Business Planning Flashcards
Tell me about your involvement with business planning.
- Aware of the 10 strategic priorities set out in Berkeley’s vision 2030 and consider these throughout all decision making.
- Regular reports to provide project updates which inform board reports and help the board make strategic decisions.
What are the corporate objectives of your firm?
- Create high-quality, safe homes
- Prioritise customer experience
- Excel in regeneration to create communities
- Role in tackling the climate emergency
- Create BNG
How do you work towards these in your role?
I am involved with many design conversations and am conscious of these objectives when discussing options with the design team. For example:
- Facilitating workshops with our landscape architect, ecology experts and internal sustainability team on how best to increase our biodiversity net gain utilising creative strategies – we are current achieving 111% BNG.
- I also work closely with the existing community to understand how the new community might blend with the existing and how the design may influence this
What are some of the typical things you’d find in a business plan?
- Executive summary
- Business description
- Define your market
- Identify and analyse competition
- Design and development plan
- Operations and management plan
- Financial statements – income / balance / cashflow
How can an up-to-date business plan help an organisation in the current economic climate?
- Offers agility
- Informed decision-making
- Improved financial management
- Helps navigate uncertainties
- Mitigate risks
- Seize opportunities for sustained growth and resilience
How do you use networking to further your business planning skills?
Increase exposure to different strategies / parts of the industry:
For example:
* Women in business networking event - help D&I strategies and opportunities to meet potential CPD presenters
* Sustainability workshops – provides updates to the current climate
Why is relationship building important for your role?
- Board – to foster trust in our recommendations and decision making
- Council – to foster collaborative relationships to help progress planning applications
- Community – to foster support for our application and trust in our ability to deliver in their neighbourhood.
What is a SWOT / PEST analysis?
Valuable for strategic planning, helping businesses make informed decisions and prepare for future challenges and opportunities.
SWOT – focuses on evaluating internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats.
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
PEST - focuses on external factors in the political, economic, social, and technological environment that could impact the business.
- Political
- Economic
- Social
- Technological
Can you tell me about when you have used one in your role?
I used a SWOT analysis to review the strategy at 98 PHS. As part of my planning appraisal.
What insurance types have you dealt with and what risks have they protected against?
- Professional Indemnity Insurance: Covers professional negligence claims.
- Public Liability Insurance: Protects against third-party injury or property damage.
- Employers’ Liability Insurance: Covers employee injury or illness claims.
Explain the objectives of the RICS Covid-19 Recovery Business Plan.
Covers:
* Continue to transform RICS digitally to operate across the world.
* Financial risks of covid-19 – had to reduce operating cost and arrange bank funding rather than using liquid reserves as believed this would not be a short lived scenario.
* 2020-21 maintain liquid reserves
* Absorb requirements for any fee increases
* Future of the profession initiative – global digital platform
* Focus on building a diverse profession
Why are the RICS consulting on their business plan?
To inform a review of RICS strategy by Government Council. This relates to structural industry shifts over the past 12 months, particularly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and increasingly digital world.
What is this strategic review called?
RICS Defining our Future Consultation
What is business continuity and why is it important?
Ability to maintain or quickly resume critical operations during and after unexpected disruptions.
It involves proactive planning to ensure that essential functions can continue with minimal downtime
Minimises disruption
Protects revenue and financial stability
Explain how the apprenticeship levy works.
Designed to fund apprenticeship training and increase investment in workforce development.
- Paid by large employers with annual payroll of £3m +to HMRC via PAYE
- Levy charged at 0.5%
- Annual allowance of £15k to offset against levy payment
- Employers can access the fund to pay for apprenticeship training
- Govt provides 10% top up
- Levy funds expire after 24 months
