COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Create Effective Business Plans course. This program will equip you with the knowledge, analytical skills, and structured planning techniques required to design business plans that are clear, compelling, evidence-based, and aligned with organisational goals. You will explore how business plans guide decision-making, attract investment, improve operational coordination, and support long-term business success. This course also demonstrates how to analyse markets, evaluate internal capability, develop realistic financial projections, and integrate all business functions into a cohesive and actionable plan.

This course begins by examining what a business plan is, the importance of having one, and what it typically contains. You will explore the foundational question “Where are you now?” through structured organisational assessment and SWOT analysis. This section examines how to create a more effective SWOT analysis, the objective information it provides, and how internal strengths and weaknesses combine with external opportunities and threats to inform strategic direction.

The next learning area focuses on defining future direction. You will explore “Where are you going?” and the importance of effective organisational objectives, ensuring they are balanced, measurable, and aligned with long-term aspirations. This section introduces the key questions to address when developing a business plan and shows where to source the information needed, including internal records, market data, and industry insights. You will also explore the importance of the market research report, customer analysis, customer risk and loyalty factors, and how to review your products or services to meet current or future market demands.

A further section explores how business plan components interact. You will examine how each business factor complements and reinforces the others to create a cohesive strategy. This section also introduces competitor analysis, including how to position your products or services effectively and how to promote your business through internal and external promotional activities. You will explore the issues that must be taken into account when developing promotional strategies and examine distribution and the characteristics of distribution channels.

The program then moves to organisational capability and workforce planning. You will explore the importance of involving staff in business decisions, how to get the right person in each job, how to retain high-performing employees, and the significant cost of losing a key member of staff. This section highlights how workforce planning directly affects business continuity, customer service capability, and financial outcomes.

The next learning area focuses on financial analysis and budgeting. You will examine money from sales and absorption costing, competitive cost analysis for your products and services, and cost apportionment. You will also explore budgeting and the areas covered by budgets, including incremental budgeting, zero-based budgeting, and flexed budgeting techniques. This section explains what the size of a contingency allowance should relate to and how to prepare a plan for external uses such as banks, investors, or grant providers.

A further learning area examines implementation and performance management. You will explore how to make the plan happen, how to monitor and manage the plan, and how to use a seasonalised financial budget to reflect fluctuations in demand or revenue. This section also examines how to extend your plan over a longer period to guide sustainable growth.

The final learning area focuses on adaptability and continuous improvement. You will explore what to do when things change, how to change the plan effectively, and how to maintain strategic alignment when external conditions or internal priorities shift. This ensures that the business plan remains a living document that evolves with the organisation rather than becoming outdated or reactive.

By the end of this course you will be able to design structured and persuasive business plans, gather and analyse market and financial data, set effective organisational objectives, integrate staffing, marketing, and financial considerations, and implement and monitor plans to drive long-term organisational success.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

• What is a business plan?
• The importance of having a business plan
• What does a business plan contain?
• Where are you now?
• The SWOT Analysis
• How to create a more effective analysis?
• The objective information provided from a good SWOT analysis
• Where are you going?
• The importance of effective organisation objectives
• The balanced view of organisation objectives
• The important questions to address when developing the business plan
• Where to get the information needed for your plan?
• The importance of the market research report
• Customers and the customer analysis
• The customer risk factors and loyalty factors
• How to review of your products or services in order to meet current or future market demands?
• How each business factor complements and reinforces the other factors in the plan?
• Competitors and the competitor analysis
• How to promote the business and sell the products/services?
• The internal promotion activities
• The external promotion activities
• The issues that you need to take into account
• Distribution and the characteristics of distribution channels
• The importance of involving staff in business decisions
• How to get the right person in a job?
• How to keep the right people?
• The cost of losing a key member of staff
• The financial analysis of the business
• Money from sales and absorption costing
• The competitive cost analysis for your products or services
• Cost apportionment
• Budgeting and the areas covered by the budget
• The incremental budgeting technique
• The zero-based budgeting technique
• What the size of a contingency allowance should be related to?
• How a plan can be presented for external uses?
• The flexed budgeting technique
• How to make it happen?
• How to monitor and manage the plan?
• The seasonalised financial budget
• How to extend your plan for a longer period?
• What to do when things change?
• How to change the plan?

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.