Anyone who owns a business, whether small or large, will probably have prepared a business plan at some stage ?more than likely for the benefit of a bank, to help with a loan application, and never looked at it afterwards. But there is so much more to business planning. Far from being boring and inflexible, a business plan should be a blueprint for the future of the business. The owner should be the person setting the goals, adjusting targets, making changes when needed and ensuring the business does not stray from the path laid down.Business planning is not just about the past performance of a business. A plan should not be based on cash flow forecasts that have been prepared to look favourable to financial institutions. If the business is yours, the business plan should equally be also yours ?there is not much point to it otherwise. A good plan can help a business cut costs and grow in ways that the owner may not have even considered possible.

So ?how to begin?Tony Compton, who has been working with small business clients for over 25 years, explains the process clearly and simply, using a case study throughout the book as a practical example. Initial questions help to establish the current state of the business and the owner? goals for the business and beyond. Then all the different parts of the plan are discussed, from assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business; key performance indicators; economic value added; budgeting; the action plan; right through to writing the plan and measuring performance.