Thomas Cowan

Business Plan Workbook Thomas Cowan

This is a workbook to help you create a Business Plan - one you can use to define and plan a business, a new part of an existing company, or a not-for-profit organization. It is specifically designed to explain both what a Business Plan is, and how to create one - hence the Workbook format - with a lot of explanatory notes and comments below each question. And in some cases, an introductory paragraph or two at the start of a section. This follows my basic philosophy of teaching. I do not consider myself a teacher ... in the traditional sense. I consider myself a guide - guiding you as you teach yourself. And that is the purpose of this book - a book you can use to teach yourself - teach yourself about a Business Plan. I will just guide you through the process using this workbook. The output of this work, taken as a whole, creates the outline of a Business Plan - a plan to guide an existing organization, or part of an organization - into the future. And if you think deeply about each of the topics, you will end up with a great deal more than an outline!But, just as important, you can use this workbook to see if it makes sense to take an idea you have any further - and if it does, making explicit all the things you need to consider. And all your work here will be easier and more focused if you have created a Strategy for what you want to do. You can do so using the companion Strategy Workbook: Cowan, T. (2021). Strategy Workbook: From Idea to Strategy, (First Edition). The Four Pillars of Leadership Series. New York, NY: Vecker Press. So, what is a Business Plan?A Business Plan is an investment plan. You could even think of it as an Investment Prospectus - a document that provides all the details of an investment opportunity.