One of the most important steps in launching a new venture or expanding an existing one is the creation of a business plan. Time after time, studies and real-life examples reveal that the absence of a written business plan leads to a higher incidence of failure for new businesses, and inhibits growth and development.
Based on methodology developed at Cranfield School of Management, The Business Plan Workbook takes a practical approach to topic of business planning for new venture creation and development. Equally suitable for a range of academic and professional courses and for those developing small businesses, it takes the reader through 29 assignments to help you create and present your business plan, from learning how to create a competitive business strategy through to forecasting sales volume and value. It will help you to validate your business idea, brand your business, research and segment your market, and raise finance; all through one persuasive plan.
With new additional material covering the 7 Ps of Marketing, a section of Planning for Growth and a range of new and updated case studies of real life entrepreneurs, this classic text is an invaluable guide to all aspects of business planning.
Following a career in business where he held senior staff and line positions, including that of managing director of a substantial manufacturing enterprise with multi -plant and multi-country operations he was Head of the Enterprise Group at Cranfield School of Management, a leading European Business School, for ten years. He has been a visiting professor in universities in the US, Europe and East Asia. For five years he was a non-executive director of a high tech venture capital fund, has sat on Government task forces and is now strategic advisor to a number of business owners.
As well as his own books he currently writes freelance, ghost writing and 'Anglicising' books for American authors and lectures extensively on business topics.
Paul Barrow is an author, a Visiting Professor at Cranfield, and also a consultant advising SMEs on growth strategies.
Robert Brown directed the Graduate Enterprise Programme at Cranfield School of Management, where he also led 3 MBA courses on entrepreneurship. He remains a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield, writing cases on business start-ups and growth. He is a three-time winner, with MBA Teams of the European Foundation for Management Development's Best Case on Entrepreneurship award.