The Definitive Business Plan

Fast-track to Intelligent Business Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs(The Financial Times Series)

Many managers are extremely good at managing people but are bad at managing money, and harbour a secret fear of finance. But numbers matter and managers need to be confident with the basics of business finance  otherwise they simply can't do their job effectively. The Definitive Guide to Business Finance (previously titled The Definitive Guide to Managing Numbers) has been relaunched, revised and renamed. It includes a new introduction and has been updated throughout to keep in with the changing markets.Ittakes you step-by-step through every essential aspect of business finance you need to know. Assuming no specialised prior knowledge, it reveals shortcuts and tricks that will help make you a financial wizard whether it's P&L, your budget, forecasts, cash flow, financial decisions, pricing policies or funding and financing. In no time at all, you will not only be able to produce an outstanding set of figures, you will also have a much clearer understanding of what they mean and how to use them to be a more effective manager. You won't fear finance ever again.

This is the only book on basic finance you'll need. Richard Stutely achieves what you might think is impossible: making finance fun with an amusing, wry and always common sense approach that will make you wonder what you ever worried about. The Definitive Business Series will ensure you get up to speed fast with all the business essentials you need to be a success. With their guided step-by-step approach the latest practical business techniques and concepts and their easy-to-read style, The Definitive Business Series cover every aspect of the topic from the business basics to the essential skills needed to progress in your career.

A good business plan is the difference between success and not even getting the chance to try. This international bestseller is the ultimate guide to business planning. Whether the goal is raising start-up or development finance for a new business, requesting venture funding from a corporate parent, or directing operational management, The Definitive Business Plan will help you deliver the information that the decision-makers are really looking for, Accessible to the newcomer and detailed enough for the experienced planner, this book explains how to tailor a plan for specific readerships and to meet specific objectives. It helps focus attention on strategic planning and on strategic and operational controls. If you want to part people from their cash you need a business plan that has the substance to stand up to close examination without falling over. The Definitive Business Plan will make sure that your plan is good enough to start, run or revitalize any business enterprise.

Foreward by Sir Paul Judge, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge. The Definitive Business Plan delivers fast-track advice for competent business people – executives and entrepreneurs who want to get beyond the basics and produce definitive, compelling and intelligent business plans.

"The Definitive Business Plan is fundamental to business success" Financial Times Management Book of the Month, March 1999

• Knowing what you want is what business planning is all about.
• Develop your business plan into an active management tool.
• A plan sets out where you are and shows where you are going It makes effective use of opportunities and resources Use;
• The Definitive Business Plan to develop a vision for the future;

The Definitive Business Plan shows how to meet the four key objectives – formal documentation, funding, approval and operational management – that will make your plan a living working document. It will help you start, run or revitalise any business enterprise. In summary, the book shows you how to: assess the current status of a business, including skills, resources, products, markets and competition define vision, mission, values, the core objectives and operating objectives develop strategic and operational plans create financial forecasts, cash flow projections and operating budgets pull all this information together into a well-written business plan determine what kind of funding is required if any make use of a surplus or decide where to look for the funding value a business and assess return on investment obtain the necessary approvals and funding use the business plan to run a business efficiently and successfully.

About the Author

Richard Stutely has been managing the numbers throughout a career which has spanned banking and finance, government, and private industry in several countries and regions – as, variously, manager, director, and entrepreneur.

Richard gained a solid grounding in finance and accounting with NatWest, then Britain’s largest commercial bank, before moving on to HM Treasury (the British finance ministry) where among other things he dealt with public expenditure planning and cash controls on a national scale. Later, as a senior economist and analyst with investment banks (later Shearson Lehman American Express and Chase Manhattan) and a member of the London International Stock Exchange he reviewed countless financial statements and honed his forecasting skills. Subsequently, as chief economist of an international bank, the results of his financial modelling were in regular demand with various governments and with journals such as Institutional Investor. He was also secretary for the bank’s assets and liabilities committee, analyzing the numbers with the objective of improving performance.

Indeed, throughout his career as a manager at all levels he has produced and managed hundreds of project plans, departmental and enterprise budgets, cash flow statements, income accounts and balance sheets. As executive vice president of a multinational financial software company he developed and directly managed financial reporting and analysis for subsidiaries in several countries, as well as handling aggregation of group accounts. As managing director and non-executive director of many companies in numerous jurisdictions he is continually drawing up, operating to and reviewing corporate financials. He was treasurer for a British preparatory school where he produced financial plans to reverse a decade of losses. In addition, he developed possibly the world’s first ‘general purpose’ PC spreadsheets application, and he has designed and developed many other computer programs for financial decision-making, risk assessment and reporting (for what it is worth, he is Microsoft Certified).

Richard had a regular column in Accountancy and has written extensively for journals such as The Economist and The Banker. His other major publications include the international bestsellers such as The Definitive Business Plan, The Economist Guide to Economic Indicators and The Economist Numbers Guide. He holds seminars and lectures to MBA students and corporate audiences. He is a member of the Institute of Directors, and if he had been clever enough to renew his subscription he would still be a member of British Mensa.