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Whether you seek financial backing or board consent, this book will give you the critical knowledge you need to get the go-ahead. Written by a seasoned practitioner with years of experience in both writing and evaluating business plans for funding, it will help you formulate a coherent, consistent and convincing business plan with your backer’s needs in mind. Follow its guidance and your plan will have every chance of winning the backing you need for your business to succeed.
FT ESSENTIAL GUIDES: THE KNOW-HOW YOU NEED TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT
Introduction
Part 1 Preparing your plan
1 Essential preparation
Result
Need
Preparation
Part 2 Writing your plan
2 The business
Background
Business mix by segment
Segmentation in a start-up
3 Market demand
Market size
Market growth
Market demand for a start-up
Market demand risks and opportunities
4 Competition
Your competitors
Competitive intensity
Competition in a start-up
Industry competition risks and opportunities
5 Strategy
Competitive position
Strategy
Strategy in a start-up
Strategic risks and opportunities
6 Resources
Management
Marketing
Operations and capital expenditure
Resource risks and opportunities
7 Financials and forecasts
Historic financials
Market-driven sales forecasts
Competition-driven margin forecasts
Funding the plan
Full financial forecasts
Forecasts in a start-up
Financial risks and opportunities
8 Risk, opportunity and sensitivity
Meet the Suns and Clouds chart
What the Suns and Clouds tell you
Sensitivity testing
9 Conclusion
Conclusion
Executive summary
Investment highlights
Part 3 Reviewing your plan
10 Monitoring and evaluating
Monitoring your plan
Evaluating your plan
Beware these characters!
Postscript: 12 hot potatoes
Appendices
Appendix A: Deriving competitive position
Appendix B: Structured interviewing of customers
Index