|
Types of Business Plans
Long Term or Strategic
These usually cover an
extended time frame (hence the name) and look at a business 5 to 15
years hence. They usually consider the more global factors that
affect a business. Large businesses develop long term / strategic
plans and incorporate short to medium term plans as outlined below.
With any plan, the plan should be detailed in the first year and
becoming more general as the time frame extends.
Medium Term
These usually cover a 2-5 year
time frame and are usually developed if any of the following are
true:
- major investments will have a lifetime greater than 5
years and/or
- markets you operate in have periodic cycles of
between 2-5 years and/or
- The industry you are in is expecting
substantial future change eg. its entire base is moving offshore or
losing its market position in any respect.
Annual or Short Term
This type of plan is the
most common and is usually the most appropriate for small to medium
sized businesses. As the name indicates, they typically cover a 1-2
year time frame. Some of the elements in this type of plan may not
change from year to year but it is always good to re-visit them so
that changes that may impact the business are not overlooked.
Some businesses like to incorporate their annual / short-term
plans into their medium to long-term plans ie. they do the first
financial year in depth and then broadly forecast financials for the
next 2-5 years with some degree of accuracy eg. +/- 20%, with the
subsequent timeframes in more general terms. Remember, a business
plan should be treated as an evolving business tool and should be
reviewed on an ongoing basis.
All plans, annual, short, medium, long or strategic should
incorporate the following:
- the Vision / Mission (not so
critical for an annual plan)
- the goals and objectives of the
business
- a marketing plan
- a financial plan -
forecasting
- an action plan
Back to Business Planning
Next Page
|
