Business Planning and Organization - Coursework Example

Planning (Name) (University) Planning Introduction Over the past two decades various organizations have changed the way they carry out their daily operations. This has been as a result of market competition based on quality production. Consequently, companies have sort to use effective methods that aim in maximum output. Essentially, business growth and realization of maximum profits depends on an appropriate business strategy and planning. There is a broad global agreement among business experts that accurate planning is a fundamental aspect for any business. Planning helps the organization to remain responsive and relevant in service provision to its clients. The organizations failure or growth depends on the criteria used in planning. Consequently, business planning facilitates program development and ensures business growth. Additionally, it aids in determination of a strategic approach in handling various business activities in an organization (McKay, 2014) From a governance perspective, it enables informed decision making and quality assurance. Specifically, it helps the board of management to set policies and goals of the business based on the current situation. The set qualities and goals provide a clear focus on business development. Various annual programs of an organization can only run smoothly when an effective business plan is in use. As a result, various organizations use qualified professionals who are well versed with business planning. In this regard, business planning varies based on the type of the organization and the intended goals to be achieved. There is always a specific business plan for a specific company. Simply put, a company cannot use a business plan set for another company. There is need to identify various business plans in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Comparing two or more business plan is vital since it provides strengths and weaknesses or various planning and strategies. As such, this retrospect report seeks to compare and constract two business plans from various organizations. The comparison will be between a World Bank (2015) business plan for Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child and a business plan for Moose Mountain Café. Brief Description about the two Business plans A business plan for Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child The business plan focuses on empowering women and children. Evidently, in the past two decades less effort has been made to improve the lives of women, adolescents and young children. In this regard, various global financial organizations headed by the World Bank have decided to help set out a plan for financing these groups of people (World Bank, 2015). The global community has entered a 2015 post world sustainable development based on various goals. The business plan targets a considerable aspect related to reproductive, maternal, newborn child and the adolescents. The guiding principle for this plan was to ensure quality global health to these groups. Historical evidence proves that a lot of women lose their lives during the process of birth (McKay, 2014). Additionally, a considerable number of new born babies die either in the process of birth or in their infancy. Those who survive death in these two periods of time might end up dying at their adolescent period. Consequently, there was need to roll out a plan that would secure the lives of this individuals. The plan is strategically oriented in that it fulfills the needs of all global countries. Both low and high income earning countries will benefit from the designed plan. It is estimated from the plan that a total of US$ 33.3 billion have to be used by the end of 2015 in funding the plan (McKay, 2014). This is a general estimate of US$ 9.42 per capita per year for all global countries. Since its initiation in September 2014, Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Women Every Child (GFF) various challenges concerning the targeted group have been solved. However, there has been an acute financial constrains that hinder quality and appropriate service delivery. This has called for proper planning so as to source for various financing institutions (McKay, 2014). The targeted goal of the organization is to ensure that by 2030 all women, new born and adolescents receive proper medical care to reduce death risks. Evidently, GFF will be a vehicle that will help restore the global live of these individuals. GFF is aimed at bringing various financial partners together headed by the World Bank (McKay, 2014). This will help achieve scaled, smart and sustainable financing that will result in proper service provision. The set objectives from the plan include but not limited to the following. Firstly, it will ensure evidence based and high impact innervations to the targeted group. Secondly, scaled financing will enable global mobilization of the services provided by the organization. This will attract more clients to benefit from the program. Thirdly, sustainable financing will secure universal access to essential services provided enabled by the GFF to every child and every woman (McKay, 2014). Evidently, the business plan targets at improving and reaching very many children and women. A business plan Moose Mountain Café Moose Mountain Café sets out a business plan to help secure and obtain enough capital from the private equity funding (Moose Mountain Café, 2015). The targeted total amount needed is $30,000. As a result, it has to come up with various strategies that will help raise the amount needed. Moose Mountain Café has opted to use sole proprietorship as its formal legal entity (Wagner, 2015). The option was reached based on its simple structure. The business structure used in this organization exposes the owner to unlimited liability, risk management and insurance will be provided. The business will be a startup venture. The plan is aimed at providing appropriate services to its customers (Wagner, 2015). Specifically, the café will serve American-style breakfast and lunch. The marketing department will be effective to ensure that the café is known to many people. The business plan aims at outlining the importance of eating in the café as compared to other facilities offering similar services. The business plan has specific objectives, goals and strategies that will lead to realization of the targeted money. The location of the business at the Main Street view gives it an upper hand in terms of marketing. Essentially, the plan emphasizes on flexibility of the menu. It will change frequently based on the season and demand. The plan seems to be effective since the café targets a variety of customers. For instance, the location of the café gives it a market competitive advantage. It targets serving business owners and workers, local residents and tourists (Wagner, 2015). The business plan will aid in effective management. Apparently, the managers will get all the required business details about the business operations from the business. Strongest Components of the Business Plans A good business plan explains the ventures that an organization needs to achieve. A business plan explains various actions that need to be achieved. In this regard, various business plans have specific strong points that need to be achieved. The two business plans have their various strongest points as follows. Three Strongest Components for Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child Business Plan 1. The Executive Summary The plan has an executive summary that shows a summary of what is intended to happen in the plan. This part is well outlined and it describes the organization’s plans (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The plan is based on the GFF in which the organization has incorporated the World Bank and other financial institutions to help solicited for money to aid in its plans. The business plan set captures all of the activities that are to be carried out by the GFF upon getting the finance. Essentially, it is evident that this part of the plan has to capture the attention of a first reader. In this regard, the organization has to capture all fundamental aspects in the executive summary. It therefore important to use an appropriate executive summary in a business plan since it helps set out the objectives that needs to be achieved by the plan (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). 2. Operation Plan The plan utilizes this section by outlining how the activities will run. The target of the plan is to look for financial support from various prominent global financial institutions. In this regard, it is vital that the plan outlines out how the GFF will approach these organizations for support. All operations related to financial acquisition to help improve the health conditions of women, children and adolescents is outlined in this section. Consequently, this component is a fundamental aspect since it outlines operational plans (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The section is designed in a way that it does not interfere with the objectives of the organization. It outlines out how the staff of GFF will approach different financial organizations to look for money. 3. Funding Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child Business Plan has a specified section that outlines the intended funding personnel. The section gives the exact amount of funds that is needed to help complete the plans (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The business plan explained the expected expenditure to the lenders and financers so as to show logical ideas. In effect, this section is very vital since it reviews the Cash Flow in the organization. The cash flows helps to determine the amount of money spend over a given period of time (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The section gives a clear picture on how the money given by various sponsors will be spent. It therefore, ideal to include this component in this business plan since it shows the value of money to be used. A cash safety cushion is given in this section. As such, delayed cash delivery and unexpected expenses are well explained in this section (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). Evidently, the component is very vital in this business plan. Three Strongest Components of Moose Mountain Café 1. Company Overview A company overview entails a brief description of the company that has to set up a business plan. In this regard, the Moose Mountain Café business plan describes the intended operations of the Café. The organization is expected to select a sole proprietorship as its formal legal entity (Moose Mountain Café, 2015). This point is very essential since it gives the expected investors knowledge on the activities of the organization. The section gives the name of the company, location and organization (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The business plan of Moose Mountain Café is bases on a starting a new café. As a result, the company has a brief historical overview. However, the mission, goals and current financial status is categorically outlined (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). This component is very vital since it gives a brief overview of the company in question. 2. Marketing Plan Moose Mountain Café business plan has outlined how marketing will be carried out. Firstly, the café targets local workers, local residents and tourists (Moose Mountain Café, 2015). As such, the marketing design to be used has various specifications based on the location of the targeted markets. Essentially, local residences will be able to meet the marketing personnel from various from the café personally. On the other hand, the café will have its official website where proper marketing will be done. The tourists and other users across the globe will be able to view the type food and services provided in the café. Secondly, the product and service strategy is properly outlined in the marketing plan (Moose Mountain Café, 2015). The café intends to provide American breakfast and lunch. Consequently, the marketing plan in this business plan will provide information about the food that is provided in the café. Lastly, the marketing plan is very important because it outlines the expected sales and a revenue model that will be used in realization of the expected capital (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The component is equally important in any business plan. 3. Organization’s Management The café will be new in the area therefore the resumes will be attached from Rosie Jenkins (Moose Mountain Café, 2015). The business plan outlines various duties which will be done by the resumes. This is vital since it will enable easy management. Accounting and cash management systems will be in place. Apparently, the organization seeks to use an electronic register. The register will ensure accurate transactions and realization of the set profits. This point on the business plan is very essential. It helps in accurate financial transactions, and it fosters competition among the workers. Evidently, the management section is very vital since it will help the CEO of the café have an easy time handling various workers. The decisions made in the organization will be valid based on the current situations (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). Weakest Components of the Business Plans Strongest business plans as a fore mentioned provide a road map for turning a small business into a profitable enterprise. However, there are various aspects that must not be seen in a business plan. These aspects are refereed to us the weakest components of the business plan. As such, the two business plans have their weakest components respectively. The three weakest components of the two business plans are as discussed below. Three Weakest Components for Global Financing Facility in Support of Every Woman Every Child Business Plan 1. Lack of Through Market Analysis GFF lacks a through market analysis of the targeted customers. An effective business plan covers the current and previous market analysis. This is always effective since it gives the targeted investors an idea about the security of their money (Wagner, 2015). The GFF business plan targets to capture the interests of various global financial institutions. The institutions have to come in and fund the project that will help provide good health conditions to every child and every woman. However, the plan does not provide a thorough analysis on how the investors will benefit from the organization. The efforts of these investors will end at only funding the organization. They will not benefit much from the organization (Wagner, 2015). These component weakness this business plan and might divert the interests of the targeted financers. 2. lack of Competition Aspect in the Plan A good business plan needs to provide a full detail about other similar organizations that provide same services (Wagner, 2015). Essentially, every business has competitors that aim at providing much better services to its clients. In this regard, a good business plan has to outline specific details on how it will deal with its competitors to emerge the best. Consequently, the GFF business plan lacks this component. It does not explain how it will compete with similar global organizations that provide support to women, children and the adolescents. It focuses only on how it will provide its services to the targeted group. This is the weakest component since there are similar organizations that will compete with GFF. As a result, it has to plan on how to overcome the competitors. 3. Provision of Too Much Details The business plan has a lot of unnecessary information that makes it to be too long. A good business plan has to be brief but provides all of the details that are required in the plan (Wagner, 2015). The GFF business plan is too long and yet it lacks the fundamental aspects about its operations. Other unnecessary information about the organization is provided. The information is however, less important. This component makes the plan to be weak as compared to other business plans. Three Weakest Components of Moose Mountain Business Plan 1. Lack of Graphics in the Plan Currently, the concentration span of various individuals in the world is reducing (Ennico, 2013). An individual reading a business plan will take the attention into the power point graphics provided at the end of the plan to determine what the plan is about. As a result, McKay (2014) advices that a good business plan has to use a lot of graphics. The graphics will capture the reader’s interest. In this regard, the business plan for Moose Mountain Café lacks graphics in its outline. These might not attract the attention of the readers properly to help invest in the business. 2. Lack of Executive Summary A good business plan has to have an executive summary part. This part is essential since it gives the readers a summary of what is contained in the business plan. It gives an overview of what is expected of the plan (Wagner, 2015). However, the Moose Mountain Café business plan lacks this section. The plan begins with outlining the set goals and targets that have to be achieved upon establishment of the café. 3. Lack of Funding Requests in Stages In the recent past, a single business plan could request a total of up to $3 billons at once. The past plans did not request financial support in stages but rather requested the target amount at once. This was considered in effective since it scared away attracted financers (McKay, 2014). As result, business plan experts changed the approach. The targeted amount was to be requested in stages. The changes made various businesses plans to be effective and attracted the attentions of the investors. The Moose Mountain Café business plan request the targeted amount at once. It starts by highlighting that it requires a total $30,000 at once to start its operations. This might scare aware away interested investors who lack the required cash at once. Suggestions on how to Improve a Business Plan A business plan covers comprehensive, written description of a certain business organization or enterprise. It gives detailed information about an intended action to be taken so as to achieve a certain goal. The plan targets to attract the attention of various investors and financers to the organization. As a result, the plan has to be written properly so as to serve its purpose. Over the past decades, various organizations have failed in achieving their targeted goals based on their business plans due to poor presentations (McKay, 2014). Currently, various professional experts have come in to help in developing an effective business plan for a specified organization. In this regard, the following are ways in which a business plan can be improved to serve its purpose. Firstly, the plan has to stipulate out clearly the action plan (McKay, 2014). The aim of witting a business plan is to come up with a certain action that will aid in recovery of achievement of a certain goal. Consequently, the action plan has to be clearly stipulated to show the full details of the intended activities. The business plan’s action plan might target starting a new venture or improving on an already existing activity. Essentially, when writing a business plan one needs to identify a specific action that has to be achieved upon receiving the finances. Evidently, a good business plan shows goals and objectives that need to be achieved after a period of time. As such, any business plan has to consider utilizing this section. Secondly, a business plan has to show a road map of the intended actions (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). Writing a business plan gives a clear guidance on how the actions will be achieved. Essentially, writing a business requires one to have the general knowledge about the organization. This helps in provision of a clear roadmap o how the operations of the plans will be carried out. Additionally, the road map guides the investors to establish how their money will be spent. It gives out how unexpected risks will be managed during the implementation of the plan (McKay, 2014). The management of the plan will be able to understand the specific actions that need to be taken so as to achieve the intended objectives. A road map is a guiding principle that ensures effective implementation of a business plan. It is an essential component in a business plan. Writing an effective plan requires that one has the knowledge about the sales, marketing and the current capital of the organization (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). A good business plan broadly covers the financial aspect of the organization so as to ensure that the investors establish the need to finance the organization. The outside financing tool has to act as a booster to what an organization already has. Apparently, the current financial situation of a business will either attract or scare away the financial personnel. The section has to be outlined out clearly since it is a fundamental guiding tool to the security of the financers’ money. This component is very vital and it has to be utilized properly in any business plan. Five Lessons Learnt about Business Planning The modest term business plan does not justify its validity in any business organization. The tool is very important in that various organizations cannot properly prosper without it. The discovery of the tolls dates in the earlier days of the United States of America business operations in which it was first used. Essentially, this tool comes with a variety of aspects that need to be discovered by various business organizations (McKay, 2014). As such I have learnt the following five aspects about business planning. Firstly, a business plan has various components that have to be presented in the plan. The plan is not just like any other plan but it has various specifications that have to be included in it. Essentially, an effective business plan has to have the executive summary section. The section is useful since it gives a summary of what is targeted in the plan (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). This is the most vital component since it helps the readers who cannot endure long concentration spans to read the whole business plan. The section has to cover all other aspects of the organization in summary. It has to entails various fundamental business operations of the company or organization so as to show a summary of the intended plan. Secondly, I have learnt that a good business plan has to contain a well established financial background and a marketing strategy (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The two components are equally important since they stipulate the financial capability of the organization. The financial aspect will help the interested sponsors to establish how their support will be utilized. On the other hand, the marketing strategy will stipulate various activities that will be done to ensure realization of the plan business activities. Additionally, it will show various activities that will be done to help sell the business plan to a large market. Thirdly, a good business plan has to have an average length based on the type of organization. The plan should not be too long or too short. It has to be averagely weighed covering the fundamental aspects of the organization (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). In this regard, various organizations need to consult professional experts to help them in developing a good business plan. The plan has to capture and maintain the reader’s attention throughout the reading process. It has to be clear and easily understood. Fourthly, an effective business plan has to cover all components of the organization. Every section of the organization has to be discussed in the business plan. Fundamental components that have to be covered include but not limited to the intended product and services, management of the business, marketing, market competitions, timing, opportunities and risks and financial planning and sources of finance (Lawrence & Moyes, 2015). The above components have to be in a business plan since they show the current status of the business. Lastly, I have learnt that a good business plan has to be written by an individual who has general knowledge about the organization. Specifically, a business plan about a new business idea that has to be implemented upon receiving the finance has to be written by an expert in the specified field. On the other hand, a business plan for an already existing organization has to be written by personnel who have the idea about the organization in question. Simply put, a business plan has to be real and specific. Competencies that I believe I have demonstrated The business plan is a fundamental aspect in any business organization. As such, I have been able to demonstrate various competencies that are required to be done in regard to the planning aspect. Essentially, a well organized business plan has to cover all vital aspects about the business. Analyses of the two business plans have enabled me to determine the qualities of a good business plan. I believe that when given chance in future I can write a well placed business plan since I have the competencies. Conclusion Business planning is an essential process that has to be done accordingly by any organization. The plan helps in outlining various aspects that have to be achieved by a certain organization. In this regard, the plan has to be specific and address a specific organization. Currently, business planning is done by experts who are well versed with the planning knowledge. All aspects of the organization have to be captured in the plan. As a fore mentioned the plan has to attract the attention of various financers and sponsors to help achieve the set goal. Evidently, a business plan is set for a specified business organization. References Lawrence, S. & Moyes, F. (2015). Writing a Successful Business Plan. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Leeds School of Business McKay, E. M. (2014). Strategic Planning: A Ten-Step Guide. Mosaica. International Business Journal Vol. 1; 3568 Moose Mountain Café. (2015). Sample Business Plan. Retrieved from http://www.nhsbdc.org/sites/default/files/Moose%20Mountain_0.pdf on 15th August 2015 The World Bank. (2015). Business  Plan  for  the  Global  Financing  Facility in  Support  of Every  Women  Every  Child. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/HDN/Health/Business%20Plan%20for%20the%20GFF,%20final.pdf on 15th August 2015 Wagner, N. (2015). How to Identify Strengths & Weaknesses in a Business Plan. Chron Business Journal pp. 47 Read More