Online workshop on ‘Business Plan Preparation’

Today, thousands of people with innovative ideas, products and services dream to form their own startups and become successful entrepreneurs. This is not possible without a good business Plan which serves as a road map that provides direction and guides businesses. In order to understand the procedures and processes to start a new business, World Trade Center Mumbai organized a 3 day workshop on ‘Business Plan Preparation’ with master faculty - Mr. Sumeet Mehta, MD & CEO, Paradigm Advisors, who has over 20 years of experience and in-depth industry expertise in finance and strategy He is also an expert in management consulting for business plan preparation, restructuring, project feasibility, and has an extensive understanding on structuring inbound investment.

Mr. Mehta commenced the workshop by elaborating on the definition of Business Plan stating that a business plan is a formal written document containing business goals, methods on achieving these set goals and time frame within which these goals need to be achieved. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on the organization, the organization's financial projections and strategies it intends to implement to achieve the stated targets. He then explained the importance, benefits and factors that go into making a good business plan. Mr. Mehta made a detailed presentation on the essentials of making an ideal business plan, which included points like description of the business, idea behind the business, description of the product/service, target customers, SWOT analysis, marketing plan, operations and management, technology used in production, raw material sourcing etc. He also informed the participants about the licenses required to start a new business like MSME registration, EXIM registration, shops and establishments act registration, brand / logo trademark / copyright registration and GST registration to name a few. Further Mr. Mehta elaborated on Udyam registration along with its benefits like collateral free loans from banks, protection against delayed payments – against material / services supplied, special beneficial reservation policies in the manufacturing / production sector, ISO certification fees reimbursement, so on and so forth. While speaking about the registration process for Udyam, Mr. Mehta explained about the categorization criteria for micro, small and medium enterprises.

Further, Mr. Mehta stressed on the importance of value creation in a business plan. Identifying key operational performance indicators, focusing on financial performance, scaling up to enjoy economies of scale, creating processes and systems and religiously adhering to the same and continuously tracking competition and the market etc., were some of the points that were covered under this topic. He recommended a book to the participants called ‘Five Forces Model’ by Mr. Michael Porter, which according to Mr. Mehta it is a simple yet powerful tool for understanding the competitiveness of the business environment, and for identifying the business strategy's potential profitability.

On the second day of the interactive workshop, Mr. Mehta explained the importance of cost sheet management, by pointing out that it is essential to prepare a cost sheet for determining the individual costs which lead to determining the cost of the product or service. He elaborated on the various factors that are included in a cost sheet like direct expenses, indirect expenses, office expenses, selling and distribution, commissions, profit etc. He also demonstrated how to do the break-even analysis as well as calculate the working capital management which ensures that a company operates efficiently by monitoring and using its current assets and liabilities to the best effect.

Last day of the workshop, Mr. Mehta presented and discussed in detail on how to work on the capital budgeting, monthly as well as yearly business plan, staffing plan, investment requirements etc. Toward the end of the session he highlighted the importance of market research saying that it was one of the key factors to understand the demands and shortages of a targeted market, customer preferences etc. which helps minimize risks when making key business decisions.

40 participants comprising of entrepreneurs from various sectors like manufacturing, services, agro etc. from different parts of India like Assam, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh Delhi, Bangalore etc. registered for this interactive workshop to gain understanding on the various aspects of preparing a successful Business Plan.