Business Planning (Checked) Flashcards

1
Q

What is Lendlease’s business plan?

A
  • Global business with three core business units across each region
  • Listed on Australian Stock Exchange
  • Share price has dropped
  • Simplify organisation structure and right size its cost base
  • Exit international construction, accelerate release of capital from offshore developments, recycle 4.5 billion by completing transactions underway
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2
Q

What are Lendlease’s objectives?

A

‘Create places for people to work, live, connect and enjoy’

Financial:
- Simplify organisation structure and right size its cost base
- Improve share price

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3
Q

How is my team’s performance measured?

A
  • Planning approvals
  • Plot completions
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4
Q

How does Lendlease market itself over the short, medium and long term?

A

Social, economic, environmental

Short - medium: Creating homes, jobs and improving the environment
Long: Tackling UK housing crisis, creating growth in areas, leaving the environment better than how we found it

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5
Q

What is included in a business plan?

A
  • Opportunities and risks
  • Resources required to service clients
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6
Q

What is a SWOT analysis?

A

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

  • Anticipate different SWOTs which helps with strategic thinking
  • Helps decision making
  • Helps set realistic objectives
  • Allocate resources
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7
Q

How can firm’s plan for future business activities and ensure they hit the required profit margin?

A

Fee forecasts

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8
Q

How can firm’s allocate resources and expenditure?

A
  • Budgets
  • Cash flows
  • Financial / audit controls
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9
Q

How would you set up as a sole practitioner?

A

RICS requirements and Statutory requirements for starting a a firm
I would then put business plan together

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10
Q

What is a sole practitioner?

A

Individual who works independently without any partners

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11
Q

What is a partnership?

A

Partners share responsibility of the firm

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12
Q

What is an LLP?

A

Limited Liability Partnership - Partners have personal liability

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13
Q

What is a limited company?

A

Owned by shareholders, liability limited by shares, formally register on Companies House, shareholders don’t have personal liability

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14
Q

What is a PLC?

A

Public Limited Company - Shareholders own company, directors manage it, listed on stock exchange

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15
Q

How could a firm monitor its performance and what key management tools would be needed?

A

Financial - Revenue, profit margin, return on investment
Operational - Production output (number of flats delivered per annum)
Employee - Turnover rates
Customer - Customer retention rates, complaints
Quality - Defect rates, compliance with industry standards (construction - how many incidents)

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16
Q

What is the RICS motto?

A

There is measure in all things

Business plans can MEASURE performance

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17
Q

What is a strategic business plan?

A

Strategy devised to achieve overall goals set by a business - for the future rather than the present

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18
Q

What are the steps in a strategic business plan?

A
  1. Identify and approve framework, vision, long-term goals and objectives
  2. Position company in terms of marketing capabilities, technological advantages and available resources
  3. Sets foundation for tactical plan to achieve goals
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19
Q

What is another type of business plan?

A

Departmental Business Plan

  • Review of periodic metrics
  • Do metrics meet goals?
  • Do annual goals need adjusting?
  • What are the departmental needs to meet the goals?
  • Individual staff metrics
20
Q

What is an operational business plan?

A

Work planning stage
- Requirements for professional service
- Criteria (legislation / rules of Conduct)
- Resources (what do you need to undertake work)
- Acceptance by client
- Documented information (any deliverables to produce or retain)

Delivery phase
- Customer communication
- Determine requirements
- Change of requirements
- Review requirements

21
Q

What is a corporate business plan?

A
  • Vision statement
  • Mission (how you will achieve business plan)
  • Resources (and scope of works)
  • Objectives (corporate objectives, need to be measurable)
  • Strategies (how to reach objectives)
22
Q

What is an organisational structure?

A

Functional structure (hierarchical):
- Managing Director
- Then Building Surveyors, QS, Architects
- Then Placement student, CAD technician

Divisional structure (each discipline is split by division):
- Managing Director
- Then Surveying division (with admin and finance, marketing)
- Alongside QS division (with admin and finance, marketing)

Matrix structure (each team reports into head of team and head of function):
- Managing Director
- Delivery Manager
- All delivery team report into Delivery Manager and Project Lead

Flatarchy (not flat, not hierarchical):

23
Q

What is working capital?

A

A company’s ability to pay it’s working liabilities with its current working assets

24
Q

What is a stock?

A

Also known as equity

Ownership of a fraction of an entity

Units of stock are called shares

25
Q

What is a debtor?

A

Company / individual who owed money

If debt is from a financial institution, the debtor is called a borrower

If the debt is in the form of bonds, the debtor is called an issuer

Someone who files for bankruptcy is called a debtor

26
Q

What are the two types of debt?

A

Loans
- Trade debtor - Someone who hasn’t paid you for your goods or services yet

Creditor
- Party that is owed money by another party

27
Q

What are current ratios?

A

A type of financial benchmarking

Current ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities

If ratio is below 2:1 it is a cause for concern for a business to repay it’s debts

Nowadays businesses trade on a 1:1 ratio basis

28
Q

What are quick ratios?

A

Measures liquidity quicker than the current ratio, because turning stock into cash takes times

Quick ratio = Current Assets less Stock / Current Liabilities

29
Q

What is gross profit margin?

A

Gross profit as a percentage of turnover

Gross profit % = gross profit / turnover x 100

30
Q

What is breaking even point?

A

Break even = Fixed expenses / gross margin

31
Q

What is net profit margin?

A

Net profit % = Net profit / turnover x 100

If net profit is declining, look at which costs increased the most

32
Q

What is return on capital employed? ROCE

A

Return on capital employed = Net profit / net assets x 100

33
Q

What do you mean by short, medium and long term goals?

A

1 years
5 years
10 years

34
Q

How often are your team meetings and what project milestones do you speak about?

A

Fortnightly

  • Planning applications submitted / validated / consented
  • Design updates like starting / ending a design stage
  • Construction updates like topping out / PC
35
Q

How often are your development team meetings and what business updates are given?

A

Monthly

  • New business strategy (e.g. reduce head count, cash back into business, selling construction business)
  • Role as Development Manager rather than Developer
  • Options for projects with new strategy
36
Q

What business operations have you undertaken outside your role that align with LL business strategy?

A

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government does consultations on planning issues and I have provided responses on behalf of Lendlease in relation to:

  • Planning fees
  • Brownfield development
37
Q

What is a business plan?

A
  • Formal statement of goals, why they are achievable, and the plan for reaching these goals
  • Background info of team / firm
  • Presented to funders / investors
38
Q

What are general contents of a business plan?

A
  • Exec Summary
  • Business concept (Property Developer and Investor)
  • Strategy and actions
  • Case studies / products / competitive advantage
  • Markets pursuing
  • Management team and employees
  • Competition
  • Financial statements
  • Financing needs
39
Q

What are the key headings you would find in a business plan?

A
  • Intro
  • Short, medium, long term goals
  • Financial performance targets
  • Market analysis - opportunities and threats
  • Business analysis - Strengths and weaknesses
40
Q

What targets might you pursue in a business plan?

A
  • Growth of fees / profit
  • Growth into certain markets
  • Building relationships with clients
41
Q

How would you prepare a long term business strategy?

A
  • Description of business
  • Identify stakeholders and needs
  • Analyse existing strategy is applicable
  • SWOT
  • PEST (political, economic, social, technological)
  • SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timebound)
  • Marketing strategy
  • Resources (labour / capital)
  • Implement strategy
  • Review KPIs and areas for improvement
  • Monitor and review progress
42
Q

What is an investment appraisal?

A

Techniques used to assess if a firm is a good investment.

  • Payback (time it takes for capital investment inflows to equal initial cash outflows)
  • Rate of Return (want a high one)
  • DCF (converts future PV into PV, accounts for inflation)
  • NPV (inflows minus outflows, used discounted cash flows to calculate NPV of a series of cashflows, measures delta in shareholder wealth over time)
43
Q

What is the RICS business plan?

A
  • Ensure it is trusted by their stakeholders and society
  • Ensure the RICS qualifications are in demand
  • Ensure the RICS is an influential thought leader
  • Ensure members are involved and engaged
  • Ensure it is a sustainable 21st century professional body
44
Q

What is an outline business case?

A
  • Early reporting of reasoning for initiating a project
  • Entails project background, basic costs, risks, options
  • Opportunity cost of doing nothing
  • Case informs the business case
  • Clients should always have more than one option
45
Q

How / why do you need to assess different project options?

A
  • Feasibility study
  • Intro, brief, analysis, identify best option, cost analysis, appendices
46
Q

What are current macroeconomic trends?

A

Inflation: 2.8 - 3%
Base Rate: 4.5 - 4.75%

47
Q

What are current development and construction industry trends?

A

Development:
- Following NPPF 2024 update, more landowners are looking to bring sites forward in 2025
- House price growth expected to increase by 4% which is good if you are looking to sell
- High demand low supply set to continue and push rental prices up
- Build to Rent
- Life Sciences

Construction:
- Building costs increase by 17% over next 5 years
- Tender prices (cost to client) will increase by 15% over next 5 years