Business Planning and control  

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The essence of successfully managing a business is planning and control.

Planning means identifying the risks and opportunities and assessing the resources that are available to meet them.

Control means measuring actual performance against the planned performance and taking remedial action.

An essential part of effective business planning is a well thought out and coherent business plan. An effective part of control is an efficient method of accounting for performance and systems that will provide the required performance indicators accurately.

Another very useful tool in planning and controlling a business is the systematic assessment of those risks to which a business is exposed, and the setting of policies and plans to deal with those risks. Peter Brown & Co can assist by providing a business risk assessment.

The sections below contain links to some of the specific services that Peter Brown & Co is able to offer . For those items where the links are still under development do not hesitate to contact us for an informal discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drafting a business plan

 

Measuring performance against the plan

The key elements of a business plan

 

Be prepared to be flexible

Updating the business plan

 

Assessing strengths and weaknesses

Business risk assessment

 

 

Identifying opportunities

 

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Updating the business plan

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When a business plan has been prepared, it should not simply be filed away to gather dust.

 

A business plan is an organic, evolving document that should be constantly reviewed and updated to meet the challenges of changing situations.

 

We can help you review, monitor and update your business plan.

 

 

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Measuring performance against the plan

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When you have prepared your business plan, you should monitor actual performance, both financial and non financial, against what was planned.

 

This will involve establishing systems of reporting that will identify and evaluate key parameters in your business.

 

We can help in establishing cost effective reporting solutions.

 

 

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Be prepared to be flexible

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 When a business plan has been prepared, it should not simply be filed away to gather dust.

 

A business plan is an organic, evolving document that should be constantly reviewed and updated to meet the challenges of changing situations.

 

We can help you review, monitor and update your business plan, and help you amend the plan to meet changing situations.

 

 

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Assessing strengths and weaknesses

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 Before you can prepare a successful business plan, you need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business, its staff, and its management, including yourself.

 

We have a number of tools and techniques that can help you ‘tease’ out the relevant items.

 

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Identifying opportunities and threats

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Before you can prepare a successful business plan, you need to identify the opportunities and threats that are open to you.

 

We have a number of tools and techniques that can help you ‘tease’ out the relevant items.

 

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 Drafting a business plan

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Drafting a successful business plan is an art.

 

You can purchase templates, and many banks will provide pro formas.

 

However, no matter how well you complete a proforma or tick all the boxes, there is a set of skills that are required to identify the weknesses and strengths, the opportunities and threats.

 

There is an art in assessing the market, and making financial assumptions, in correalting different variables and bringing all the separate elements together in a coherent and articulate plan that will signal the path forward for you into the future, and will convince potential lenders and investors to place their confidence in you.

 

This is where we can help

 

 

 

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The key elements of a business plan

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Assessing and identifying the market and the competition

Evaluating the product

Assessing the costs of making the product and bringing the product to market

Evaluating the resources and capabilities in finance, staff, equipment, premises and logistics available to bring the product to market

Determining the level and range of marketing and advertising.

Establishing price levels, break even levels and unit costs

Projecting potential sales and related cash flows

Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which the business and its staff will face.

Identifying the political and economic environment in which the business will be operating.

 

 

 

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A business risk assessment

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A fundamental part of standard auditing techniques is the preparation of a business risk assessment to establish those risks to which an enterprise is exposed. Such an assessment will initially form the basis of our approach to an audit and eventually will help management to plan future action to reduce or eliminate those risks, or prepare to meet them if they are unavoidable.

 

Although this technique was developed to assist in audit work, it has a much broader application. Any business can benefit from a detailed business risk assessment, whether or not it is subject to audit. Indeed, charities of a certain size are obliged to undertake a business risk assessment of their activities.

 

A business risk assessment will look at every area of economic, political, legal and environmental issues that might impact on the business, and identify the likelihood of any particular area of risk actually occurring. It will then suggest ways in which the risks can be tackled.

 

This can be a very useful management tool, and one with which Peter Brown & Co would be pleased to assist.

 

 

 

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Peter Brown & Co is a trading name of Undershot Ltd, registered in England , no 4114468. Director :-  P.Brown FCCA, FCIE,DchA,BSc.The registered office is Acomb Grange, Grange Lane, York, YO23 3QZ.

 

Last modified 07/02/09