Preparing a business plan is advised to all companies regardless of their size and market presence – startups as well as established mature companies.

Business planning allows you to increase the chances of success in the market, ensure further growth and development of the company.

The purpose of preparing a business plan can vary, but most often it is related to:

• Expanding the product / service portfolio
• New market penetration
• The launch of a new project
• Reorganization and revitalization of the company
• Collecting sources of financing (debt, equity, grants)

Well-prepared business plan discloses the feasibility of the business idea and foresees its success. Growth and development of business ideas also depend heavily on strategy, therefore development of the business model has to be approached carefully and in line with guidelines provided by experts.

The role of the consultant in the process of business plan preparation could be simply to provide a feedback regarding the quality of the business idea, or also to connect stakeholders such as potential customers, partners and investors, provide strategic business guidance, link technical and business knowledge and look for opportunities to develop new ideas.

It is wrong to think that a business plan in any way inhibits or restricts creativity and flexibility. It is strongly recommended solely due to the fact that prior to realization of a business idea one has to check its viability and get acquainted with the path and the obstacles that have to be overcome.

Elements of a good business plan:

• Analysis of the environment
• Market research
• Organisation
• Product/service plan
• Research and development
• Human resources
• Timeline
• Key risks and problems

Mandatory components of the business plan, connecting the above mentioned elements, refer to financial projections and scenarios of success. Together they form a realistic assessment of the business idea potential based on the business and its risks. Well prepared financial projections relate to future returns, required investments in working capital and fixed assets and the extent of non-monetary categories.

Based on the financial projections bankers and various other funds decide whether to support a business idea and thus provide sufficient sources of funding for its success.

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Balanced scorecard makes strategy operational by translating it into performance measures. Operational orientation allows monitoring of the strategy via selected key performance indicators in a simple and easy way (status and change over time).

Balanced scorecard is a great tool to holistically track the execution of a strategy and understand the “causes – consequences”.

The balanced scorecard divides measures into the following interdependent perspectives – innovation, internal processes, customer and financial.

• • Balanced scorecard: Financial
    How is the success of the company seen by shareholders? The measures often relate to the creation of value, share price, market shares, growth rates, profitability margins and returns, liquidity, viability, cost reduction etc.
  • Balanced scorecard: Customers
    How is the company seen by its customers? The measures often relate to the customer needs (new market penetration, developing new products and services), customer satisfaction, customer loyalty etc.
  • Balanced scorecard: Internal processes
    How do people and processes perform? The measures often relate to the improvement of core competencies, improvement of technologies, production excellence, quality management, inventory management, motivating employees etc.
  • Balanced scorecard: Innovation
    What possibilities of development and learning do the employees have? The measures often relate to the key personnel, research and development, continuous improvements etc.

Balanced scorecard should consist out of well defined set of measures. Each one, should be attributed to one or more employees, responsible for its execution. Eventually it would allow better control over the implementation of the strategy and facilitate the elimination of bottlenecks.

Due to the integrity of the balanced scorecard framework, the measures defined provide compliance with the strategy and in no way encourage short-term activities that are harmful to the company in the long term.

In contrast to traditional thinking, the quantitative as well as qualitative measures are set in the balanced scorecard. Defining measures requires that one thinks about the possibility of updating and comparing the results, the degree of reliability, objectivity, appropriate responsible person, current state of the measures etc.

Strategy and the measures defined within the balanced scorecard framework are the base for preparation of other plans, such as marketing and sales plan, financial plan, and operational plan.

Interested in our support linked to strategy consulting ? Please contact us and we will be glad to prepare you an offer!

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