Complete the following activities:

You are a Business Development Manager, recently employed by ABC Contact Services Pty Ltd (Refer to Appendix 1).

ABC does not have a current formalised business plan. The company has grown substantially in the past years, and management had little time to dedicate to a formal planning process.

The CEO hired you to apply appropriate techniques and proper documentation to formulate and document the business plan.

The CEO asked you to develop a business plan to support three or more of the following strategic priorities:

• Improvement of customer service operations to enhance the reputation of the business as a quality service provider (differentiation strategy)

• To establish a culture of innovation to support continuous improvement

• Competitive pricing through the progressive decrease of operational costs

• To increase market share for services to SMEs by 7% by the end of the next financial year

• To expand the business footprint interstate by open a second headquarter in Sydney by the end of 2022

• To use digital marketing strategies to drive an overall increase in sales (min. 30% across all products) in 2022

• To increase sales of the live virtual reception services: 20% in two years

• To establish the brand as one of the top three in the Australian market in the next three years

When developing the business plan, use the information gathered from your research and your planning skills to determine the best objectives, timelines and resources for your plan.

Task 2.1 Prepare to write the business plan

Prepare to attend a briefing session with the trainer and assessor in week 2 of class. The trainer and assessor will play the role of the CEO in the organisation in simulated work conditions.

The briefing session will be an opportunity to:

• Clarify the Case Study (Appendix 1)

• Review the pre-existing strategic, business and operational directions of the organisation.

• Analyse and interpret the business vision, mission, values and objectives in consultation with the CEO.

• Understand the market requirements for the product or service and discuss possible customer needs.

• Discuss what strategic priorities the business plan will support and confirm them.

• Discuss the organisational and legislative framework relevant to the development of the business plan.

• Identify the key performance objectives and measures for the business plan.

• Obtain approval from the CEO to proceed with the business planning process.

To prepare for the briefing session:

• Read Appendix 1 

• Briefly research the industry and market in which the organisation operates

• Determine the focus of the business plan

Attend the briefing session.

Duration: 60 minutes

The trainer and assessor will validate your participation in the briefing session and provide feedback in the marking sheet.

In their role as CEO, the trainer and assessor will provide approval to proceed with the business planning process and document the approval in the marking sheet.

If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to make alternative arrangements with the trainer and assessor to attend a briefing session in the simulated work environment.

Summarise the content and outcome of the session in the planning notes below.

Planning Notes

About the company

Industry and background.

Organisational and legislative framework relevant to the development of the business plan.

Mission, vision, values and objectives.

Summarise them and interpret them. What do they mean for the company?

For example: if quality is a value, everything the company does should be guided by quality (for instance, superior customer service).

Market and customer

Outline of the market and customers.

Identify key competitors.

Strategic priorities.

Strategic priorities the business plan will support

Key performance objectives and measures for the business plan.

List 3-4.

Other

Optional

Task 2.2 Business Plan

Develop the business plan. 

• When developing the business plan, it is advisable to brainstorm ideas and conduct research work in a group setting to simulate a real work environment where you would work with different stakeholders, use a diverse range of expertise and seek inputs from others.

• Consult with the trainer and assessor (the CEO in the simulated work environment) and other classmates (who will play the role of different stakeholders in the organisation in simulated work conditions). The trainer and assessor will validate that consultation occurred on the marking sheet.

• Provide an appropriate reference when sourcing information.

Task 2.3 Communicate the business plan

A. Consultation

Circulate the business plan for feedback:

• Schedule a time with the trainer and assessor in week 4 of class.

• Ask two of your classmates to play pertinent stakeholders in the organisation and review your business plan in simulated work conditions: a business partner and a financial controller.

• The review will be in a meeting setting where you will present/illustrate the business plan developed in Task 2.2.

o Presentation time (when you illustrate the plan and engage with the stakeholders) is 20 minutes. 

o Feedback time to complete the feedback form is 10 minutes.

o The feedback will cover:

 The strengths and weaknesses of the business plan, including a recommendation for improvement. 

 A review (test) of the performance management system you included in the business plan.  

 An analysis of the effectiveness of the business plan: is it realistic? Do you have enough resources to implement it? Does it align with the strategic direction of the company? Etc…

B. Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis

Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the business plan based on the feedback received in Task 2.3A.

Outline two (2) strenghst and two (weaknesses). Explain how you would improve the business to respond to the identified weaknesses.

Appendix