Blue Dot Consulting

Would you drive to Paris without knowing how to get there? Probably not and the same applies for your business.

We asked our clients what are the key lessons learnt during their early stages. Many tell us that they wished that they had planned more thoroughly. With hindsight they see the benefits of a written, comprehensive business plan which they worked towards rather than operating based on intuition and gut feel.

A business plan that makes a difference to your bottom line will:

• Consider the key drivers of your business and get underneath the skin of the business
• Have a clear purpose and user in mind - the needs of a prospective investor differ from the needs of an owner of the business
• Take inputs from internal experts in sales, marketing, production, operations, finance as well input from objective, insightful, external sources
• Use history to inform and critique assumptions about the future
• Include scenario planning - producing pessimistic, realistic and optimistic versions of the plan that enable you to evaluate the key risks and opportunities to be managed
• Adopt the same format as your management accounts so that it's easy to monitor progress
• Contain written commentary and financial forecasts with action plans, timescales and responsibilities

Our part-time finance director service helps you through this process. We can guide you on best practice, act as a sounding board or hold the pen depending on your needs, resources and time available.