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Business plan pro-forma
The purpose of a business plan is to formalise the planning process and record the findings in a clear and succinct manner, therefore enabling the operators to be proactive rather than reactive in their business management style.
There are at least three different reasons to prepare a business plan:
This pro-forma assumes that the business plan is for the first option – planning to start a new business.
The pro-forma outlines the fundamentals to a start-up business plan, which requires marketing and financial research, and can ultimately be used to approach a bank for financing.
It is by no means a prescriptive structure. Feel free to include additional sections as are appropriate to your operation.
Further, a business plan should be a "living" document - one that is continually being changed and refined. Particularly as the business goes on, changes to the environment and business operations should be reflected in the business plan, and strategies should be amended to fit the new situation.
The scope of your business plan can also be extended to record the historical path of your business and record critical documentation, such as assets lists and property title details etc.
Just as you hope to take ownership of a business, take ownership of the business plan – embrace the learning process it offers and the power of knowledge that it provides.
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here for Business Plan Pro-forma (PDF) |
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Business Plan Pro-forma for mentors online participants
If you are using this pro-forma to put together a Business Plan to participate in Mentors Online – the mentoring program for professionals in small business - you need only have a rough write-up of Section 3.
You can work on the remaining sections with your Mentor if you wish.
Click here for further information on Mentors Online
There is an enormous amount of wider reading and research material available on the topic of business plans and starting your own business. Bookshops and libraries are excellent sources for this literature.
The author acknowledges the following publications in the preparation of the Business Plan Pro-forma and Start-up Checklist:
Vogelaar, D, How to write a Business Plan, Information Australia Group Pty Ltd, 1992
Small Business Development Corporation, The Small Business Handbook, Information Australia Group Pty Ltd, 1990
Reynolds, W, Savage, W, Williams, A, Your Own Business: A Practical Guide to Success, Thomas Nelson Australia, 1990