How to write a simple Business Plan

This half day course provides participants with the knowledge and skills to write a simple but effective business plan for their organisation. It considers aspects of why business planning is important, what background research is needed, what subject areas to include and how to monitor progress against the business plan. For in-house courses the session could be extended to a whole day with participants spending the afternoon working on a first draft of a business plan.

Areas covered

• Why having a business plan is important and how it can be used
• Undertaking SWOT and PEST tests
• What subject areas to include in a business plan
• Determining your target audience and writing a business plan in an appropriate style
• Who to involve in the business planning cycle and timetabling the process
• Examples of a business plan
• Monitoring progress on the business plan.

This course could be run as part of a training programme or could be run in house.

In-house courses

The course is designed to be flexible so that it can accommodate the specific needs of a particular organisation or agency. For example, the course could be extended to a whole day with the afternoon session given over to staff and/or trustees working on different sections of a business plan so that by the end of the day they have a first draft of a plan in note form.

Objectives

• To help participants to analyse strengths and weaknesses in their organisation
• To help participants understand why business planning is important and the uses of a Business Plan
• To provide a framework for writing a Business Plan
• To allow participants the opportunity to make a start on writing a Business Plan
• To ensure that a Business Plan is used for monitoring purposes.

Target Audience

People working in the voluntary and community sector, for statutory agencies or in business. The course can be adapted to suit particular needs.

Cost

From £150 + travel costs