Plan before doing

Citation

(2005), "Plan before doing", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 54 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2005.07954aab.001

Plan before doing

New research by Palo Alto Software, a developer and publisher of business planning software for entrepreneurs, found that 93 per cent of current MBA students intend to launch online businesses because they perceive a dramatic increase in consumers’ confidence in purchasing online. This new-found confidence is also demonstrated by survey findings that 74 per cent of MBA students intend to set up their own business upon graduating this year and 60 per cent of these companies will be internet companies.

As part of ongoing research into the SME market, Palo Alto Software’s successive surveys over the last decade in the UK and North America have highlighted that survival and profit making often depend on how well new companies plan their business and execute against that plan, particularly in the early years.

Successful business planning has led online entrepreneurs Richard and John Hough, founders of OurKidSports.com, a junior sports information web site and sports retail business, to significantly reduce the amount of funding they anticipated needing from £800k to under £300k, a more achievable and attractive goal for potential investors. By planning using specialist business planning software Business Plan Pro 2004, the company could view its business beyond the limitations of normal spreadsheets and fully understand and prove its financial projections to dramatic effect.

More information is available at Palo Alto Software’s award-winning web site, www.bplans.com which continues to be one of the highest traffic sites in the small business arena, offering numerous business planning resources.