Business plans for dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go From Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Business Plans
	Chapter 1 Preparing to Do a Business Plan
		Identifying Your Planning Resources
			Checking out the variety of sources out there
			Surfing the Internet
			Purchasing business-planning software
			Seeking professional help
			Finding friendly advice
		Assembling Your Planning Team
			Setting the ground rules
			Delegating responsibility
		Putting Your Plan on Paper or in Cyberspace
			Executive summary
			Company overview
			Business environment
			Company description
			Company strategy
			Financial review
			Action plan
	Chapter 2 Understanding the Importance of a Business Plan
		Bringing Your Ideas into Focus
			Looking forward
			Looking back
			Looking around
			Taking the first step
		Understanding the Planning behind the Plan
			Is planning an art or science?
			Why planning matters
		Satisfying Your Audience
			Venture capital
			Bankers, backers, and bootstrappers
	Chapter 3 Setting Off in the Right Direction
		Understanding Why Values Matter
			Facing tough choices
			Weighing utilitarianism and other philosophies
			Applying ethics and the law
			Getting caught lost and unprepared, if not naked and afraid
			Understanding the value of having values
		Clarifying Your Company Values
			Putting together your values statement
			Following through with your values
		Creating Your Company’s Vision Statement
	Chapter 4 Charting the Proper Course
		Creating Your Company’s Mission Statement
			Getting started
			Capturing your business (in 50 words or less)
		Introducing Goals and Objectives
			Why bother?
			Goals versus objectives
			Efficiency versus effectiveness
		Minding Your Own Business: Setting Goals and Objectives
			Creating your business goals
			Laying out your objectives
			Matching goals and objectives with your mission
			Timing is everything
Part 2 Describing Your Marketplace
	Chapter 5 Examining the Business Environment
		Understanding Your Business
		Analyzing Your Industry
			Configuring the structure
			Measuring the markets
			Remembering the relationships
			Figuring out the finances
			Coming up with supporting data
		Recognizing Critical Success Factors
			Adopting new technologies, procedures, and policies
			Getting a handle on what counts most
			Determining what drives your business
			Looking for a great location
			Dealing with distribution
			Marketing mind games
			Getting along with government regulation
		SWOT: Preparing for Opportunities and Threats
			Finding warm and soothing waters
			Scanning for clouds on the horizon, ice on the water, or worse
	Chapter 6 Slicing and Dicing Markets
		Separating Customers into Groups
		Identifying Market Segments
			Who buys
			What customers buy
			Why customers buy
		Finding Useful Market Segments
			Is the segment the right size?
			Can you identify the customers?
			Can you reach the market?
		Becoming Market Driven
	Chapter 7 Getting Up Close and Personal with Customers
		Keeping Track of the Big Picture
		Categorizing Your Customers
			Comparing generations
			Defining your good customers
			Handling your not-so-best customers
			Scoping out the other guy’s customers
		Discovering the Ways Customers Behave
			Understanding customer needs
			Determining customer motives
		Figuring Out How Customers Make Choices
			Realizing perceptions are reality
			Setting in motion the five steps to adoption
		Understanding the Global Customer
		Serving Your Customers Better
		Looking at a Special Case: Business Customers
			Filling secondhand demand
			Decision-making as a formal affair
			Knowing the forces to be reckoned with
	Chapter 8 Covering Your Competition
		Understanding the Value of Competitors
		Identifying Your Real Competitors
			Considering competition based on customer choice
			Paying attention to product usage and unexpected new competition
			Spotting strategic groups
			Focusing on future competition
		Tracking Your Competitors’ Actions
			Determining competitors’ capabilities
			Assessing competitors’ strategies
		Predicting Your Competitors’ Moves
			Figuring out competitors’ goals
			Uncovering competitors’ assumptions
		Competing to Win
			Organizing facts and figures
			Choosing your battles
Part 3 Weighing Your Company’s Prospects
	Chapter 9 Assessing Where You Stand Today
		Doing Situation Analysis
		Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses
			Keeping frames of reference
			Defining capabilities and resources
			Monitoring critical success factors
		Analyzing Your Situation in 3-D
			Getting a glance at competitors
			Completing your SWOT analysis
	Chapter 10 Profiting from Your Business Plan
		Describing What You Do Best
			Looking at the links in a value chain
			Forging your value chain
			Understanding your value proposition
		Putting Together a Business Model
			How will you make money?
			How’s your timing?
		Making Your Business Model Work
			Searching for a competitive advantage
			Focusing on core competence
			Sustaining an advantage over time
		Earmarking Resources
	Chapter 11 Figuring Out the Financial Details
		Reading Income Statements
			Rendering revenue
			Calculating costs
			Pondering profits
		Interpreting Balance Sheets
			Ascertaining assets
			Categorizing liabilities and owners’ equity
		Examining Cash-Flow Statements
			Moving money: Cash in and cash out
			Watching cash levels rise and fall
		Evaluating Financial Ratios
			Meeting short-term obligations
			Remembering long-term responsibilities
			Reading relative profitability
	Chapter 12 Forecasting and Budgeting
		Constructing a Financial Forecast
			Piecing together your pro-forma income statement
			Estimating your balance sheet
			Projecting your cash flow
		Exploring Alternative Financial Forecasts
			Utilizing the DuPont formula
			Answering a what-if analysis
		Making a Budget
			Looking inside the budget
			Creating your budget
Part 4 Looking to the Future
	Chapter 13 Confronting Uncertainty
		Understanding the Dangers of Ignoring Change
		Defining the Dimensions of Change
			Governmental trends
			Economic trends
			Cultural trends
			Technological trends
		Anticipating Change
		Preparing for a Changing Future
	Chapter 14 Thinking Strategically
		Applying Off-the-Shelf Strategies
			Leading with low costs
			Standing out in a crowd
			Focusing on focus
		Changing Your Boundaries
			The evolution of new strategic models
			Outsourcing and offshoring
		Leading and Following
			Market-leader strategies
			Market-follower strategies
		Tailoring Your Own Strategy
	Chapter 15 Growing Up, Growing Bigger, and Growing Old
		Facing Up to the Product Life Cycle
			Starting out
			Growing up
			Maturing in middle age
			Riding out the senior stretch
			Gauging where you are now
		Finding Ways to Expand
			Same product and same market
			New market or new product
			New product and new market
		Managing Your Product Portfolio
			Utilizing strategic business units
			Aiming for the stars
		Asking Two Final Questions About Growth
			Knowing that, yes, growth is good
			Managing growth wisely
Part 5 Putting Your Business Plan into Action
	Chapter 16 Shaping and Shape-Shifting Your Organization
		Recognizing That Form Follows Function
		Putting Together an Effective Organization
			Choosing a basic design
			Focusing on a functional model
			Divvying up duties with a divisional form
			Sharing talents with the matrix format
			Dealing with too many chefs in the kitchen
			Finding what’s right for you
		Thinking and Organizing for the Future
	Chapter 17 Leading the Way
		Encouraging Leadership Roles
			Leading from the front or the back
			Looking at leadership styles
		Developing Business Skills (And Having the Right Personality Traits)
			Evaluating personality traits
			Distinguishing appropriate skills
		Creating the Right Culture
		Following Through with Your Vision
		Bringing Your Plan to Life (And Making a Final Check)
Part 6 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 18 Ten (Or So) Signs That Your Business Plan Needs Refreshing — or Worse
		Your Business Goals Change Abruptly
		You Don’t Meet Your Plan Milestones
		New Technology Makes a Splash
		Important Customers Walk Away
		The Competition Heats Up
		Product Demand Falls Sharply
		Revenues Go Down or Costs Go Up
		Company Morale Slumps
		Key Financial Projections Don’t Pan Out
		Too Much Growth, Too Fast
		An Unwanted Surprise Pops Up
	Chapter 19 Ten (Or So) Questions to Ask about Your Plan
		Are Your Goals and Mission in Sync?
		Can You Point to Major Opportunities?
		Have You Prepared for Threats?
		Do You Know Your Customers?
		Can You Track Your Competitors?
		Do You Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses?
		Does Your Strategy Make Sense?
		Can You Stand Behind the Numbers?
		Are You Really Ready for Change?
		Is Your Plan Concise and Up-to-Date?
		What’s the Worst That Can Happen, and How Will You Deal with It?
	Chapter 20 Ten (Or So) Business-Planning Never-Evers
		Failing to Plan in the First Place
		Shrugging Off Values and Vision
		Second-Guessing the Customer
		Underestimating Your Competition
		Ignoring Your Strengths
		Mistaking a Budget for a Plan
		Shying Away from Reasonable Risk
		Allowing One Person to Dominate a Plan
		Being Afraid to Change
		Forgetting to Motivate and Reward
		Faking It
Appendix A Sample Business Plan
Index
EULA