know your target market?
· - Do you understand the diagnostics of your customers/clients relating to age, sex, occupation, salary levels, interests etc?
· - Is the business capable of handling the market that you bring in?
· - Have you checked your marketing activities/aids including promotions, videos, telephone answering, product wrapping, staff training, the image that you are presenting?
· - Are all of these marketing activities presenting the correct image?
· - Have you developed a customer database?
· - Have you developed a web page? Is the web page regularly updated?
· - Do you have systems to capture customer details for inclusion in your customer database?
If you would like a paper on Marketing, please contact us.
 
2. Competitors

When preparing a Business Plan every business should carefully analyse their competitors.
Questions to consider are:-
· What are your competitors strengths?
· What are your competitors weaknesses?
· What are your competitors opportunities to expand their businesses?
· In what areas are you better than your competitors?
· In what areas are your competitors better than you?
· What do your customers say about your competitors?
· Can your competitors easily diversify into your market?
· Do you maintain competitors files?
· What strategies are you going to adopt to effectively compete with competitors?

3a. Location

Location, Location, Location. Many people claim that for retailing, location should be listed 9 out of 10 times, if the business is going to operate from a successful site. Location is important for all businesses, but it takes on a crucial importance for some businesses, particularly retailing and also for businesses which must operate within specific council zones or in close proximity to other infrastructure eg shipping ports, railways, CBD offices etc.
Some of the questions to consider are:-
· - Will the location be suitable in 5 years time?
· - Can you expand from your present site?
· - Are your neighbours compatible to your business?
· - Are your customers comfortable in your location?
· - Is your location going to be affected by a change in roads, highways, bridges that might affect traffic flow?

3b. Experience

Business people need to honestly assess their experience in the industry in which they are operating and also in the peripheral business skill areas (marketing, human resources, management, budgets, cashflow management and understanding financial accounts etc).  Some of the questions to be considered include:-
What is your experience in this business?
What business are you really in?
Prepare a SWOT analysis based on your experience.
What are your plans for personal development, especially in the areas that are not your strong points?
 
3c. Customers

The preparation of a Business Plan involves a significant concentration on reviewing customers/clients.  Questions to be considered include:-
How many customers do you have?
What is the value of your annual sales to the individual customers or types of customers?
What is the average sale per customer or type of customer?
Why do your customers come to your business?
What is the frequency of their transactions with you?
Do you conduct customer surveys?
Do customers like your products?
Have you classified your customers into 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D' categories?
Have you reviewed your customers utilising the 80/20 rule?
What percentage of your business is represented by 20% of your customers?
Do you encourage customers to give comments and feedback on your products, services, warranties, product information after sales service etc?
 
When completing a business plan it is essential that a detailed analysis be undertaken on the industry in which the business is operating and on the market the business is attempting to serve.  The industry and market analysis business plan questionnaire raises a number of questions relative to:

 
4a. Industry and Market Analysis

·  What industry are you in?
·  How old is the industry?
·  What stage is the industry at?
·  How big is the market in your area?
·  Are there any barriers to entry?
·  Are there any restrictive government policies on the industry?
·  What market research has been undertaken?
·  What test marketing has been undertaken?
·  Have you had any comments from focus groups?
·  Who are your potential competitors?
·  What is your distribution strategy?
·  What are the population projections for your area?
 
4b. Products/Services

- What are the key features and benefits of the products/services that you are producing?
- What are the limitations of the products/services?
- What was the annual sales figure for each type of product or service over the last three years?
- What was the gross profit contribution from each product/service type over each of the last three years?
- What quantity of the various products/services was produced?
- What feedback are you obtaining from customers on the products/services?
- Do you know how the products/services compare with competitors products?
- Do you have a unique selling technique for any of the products/services?
- What are the products'/services' points of differentiation?
 
 
You wouldn't go on a cross-country holiday without looking at a map to work out where you are planning to stop and what sightseeing activities there are on the way.  Planning the start of a business is no different.  You need a plan that you have sat down and thought about and then committed it to writing.  Here are few more questions to consider....
 
5. Computers And Other Technology

 There are so many things to consider relating to the preparation of a business plan. So far we've touched on just a few. This post asks some questions about computers and technology. I'm sure you can think of plenty more.
Do you need to upgrade computers or other technology?
Are you using the internet for business?
What are your strategies on development of a commercial website?
Have you appointed a systems manager / IT co-ordinator?
Have you compiled computer security systems and procedures?
Do you undertake regular backups?
 
 
6. Resources -

What resources have you got? 
What improvements are required? 
Review of office, shop, factory, warehouse, business premises:-

-         Are they satisfactory? 
-         Are they big enough to accommodate your projected growth? 

Do these resources project the correct "image"? 
How long is the lease for?  Is the location suitable? 
What are your plans for replacing your major machinery? 
Do you need to upgrade your computers or computer software?


7a. Business Overview:

Where is the business now?

· Structure?
· History?
· Competitors?
· Intellectual Property?
· Suppliers?
· Customers?
· Team Members?
· Management/Directors?
· Succession Strategy?

7b. Business Objectives:

What are the objectives for your business?

· Sales?
· Profitability?
· Debt Position?
· Market Position?
· Technology?
· Team Members?
· Customers?
· Sale of Business?
· Retirement?
· Succession Plan?

8. Financial Analysis:
Analysis of the trading profit and loss performance of each business grouping within your business including:
· your gross profit percentage;
· number of sales per staff person;
· average sale;
· key expenses including advertising, marketing, salaries/wages and rent;
· percentage of key expenses to turnover;
· percentage of total expenses to turnover; and
· how does this financial performance compare with competitors?

 
 

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