Business Development Series II

Quote of the day: 

“I will build a motor car for the great multitude…it will be so low in price that no man will be unable to own one.”—Henry Ford

The other day i started a business series and outlined what a business plan was all about as well various reasons for preparing one. Here- 'Business Development Series 1'

This week lets take a further look at writing a Business plan. Today's lesson will cover:

1. Types of Business Plans

2. A look at one visionary entrepreneur

3. Lesson for the day

TYPES OF BUSINESS PLANS

Business plans can be divided roughly into four separate types. There are very short plans, or miniplans. There are working plans, presentation plans and even electronic plans. They require very different amounts of labor and not always with proportionately different results. That is to say, a more elaborate plan is not guaranteed to be superior to an abbreviated one, depending on what you want to use it for.

• The Miniplan. A miniplan may consist of one to 10 pages and should include at least cursory attention to such key matters as business concept, financing needs, marketing plan and financial statements, especially cash flow, income projection and balance sheet. It's a great way to quickly test a business concept or measure the interest of a potential partner or minor investor. It can also serve as a valuable prelude to a full-length plan later on.

• The Working Plan. A working plan is a tool to be used to operate your business. It has to be long on detail but may be short on presentation. As with a miniplan, you can probably afford a somewhat higher degree of candor and informality when preparing a working plan.
• The Presentation Plan. If you take a working plan, with its low stress on cosmetics and impression, and twist the knob to boost the amount of attention paid to its looks, you'll wind up with a presentation plan. This plan is suitable for showing to bankers, investors and others outside the company.
• The Electronic Plan. The majority of business plans are composed on a computer of some kind, then printed out and presented in hard copy. But more and more business information that once was transferred between parties only on paper is now sent electronically. So you may find it appropriate to have an electronic version of your plan available. An electronic plan can be handy for presentations to a group using a computer-driven overhead projector, for example, or for satisfying the demands of a discriminating investor who wants to be able to delve deeply into the underpinnings of complex spreadsheets.

Source:The Small Business Encyclopedia, Business Plans Made Easy,Start Your Own Business and Entrepreneur magazine.

VISIONARY ENTREPRENEUR

HENRY FORD (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)

As owner of the Ford Company,Henry Ford became one of the richest and best-known people in the world.  Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. Ford did not believe in accountants; he amassed one of the world's largest fortunes without ever having his company audited under his administration.

While most other automakers were building luxury-laden automobiles for the wealthy, Ford had a different vision. His dream was to create an automobile that everyone could afford. The Model T made this dream a reality. It went on sale in 1908 and was so successful within just a few months that Ford had to announce that the company couldn’t accept any more orders—the factory was already swamped. 

Model T

The Model T was introduced on October 1, 1908. It had the steering wheel on the left, which every other company soon copied. The car was very simple to drive, and easy and cheap to repair.Ford created a massive publicity machine in Detroit to ensure every newspaper carried stories and ads about the new product.

By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model T's. By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model Ts. To meet the growing demand for the Model T, the company opened a large factory at Highland Park, Michigan, in 1910. Here, Henry Ford combined precision manufacturing, standardized and interchangeable parts, a division of labor, and, in 1913, a continuous moving assembly line. Workers remained in place, adding one component to each automobile as it moved past them on the line. Delivery of parts by conveyor belt to the workers was carefully timed to keep the assembly line moving smoothly and efficiently. The introduction of the moving assembly line revolutionized automobile production by significantly reducing assembly time per vehicle, thus lowering costs. Ford's production of Model Ts made his company the largest automobile manufacturer in the world.

Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foudnation but arranged for his family to control the company permanently. 

LESSON FOR THE DAY -You can achieve anything that you put your mind to-the only person stopping you is YOU!