Synopses & Reviews
Would you take off on a road trip to a new destination without a map or good directions? Probably not. Yet, sometimes business owners go full speed ahead without even having a destination in mind, much less a map on how to get there. That’s why so many businesses never make it. In today’s competitive marketplace, 3/4 of all new businesses fail within two to three years. Whether you’re launching a new business or working to strengthen or expand an established one, a business plan is your road map to success.
Business Plans For Dummies, 2nd Edition helps you keep your businesses on track and reach your goals. Written by Paul Tiffany, PhD, professor at UC Berkley Haas Business School and the Wharton School of Business and Steven Peterson, PhD, Professor at UC Berkeley Haas Business School and CEO of Strategic Play, it helps you
- Realistically determine where your business is and where you want to go
- Create a detailed business plan and put it into action instead of in a drawer
- Use the plan to secure financing
- Prepare for opportunities avoid common pitfalls
In short, Business Plans for Dummies helps you determine where you want your business to go and create a map for getting there. You’ll discover how to:
- Identify and approach potential financial backers, including venture capital firms, angels, bankers, and others
- Clarify and crystallize your company’s mission, vision, and values
- Analyze your industry and your competition
- Identify your customers, including their needs, habits, purchase triggers, and decision-making processes
- Objectively analyze your company’s strengths and weaknesses
- Analyze your financial situation in order to do realistic forecasts and budgets
- Recognize trends and anticipate changes, both in the overall economy and in your industry
- Plan for growth, considering the product life cycle, new products, or new markets
- Structure your organization and nurture leadership
Complete with diverse techniques and approaches plus a sample business plan, Business Plans For Dummies gives you detailed how-to for designing a dynamic, business plan that will keep you on course in spite of the inevitable curves and detours in today’s marketplace. It’s a plantastic resource for business owners and entrepreneurs.
Synopsis
For some people, a business plan is a map to success that they're required to put together to raise money for a startup company. At best, it's a formality; at worst, it's a sizable pain in the neck. But a business plan doesn't exist just to garner financial support; it's also a powerful tool – one that's bound to make your company a better place to work and your business a more successful operation.
"Business Plans For Dummies can guide your business in the right direction no matter who you are or how your job description reads, whether you're part of a large corporation or a one-person show. If you've struggled through the planning process before – or if you're brand new to plotting out goals and objectives – this expert reference will show you how toCreate a right-on mission statementPinpoint the needs of your customersScope out the competitionSimplify all the financial stuffStay on top of trendsFoster a winning atmosphere for your staff
Packing the greatest value into a business plan calls for a look back at where your company's been and how it's changed over the years, a look forward to where and how you'll compete in the marketplace, and a look around at what you want to show and tell the world about your enterprise. This down-to-earth guide steps you through every milestone in business planning, includingDetermining where you want to go with your businessChecking out the business environment: customers and competitionAssessing your capabilities and resourcesGetting into strategic thinking modeFacing the facts about product life cyclesMotivating and appreciating the people who make it all happen in-house
Riding marketplace tides isn't the sport of amateursthese days; only 250f new businesses survive beyond their first three years of operation. This invaluable resource gives you a no-nonsense approach to staying afloat, rising above the risks, and enjoying the rewards as you take care of business.
Synopsis
Whether you're launching a new business or working to strengthen or expand an established one, a business plan is your road map to success
Would you take off on a road trip to a new destination without a map or good directions? Probably not. Yet sometimes business owners go full speed ahead without objectives, a mission, or even a destination in mind, much less a map showing them how to get there. That's why so many businesses have difficulty making it - and unfortunately, several don't - in today's competitive marketplace.
Business Plans For Dummies helps you start a new business with clear goals and a path forward to reach those goals. If you already have a business, this no-nonsense and comprehensive guide can help you realistically determine where your business is and where you want to take it. You'll learn to:
- Create a detailed business plan
- Put that plan into action (instead of in a drawer)
- Use the plan to secure financing
- Prepare for opportunities
- Avoid common pitfalls
In short, Business Plans For Dummies helps you create a map to help you take your business where you want it to go. You'll discover how to:
- Identify and approach potential financial backers, including venture capital firms, angels, bankers, and others
- Clarify and crystallize your company's mission, vision, and values
- Analyze your industry and your competition
- Identify your customers, including their needs, habits, purchase triggers, and decision-making processes
- Objectively analyze your company's stren
Synopsis
A new edition packed with new material of the indispensable guide to great business plans
A good business plan is vital to the success of any new business. It s the most direct way to garner financial support and investors and a powerful tool for giving a company a direction and goals. Business Plans For Dummies, Second Edition guides large and small businesses alike in designing the right business plan and in using it in the right way. This new edition featuring 25 percent new and updated information offers fresh coverage of important topics since the last edition, such as company values, identifying customer and market opportunities, technological trends, global business opportunities, and social responsibility in light of recent corporate scandals.
Much more than just a one-time formality, a business plan should be updated regularly to reflect shifting business realities and changing business goals. A good business plan is a vital tool in a company s efforts to:
Determine future direction
Survey the business environment
Assess the capabilities and resources of the business
Design effective business strategies
Motivate employees to meet objectives
Only 25 percent of new businesses survive beyond their first three years; the odds are stacked against every new business. This invaluable resource gives business leaders a no-nonsense approach to staying afloat, rising above the risks, and enjoying the rewards of success.
Paul Tiffany, PhD (Santa Rosa, CA), is Professor of Management in the Haas Business School at the University of California-Berkeley and an adjunct professor at the Wharton Schoolof Business. Steven D. Peterson, PhD (Petaluma, CA), is the founder and CEO of Strategic Play and an Executive Education Lecturer at the Haas Business School and the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Synopsis
Whether your company is a one-man operation or a large corporation, creating a great business plan is the first and most vital step to true business success. In fact, a clear, precise, and well-research business plan can be the big difference between finding funds and investors for your venture, or falling flat on your face.
Thankfully, Business Plans For Dummies, 2nd Edition guides wannabe entrepreneurs in the right direction. Updated and revised for today’ s businesses, this friendly guide covers every step of business plan creation, from doing the initial market research, to crunching the numbers, to preparing for the competition, including: Pinpointing company goals and objectives Creating a clear, simple mission statement Identifying customers and understanding their needs Differentiating your business from the competition Understanding budgeting and finances
Professor of Management Paul Tiffany and successful executive Steven Peterson offer the latest tips and advice to help you launch your venture with confidence. With quick, easy, and sensible solutions for all your planning dilemmas — no matter how complex your business plan is — this handy guide covers it all: Why the business plan is vital Charting a proper course for the business Understanding markets and business environments Knowing customers and competition Forecasting and budgeting Thinking strategically Managing change and business growth Putting the business plan into action What you should never put in your business plan
Millions of Americans dream of starting their own businesses, but they often don’ t realize that the most important step in the process is the first step: gettingthe business plan right. A bad business plan can cripple a good business idea. Business Plans For Dummies, 2nd Edition, presents all the straightforward advice and technical know-how entrepreneurs need to get it right the first time.
Synopsis
Create a winning business plan with expert tips and strategies
Covers planning basics, financing, marketing, legal issues, and more
Creating a great business plan is the first and most vital step to business success. Business Plans For Dummies, 2nd Edition, walks you through each step of the planning process.
Discover how to:
- Assess your company's goals and objectives
- Create a clear, precise mission statement
- Identify customers and understand their needs
- Differentiate your business from the competition
- Understand budgeting and finances
About the Author
Paul Tiffany, PhD, is a professor of management at the Haas Business School, UC Berkeley, and an Adjunct Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Steven Peterson, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Strategic Play and an Executive Education Lecturer at the Haas Business School.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
Part I: Knowing Where You Want to Go.
Chapter 1: Preparing to Do a Business Plan.
Chapter 2: Understanding the Importance of a Business Plan.
Chapter 3: Setting Off in the Right Direction.
Chapter 4: Charting the Proper Course.
Part II: Describing Your Marketplace.
Chapter 5: Examining the Business Environment.
Chapter 6: Slicing and Dicing Markets.
Chapter 7: Getting Better Acquainted With Customers.
Chapter 8: Checking Out Your Competition.
Part III: Weighing Your Company’s Prospects.
Chapter 9: Assessing Where You Stand Today.
Chapter 10: Making Money Doing What You Do Best.
Chapter 11: Figuring Out the Financial Details.
Chapter 12: Forecasting and Budgeting.
Part IV: Looking to the Future.
Chapter 13: Managing Uncertainty.
Chapter 14: Thinking Strategically.
Chapter 15: Growing Up and Growing Bigger.
Part V: Putting Your Business Plan into Action.
Chapter 16: Shaping Your Organization.
Chapter 17: Leading the Way.
Part VI: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 18: Ten Signs That Your Business Plan Needs Refreshing.
Chapter 19: Ten Questions to Ask about Your Plan.
Chapter 20: Ten Business-Planning Never-Evers.
Appendix: A Sample Business Plan.
Index.