business plan

Question 1

what does study by Brinkmann suggest?

Answer 1

new vs established small firms

FINDINGS - BOTH GROUP BENEFIT FROM BUSINESS PLANNING but small businesses benefit more.

• Entrepreneurs need to carefully assess the value of business planning given their firm’s specific context.
• As the reliability, quality, and quantity of available information increases, the benefit of business planning increases.

Question 2

what are the key elements of business plan?

Answer 2

opportunity

business strategy 
market research 
sales strategy 
marketing strategy 
operational strategy
financial plan

Question 3

Why study business advising?

Answer 3

Business advisory services are a large and growing industry

Question 4

Types of advisory services?

Answer 4

Strategy consulting
IT consulting
Business process consulting
HR consulting 
Marketing consulting
Risk and compliance consulting
And many, many more

Question 5

Objective of advisory services?

Answer 5

add more value than cost

Question 6

how to add value?

Answer 6

Providing an objective perspective
Bringing specialist skills
Concisely reflecting
Benchmarking

Question 7

what is benchmarking?

Answer 7

• Enables the company to see their relative strengths and weaknesses
• Highlights areas of potential for improvement
• Helps prioritise areas of focus

Question 8

Benchmarking tips?

Answer 8

Evaluate companies against peers AND best practice
BUT consider different firm characteristics
In the end, provide concrete recommendations

Question 9

how to communicate benchmarking?

Answer 9

chart

spider diagram

Question 10

how to pitch plan?

Answer 10

sell vision, not detail

Question 11

elements of great pitch?

Answer 11

• Name a big, relevant change in the world (NEED FOR PRODUCT IN SOCIETY)
• Show they’ll be winners and losers (FOR THOSE NOT ADAPTING/CHANGING eg myer and david jones late to online shopping)
• Tease the “Promised Land” (PRODUCT)
• Introduce features as “Magic Gifts” for overcoming obstacles to the promised land (STRATEGIES TO REACH DESIRED OUTCOME)
• Present evidence that you can make the story come true

Question 12

Reframing ‘failure’?

Answer 12

You could think of ‘failure’ as:

A/ A sign you are challenging yourself
B/ A step further along the road to success
C/ An ‘imposter’, just like success
D/ All of the above