Business planning
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is a Business? | A business (also known as an enterprise, a company, or a firm) is an organizational entity and legal entity made up of an association of people, be they natural, legal, or a mixture of both who share a common purpose and unite in order to focus their various talents and organize their collectively available skills or resources to achieve specific declared goals and are involved in the provision of goods and services to consumers. A business can also be described as an organization that provides goods and services for human needs. |
| What is Business Planning? | It is a process of determining a company’s objectives and strategies and actions to achieve those objectives. |
| What is a Business plan? | It is a formal statement to set business goals and to explain how such goals will be met. It contains detailed descriptions of the business including:- Products or services. Target market. Competitive landscape. Marketing and sales strategies. Management and organisation. Logistics and operations plans. Financial Plans. |
| What components would you identify within a business plan? | Key components of a business plan include:- Executive Summary. Vision & Mission Statements. Marketing Strategy. Products & Services. Management Team & Organisational Structure. Financial Forecasts. Responsibilities & Targets. SWOT Analysis. PEST Analysis. |
| How can a business plan help a company to remain profitable? | Business plans can assist with maintaining and increasing profitability by:- Assisting with securing new funding and investments. Growth of existing client base and services provided. Highlighting key business objectives. Assisting with responding to change. Growth of market share. Supporting with accurate forecasting and budgeting. Facilitation of resource planning. |
| What are levels of business planning strategies? | vision, mission, values, objectives, strategies, goals, programs |
| What is a SWOT analysis? | A SWOT analysis can be used to analyse the internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities of a company. This is carried out with a view to exploiting strengths and opportunities and mitigating any weaknesses and threats. |
| Please explain your understanding of the term ‘PESTLE’ analysis? | This is a structured method of analysing the key factors influencing market conditions. These factors are made up of:- Political influences. Economical influences. Socio-demographical influences. Technological influences. Legal Environmental |
| Please explain your understanding of Porter’s Five Forces? | They are used to analyse the competitiveness of an industry and the barriers to entry and typically include:- Substitute products – the risk of the customer to switch to substitute products. Bargaining power of suppliers – the ability of suppliers to apply pressure to companies by raising prices, lowering quality or reducing availability. Bargaining power of buyers – the ability of customers to influence pricing and terms of business. Rivalry amongst existing firms – the extent of competition between existing firms. Threat of new entrants – The potential for new competitors to enter the industry and disrupt the market. |
| What is a Client Account Planning session? | This comprises a review of the current workload, resources and fees associated with an existing client appointment. It typically involves the identification of key client personnel who have influence over job opportunities and identification of who the firm should look to build relationships with. A review of pipeline opportunities with that client is also undertaken. |
| What is contained within a client appointment document? | A client appointment document would typically include:- Clarification of the scope of services being provided. The agreed fee bid and payment terms. The terms of business. Any agreed amendments to the firms’ terms of business. Contact Details of key personnel who are working on the appointment. Details of the firms complaints handling procedure. |
| How do you think an up to date business plan can help an organisation in the current economic climate? | Maintaining an up to date business plan can assist with analysing external threats and opportunities for example the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence, the impact of policies introduced by the labour government, high inflation and subsequent high interest rates. An up to date business plan can also assist with focussing on key internal priorities, responding to market changes, supporting with compiling financial projections and setting of targets for staff. |
| What is your firms business plan? | This will be specific to each individual candidate but could include:- Diversification. To become a global industry leader. To increase market share by 20%. Expansion into new geographic territories. Increase turnover to £7m with a net profitability of 20%. Growth within certain sectors for example e-commerce, logistics or data centres. |
| What is Benchmarking? | Benchmarking is comparing one’s business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies. Benchmarking is used to measure performance using a specific indicator (cost per unit of measure, productivity per unit of measure, cycle time of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a metric of performance that is then compared to others. |
| What is meant by taking Corrective Action in Business Planning? | If performance measurement do not reach the required level of the established goals and objectives, then corrective actions must be taken. This may be by reducing profit levels of work to complete change in the management level. |
| What is 5 year plan in business? | A 5-year forecast is an educated projection of your company’s financial performance over the next five years. It specifically details projected revenues, costs, expenses, cash flows (including any projected capital raises), and owner equity, as well as projecting sales growth and margins. 5 years is a period set by researchers to see if business is progressing well. |
| What are the Business support services? | Admin, HR, IT, Sales & Marketing department. |
| What is Employee turnover? | Employee turnover refers to the number or percentage of workers who leave an organization and are replaced by new employees. Measuring employee turnover can be helpful to employers that want to examine reasons for turnover or estimate the cost-to-hire for budget purposes. |
| What issues would you expect a company to experience with a high staff turnover? | Key issues encountered by the company could include:- Increased recruitment costs. Increased training costs. Inconsistent production & performance. Poor staff morale. Lower customer satisfaction. Loss of customers and repeat business Higher operating expenditure. Reduced profitability. |
| How to ensure Business is making profit? | – Do Cost reconciliation – Monitor KPIs |
| What is a Business pyramid? | The business pyramid model is a hierarchical structure that organizes a company’s departments and employees into levels based on their responsibility and authority. It is called a “pyramid” because it resembles the shape of a pyramid, with fewer people at the top and more at the bottom. |
| What is meant by Resource Audit? | The assessment of the inherent strength of the resource base – the quantity of resources available and their nature is known as resource audit. They are typically grouped under the following headings: • Physical resources – machines or production capacity. • Human resources – skills, adaptability, flexibility. • Financial resources – sources and uses of money. • Intangibles – brand names, good contacts, image |
| What is the difference between a Business Plan and a Business Case? | A business plan is a proposal for a new business or major change to an existing business. It measures Business performance in terms of revenues, margins, and profits. Also measures business health in terms of important balance sheet categories. A business case is a proposal for a strategy or project. It focusses on a single action or single decision and its alternatives. E.g. What will we need as a capital budget next year if we decide to buy the service vehicles instead of leasing them? It measures Financial metrics such as NPV, IRR, ROI, payback period, and TCO. These refer to future cash flows. Also include important non financial impacts. |
| What is a Business model? | A business model describes how a business organization creates, delivers, and captures value, in economic, social, cultural or other contexts. The model describes the specific way in which the business conducts itself, spends, and earns money in a way that generates profit. The following are different types of business model: Multi-level marketing, premium business model, franchise, subscription based model, fee for service, pay as you go, brokerage |
| What Are The Stages of a Business Lifecycle? | 1. Development / Seed Stage 2. Startup Stage 3. Growth / Survival Stage 4. Expansion / Rapid Growth Stage 5. Maturity Stage |
| What is meant by business strategy? | Business strategy is the strategic initiatives a company pursues to create value for the organization and its stakeholders and gain a competitive advantage in the market. This strategy is crucial to a company’s success and is needed before any goods or services are produced or delivered. |
| Difference between business strategy vs business model? | A business model describes and explains how a company works and makes money. A business strategy describes and explains how, where and for what purpose and goal a business model will be used. |
| What are the steps involved in the business planning? | Step 1: Defining Your Business Purpose and Goals Step 2: Conducting Market Research and Analysis Step 3: Creating a Business Model and Strategy Step 4: Developing a Marketing Plan Step 5: Establishing Operational and Financial Plans Step 6: Reviewing and Revising the Business Plan |
| What is meant by strategic planning? | Strategic planning is a process in which an organization’s leaders define their vision for the future and identify their organization’s goals and objectives. The process includes establishing the sequence in which those goals should be realized so the organization can reach its stated vision. |
| What are the reasons of failure of business? | Lack of planning Ignoring customer needs Poor marketing Poor leadership Insufficient capital Cashflow problems Lack of experience |
| What are the various types of Business plans? | 1. Startup plan – A startup plan is a business plan a new company gives to potential investors in the hopes of receiving startup funding. 2. Strategic plan – A strategic business plan details the strategies a company will use to achieve its overall goals. 3. Feasibility plan – A feasibility plan is written when a company is seeking a new business venture such as producing a new product in an existing market or selling current products to a new market. 4. Operations plan – An operations plan, also called an annual plan, focuses on mapping out the day to day operational activities a business needs to complete to achieve tactical goals and is part of strategic planning. 5. Expansion plan – An expansion or growth plan is used when a company is looking to grow and the development requires greater resources like a financial investment, materials for new products and an increased number of employees. 6. One-page plan – A one-page plan highlights the most important parts of a lean plan, summarizing a business, and is used to brief potential investors and partners about the basic details of the company. This plan explains the company’s product or service, who the target market it and includes a sales forecast. It also includes a company description spotlighting the company’s values and mission. This is also known as a business pitch. |
| How often a Business plan be updated? | It’s a good idea to update your business plan anytime you experience a significant financial change, whether good or bad. For a successful business, you need to update your plan yearly or whenever there are any internal or external changes. |
| What is a Mission statement? | A mission statement defines the organization’s business, its objectives, and how it will reach these objectives |
| What is Vision statement? | A vision statement describes what a company desires to achieve in the long-run, generally in a time frame of five to ten years, or sometimes even longer. |
| What is the Vision and Mission of the company you work for? | This will be specific to each individual candidate. |
| When does Employee turnover become problematic? | If an employer has a higher turnover rate than its competitors, employees there generally have shorter average tenure than those in other companies within the same industry. High turnover can be particularly harmful to a company’s productivity when skilled workers are hard to retain or replace. |
| What is a Staffing plan? | A staff plan is the strategic planning process that a company uses to identify its personnel needs. Also known as a staffing plan, this process helps employers understand the number and types of employees they need to reach organizational goals. It also defines what skills those employees should have. |
| What is Labour and Employment Law? | Laws which governs the labour rights of employees in the private sector. |
| What is Employment Policy? | It will include rules, standards (e.g. how staff are expected to behave at work) and procedures aimed at making the business run effectively and efficiently, while acting with fairness and consistency towards staff. |
| How Legislation affects the Business? | If businesses do not comply with legislation, legal action such as fines, restrictions and imprisonment can be actioned. Different types of legislation that businesses must follow include employment laws, consumer laws, and intellectual property laws. |
| What is Consortium? | an association, typically of several companies. |
| What is an exit strategy? | A business exit strategy is a plan that a founder or owner of a business makes to sell their company, or share in a company, to other investors or other firms. Initial public offerings (IPOs), strategic acquisitions, and management buyouts are among the more common exit strategies an owner might pursue. |
| How to close a Business? | Inform RICS, apply to deregister your firm and ensure your contact details are up to date. When you have ceased to practise, ensure that anyone trying to contact you will be notified that you have closed. Consider who else should be contacted about the closure of your practice. Notify your professional indemnity insurers and arrange run off cover Make arrangements in respect of files and digital records you are holding to keep them safe and confidential for as long as required Deal with client money outstanding in your client account in accordance with the Client Money Handling professional statement Inform clients of the firm and seek instructions |
| Please explain your understanding of the RICS Business Plan for 2024? | Within the RICS business plan, I am aware of the following targets:- Matrics Expansion into South Asia – The Governing Council is prioritising support for the next generation of early career professionals with Matrics networks expanded to South Asia, Greater China and Southeast Asia and Australia markets. Sustainability Leadership – RICS aims to lead on global issues such as decarbonisation, climate resilience, biodiversity, and the circular economy. This involves strengthening carbon measurement standards, influencing policymakers, and equipping members with training and tools to address sustainability challenges. Attracting Diverse Talent – Efforts are underway to attract a wider range of individuals into the profession. This includes modernising the assessment process, increasing support for early-career professionals, and creating grants and bursaries for underrepresented groups. Enhancing Member Engagement – The RICS is working on improving the value and experience for its members. This includes better understanding of their needs through data insights, creating stronger connections among members and promoting their work and professionalism publicly. Strengthening Trust – The institution plans to enhance public trust by refining its regulatory processes, ensuring transparency, and maintaining high standards for ethical and technical practices. |
