Mike Schorah

( Writing a Business Plan ) The Executive Summary is the single most important section of the Business Plan. For many readers it could be the only page of the document that they read and for this reason you should keep it down to a single page, with as much 'white space' and bullet points as is reasonable ... The point is to be as concise as you can while engaging interest and excitement to learn more. Remember, the key question your readers will have in their mind is What's in it for me? Assuming that the majority of the readers of a Business Plan are investors, whether they're making a loan or buying shares, then you've really got to use this section of the plan to show them how this idea is going to make them more money than the alternatives open to them. Because this section is the most critical to get right then it is wise to make it the very last thing that you write; although, of course, it's often a good idea to start drafting things much earlie...

As I've got another one to write in the next couple of weeks, I thought I'd start a mini-series on How to write a business plan . Today's post is simply an overview of where we're headed, but tomorrow we'll look at Why have a business plan in the first place - despite conventional wisdom, they're not always necessary in the detail that's often talked about. But, if you're going to put together a business plan, here are the major headings to cover: Executive Summary A concise summary of your Business Plan. No more than one page long, and normally it should be the last thing you write, after all the rest is pulled together Business products/service A concise description of your business and what it will do. This section should give overview information on each of the revenue streams you envisage, and over what time frame. Analysis of market opportunity This should be consistent with your financial plan and should justify the activity: just becaus...

I got asked for more detail after yesterday's post on using cost justifications to support a business project. In this hard-pressed and competitive economy it's important to seek a positive return in months.    For example, replacing paper forms and processes with electronic ones on iPad, iPhone and Android phones and tablets can give some real, measurable benefits: Great savings in time as paper forms don’t have to be transcribed; no delays in processing, no lost forms and no errors in transcribing or mis-keying   Staff can be unchained from desks and workstations and data submitted at once, straight into existing line of business systems   Increased accountability as time and location can be recorded automatically, photos attached to documents etc   T here are competitive advantages in being seen to work efficiently and effectively with attractive technology like the iPad (rather than paper) Get more like this

You should almost never do a business project just because it feels like a good idea. The most successful projects come with a cost justification that's going to deliver benefits as near-certain as possible. Colleagues have just taken a paper-based process and turned it into an electronic form, almost an 'app,' that runs on iPad, iPhone and Android phone and tablet computers ... It is estimated to save £20k So, how do we calculate this? Sixteen users are each saving about half an hour per week; that's one full eight hour day Assuming that it costs about £50 per hour to employ someone (not just salary, but space and utilities and other support costs) ... That's about £400 per week At fifty weeks in a year you've found a saving of around £20,000 This £20k saving is achieved with a software project that, in this case, was £5k. That number is going to change depending on the size and scope of the project, but here was to take a suite of paper processes.    S...