Business Planning Start-up Changes

Question: What was included in the business plans? What were the good and bad aspects? Which one section of the business plan do you think is most important? If you were in charge of business planning how would you improve these business plan? The learning are: Apply understanding of the inter-relationships of key business functions Critically evaluate the value to the firm of proposed investment projects Apply understanding of the impact of ICT skills in formulating a business plan Answer: What was included in the business plans? From years of working experience, it has been found that there are mainly three types of business plans used by various organizations. They are such as startup business plan (business plan of Amazon), standardize business plan (used by Samsung) and lean business plan (Xeroxs lean six sigma business model). There are various aspects included in these business plans. They are mentioned below: Startup business plan of Amazon According to Westwood (2013), the business plan that is used to initiate a business is known as startup business plan. Amazons startup business plan includes factors like startup states of the business, startup cost, and milestones. In addition, the legal expenses incurred from graphics, logo, website designing and fixing up the store is also included in it (Wentzensen and Wacholder 2013). It also includes the assets that are required for business. They are such as vehicles, inventory, office furniture and equipment (Nattrass and Altomare 2013). Samsungs Standardize business plan As Manyika et al. (2013) stated that, most of the standardize business plan starts with a summary. It includes different sections related with the company such as product or service it sells, target market, development of goals and milestones, management team and forecasting. As (Zikmund et al. 2013) mentioned that there are different tactics included in the standardize business plan of the company Samsung. They are such as management plan, product plan, financial projection and marketing plan. The financial projection includes three major essentials. They are like balance sheet, profit loss, and cash flow. Samsungs Standardize business plan also adds personal spending in every department. As Kwong et al. (2012) stated that, the key behind the success of Samsungs standardize business plan is the communication between different departments. The company has used ICT technology efficiently to improve communication between different departments. Xeroxs lean six-sigma business model It has been found that the company Xerox uses lean Six Sigma business plan in order to manage tactics, deadlines, strategy, cash flow, and activities. As Blank (2013) stated that, there four major elements are included in the lean Six Sigma business plan of the company Xerox. They are mentioned below: Development of strategy The target market for the organization is defined. In addition long-term business goals for the organization are developed along with the business offerings (Barrow et al. 2012). Development of tactics to execute those strategies As Mullins (2012) mentioned that, this plan includes different marketing decisions related to marketing, pricing, promotion, website, channels, social media, and advertising. All the product and service related tactics are also developed at this stage. They are such as launching dates, packaging, and development of new versions of products. Specification development It includes a list of task responsibilities, assumptions, milestones, the number of tracks and objective measurements (Mullins 2012). Significant numbers In this section, various essential numbers are included. They are such as spending budget, sales forecast for the company and cash flow. What were the good and bad aspects? There are some positive and negatives aspects of all these three business plans have been analyzed. They are discussed below in the table: Business plans Good aspects Bad aspects Startup business plan of Amazon Startup business plan of Amazon breaks out the steps and requirements to initiate a business. This type of plan is good for deciding whether a business is worth perusing or not (Zikmund et al. 2013). With the increase of business, necessary additions can be done in this business plan. This business plan is able to provide a preliminary analysis of the pricing, costs and the probable expenses of Amazon (Westwood 2013). Startup business plan of Amazon provides a preliminary idea about business expenses for websites, graphics, signage, product launch and service expenses. All these decisions are made on educated guesses. However, the business environment is changing every day. For this reason, the actual expenses can differ from the predicted expenses (Mullins 2012). It can reduce the efficiency of business operation for company Amazon. Samsungs Standardize business plan Samsungs Standardize business plan is able to meet all the business needs for prospective investors, partners and employees. The standard business plan has provides a projected cash flow for the company Samsung. Which always become beneficial for the company. As Blank (2013) stated that, a business could temporarily survive without benefit. However, it still needs cash to pay the bills. Since profit alone doesn't guarantee cash in bank, project cash flow is highly significant. Inadequate research work can decrease the effectiveness of a Standardize business plan. For example, Samsung needs to make ample research work on customer's purchasing behavior, competitor positioning, and overall market trends before developing a product (Manyika et al. 2013). From personal experience, it has been found that most of the business plans are developed based on assumptions. For this most of the other companies who standardized business model are not becoming successful (Samsung is exception). Xeroxs lean six-sigma business model It has already contributed hundreds of millions of Dollars in cost savings, cost and revenue of the company Xerox. Lean business plan is used to manage dates, tactics, business strategy, deadlines and cash flows for the company Xerox in an efficient manner. The company has generated $ 150 economic profit in the year of 2004 by using this model (Barrow et al. 2012). Blank (2013) stated that, this business plan is more efficient than standard business plan. This business plan helps to set deadline and milestones so that a project team can increase its speed to meet the organizational objectives. Lean business plan is more complicated in a structure in comparison to Standardize business plan (Manyika et al. 2013). Which one section of the business plan do you think is most important? From personal working experience; it has been found that maintaining inter-relationship of various business function is the most important part of all three business plans. It has been concluded that most of the businesses have five core business processes. They are such as business operations, product and service development marketing and sales functions, distribution and after sales services (Manyika et al. 2013). In addition, three support business processes characterize the firm. They are such as general management and firm infrastructure, human resource management and technology and process development. A business plan must try to develop effective interrelationship among different business functions. For example, business operation is the activity that that can transform inputs into final goods or services. A business plan should develop effective corporate governance strategies to support business operation of a company (Blank 2013). It includes finance, legal aspects, infrastructure, management and government relations. In order to improve product and service development, a company like Samsung needs to manage its budget effectively. With the help of a lean business plan, different tactics related to marketing, pricing, promotion, website, channels, social media, and advertising can be taken. All the product and service related tactics are also developed at this stage. They are such as launching dates, packaging, and development of new versions of products. In order to improve after sales service, a company must initiate some specific activities. It may include help-desk service, call center service, training, and customer support. All these aspects also need to be added in a business plan (Barrow et al. 2012). The most important aspect of a successful business is to develop effective communication between different departments and functions. A company like Xerox must use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) programs to coordinate information in every section of the business. As Manyika et al. (2013) stated that, a company like Amazon needs to use common database and shared management tools to improve the flow of information. If you were in charge of business planning how would you improve these business plans? As the in charge of the business plan, certain strategies will be implemented to improve these business plans. For example, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) skills can be adopted to formulate a business plan. 1) ICT enables the possible use of different technologies such as spreadsheets, database, presentation software, SMS, and the Internet. As Goebel (2013) stated that, these technologies could help to develop effective communication between various departments of business. 2) It can help to develop strategies to select proper hardware and software to meet the business needs. 3) ICT can help to use e-commerce technology in business. 4) Cloud storage technology can be used to keep record, store and retrieve private data from employees and employers There are some particular benefits that ICT technology can provide in business. They are mentioned below: Efficient information storage: With the help of ICT technology, huge quantity of data can be stored. Easy retrieval of information: Data can easily be manipulated and accessed with the help of ICT. As Hellang et al. (2013) stated that ICT is useful for business as it is able to provide specific information Efficiency of business operation: Use of computer can save the time of record keeping. In addition, essential information can easily be transferred from one department to another department of a company. Global reach: Using internet connection, a company can expand its market globally (Goebel 2013). User-friendly: ICT technology is highly user-friendly. It provides "prompts" or "what to do menus" from which a particular action can be selected (Christensen and Raynor 2013). Accessibility: As Goebel (2013) stated that, with the help of ICT technology data can be accessed from remote locations. Speed: Computers can perform complex calculations within seconds. It can improve the business operation of a company (Hellang et al. 2013). Cost effectiveness It has been a fund that the price of software and hardware id dropping significantly over years (Manyika et al. 2013). Hence, companies can take this opportunity and use ICT technology to improve their business. Reference list Barrow, C., Barrow, P. and Brown, R., 2012.The business plan workbook. Kogan Page Publishers. Blank, S., 2013. Why the lean start-up changes everything.Harvard business review,91(5), pp.63-72. Christensen, C. and Raynor, M., 2013.The innovator's solution: Creating and sustaining successful growth. Harvard Business Review Press. Goebel, C., 2013. On the business value of ICT-controlled plug-in electric vehicle charging in California.Energy Policy,53, pp.1-10. Hellang, O., Skiftenes Flak, L. and Pivrinta, T., 2013. Diverging approaches to benefits realization from public ICT investments: A study of benefits realization methods of ICT. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy,7(1), pp.93-108. Kwong, C.C., Thompson, P. and Cheung, C.W., 2012. The effectiveness of social business plan competitions in developing social and civic awareness and participation.Academy of Management Learning Education,11(3), pp.324-348. 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