Preparing A Business Plan

Course 1 of the Business Planning Series

What you'll learn
The four key elements of a business plan
Preparation steps in developing a business plan
Guidelines for creating an effective business plan
Different parts of a business plan
Requirements
No special requirements or prerequisites
Description
Welcome to the Preparing a Business Plan course! This is course 1 of the Business Planning Series.Consider three people in three very different business situations. Harriet manages a long-established sporting goods chain that wants to expand into new markets but lacks capital. Evan has big plans for his IT startup but hasn't yet attracted the investment he needs.Laura heads a hardware retailer's Marketing Department, which is in need of a change of direction. The one thing they all have in common is they would benefit from creating a business plan.With a business plan, Harriet should be able to persuade her company's bank to approve a loan that will enable her operation to grow. Similarly, Evan could use a business plan to persuade investors to get on board.And Laura could use a plan to persuade senior management to allow her to overhaul the department, making it more effective. In each instance, an effective business plan can contribute toward making the business prosper.There are many important reasons to create a business plan. If your business is just starting out, business plans can help you attract investors. For new and established businesses alike, business plans map out how they'll negotiate opportunities and challenges.At a departmental level, business plans are developed to address medium-term planning needs and to secure approval and resources from senior management for new ideas and initiatives.This course will help you develop your own business plan. It starts with an introduction to business plans that illustrates the benefits of business planning and describes the main elements of a plan.It continues on to discuss the six preparatory steps you should take before developing a business plan and provide examples of each of these steps. And finally, it details how you can create your own plan by following a number of key guidelines.That’s it! Now go ahead and hit that “Take this course!” button and see you on the inside!

Overview

Section 1: Business Planning

Lecture 1 Program Overview

Lecture 2 Program Guidelines

Section 2: Preparing a Business Plan

Lecture 3 Course Overview

Lecture 4 Business Plans

Lecture 5 Business plan benefits

Lecture 6 Elements of business plans

Lecture 7 Organizing Your Thoughts

Lecture 8 Preparing to Develop Your Business Plan

Lecture 9 Defining your mission

Lecture 10 Doing research

Lecture 11 Establishing goals

Lecture 12 Identifying strategies

Lecture 13 Assessing resources and risks

Lecture 14 Preparing to Develop Your Business Plan

Lecture 15 Creating Your Business Plan

Lecture 16 The parts of a business plan

Lecture 17 Creating a Business Plan

Lecture 18 Business plan review

Lecture 19 Business plan guidelines

Lecture 20 Business Plan Guidelines

Lecture 21 Preparing a Business Plan

Business leaders, professionals, and managers who want to gain or refine their skills for planning and developing strategic business plans