Business planning
From Digipedia
Contents |
OVERVIEW
A business plan is the essential management tool for any large-scale piece of work. A business plan should be capable of being read as a stand alone document. Someone with no previous knowledge of the project should have a good idea of what the project is all about after reading the business plan. It sets out the aims and objectives for the work, reasons why the work is to be done, who will benefit and how the work will be financed, carried out and managed and how the whole will be evaluated.
A Key Milestone
Most projects start life as a good idea which is developed by an organisation or partnership of organisations and finally submitted as a funding application. The process of preparing a business plan requires the organisation to design a project which is financially viable and capable of delivery. The plan will also:
- reinforce commitment to the project
- ensure that there is common understanding of the project objectives, programmes and mechanisms
- establish top level commitment to the project in terms of policy and resources.
A Management Tool
The business plan should provide the agenda and the baseline for project management and monitoring. It will assist the project management team
- to review and fine tune the project’s overall strategic direction
- to co-ordinate and control the project and to develop performance management
- to empower project managers within the plan’s strategic and operational framework
- to communicate with partner and funding agencies
Annual Review
A business plan is a plan, not a straightjacket, and it is important to ensure that it is reviewed and updated regularly to take account of unexpected developments, opportunities or problems. It is good practice to review the plan, once a year in the light of the year’s experience and developments.
Preparing a business plan
The complexity of any business plan will vary according to the scale of the work to be done. If a business plan is being prepared for a funding application, it will be important to follow any specific guidelines and requirements set out by the potential funder. If the business plan sets out work which will be done as a partnership of several organisations, it will be important that the roles and responsbilities of each partner are clear and how the partnership is to be managed.
Preparing a business plan will need input from a range of people with different skills and knowledge. Decide who will coordinate the writing of the plan and identify appropriate people to contribute (for example, you will need someone with financial expertise and someone with technical knowledge as well as someone who can articulate the aims, objectives and expected outcomes). Work as a team and agree the timetable for completing the plan. Keep the plan jargon-free (remember it should be understood with someone who has no prior knowledge of your work). Finally, provide an executive summary which can be used for wider circulation.
Sample outline
TITLE
- Executive summary
- Context and background
- Vision
- Purpose
- Values or Principles
- Priority Objectives
- Description of Facilities and Services
- Project plan
- Project management
- Audience research
- Risk Assessment
- Identification of content
- Preservation strategy
- Digitisation of materials
- Learning resource creation
- Service delivery
- Publicity and promotion
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact assessment
- Sustainability
- WORKPLAN
- FINANCIAL PLANNING
- APPENDICES
Related Digipedia articles
Financial planning
Project management
Risk assessment
Sustainability
Further information
Wikipedia Business planning article
BusinessLink
Bishoff and Allen. Business planning for cultural heritage institutions, CLIR, 2004