Strategic and Business Planning

Business planning should be a dynamic exercise to support managerial decisions along the whole business life cycle. The various planning documents help management to define its key objectives and raise the funds needed to achieve each one. If a decision’s outcome does not confirm targets and objectives, the planner must adjust the Plan to accommodate new issues and opportunities. Similarly, when targets and objectives are close to achievement, the planner must start a new round of planning. This book is intended as a general guide to the concepts, techniques, frameworks and methodologies of writing a “planning report”. Each section has a theoretical part and an application part (“tools”). In talking about a “planning report”, this book distinguishes between the “Business Plan” used by start-ups, and the “Strategic Plan” written by companies that are already in the market. Although “Business Plan” and “Strategic Plan” appear to be similar, and the two words are often (inaccurately) considered synonyms, they are two different and specific documents with different purposes, planning approaches and structures. Authors explain the differences between the two, how to write them properly, and how to manage such technical tools and issues as “demand estimation”, “sales plan”, “breakeven point” and “value analysis”