By Mildred J at August 05 2019 07:52:32
38 of my 41 years were in management and leadership roles. Some of my disciplines were manufacturing operations and processes, quality systems including ISO, materials, supply chain logistics, engineering, purchasing, HR functions including union and nonunion operations, concurrent engineering from product design to the customer, and upper management, and supervision training. Experiences also included a number of special projects such as managing plant shutdowns, project director of facility relocations including feasibility studies, designing of lean manufacturing concepts for new operations, development and startup of new facilities, plant and process moves to new locations, and hiring and training of staffs and workforces for new locations.
What are the critical steps needed to achieve a successful business plan? This may come as a surprise to my fellow business consultants, but producing a successful business plan is not as difficult as people often think, so long as they follow a logical sequence. Here is my considered view as to the critical steps. 1. Understand what you are planning and why; 2. Define the activities of your organisation; 3. Outline the current position of the business; 4. Review and discuss the external market conditions, undertake and understand a competitive analysis, and define your market positioning; 5. Define your core objectives; 6. Prepare and articulate the strategy to attain and meet the objectives; 7. Identify and review risks and opportunities; 8. Prepare a strategy to deal with risks and exploit opportunities; 9. Refine the strategies into operational plans; 10. Prepare financial forecasts including revenues, costs, cash_flow, capital expenditure and assumptions adopted; 11. Finalise the plan; 12. Get it approved; 13. Use it; 14. Review it regularly and update as appropriate.