Guidelines for Capsim Business Plan
The intent of the Business plan in this course is to describe the general direction of the firm. It is, in effect, the cover letter for the eventual annual report.
Specifics:
1. Expected length: 0.5-3 pages
2. Overall goal of the firm. Be both realistic and optimistic. I will use this as one of the criterion in the grading of the annual report: “How successful were you in carrying out your business plan?”
3. General outline of the strategies to accomplish this overall goal. This should include input relative to the areas of individual responsibility if you have divided up the work within the firm.
4. Some metrics (measurable goals): These can be sales goals, profit goals, market share goals, product development goals, etc. What you choose will depend on your overall strategy.
5. Some logic to show the internal consistency of the various parts of the plan. This is especially important to the extent that you have divided up the work rather than work as a committee of the whole.
6. All of this should be realistic given your company’s current position in the industry and recent past history. However, it should also include some attempt to expand the horizons of the firm (new products, more sales, etc.) That is, be sure that you are not expecting and planning for failure or stagnation.
7. In the process of doing this plan, I suggest that you do at least a brief SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Look at each of these for the firm to determine what is realistic and what opportunities are available to the firm. Then design the business plan to reflect this.
Given the test Monday and my not getting this to you sooner, you may take until Monday, Oct. 27, to turn in the business plan.