Are you struggling to develop a future roadmap for your business?

There comes a point for many businesses when they have to become more serious about where they are going and how they are going to get there. And maybe that's the point you have reached now.

Perhaps you are putting huge amounts of work into your business without reaping the benefits? Or you're worried that your business is running out of control?

Perhaps you're continually reacting to events and you would like to be more pro-active? Or you've hit a bump in the road and you need to think carefully about your next move.

Perhaps you are just trying to work out how to make your business even more successful?

Whatever the reason, you have come to the right place. Developing an internal business plan will help you to map out a new future for your business and to work out the steps you need to take to achieve your goals.

How an internal business plan can help
The benefits of an internal business plan include:

• defining clearly what you want your business to achieve so that you and your staff are excited about the future and are inspired to work harder in order to reach those goals
  
• being clear about what is getting in the way of your business's progress so that you can work out how to eliminate or surmount those blocks
  
• understanding how all the different areas of a business's activities are contributing (or not) to its ultimate goals
  
• helping you to assess the strategies you are using and whether or not they are effective
  
• developing an implementation plan so that you can get going on all the areas necessary to make your business more successful
  
• having a clear idea of the strategic direction of the business that can be easily explained to staff, suppliers and investors

If you're still not convinced about the benefits of having a plan, then click here and read about the research that proves how important business plans are.

Are there different kinds of business plan?
There are three different types of business plans:

• external business plans aim to persuade investors or bank personnel that a business is suitable for investing in or lending to
  
• start-up business plans explore the feasibility of a new business and what's needed to get the business off the ground
  
• internal business plans are developed by managers and staff of already existing businesses and aim to work out how to make the business more successful

Most of the websites and books available concentrate on external or start-up business plans. This is the first ever website, and at the moment the only one, that focuses on internal plans.

The key differences between an internal and external plans are that internal plans:

• tend to be shorter
  
• are more practical and detailed
  
• focus more on problem-solving
  
• are more action-orientated
  
• require less management time to complete.

The key difference between an internal plan and a start-up plan is that, with the former, the business is already in existence so part of the plan is looking at the progress of the business.

Who I work with
I work with UK businesses who have between 1 and 20 staff as well as with small charities, non-profit organisations and teams.

However my Internal Business Plan Manual is relevant for all types and sizes of business.

How much time does a plan take?
You're probably overstretched at the moment and wondering how you would fit in working on an internal business plan on top of all the other demands on your time.

The first thing to emphasise is that internal business planning is one of the most productive activities you can engage in. As part of the plan, you will be identifying some of the problems that are sucking time and energy out of your business, and developing solutions for them.

And as you will be working out what your most valuable activities are, you will identify how you can spend your time in the future most efficiently and effectively.

So yes, an internal business plan will require an investment of time but the returns you get will probably be greater than if you had spent the time doing anything else.

Is it an investment you can afford not to make?

How much will a plan cost?
The cost is probably less than you imagine. There are lots of different options I can offer, ranging from in-depth work on your plan through to an hour or two's consultancy advice as you develop an internal plan yourself.

The lowest cost option is to buy my Internal Business Plan Manual for £19.95.

Your next step
To contact me, please click here.

Francis Miller
Miller Consulting

© Francis Miller 2001-2007