Entrepreneurial Planning

About this unit

Once an opportunity is chosen, the entrepreneur must plan how to turn it into a working enterprise. This unit covers the choice of a suitable form of business organisation and the preparation of a business plan. The form of organisation decides ownership, liability, control and legal formalities. The business plan is a written roadmap that sets goals and explains how marketing, production, finance, people and organisation will work together. Investors and banks usually ask for a business plan before giving funds.

Key ideas

• Main forms: sole proprietorship, partnership, joint Hindu family business, cooperative society, company and limited liability partnership.
• Key comparison points: liability, continuity, control, capital, formation and regulation.
• A business plan is a formal written document describing the venture and how it will reach its goals.
• Typical parts: executive summary, business description, market analysis, and the functional plans.
• Functional plans: organisational, operational, production, marketing, financial and human resource plans.

How to prepare

• Make your own comparison notes for the forms of organisation on liability, continuity and number of members.
• Learn the usual sequence of a business plan and the purpose of each part.
• Expect case questions asking which form suits a given entrepreneur, or which part of a plan contains a given detail.