Business Plans For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Business Plans For Dummies, 3rd Edition

by Paul Tiffany, Steven D. Peterson
Released March 2022
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119866374

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Plan to succeed as an entrepreneur—we show you how

Business Plans For Dummies can guide you, as a new or aspiring business owner, through the process of creating a comprehensive, accurate, and useful business plan. In fact, it is just as appropriate for an already up-and running firm that realizes it's now time for a full-bore check-up, to ensure the business is in tip-top shape to meet the challenges of the globalized, digitized, and constantly changing 21st Century. This edition of is fully updated, featuring the most recent practices in the business world. Let us walk you through each step of the planning process. You'll find everything you need in this one book, so you can finally stop googling, close all those browser tabs, and get organized and get going.

Updates to this new revision include knowing how to pivot when your situation changes, recognizing the need for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, where to tap the latest funding sources, and how to plan for a digital strategy, market disruption, and environmental sustainability. You'll also learn how today's globalized marketplace influences your business—and how you can use social media to influence your customers right back.

  • Learn the ins and out of creating a business plan that will actually work
  • Set effective goals and objectives so your business can find success
  • Wow investors with your knowledge of today's important business trends
  • Map out your finances, marketing plan, and operational blueprint—then confidently get to work!

Challenge the traditional framework by building a business plan that's workable in today's reality. Dummies is here to help.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Foolish Assumptions
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Beyond the Book
    5. Where to Go From Here
  5. Part 1: Getting Started with Business Plans
    1. Chapter 1: Preparing to Do a Business Plan
      1. Identifying Your Planning Resources
      2. Assembling Your Planning Team
      3. Putting Your Plan on Paper or in Cyberspace
    2. Chapter 2: Understanding the Importance of a Business Plan
      1. Bringing Your Ideas into Focus
      2. Understanding the Planning behind the Plan
      3. Satisfying Your Audience
    3. Chapter 3: Setting Off in the Right Direction
      1. Understanding Why Values Matter
      2. Clarifying Your Company Values
      3. Creating Your Company’s Vision Statement
    4. Chapter 4: Charting the Proper Course
      1. Creating Your Company’s Mission Statement
      2. Introducing Goals and Objectives
      3. Minding Your Own Business: Setting Goals and Objectives
  6. Part 2: Describing Your Marketplace
    1. Chapter 5: Examining the Business Environment
      1. Understanding Your Business
      2. Analyzing Your Industry
      3. Recognizing Critical Success Factors
      4. SWOT: Preparing for Opportunities and Threats
    2. Chapter 6: Slicing and Dicing Markets
      1. Separating Customers into Groups
      2. Identifying Market Segments
      3. Finding Useful Market Segments
      4. Becoming Market Driven
    3. Chapter 7: Getting Up Close and Personal with Customers
      1. Keeping Track of the Big Picture
      2. Categorizing Your Customers
      3. Discovering the Ways Customers Behave
      4. Figuring Out How Customers Make Choices
      5. Understanding the Global Customer
      6. Serving Your Customers Better
      7. Looking at a Special Case: Business Customers
    4. Chapter 8: Covering Your Competition
      1. Understanding the Value of Competitors
      2. Identifying Your Real Competitors
      3. Tracking Your Competitors’ Actions
      4. Predicting Your Competitors’ Moves
      5. Competing to Win
  7. Part 3: Weighing Your Company’s Prospects
    1. Chapter 9: Assessing Where You Stand Today
      1. Doing Situation Analysis
      2. Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses
      3. Analyzing Your Situation in 3-D
    2. Chapter 10: Profiting from Your Business Plan
      1. Describing What You Do Best
      2. Putting Together a Business Model
      3. Making Your Business Model Work
      4. Earmarking Resources
    3. Chapter 11: Figuring Out the Financial Details
      1. Reading Income Statements
      2. Interpreting Balance Sheets
      3. Examining Cash-Flow Statements
      4. Evaluating Financial Ratios
    4. Chapter 12: Forecasting and Budgeting
      1. Constructing a Financial Forecast
      2. Exploring Alternative Financial Forecasts
      3. Making a Budget
  8. Part 4: Looking to the Future
    1. Chapter 13: Confronting Uncertainty
      1. Understanding the Dangers of Ignoring Change
      2. Defining the Dimensions of Change
      3. Anticipating Change
      4. Preparing for a Changing Future
    2. Chapter 14: Thinking Strategically
      1. Applying Off-the-Shelf Strategies
      2. Changing Your Boundaries
      3. Leading and Following
      4. Tailoring Your Own Strategy
    3. Chapter 15: Growing Up, Growing Bigger, and Growing Old
      1. Facing Up to the Product Life Cycle
      2. Finding Ways to Expand
      3. Managing Your Product Portfolio
      4. Asking Two Final Questions About Growth
  9. Part 5: Putting Your Business Plan into Action
    1. Chapter 16: Shaping and Shape-Shifting Your Organization
      1. Recognizing That Form Follows Function
      2. Putting Together an Effective Organization
      3. Thinking and Organizing for the Future
    2. Chapter 17: Leading the Way
      1. Encouraging Leadership Roles
      2. Developing Business Skills (And Having the Right Personality Traits)
      3. Creating the Right Culture
      4. Following Through with Your Vision
      5. Bringing Your Plan to Life (And Making a Final Check)
  10. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) Signs That Your Business Plan Needs Refreshing — or Worse
      1. Your Business Goals Change Abruptly
      2. You Don’t Meet Your Plan Milestones
      3. New Technology Makes a Splash
      4. Important Customers Walk Away
      5. The Competition Heats Up
      6. Product Demand Falls Sharply
      7. Revenues Go Down or Costs Go Up
      8. Company Morale Slumps
      9. Key Financial Projections Don’t Pan Out
      10. Too Much Growth, Too Fast
      11. An Unwanted Surprise Pops Up
    2. Chapter 19: Ten (Or So) Questions to Ask about Your Plan
      1. Are Your Goals and Mission in Sync?
      2. Can You Point to Major Opportunities?
      3. Have You Prepared for Threats?
      4. Do You Know Your Customers?
      5. Can You Track Your Competitors?
      6. Do You Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses?
      7. Does Your Strategy Make Sense?
      8. Can You Stand Behind the Numbers?
      9. Are You Really Ready for Change?
      10. Is Your Plan Concise and Up-to-Date?
      11. What’s the Worst That Can Happen, and How Will You Deal with It?
    3. Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Business-Planning Never-Evers
      1. Failing to Plan in the First Place
      2. Shrugging Off Values and Vision
      3. Second-Guessing the Customer
      4. Underestimating Your Competition
      5. Ignoring Your Strengths
      6. Mistaking a Budget for a Plan
      7. Shying Away from Reasonable Risk
      8. Allowing One Person to Dominate a Plan
      9. Being Afraid to Change
      10. Forgetting to Motivate and Reward
      11. Faking It
  11. Appendix: A Sample Business Plan
    1. SUITE 07 BUSINESS PLAN
    2. I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
    3. II. COMPANY OVERVIEW
    4. III. BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
    5. IV. SUITE 07 — THE COMPANY
    6. V. SUITE 07’s STRATEGY
    7. VI. FINANCIAL PROCESS AND SAMPLE PROJECTION
    8. VII. ACTION PLAN AND NEXT STEPS
    9. CONCLUSION
    10. APPENDIX I
    11. APPENDIX II
    12. APPENDIX III
  12. Index
  13. About the Authors
  14. Advertisement Page
  15. Connect with Dummies
  16. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Business Plans For Dummies, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Paul Tiffany, Steven D. Peterson
  • Release date: March 2022
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119866374