Business planning

Every voluntary and community organisation can benefit from a written business plan which sets out the direction and planned performance of an organisation. Business plans are developed within the wider context provided by the strategic plan. It usually details the steps required to achieve the organisation’s mission or strategy.

Business plans tend to adopt much shorter timeframes than strategic plans, typically medium-term covering 1-3 years. It is the stage in the planning process where an organisation starts to turn options and choices about the future into reality, creating a robust framework from which the organisation will deliver its work.

One way of achieving this is to develop some realistic objectives and targets, capture the strategy in some kind of written document and think about the resources required to deliver the plan. Plans should not be lengthy or complicated but succinct and easy to understand. They should always contain sufficient information proportionate to what is required, for example a proposal to potential funder.

The skills and tools needed to develop a business plan are very similar to that required to create a strategic plan. To find out more please visit the section on strategic planning.