The Resourceful Reporter, Part 24: Business Plans

The twenty-third and final report of this series is the business plan. We usually associate a business plan with entrepreneurs. But employees of profit and nonprofit organizations with an entrepreneurial spirit should understand the business plan's function and strategy because they cross over to many business activities. 

A business plan is a detailed strategic tool stating the rationale and approach for achieving business goals. The author could be an individual, business unit, or company. The intended readers could be internal or external: management, staff, potential funders, clients, or the general public. Business plans can examine for executives the feasibility of a strategy, announce to staff a multiyear operational approach to staff, or seek from funders financing to underwrite operations, among other purposes.

In the planning stage of composing the business plan, the authors conduct either or both of these analyses:

• SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) of the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company, as well as the external opportunities and threats toward achieving its goals
• 5 C analysis of one internal factor (company) and four external ones (customers, competitors, collaborators, and climate), urging a SWOT analysis of all 5 C's.

Internal business plans to management usually have these parts:

• executive summary, providing an overview of all the content
• situation analysis, reviewing the SWOT/5C
• operational plan, describing the promotional, sales, or operational approach
• management team, detailing the qualification and responsibilities of the team
• financial plan, covering the resources needed and return on investment

External business plans to funding sources might discuss a similar executive summary, operational plan management team, and financial plans. But it substitutes the situation analysis for two other parts:

• business description, listing the company's vision and mission statement as well as the market opportunity 
• market analysis, explaining what makes the company's approach advantageously different from the competitors' approach, and what the company's needs

 Other reports in this series:

1. Meeting Reports
2. Incident Reports
3. Investigation Reports
4. Inspection Reports
5. Procedural Reports
6. Scopes of Work
7. Test Reports
8. Course Reviews
9. Conference Reviews
10. Contractor Appraisals
11. Staff Appraisals
12. Self-Appraisals
13. Audit Reports
14. Root-Cause Reports
15. Business Forecasts
16. Project Plans
17. Project Status Reports
18. Project Completion Reports
19. Internal Proposals
20. Justification Reports
21. Business Cases
22. External Proposals

The Resourceful Reporter, Part 23: External Proposals

Using an internal proposal template to write an external proposal would be a futile timewaster. While a careful audience analysis is necessary for either document, far too many external proposals focus on the writer's strengths, not the reader's needs. I see this major weakness wherever external proposals appear, including in major corporations that have the resources to know and do better. 

Beware of writers who compose me-focused messages; they are lazy and selfish, uninterested in their prospective clients' concerns and likely proposing a costly, ineffectual cookie-cutter approach to complex problems or opportunities. If you've seen as many external proposals as I have, you are familiar with the several-page-long narrative explaining the service provider's elite qualifications. This approach seems so foolish. The proposing firm was invited to submit the proposal foremost because it is so well known. So why spend so much copy on the obvious?

After expressing appreciation for the opportunity to propose a solution to a problem or a strategy for a project, external proposals should show a deep understanding of the client's business, aims, and needs. A SWOT analysis would be in order during the planning stage of the proposal, even if it does not appear in the final draft. Your job? To fill the client's competency gap toward achieving their goal. The better you explain the case, the more the client will realize your grasp of the industry and command of the situation.

Next comes your proposed approach, detailing your qualifications, strategy, scope of work, investment request, disclaimers, and contingencies, if any. Even this part of the proposal should spin toward your client's needs and interests.

 Other reports in this series:

1. Meeting Reports
2. Incident Reports
3. Investigation Reports
4. Inspection Reports
5. Procedural Reports
6. Scopes of Work
7. Test Reports
8. Course Reviews
9. Conference Reviews
10. Contractor Appraisals
11. Staff Appraisals
12. Self-Appraisals
13. Audit Reports
14. Root-Cause Reports
15. Business Forecasts
16. Project Plans
17. Project Status Reports
18. Project Completion Reports
19. Internal Proposals
20. Justification Reports
21. Business Cases

The Resourceful Reporter, Part 22: Business Cases

People see business cases as internal proposals, the topic of part 20 in this series on report writing, but with a lot more depth and a greater likelihood of the reporter's producing both a written and oral presentation. In the spirit of depth and duality, this post covers key points from my course and webinar, Designing and Presenting a Business Case, which I deliver in classrooms and virtually.

What is a business case? A business case is the rationale and strategy for investing in, not investing in, or modifying a project or property. The project can be as straightforward as a 5,000 square-foot extension of a suburban manufacturing facility for $750,000, or for a more complex new $750 million desalination plant near a seaside town, or for a $1.5 billion city residential community. A business case can also call for divesting of a property or a business segment, or it can provide a path for changing the way a business operates. 

What are the parts of a business case? You might find helpful dividing a business case into three major sections: issue, analysis, and strategy. Each of these sections include eight distinct talking points.

ISSUE

1.Aim – The problem or opportunity

2. Authorization – person, group, regulator, or law requiring the business case

3. Situation – current state of problem or opportunity

4. Standard – criteria by which situation is measured 

5. Impact – effect of situation on business

6. Intervention – actions already taken to address issue

7. Context – extent of issue on business

8. History – relevant prior information about issue  

ANALYSIS

9. Methods – ways and means of analyzing issue

10. Scope – area and depth of analysis

11. Limitations – restrictions preventing complete analysis (e.g., insufficient time)

12. Data – relevant facts and sources about issue

13. Causes – reasons for issue

14. Options – choices for addressing issue with advantages and disadvantages

15. Rationale – reasoning for options and conclusion

16. Conclusion – implications of business case to business

STRATEGY

17. Recommendation – suggested course of action

18. Benefits – rewards for accepting recommendation

19. Risks – challenges of applying recommendation

20. Contingencies – ways of overcoming risks

21. Plan – strategy for applying recommendation

22.  Schedule – timeline and milestones

23. Investment – capital, property, and staff costs

24. Follow-up – next steps upon approval

Other reports in this series:

1. Meeting Reports
2. Incident Reports
3. Investigation Reports
4. Inspection Reports
5. Procedural Reports
6. Scopes of Work
7. Test Reports
8. Course Reviews
9. Conference Reviews
10. Contractor Appraisals
11. Staff Appraisals
12. Self-Appraisals
13. Audit Reports
14. Root-Cause Reports
15. Business Forecasts
16. Project Plans
17. Project Status Reports
18. Project Completion Reports
19. Internal Proposals
20. Justification Reports

The Resourceful Reporter, Part 21: Justification Reports

I have heard the terms internal proposals, appropriation requests, and justifications used interchangeably, depending on the business's nomenclature. In the previous post, I describe internal proposals as solicited or unsolicited requests to management for an investment of funds, staff, equipment, or real property. I have seen three large corporate clients equate their appropriation requests to internal proposals, so I do too. For this series on report writing, I define an internal proposal as a request for getting what we need to do what we must, and a justification as a defense for doing what we are already doing. 

We justify projects, activities, and purchases because we want a record of our business decisions and a rationale for them. The can be invaluable learning tools down the line. Justifications may require the following components:

1. A problem statement, including a detailed narrative about the causes of the problem and their impact on the business that motivated our reasonable actions. The problem statement may also call for a discussion of interventions taken which were inadequate in addressing the problem completely. 
2. An exploration of options, with advantages and disadvantages.
3. A justification, describing why the chosen path is the most cost-effective.
4. A project plan with required objectives, activities, tasks, responsible parties, milestones, contingencies, deliverables, and projected completion date. 

A justification has characteristics of a white paper because it discusses how the chosen course of action is embedded in the vision of the business. 

Other reports in this series:

1. Meeting Reports
2. Incident Reports
3. Investigation Reports
4. Inspection Reports
5. Procedural Reports
6. Scopes of Work
7. Test Reports
8. Course Reviews
9. Conference Reviews
10. Contractor Appraisals
11. Staff Appraisals
12. Self-Appraisals
13. Audit Reports
14. Root-Cause Reports
15. Business Forecasts
16. Project Plans
17. Project Status Reports
18. Project Completion Reports
19. Internal Proposals