What is a Business Plan, and what constitutes holistic business planning for business Success?  

When discussing business planning and business plan for business success, it’s essential to have a profound understanding. The critical role of business consultants (planners and analysts) is not just essential but also reassuringly integral to business success. The industry categorizes businesses into various levels, from nano to mega-corporations. Therefore, any discussion on business success must underscore the importance of understanding the unique characteristics of the business type, level, sector, and business success expectations. This understanding is crucial as it equips business management consultants— the key players in guiding their clients through the complex ecosystem of business planning and plans, to devise business solutions for the successful execution of their businesses, providing a sense of guidance and support.

Governments, the private sector, and community advocates are up against significant hurdles in effectively managing their projects and businesses in the intricate and competitive business ecosystem. They seek solutions to a multitude of issues, each one posing a unique challenge to doing business and hindering growth. To navigate these challenges, business leaders often seek the guidance of business management experts. From a broad perspective, the primary strategies these experts employ, which this article aims to explore, are quantitative and qualitative business planning and developing a strategic business plan. This emphasis on the role of experts empowers business leaders to make informed decisions.

The first step in determining the path to a solution begins with understanding the daunting classification of businesses as understood by the general business community in contrast to the well-defined stock market classification. This understanding is not just crucial but also enlightening. “The stock market as a whole is an exchange mechanism that helps investors buy and sell shares in publicly traded companies. Though you can visit the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and offices of the NASDAQ, these are just components in a broader marketplace.”[1]

The stock market is classified by a well-defined critical financial value as follows:

1. Micro-cap: market value of less than $250 million
2. Small-cap: market value between $250 million and $2 billion
3. Mid-cap: market value between $2 billion and $10 billion
4. Large-cap: market value between $10 billion and $200 billion

Although business challenges cut across the full spectrum of business classifications such as Nano, Micro, Macro, Small, Medium, and Large (mega-corporations), the prevailing focus of the Canadian and Black Entrepreneurial Economic Ecosystem (CBEEE) is the failure of small businesses in Canada. Moreover, the term “small business” is somewhat ambiguous, requiring a clearer definition of small businesses. For instance, from a Black Entrepreneurial Economic Ecosystem (BEEE) perspective, the classification of small businesses is often blurred. Hence, it is a dilemma for business management consulting companies to engender solutions to this crucial sector of the Canadian economy.

Nicole Blair, Small Business Canada: Updated June 11, 2024, writes:

Recent years have been challenging for most companies, but most of all for small businesses. As more people are shopping online, a development speeded up by the global pandemic, small companies often lack the workforce or the know-how to create an online presence that could compete with larger companies. Neither can they compete in prices with large online retailers.

As a result, many small Canadian companies are struggling, and many small company owners do not have a positive future outlook or expect their sales to increase. Yet, small businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy, significant contribution to the Canadian gross domestic product (GDP). They are also vital in keeping employment numbers up in Canada.

Nicole continues: In this article, we share key statistics about small businesses in Canada:

Small Business Statistics for Canadians

1. Almost 98% of Canadian businesses are small companies.
2. More than a third of small businesses are not optimistic about the future.
3. Small companies employ over 10 million Canadians.
4. Small and medium-sized companies contribute over half of Canada’s GDP.
5. The revenues of many small Canadian companies have decreased in recent years.
6. Almost 20% of small businesses with less than 20 employees expect sales to decrease.
7. Over 20% of small businesses are worried about cash flow.
8. 5% of small businesses do not survive their first year.
9. Over 70% of Canadian small businesses fail because of management issues.
10. 58% of small business owners believe a work-life balance is crucial for long-term survival.

What is a Small Company in Canada?

There are different ways to categorize companies in Canada. The most straightforward system is the one used by Industry Canada, which categorizes businesses according to the number of employees they have. By this definition, companies that have less than one hundred employees are small businesses. This category also includes micro businesses, which are companies with less than five employees. Companies employing between 101 and 500 staff members are medium-sized, and anything over categorised as a large company.

The Canadian Bankers Association, the Export Development Corporation, and The Canadian Small Business Financing Program have their ways of defining small companies based on credit limits, export sales, and annual revenue, respectively. Companies with a credit limit below half a million dollars, export sales below $1 million, or an annual revenue under $5 million are categorized as small by these organizations.[2]

Even so, to better convey the principal concerns of entrepreneurs, business persons, statisticians, analysts, and business planners and advisors, the classification above needs additional defining beyond the number of employees, such as financial viability, profitability, growth, and sustainability. The statistical evidence, abbreviated below, states that thousands of businesses start up and fail every year, with the failure often attributed to management issues (see Small Business Statistics for Canadians, Item 9 (above)). Experientially, management issues are “symptoms” of the lack of business feasibility and viability, which are the first imperatives of the business planning processes.

The Balance Small Business by Susan Ward: Updated March 05, 2018: According to Innovation, Science & Economic Development Canada statistics, thousands of businesses exit the marketplace every year in Canada. Business failure statistics show that about 96 percent of small businesses (1–99 employees) that enter the market survive for one full year, 85 percent survive for three years, and 70 percent survive for five years (Key Small Business Statistics). Approximately 7,000 businesses go bankrupt every year in Canada. Microenterprises (businesses with 1 to 4 employees) have a slightly lower business failure rate than other small businesses; after five years in business, 70.4 percent of micro-enterprises survived compared with 66.9 percent of other small businesses (https://www.thebalancesmb.com/why-do-small-businesses-fail-2948582).

Fundamentally, this paper presents practical ways of looking at business failure informed by “root causes” instead of the “symptoms” of failure that might often be misleading. The “big question” that confronts business consultants in the postmodern era of economic challenges is how can they help entrepreneurs and seasoned small businesspersons initiate, grow, and sustain their small businesses (profitably) and support the Canadian economy?”

“What is a business plan and how to create a plan for business success?”

BUSINESS PLANNING AND BUSINESS PLAN PREPARATION

Business Planning and preparing a Business Plan are crucial tools in the arsenal of business management consultants. They boost confidence among entrepreneurs and small business owners and give them a business success strategy. A Business Plan is fundamental to business success. It is not a static document, nor does it presuppose business success. Instead, it is the central link between the two significant aspects of business planning andexecution. Some schools of thought consider these three success imperatives a singular entity. In reality, they are three of five discrete but highly integrated components necessary for business success, depicted in Figure 1. These plans have real-world applications, presenting opportunities for consultants to elevate their clients’ understanding of the essential constituents of their business success strategy.

Business Planning:

A process specific to the industry, product, or service, is the cornerstone of the business success strategy. It sets the foundation for the plan, drawing on business requirements (technology, scope, time, risk, budget, resources, contingency, priority, administration, and benefits) and analysis to determine business feasibility. The Business Plan then uses this feasibility to assess viability, focusing on availability (technology, capital financing, infrastructure, tools, resources, policies, regulations, security of supply, etc.).

The Business Execution plan, a crucial part of the strategy, is instrumental in achieving the business’s production and manufacturing goals. It draws on the availability of resources (human and material), enabling the business to meet its service offerings and delivery capacity to satisfy consumers or corporate needs. Business Growth is also a function of product availability and customer satisfaction—meeting the needs of an expanding marketplace, fueling growth and profitability. Business Sustainability means fewer business failures, promoting stability and expansion of the Canadian economy, and boosting employment growth prospects as an economic “boom” for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

More importantly, the significant challenges to business success are a predicate of many external factors that are essential in business planning, formulating a business plan, and executing the plan, including these ten:

1. Market needs
2. Market competition
3. Market saturation
4. Management expertise
5. Availability of resources
6. Product quality
7. Security of supply
8. Delivery capability
9. Business and project management[3]
10. Business risks

As an aggregate, this sample of ten significant business planning elements is critical to understanding how they impact business feasibility, viability, and profitability. Hence, these “force multipliers” [4] are foundational to business success (see Figure 1).

WHAT DOES A COMPREHENSIVE BUSINESS PLAN LOOK LIKE?

Earlier in this discourse, the reference to a business plan was its critical link between business planning and business execution. Hence, this paper proffers a business plan is a collection of documents that comprehend the full scope of the business or project undertaking, encompassing the integrated complete life-cycle phases of a business or project—typically. [5]

Typical Project and Business Life Cycle

1: Initiation (Ideation)

2: Planning

3: Execution

4: Controlling

5: Closeout (Monthly Reporting and Archiving)       

This end-to-end business planning perspective is critical to achieving business and project success. Some of these approaches might be more familiar to business consultancies with integrated project and business management skills. However, it is important to reiterate that these skills are crucial, as every business theoretically begins as a project. They enable business management firms to navigate the transition from project to business better and develop business plans across various companies.

Whether a small or large-scale business or project management consultant can develop the client’s business plan by extracting elements from a generic template of 12 principal components, which depict several representative criteria of sub-elements, this template, shown in Table 1, is specially crafted for this presentation and can be used by business owners to re-arrange some sub-elements to their business preference or relevance to their project or business management modeling.

© UNIVERSAL BUSINESS AND PROJECT PLANNING TEMPLATE

CONTENTS:

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2. NON-DISCLOSURE CONFIDENTIAL AND NON-CIRCUMVENT AGREEMENT

3. BUSINESS VISION

4. BUSINESS MISSION

5. BUSINESS DETAILS _12 CRITERIA

1. Business Address
2. Nature of Business
3. Years in Business
4. Business Membership Associations
5. Business Authorization (Charter)
6. Business Goals and Objectives
7. Business Timeline (Major Milestones and Key Events)
8. Business Type (Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Venture Capitalist)
9. Business Consultants and Qualifications
10. Policies, Guidelines, Principles, and Values
11. Product(s) of the Business or Service
12. SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)

6. KEY SUCCESS FACTORS _14 CRITERIA

1. Business Plan
2. Financial Feasibility
3. Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
4. Capital Financing
5. Communication Plan
6. Lessons Learned Plan
7. Business Forecasting and Contingency Planning
8. Project Management Plan
9. Audit Plan
10. Construction Management Plan (If applicable) (Construction Industry Institute (CII))
11. Customer Care Plan/Soft Skills/Certification
12. Business Expertise
13. Business Competency
14. Business Integrity Statement

7. BUSINESS LEGAL FRAMEWORK _13 CRITERIA

1. Date Business Established
2. Business Registration Number(s)
3. Business Tax Planning
4. Business Legal Representation
5. Business Partners and Location
6. Business Partnership Joint Liability
7. Business Contracts and Agreements
8. Business Employee Salaries and Incidentals
9. Roles, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities
10. Business Bookkeeping, Records Keeping, and Accounting
11. Licenses, Permits, and Authorizations
12. Legal and Financial Administration & Reporting
13. Business and liability Insurance

8. MARKET ANALYSIS _12 CRITERIA

1. Customer Characteristics and Needs
2. Industry Overview
3. Potential Future Business Franchising
4. Potential Initial Public Offering (IPO)
5. Digital Infrastructure
6. Target Market(s)
7. Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (Industry 4.0.)
8. Overall Market Analysis and Competitiveness
9. Throughput Analysis
10. Customer Purchasing Decisions
11. Industry Response
12. Business Achievements

9. PRODUCT PRODUCTION/SERVICES _PUBLICITY, MARKETING, AND SALES PROCESSES _18 CRITERIA

1. Rental and Storage Strategy
2. Product Sourcing
3. Product Preparation
4. Resourcing Planning
5. Inventory Control
6. Product Quality Control and Assurance
7. Product Packaging
8. Delivery Strategy
9. Waste Management Strategy
10. Sales and Marketing
11. Publicity and Marketing (Social Media Strategy)
12. AI Integration Strategy
13. National and International Collaborations
14. Advertising and Promotions
15. Products Sales Tactics
16. Customer Focus
17. Shipping Safeguards
18. Freight and Insurance

10. PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN 10 CRITICAL MANAGEMENT AREAS
_10 CRITERIA ©(PMI)

1. Integration Management
2. Scope Management
3. Time Management
4. Cost Management
5. Resource Management
6. Quality Management
7. Human Resources Management
8. Communications Management [Enterprise Reporting]
9. Risk Management
10. Shareholder and Stakeholder Management

11. BIOGRAPHIES AND ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND ACCOUNTABILITIES _8 CRITERIA

1. Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)
2. Board of Directors (BOD)
3. Advisory Council
4. Bios and Resumes
5. Specific Business Qualifications
6. Roles, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities
7. Membership and Associations
8. Corporate Journals

12. FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY _21 CRITERIA

1. Letters of Endorsements
2. Letters of Intent (LOI)
3. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
4. Income Tax Statements
5. Overall Development Plan (Including Estimates)
6. Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)
7. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
8. Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS)
9. Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS)
10. Capital Budget (Including Cost Contingency)
11. 1-Year Operating Statement (Income/Expense)
12. 5 Year Pro Forma Statement
13. Product Throughput Analysis (An unfamiliar term among small business owners)
14. Return on Investment (ROI) (Monthly Statement)
15. Breakeven Analysis
16. Asset Management Plan
17. Contingency Planning (Miscellaneous)
18. Accounting Management (Bookkeeping and Payroll Management)
19. Corporate Reporting (Corporate Taxation)
20. Audit Plan
21. Archiving Strategy

Table 1.

Note: The above Universal Business Planning Template categories and criteria, combined with AI Technology, can potentially revolutionize business planning. This adaptable approach can enable business consultants (planners and analysts) to facilitate their projects and business planning initiatives, catering to the unique needs of various business sectors. The next step in the evolution of business planning tools is to digitize the template and use an AI generator to align specific businesses with relevant elements within each of the 12 categories and sub-criteria elements, ensuring the applicability to specific business development needs. A future initiative of Dunn, Pierre, Barnett & Company Canada Ltd. is to define in detail all of the template’s elements that would lessen the potential for ambiguity among its users, taking business planning and business plan preparation to the next level.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dunn, Pierre, Barnett & Company Canada Ltd
First Canadian Place
100 King Street West
Suite 5700, Toronto, ON
M5X 1C7, CANADA
Cell: 647-966-4783  Fax: 416.915.4260
Email: jpierre@dpbglobal.com Email: cjustinepierre@gmail.com  
Website: http://www.dpbglobal.com

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Footnotes

[1] Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stockmarket.asp

[2] Small Business Canada: Nicole Blair: Updated June 11, 2024

(https://madeinca.ca/small-business-statistics-canada/)

[3] Project Management Institute (PMI®) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), a book whose seventh edition was released in 2021 (pmi.org).

[4] Inc.: The concept of “force multiplier” originally was developed in military science, but applies equally well to business. It refers to multiplication factors that occur when complementary actions or approaches are used together for greater impact (https://www.inc.com/martin-zwilling/8-force-multipliers-you-can-use-to-amplify-growth-of-your-business.html).

[5] The Project Management Institute (PMI®) originally developed the five significant overlapping project and business phases.

[6] By ADAM HAYES: Updated Nov 2, 2020. What is Throughput?
Throughput is the amount of a product or service that a company can produce and deliver to a client within a specified period of time. The term is often used in the context of a company’s rate of production or the speed at which something is processed. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/throughput.asp).