Business Planning

SME owners often see strategic business plans as a luxury for larger, more established companies. Caught up in the daily running of their businesses SME owners seldom take time out to ask some critical questions;

How is my business performing?
Is it performing to my expectations?
What are my expectations?
What is my vision for my business?
And how will I get there?

A Strategic Business Plan is a vital tool for a successful business. It ensures that all of a company’s resources are assessed and organised to achieve a common goal. It’s the roadmap to success.

The common reasons for SME owners not preparing a robust business plan are, a lack of in-house experience, insufficient resources to carry out the exercise or not enough time available for a time-consuming process.

As a result, they find themselves reacting to the market, customers and competitors.

And this is where BMS Accountants can help. How much better would your business be if you set realistic goals and objectives for you and your staff? How much better would performance be with clear direction?

“Moving to BMS Accountants has been transformative for our small business. I had always found dealing with the book keeping and accountancy side of the business quite stressful and I spent a lot of my time chasing up on accountancy matters, it’s only when I moved to BMS Accountants that I realised there is another way. The very first meeting with Ray was an eye opener, he took the time to get to know us and our business, the issues we had previously and what we wanted to do going forwards. Ray, Lorraine and the team at BMS have delivered and more on their promises. I cannot recommend BMS Accountants highly enough to any SME, they really do what they say they will do and believe me when I say you will not have to stress about accounts again.”

Elaine Ward

Director, Protocol Security & Investigations Services Ltd.

Benefits of Strategic Planning

Creates a vision for the future.
Develops common goals and objectives.
Focuses on the key issues facing the organisation.
Promotes a sense of purpose amongst management and staff.
Identifies & maximises resources available to the organisation.
Identifies core competencies of an organisation.
Brings discipline and organisation while maintaining flexibility

Our 5 step approach to strategic planning is designed to bring immediate benefits.

Step 1 – Situation Analysis

This is the fact finding stage whereby we develop a thorough understanding of your existing business. We review the resources at your disposal, the competition and market place and we establish very clearly the current condition of your business and how it is performing.

Step 2 – Brainstorming & SWOT Analysis

Using the information from Step 1 we analyse the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats relating to your business. We prioritise these findings as they will be critical in developing goals and objectives at a later stage.

At this stage we will also try to formulate what the vision is for your business.

Step 3 – Goals & Objectives

By developing goals and objectives we are essentially creating milestones for the roadmap to success. This integral part of the planning process will ensure we set what are known as SMART goals.

SMART goals are; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Bounded

Step 4 – Developing strategies & action plans

Once the goals are set we need to develop a series of strategies which will indicate how you intend to achieve these goals. The action plans will lay out the steps involved in achieving the goals.

Step 5 – Implementation

Implementation is what gets results. This is the most critical part of the planning process. Regular feedback and monitoring of performance will be vital as you move forward.

Business Planning