Page 47 - Business Plans that Work A Guide for Small Business

38 • Business Plans that Work

Exercise 1.2 Business Planning Guide: Lazybones (continued)

Step 2: List Tasks That Need to Be Completed
Devise an overall schedule for preparing the plan by assigning priority, persons
responsible, and due dates to each task necessary to complete the plan. It is helpful
to break larger items (fieldwork to gather customer and competitor intelligence,
trade show visits, etc.) into small, more manageable components (such as phone calls
required before a trip can be taken) and to include the components as a task. Be as
specific as possible.

Person Date Date of
Task Priority Responsible to Begin Completion
Industry High Dan November 1 December 15
Customer High Dan November 1 December 15
Competition High Joel November 1 December 15
Company Medium Dan December 1 December 22
Product High Reg December 1 December 22
Marketing High Dan December 15 January 7
Operations Medium Reg December 15 January 7
Development Medium Joel December 15 January 7
Team Medium Dan December 15 January 7
Critical Risks Medium All December 22 January 30
Offering Medium Joel December 22 January 30
Financial Plan Medium Joel December 22 January 30
Appendices Medium All As needed January 30

Step 3: Combine the List of Segments and the List of Tasks to Create a Calendar

In combining your lists, consider if anything has been omitted and whether you have
been realistic as to what people can do, when they can do it, what needs to be done,
and so forth. To create your calendar, place an X in the week when the task is to be
started and an X in the week it is to be com pleted and then connect the Xs. When
you have placed all tasks on the calendar, look carefully again for conflicts or lack of
realism. In particular, evaluate whether team members are overscheduled.

Week
Task 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Industry information X ----------------------- -- X
Industry Segmentation X ----------------------- -- X
Analyze Competition X ----------------------- -- X
Customers X ----------------------- -- X
Training Manual X --------------------------- -- X
Franchise or Best X ----------- -- X
Practices