Your business plan is not just a document; it is your story of change. Treat it as a living document. Start with what you have and update it as your organisation grows.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a tool to help organisations and charities stay focused, achieve their goals and plan for the future. It explains your mission, objectives and strategies and helps you to focus your effort and resources.
Why have a business plan?
View the business plan as a strong sign of your ability to make strategic, intentional decisions and a place to show you have thoughtfully considered how your actions support your mission. Keep in mind that a business plan is not static; it should grow with your organisation, serving as a tool for both guidance and accountability. Many funders now ask for a business plan to see how your organisation thinks strategically, plans financially and stays committed to making an impact.
How you can use a business plan
Plan how to deliver your strategy: A strong strategy outlines your organisation’s goals and priorities, providing the foundation for your business plan. If you do not have a strategy or have not gone through a strategic planning process, it would be ideal to tackle this first. The business plan should then act as a practical guide, making sure all your activities and decisions work towards your strategic aims. For guidance on developing a strategy visit What is strategy? | NCVO.
Measure progress: Refer to the business plan to assess performance against set goals. It helps to track progress and adjust strategies if needed to stay on course.
Support trustees: Your trustees have a legal duty to oversee how your organisation’s resources are used. You can read more about the legal duties of trustees here and a concise summary of the 6 main duties here.
A business plan will help trustees to:
- Understand how your plans will be implemented.
- Assess the risks that might come up.
- Give input to make sure legal duties are met.
Support you to respond to change: How you manage your direction by responding to the changes that are happening around you. This could be changes in legislation, issues that affect your beneficiaries or how new digital ways of working can help you respond more effectively to running your organisation.
Reviewing: You can plan the review points in your business plan. This might be part of your organisation’s annual cycle of reporting, evaluating or planning, and can be included in staff and trustee away days, planning events with beneficiaries or other types of review.