TABLE OF CONTENTS In Chapter 2 we examined the reasons and justification for preparing and using business plans, both for new and established enterprises. This chapter examines the ways in which business plans are presented, and suggests a basic structure which meets both the best-practice features of the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) National Occupational Standards for business planning, and the range of content and information required by the main high street lending banks in the UK. The structure is deliberately quite generic to allow flexibility in its content and presentation, so that it can be used as the basis for quite simple or highly complex business proposals. It also meets the learning outcomes or NVQ evidence of both the Chartered Management Institute and Institute of Leadership and Management Certificates and NVQ qualifications in business start-up.
There are a multitude of ideal business plans around, any or all of which will do the job for which they were designed, some better than others, and sadly some are quite inadequate. Each of the major clearing banks has its own version available to potential business customers in disk or paper format, along with explanatory notes to assist completion, and often with templates that supposedly simplify the process, but often just restrict the entrepreneurs opportunity to project their proposals in the best light. Other formats are available from local Business Links or Enterprise Agencies, or from the plethora of Start your own business books which abound on the...
