Execution and Business Plan to raise capital, you will want to share these milestones

with potential investors.

(INTECH 4100 – M5)

Business Execution Plan Tasks

What is an Execution Plan?
Tasks are the important details that are required to
 When it comes to planning a new business or ensure your execution reaches each milestone. While it
launching a new endeavor, an execution plan may be tempting to leave tasks out that seem obvious,
is where the pedal hits the metal. While a documenting each important task will ensure that
business plan outlines your entire business and nothing is left to chance, which can easily happen
a financial plan shows where the money will when you soon find yourself working 12 to 18 hours
come from and go, the execution plan outlines each day to get your business launched. Just like the
what specifically needs to be done milestones, each task should include the resources
needed to complete it.

The Three Essential Components of an Execution

Plan In addition to many other tasks, most businesses would
 An execution plan consists of three require these to be done in order to get up and running:
components: milestones, tasks and budgets. 1. Incorporate your company.
 Milestones are your key business goals. These
are the goals that, should you miss one, your 2. Lease office space.
business endeavor will fail. 3. Contact three key vendors.
 Tasks are the specific things you need to do in
order to reach each milestone. 4. Set up an accounting system.
 The third component, your budget, details
5. Hire a lawyer.
how much your plan will cost.
6. File legal and tax documents.
7. Buy liability insurance.
Business Execution Plan Milestones
8. Design a logo.
Milestones will vary, depending on the nature of your
business and the market you are entering. In "The Art 9. Create a website.
of the Start," Guy Kawasaki offers a list of
milestones any business in the tech industry should
consider using, but these can be adopted for any Some tasks may need to be broken down into
company developing a new product: additional tasks. If you're starting a landscaping
1. Prove your concept works, both technically company, having a website may be a single task, but if
and as a business. your website is central to your business, like an e-
commerce website, it may require more attention to
2. Finish your design specifications. detail:
3. Create a working prototype. 1. Choose and register a domain name.
4. Raise capital. 2. Select a web host.
5. Ship a testable version of your product to your 3. Select a payment plugin or service.
first customers.
4. Hire a graphic designer.
6. Ship the final version of your product to
customers. 5. Finish the homepage.

7. Reach a break-even point in sales. 6. Create the first sales landing page.

Each milestone should include the budget required for 7. Set up analytics.
it to be reached, the target date, as well as any
resources you need, including people. If you do need
Writing a Business Plan
Writing a business plan shouldn’t be complicated. This and after meeting with your key managers.
guide will show you how to get your plan done step- Use bank statements, tax returns, payroll
by-step without any of the complexity or frustration. reports and other documents that help you
project what you might spend this year after
discussions with your managers regarding
The Six Components of a Business Plan your potential sales and any increases in your
costs to do business.
Building a business plan to raise money and grow your
business or just need to figure out if your idea will 2. List your expenses by month, entering the
work, every business plan needs to cover 6 essential amounts in the months when you will accrue
topics. Here’s a quick overview of each topic. There them, rather than when you will pay them.
are a lot more details and instructions for each step Average recurring monthly variable expenses,
later in this guide. such as utilities and phone bills, and recurring
quarterly or bimonthly expenses, such as
1. Executive summary - is an overview of your insurance premiums, entering an average
business and your plans. It comes first in your monthly expense for those in your document.
plan and is ideally only one to two pages. Most Include interest you will accrue on credit cards
people write it last, though. and other forms of credit. List your income by
month, entering the amounts in the months
2. Opportunity – This section answers these when you will earn the income, rather than
questions: What are you actually selling and when you will receive payment. Include
how are you solving a problem (or “need”) for interest you will earn from investments and on
your market? Who is your target market and late receivables.
competition?
3. Subtract your expenses from your income to
3. Execution - In the execution section of your determine how you will perform each month
business plan, you’ll answer the question: how and at the end of the year. Review your
are you going to take your opportunity and expenses to determine if you need to cut any to
turn it into a business? This section will cover make an annual profit.
your marketing and sales plan, operations, and
4. Create a cash flow budget using the budget
your milestones and metrics for success.
document you just created. Enter your
expenses in the months you will need to make
4. Company and management summary -
payment. Enter the exact amounts of quarterly
Investors look for great teams in addition to
or bimonthly expenses in the months they are
great ideas. Use the company and management
due, rather than using monthly averages. Enter
chapter to describe your current team and who
you income in the months you will receive
you need to hire. You will also provide a quick
payment.
overview of your legal structure, location, and
history if you’re already up and running. 5. Subtract your expenses from your income in
your cash flow budget to determine if you will
5. Financial plan - your business plan isn’t have any months when you have more bills
complete without a financial forecast. We’ll due than income received. Review your
tell you what to include in your financial plan, expected cash on hand those months to
but you’ll definitely want to start with a sales determine if you can pay your bills. Review
forecast, cash flow statement, income your expenses to determine if you need to take
statement (also called profit and loss) and your actions such as cutting expenses during
balance sheet. months with a net expense, shifting spending
in areas such as marketing or negotiating
6. Appendix - If you need more space for different terms with your vendors.
product images or additional information, use
6. Create a budget that divides your expenses
the appendix for those details.
into overhead and production, allowing you to
see what your administrative, office, sales and
other non-manufacturing costs are, and what
Steps in Budget Preparation
your expenses to make your product are.
1. Create a list of your expected income and Divide your overhead and production costs by
expenses using previous financial documents the number of units you make to determine
 your costs for each. Use this information to you to achieve your ideas and hit your
guide your analysis of your spending. business goals. And of this is all down to HR.
7. Manage your budget by entering your income
and expenses into your main budget as they
What exactly is human resources?
accrue, and entering your income and
expenses into your cash flow budget as you Human resources (HR) is the umbrella term used to
receive and pay them. Compare your real-time describe the management and development of
performance to your projections to determine employees in an organization.
if you need to adjust your budget. Hold
monthly budget meetings with your  Basic functions of HR include:
management team to discuss your  Recruitment
performance, ask for suggestions for  Onboarding
improvement and to learn if they foresee any  Managing payroll
changes to their original projections.  Employee benefits
 Basic functions of HR include:
Sales and Marketing Plan
 Holiday management
 Before starting your business, it's important to  Training and development,
outline all the details in a business plan.  Employment law compliance
Creating the plan not only forces you take a  Safety compliance
good look at all aspects of your business, from
financial, to target market, and more, but also,
it becomes the roadmap for your success. Five Lean Principles of Management
 One of the most important sections of a
business plan is Marketing and Sales 1. Define Value - to better understand the first
Strategies, which outlines your plan for principle of defining customer value, it is
reaching and selling to your target market. important to understand what value is. Value is
While you want to have a wonderful product what the customer is willing to pay for. It is
or provide stellar service, it's all for nothing if paramount to discover the actual or latent
you don't have customers and clients. needs of the customer.

2. Map the Value Stream - the second Lean

Why You Need a Business and Marketing Plan principle is identifying and mapping the value
stream. In this step, the goal is to use the
 Determine where you are now in relation to customer’s value as a reference point and
where you want to go in your business identify all the activities that contribute to
 Identify needed resources to start and run your these values. Activities that do not add value
business to the end customer are considered waste.
 Develop clarity and focus on what needs to be
done 3. Create Flow - after removing the wastes from
 Gain insight to and understanding of your the value stream, the following action is to
industry, market, and more ensure that the flow of the remaining steps run
 Calculate start-up costs and what you need to smoothly without interruptions or delays.
charge to build a profitable business Some strategies for ensuring that value-adding
 Hone in on your offer, how it’s different from activities flow smoothly include: breaking
your competitors, and how it benefits your down steps, reconfiguring the production
potential client/customer steps, leveling out the workload, creating
 Obtain financing cross-functional departments, and training
 Decide if you need to hire or contract outside employees to be multi-skilled and adaptive.
help
4. Establish Pull - inventory is considered one of
 Your people are your greatest resource. One
the biggest wastes in any production system.
way to be sure your business will succeed is to
The goal of a pull-based system is to limit
look after your employees. Treat your
inventory and work in process (WIP) items
employees fairly and provide them with
while ensuring that the requisite materials and
opportunities to grow, and in return they'll help
 information are available for a smooth flow of
work.

5. Pursue Perfection - wastes are prevented

through the achievement of the first four steps:
a. identifying value,
b. mapping value stream,
c. creating flow, and
d. adopting a pull system.

However, the fifth step of pursuing perfection is the

most important among them all. It makes Lean
thinking and continuous process improvement a part of
the organizational culture.