Business Planning Flashcards

1
Q

Talk me through current RICS Business Plan

A

Business Plan 2021-22 - Dec 21

  • Acknowledges events surrounding Levitt damaged trust and confidence in RICS, particularly amongst members - Report commits to rebuilding trust and confidence through delivering on recommendations - especially the review into governance, purpose and strategy of the RICS and improving whistleblowing arrangements
  • Targets the rebuilding of economies emerging from the worst of Covid-19 pandemic with focus on challenges of population growth, urban development, resilience and climate change.
  • Freeze membership costs for the next year at least Seek to minimise any subscription increases
  • Utilise surplus cash to repay furlough moneys received as part of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
  • Focus on the 5 key pillars
  • Trusted by our stakeholders and society
  • RICS qualifications in demand
  • Influential thought leader
  • Involved and engaged members
  • Sustainable 21st century professional body
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2
Q

What is a business plan?

A
  • A statement of practice given direction to how a company is going to achieves its goals.
  • A formal document of immediate goals that may be required by lenders if a practice is seeking finance.
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3
Q

What is your company’s current business plan?

A
  • Increase head count by 50% in commercial and planning
  • Develop project management services
  • Increase market share in key local sectors including highways/infrastructure and residential
  • Improve headcount of RICS members
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4
Q

How will it deliver that business plan?

A
  • using existing network connections and external consultants to recruit new staff with the necessary competence
  • business development: short term with targeting current staff and long term for BDM permanent role
  • employ dedicated management accountant
  • employ projects administrator to relive admin burden on senior staff
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5
Q

What are the typical headings within a business plan?

A
  • Summary / company background
  • Financial information
  • Meet the team
  • Recent projects
  • Business Strategy
  • Current/future market information
  • Timeline – short/medium/long term objectives
  • PESTLE and SWOT analysis.
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6
Q

What is a SWOT analysis?

A
  • It is a structured analysis of the market. It is used to analyse internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities to exploit strengths and opportunities and mitigate weaknesses and threats
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7
Q

What is a PESTLE analysis?

A
  • This is a structured method of analysing the key factors influencing markets (the demand side). These factors are:
  • Political influences
  • Economical influences
  • Social-demographical influences
  • Technological influences
  • Environmental influences
  • Legal influences
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8
Q

What is contained in an appointment document?

A
  • Clarification of the work scope
  • Agreed fee bid (aligned to workscope)
  • Payment terms
  • Terms of business
  • Any agreed amendments to the terms of business
  • Contact details
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9
Q

What is meant by client care?

A
  • Continuous process of concept or understanding clients requirements, suggestions, complaints etc. and analysing it to find a solution suitable to client requirements and to enhance service delivery. This can include.
  • Understanding the clients needs & requirements.
  • Complaint handling procedures
  • Quality assurance procedures
  • Key performance indicators
  • Customer satisfaction questionnaire
  • Looking out for their best interests (Client feedback forms)
  • Client feedback meetings
  • Lessons learned workshops
  • Identify scope of service
  • Defining the client brief
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10
Q

Why is client care important

A
  • Builds good reputation which leads to repeat work and recommendation to other clients.
  • Reduces the likelihood of conflict protecting the companies PI insurance.
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11
Q

What is a client brief?

A
  • A document that captures the clients requirements.
  • A formal document setting out the objectives and requirements of a completed project.
  • Provides sufficient detail for the integrated project team to execute.
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12
Q

What information would you expect to see in a clients brief?

A
  • Services required.
  • Insurances required.
  • Terms of appointment.
  • Fee.
  • Duration of appointment.
  • Identify client procedures and policies that need to be followed.
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13
Q

When should you decline work for a client?

A
  • Do not have the capacity.
  • Conflict of interest exists.
  • Do not have the required technical expertise.
  • Client not prepared to pay the appropriate fee.
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14
Q

A client wants to pay in advance for your services, how would you deal with this?

A
  • Set up a separate account which is properly named and clearly identifiable.
  • Refer to rule 8 for firm’s client money handling
  • Clients must always have access to funds
  • Provide the client with a statement.
  • Inform the client of when and how much the monies will be drawn down, providing a statement each time.
  • Once services are complete send a complete statement detailing all the transactions.
  • Make sure everything done is transparent and auditable and money has been checked for laundering.
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15
Q

What makes up a bid?

A
  • Executive summary including a scope or solution
  • The client’s needs and drivers
  • Project issues
  • Benefits for the clients and their experience
  • Conditions of engagement and terms and conditions
  • Methodology for delivering the work, information about the organisation, CVS of project team and examples of case study projects previously delivered
  • Confirmation of proposed fees
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16
Q

How do you avoid complaints from clients?

A
  • Good record keeping.
  • Clearly defined brief.
  • Not acting outside the boundaries of your services scope.
  • Always follow RICS guidance notes
  • Good communication.
17
Q

How do you calculate fees on a project?

A
  • Percentage based.
  • Time charged.
  • Lump sum.
18
Q

What forms of appointment documents are you familiar with?

A
  • Company own
  • Client issued
  • RICS appointment
  • JCT appointment
  • NEC PSC
19
Q

What would you expect to see in an appointment document?

A
  • Interpretation and definitions
  • Scope of services
  • Parties
  • Obligations
  • Personnel
  • Collateral warranties and third party rights
  • Copyright
  • Insurances
  • Assignment
  • Novation
  • Payment
  • Clients duties
  • Suspension
  • Termination
  • Consequences of termination
  • Liabilities
  • Notices
  • Third party rights
  • ADR
20
Q

What’s included within your companies T&C’s?

A
  • Definitions and interpretation
  • Appointment and duration
  • Consultant obligations
  • Clients obligations
  • Variation or additional services
  • Fee’s and payment
  • Intellectual property rights
  • Confidentiality
  • Liability and insurance
  • Termination
  • Force Majeure
  • Variation
  • Waiver
  • Severance
  • Entire Agreement
  • Assignment and subcontracting
  • No partnership
  • Rights of third parties
  • Notices
  • Counterparts
  • Governing law and jurisdiction
21
Q

What is often contentious in T&C’s?

A
  • Level of liability
  • Every claims vs aggregate
  • Payment terms
22
Q

How do you calculate fee’s?

A
  • Percentage basis
  • Cost per Hour vs time required at each activity
  • Framework
  • Cost reimbursable/ Time charge
23
Q

Can you give me an example of how you have calculated fees on one of your projects?

A
  • Percentage basis: 2-5% of construction cost, cost per Hour vs time required at each activity, work out salary rates per hour, add overhead of 70%, add margin 8%
  • Total rate per hour: multiply by number of days/hours required for each activity within each design stage
  • Framework: As above but based on agreed framework rates, option exists to abate rates to be more competitive, agreed % of overall construction costs
  • Cost reimbursable/ Time charge: based on transparent process on pre-agreed rates
24
Q

What are KPI’s?

A
  • Key performance indicators: a measure of a factor critical to success
25
Q

What is the purpose of KPI’s?

A
  • The aim of KPIs is to provide a consistent measure of the organisational and project performance.
  • These can be used against benchmarking figures with the intention of identifying shortcomings, leading to action plans to enable better results: by providing a simple method of establishing a performance management system, by providing organisations with a straightforward method of benchmarking their performances against others in the construction industry; and by allowing organisations to track long-term trends in performance.
26
Q

How do you set up KPI’s?

A
  • Planning: clearly establish what needs to be improved. Make sure it is important to you and your customers and determine the data collection methodology to be used (including any KPIs).
  • Analysis: gather the data and determine the current performance gap – against a competitor, the industry or internally – and identify the reasons for the difference.
  • Action: develop and implement improvement plans and performance targets.
  • Review: monitor performance against the performance targets.
  • Repeat: repeat the whole process. Benchmarking needs to become a habit if you are serious about improving your performance.
27
Q

Does the JCT allow for KPI’s?

A
  • Yes- Schedule 2- supplemental provision 9- Performance indicators and monitoring
  • Employer shall monitor and assess contractors performance- KPI’s stated in the contract documents
  • The contractor shall provide all relevant documentation on how they are achieving those KPI’s
  • Where the contractor is not meeting them he will propose how he will achieve the KPI’s
28
Q

Can you give me some examples of KPI’s?

A
  • client satisfaction – overall
  • client satisfaction – value for money
  • client satisfaction – quality of service
  • Client satisfaction - quality of timely delivery.
  • Client satisfaction - H&S awareness.
  • Reporting metric - on budget or better
  • Reporting metrics - £/m² GIFA
  • Reporting metrics - £/bedroom
29
Q

What about Contractors?

A
  • Construction cost- Improvement of capital cost year-on-year
  • Construction time- Improvement of time year on year
  • Predictability cost- Actual cost against the cost predicted at tender
  • Predictability time- Actual time against the time predicted at tender
  • Client satisfaction product- Client satisfaction with the delivered product
  • Client satisfaction service- Client satisfaction with the service provided by the project team
  • Defects- Impact of the defects of the final product
  • Productivity- Value added per person working on the project
  • Profitability- Profitability of the construction company
  • Safety- Accident incident rate for the company