"How much do you know about the key elements
that underpin your business's success?"
Dear
Business owner or manager,
Of
course you know a huge amount about your business because you
work in it every day. But maybe
there are important things about your business that you don't
yet know.
Take
the quiz below and see how well you do.
1. Do you know what the main elements of your business's
vision for the next 3 years are?
Yes
No
2. Can you name your business's strategic objectives
over the next 12 months?
Yes
No
3. Do you know the critical indicators which can measure
the success of your business?
Yes
No
4. Can you name the key success factors that determine
how well your business does?
Yes
No
5. Do you know the key action points that you need
to be implementing over the next 3 months in order
to be closer to achieving your main goals?
Yes
No
So, how well did you do?
If you're like probably 90% of the people reading
this, you won't be able to answer "yes" to all five
questions. And you may well not have been able to answer "yes" to
any of the questions.
Does
it matter if you can't say "yes"
to all of these questions?
Most emphatically, yes it does!
Without a vision for the next 3 years or clear
objectives for the next 12 months, how on earth can you make
serious decisions that will determine the future direction of
your business?
Without knowing which are your key performance
indicators and how they are doing, how can you pick up some
of the more subtle changes that may have a serious impact on
your business in the coming months?
Without being clear what your key success factors
are, how can you determine what your priorities should be?
And without knowing what key action points need
to be implemented, how can you be confident that you are getting
to grips with some of your business' key issues?
"British
consultant and author Francis Miller has devised a process
for writing an internal business plan that makes the procedure
virtually painless. He has demystified the development
of the internal planning document with a well-written,
easy-to-follow online manual.......
The
brilliance of Miller's approach lies in his ability
to break the project down into a series of exercises
delineated with easy-to-follow graphics and tables."
Pat Kriska, Associate Director, BBA Program, Cox School of Business, Dallas
from a review of the Internal Business Plan Manual in Women's Enterprise magazine
What
you need to do to be able to
answer "yes" to all five questions
The answer
is simple. You need to start some form of business planning.
With an internal
business plan, you'll get to know a huge amount more about
your business and you'll be able to answer all of those questions
without any difficulty.
"I
cannot thank you enough for the help provided by your
Manual - especially as someone new to a post.
I
am delighted to report that my plan was overwhelmingly
accepted by our Senior Management Team, and I was complimented
on its thoroughness and focus."
Comment
from someone who wishes to stay anonymous as she doesn't
want her managers to know that she used the Manual
What benefits can you get from
an internal business plan?
Here
are some of the benefits that you can get from an internal
business plan:
you
will feel much more in control since you'll be
systematically thinking about new opportunities and
dealing with potential problems as they arise
an
internal business plan helps you put the 80:20 principle into
practice. It will make you identify where you can
get the best results and then help you concentrate
on these areas
when
you've identified what you really want out of your business, you're
going to be much more motivated to achieve it
you'll
be able to start
putting some of your best ideas into practice instead
of just thinking about how wonderful they might be
Perhaps
you're
now getting an
idea of the benefits an internal business plan could bring
you?
And,
as you can see from all the comments on this page, the Manual is not something to be read and
forgotten about. It actually works in practice.
"My
current project is to produce an internal business plan
for the new homes division of our company, and this has
been made much easier thanks to the Internal Business Plan
Manual.
It has been an excellent guide and the worksheets are immensely useful."
Lorna McCandlish - Finance
Director, JMT Group Ltd
An easy-to-use
manual
The Internal
Business Plan Manual is
one of the very first publications that focuses on internal
business plans and how to write them. It's long enough
to give you all the information you need but short enough
not to demand too much reading time.
You
will learn:
what
the difference is between your vision, mission and
values -
lots of people are confused by these terms but there's
really no need to
be
details
of 2 different approaches for developing your vision
- you can either choose the one you prefer or use both
of them
what
the psychological concept of 'self-efficacy' has to
do with your business and how it could be holding you
back
what
the difference is between left- and right-brain visions
- you will be given lots of questions to develop both
sorts of vision
how
you can tell the the
difference between a planned and emergent strategy
and why it's best to keep both of them in mind
how
to develop your mission statement easily by asking a
few simple questions
"My
bosses were very impressed with the business plan I produced.
The thing I particularly liked about the Manual and worksheets was that it
was not 'set in stone' or saying 'this is the only way to produce a plan'
but rather made you aware and ask the relevant questions to be able to produce
a plan."
Christine Lester (who wrote her business plan in 24 hours)
Project Initiatives (NW) Ltd
You
will also learn:
a
simple approach to analysing your external environment
how,
using the Results and Planning Pyramid, you can go from
your vision right down to the individual actions needed
to achieve it in just 5 levels
a
simple way of identifying your Key Success Factors
which will help to ensure your business's success
the
importance of identifying Key Performance Indicators
to help you assess how well the business is doing
how
to develop an action plan - you'll be given a template
with all the areas that need to be covered
a
quick way to work out your time commitments (and those
of your staff, if you have them) - and what your four
options are if you find yourself overloaded
By
making the whole process simpler, the
Internal Business Plan Manual takes
the pain out of business planning.
"I have found the Manual incredibly
useful and thought- provoking. The worksheets
have been a great framework for articulating my vision."
Bernie Price
Organisational
Development Consultant
Who the Manual
is for
This
manual will be useful for you if:
you
run a business and want it to be more successful
you've
ever had a nagging feeling that you need to be more
in control of your business
you've
been asked to work on a business planning document
by your bosses and you're worried that your lack
of business is going to show you up
you
want to make an impact in your business by showing
you understand the key strategic issues
you
want a simple introduction to business plannning
you
need to develop an internal business plan for a non-profit
organisation (while the manual is directed towards
business, the process can
be just as well applied to the non-profit sector).
"I
am very pleased that I was able to produce a simple format
business plan in a very short period of time, thanks
to invaluable assistance from the Internal Business Plan
Manual."
Bill
Howarth - Steel Framed Homes, Lancashire
Risk-free guarantee
If,at
any time over the next 12 months, you don't feel completely
satisfied with the manual, then all you have to do
is to send a quick email and you'll be given a prompt
refund with no questions asked.
"For
someone who has never written a business plan, I have really
enjoyed using your Manual! Simple, concise and to the point!
It
has helped me to stay focused and organised on what I should
be thinking about when developing the business plan. I
have created the document in about a week and it will continue
to be my working document for the rest of the fiscal year!"
Suzanne
Lavallee
Manager at large global software company
Cost
The
manual, which is an e-book in Acrobat format, costs
only £19.95 . This will give you a 2-user
license, which means that you can work on the manual
with a colleague if you need to.
Just
consider the benefits of having an internal business
plan. If you developed a clear vision,started dealing
with some of the challenges you
face and felt more in control, wouldn't that beworth
the costmany times over?
Free Bonus
As
a free bonus, you will receive worksheets of all the
questions included in the manual in a Word document.
This means that you can either type your answers directly
into the Word document or else print the worksheets
out and write your answers in by hand. Whichever way
you prefer, the worksheets will help you to develop
your new business plan quickly.
How to Pay
Click
on the button below and you will be taken to a secure
server where you'll be asked to fill in your name and address
and payment details.
When
payment has been authorised, you'll be transferred to
a download page from where you'll be able to download the
manual immediately.
Francis
Miller
PS. These
are challenging times for everyone in business. As
competition gets tougher, it will be the intelligent
businesses that prospers. And having a business
plan is going to make your business more intelligent.
"Concise,
practical and of real use to
businesses large and small, this is a 'must
have' manual
for success."
Prof Tom Lambert - Professor of Consultancy at Rushmore University; international
trainer, consultant and broadcaster; and the author of many books including
'Key Management Questions' (Financial Times/Prentice Hall)
"The
Internal Business Plan Manual is excellent. We have found
it very straightforward to work through and would certainly
recommend it to others."
Sarah Berry - Finance Director and Company Secretary, Sovereign Healthcare www.surf-sovereign.com
"I
purchased your Manual as I was preparing a presentation
for the group of trustees of a small charity, with the
aim of convincing them that I was the appropriate person
to be the charity's General Manager.
I found it useful in structuring my thought processes, and it helped me put
together my vision of the future of the charity and the strategy for achieving
it.
May I now thank you for your Manual as the charity's General Manager designate."
Gordon Haigh, Hampshire
"A
note to express how pleased I was with the Internal Business
Plan Manual. I found the questions and structure very useful
- it provoked good discussion and helped us develop our
business plan.
Starting off with a blank sheet of paper would be quite daunting. Your template
got us started more quickly.
I would recommend it to other small businesses as a great tool which forces
you to think about the future of your business rather than just 'today'."
"I
would like to compliment you on the work that you have
put forth in your Manual. It has been extremely helpful
in putting my thoughts together.
I like the question-answer format and find that the more thought to the questions
and points that you raise, the more ideas and answers I come up with."
James G. Wendler - Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Precision Automated Technology Inc. www.p-a-t.com
"My
wife and myself have been working through the Manual.
The truth that surfaced was that our relationship with
our clients had become stagnant.
We have worked on this and have even gained some new clients as well getting
some old clients back. Our focus has gone from the daily grind back to treating
the client as Number 1.
I must say with joy that the improvement has come from using the Manual and
applying it. The logic involved is unimpeachable."
Tommy Simpson
- Toucan Electronics/Atlantic Internet Services, South
Africa
"The
publication helped
me start and complete a very serious task in developing
an internal business plan for my company.
I
am MD for a sub-company within a group and will
freely admit that I hadn't had much business plan
experience. The Manual redressed this and made
me think about where the company was to go in relation
to its sister companies.
Time
was against me but, within a week, it all came
together nicely and investment was secured."
Giles Morgan
- Managing Director, AGM Computer Services Ltd
"The
approach of keeping things uncomplicated certainly
helps to keep the momentum going to get the plan finished.
I have given up with writing a plan in the past because I was following an
extremely complicated format in a hardback book."
Richard Stettner - Managing Director, Mortgage Master (UK) Ltd, Birmingham
"Congratulations
on a well-written manual - it is easy to follow and understand."
Etuale Sefo - Regional Manager, Pacific Forum Line, Auckland, New Zealand
www.pflnz.co.nz
"I
have found the Manual very useful. It will be a document
that I shall keep to hand and re-visit regularly."
"It was a relief to find such a simple approach
to such an important subject. The Manual and workbook took
me through the process in easy steps but with unerring
focus.
I have to say it prompted me to shine a light into areas
I probably didn't want to think about but, having gone
through the process, I now have a better action plan in
steering the business.
An invaluable management tool!"
Andrew Wallis - Curator, The Guards Museum, London
