Venture Management:

Business Planning

The Various "Kinds" of Business Plans

Start-Up Business Success

By: Terry Collison, Blue Rock Capital

Until exposed to the actual choices, many companies incorrectly believe that there is just one type of Business Plan that is "ideal".

As a practical matter, however, a given plan should reflect the characteristics and the specific situation of the individual company – both currently and also in terms of the changes that can be reasonably anticipated in the period covered by the Plan.

There are, for example, the following types of Business Plan to consider:

  • The Technology Roll-out Business Plan

  • The Market Positioning Business Plan

  • The Sales Oriented Business Plan

  • The Manufacturing Based Business Plan

  • The Acquisition Oriented Business Plan

  • The "Issue" or "Problem-Solving" Business Plan

  • The Financial Business Plan

Because the situation surrounding a company changes over time ... and because the fundamental nature of the company itself also changes over time ... the company must be prepared to develop successive Business Plans. The planning process should reflect this awareness. The Business Plan document should itself be set up so that it can be adjusted easily. The least effective approach is often one that makes the planning process and the Business Plan document overly formal and expensive. "Quick-and-dirty" is usually both more economical and more directly useful as a basis for guiding the company's critical day-to-day operations and the decisions it should be making within an established, overall strategic framework.