The Business Plan Workbook

Colin Barrow has lectured in business schools in the UK, the USA, Australia, the Far East and throughout Europe. A former visiting fellow at Cranfield School of Management, he is the author of the 30 Day MBA series, Financial Management for the Small Business and Starting a Business from Home (all published by Kogan Page). Paul Barrow is a visiting fellow at Cranfield and also a consultant advising SMEs on growth strategies. Robert Brown is a visiting fellow at Cranfield and directed the Graduate Enterprise Programme there, where he led a course on entrepreneurship.

Section - ONE: Strategy and purpose;


Chapter - 01: Introduction;
Chapter - 02: Assignment 1:Coming up with a winning idea for your business plan;
Chapter - 03: Assignment 2:Strategy – the big picture;
Chapter - 04: Assignment 3:You and your team;


Section - TWO: Market research;


Chapter - 05: Introduction;
Chapter - 06: Assignment 4:Researching customers;
Chapter - 07: Assignment 5:Researching competitors;
Chapter - 08: Assignment 6:A plan for market research;


Section - THREE: Competitive marketing strategies;


Chapter - 09: Introduction;
Chapter - 10: Assignment 7:Products and/or services;
Chapter - 11: Assignment 8:Pricing;
Chapter - 12: Assignment 9:Advertising and promotion;
Chapter - 13: Assignment 10:Place and distribution;
Chapter - 14: Assignment 11:People, process and physical environment;
Chapter - 15: Assignment 12:Competing online;


Section - FOUR: Operations;


Chapter - 16: Introduction;
Chapter - 17: Assignment 13:The selling methods plan;
Chapter - 18: Assignment 14:Making, outsourcing and supplies;
Chapter - 19: Assignment 15:Legal and regulatory factors;


Section - FIVE: Reviewing financing requirements and options;


Chapter - 20: Introduction;
Chapter - 21: Assignment 16:The sales forecast;
Chapter - 22: Assignment 17:Cash-flow projections;
Chapter - 23: Assignment 18:The profit and loss account;
Chapter - 24: Assignment 19:The balance sheet;
Chapter - 25: Assignment 20:Break-even analysis;
Chapter - 26: Assignment 21:Estimating financing requirements;
Chapter - 27: Assignment 22:Stress testing your business projections;


Section - SIX: Business controls;


Chapter - 28: Introduction;
Chapter - 29: Assignment 23:Financial controls;
Chapter - 30: Assignment 24:Sales and marketing controls;
Chapter - 31: Assignment 25:Other business controls;


Section - SEVEN: Writing up and presenting your business plan;


Chapter - 32: Introduction;
Chapter - 33: Assignment 26:Writing up and presenting your business plan;
Chapter - 34: Index of key organizations and resources for business planning;