Answers the question, “How will we satisfy our clients?”

Business planning is the act of documenting a business’s vision, objectives, strategy and tactics that will be developed to achieve those objectives. The resulting document, a business plan, is a road-map to where an owner wants to take his/her business, providing direction and focus.

Business planning won’t automatically make you a success, but it will help you avoid some common causes of business failure, such as under-capitalization or lack of an adequate market. Business planning forces you to think critically about your business and to plan and act accordingly.

Reasons for business planning include securing financing, outlining operational management and budgeting, communicating vision, mission and goals, amongst others, all of which promote the survival and sustainability of the business.

Business planning typically looks at the following aspects of a business’s development:

• Business concept
• Current situation
• Key/critical success factors
• Financial situation/needs
• Market and competitive analysis
• Strategy
• Products and services
• Marketing and sales
• Operations