The Business Plan

Are you aware of the critical role a business plan plays as a finance raising tool in providing potential investors with sufficient information for them to make an assessment about lending funds, identifying how much finance is required and how and when it will be utilised?

In reality, however, the business plan occupies a far more important role in modern business. As a matter of fact, without a business plan which is constantly updated and reviewed, a business runs the risk of stagnating and - eventually - coming to a halt.

A good business plan is the common factor linking all successful businesses. It should be a living document of your entrepreneurial vision showing where you are, where you are going and how you intend to get there. Its forecasts and assumptions need to be regularly monitored against actual costs and sales so that you can fully understand the progress of your business.

Even if you have prepared a business plan in the past, if it hasn't been updated or reviewed in the last six months, then you need to start afresh -- the very process of preparation concentrates the mind on the business itself, an issue which can often be overlooked due to the pressures of day to day management.

An effective business plan will provide:

• a framework within which cohesive decisions can be made.
• a platform from which ideas can be communicated to people within the business.
• a benchmark against which you can judge the company's performance.
• a reflection of the strengths of the business and the abilities of the management.

Grant Thornton has helped a diverse range of owner-managers to prepare credible business plans. We understand what is important to both the management and to finance providers - what they need to see and what they don't. We can assist you in the preparation of forecasts that are in line with an investor's requirements - helping you to show integrated profit and loss, balance sheet and cashflow forecasts. More importantly, we will help you identify what makes you better than your competitors and what steps you need to take to make sure that you stay better. We work with one objective in mind - to prepare you for business, rather than simply preparing your business plan. As President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said:" Planning is everything. The plan is nothing."

The level of detail required in a business plan depends on the nature, size and complexity of your business. It could be a simple document of a few pages or a lengthy report of several volumes. The key is to keep it clear and simple.