Checklist for business plans

Most business plans suggest you do a SWOT analysis of your organisation - that is, evaluate your organisation's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

In your SWOT analysis ask yourself the following:

Mission statement

Do we have a mission statement?

Objectives

Have we identified our specific objectives?
Are all staff aware of these objectives?
Are our current objectives being achieved?
Has there been internal consultation about our objectives?
Has there been external consultation about our objectives?

Strengths

Have our strengths been identified?
What are our strengths?

Weaknesses

Have our weaknesses been identified?
What are our weaknesses?
Are we doing things we should not be doing?
What are they?
Are we not doing things we should be doing?
What are they?

Opportunities

What opportunities have not been exploited?
Have our services and products been assessed for quality?
What were the results of this assessment?
Has an efficiency audit been completed?

Competitors

Who are our main competitors?
How does the competition differ from our organisation?
Do we have something unique which gives us a competitive edge?
Are there any threats to the organisation?
What are these threats?

Quality assessment of your organization

Assess the results of your analysis against the objectives in your business plan.

Step back from your organization and look at it through the eyes of the public. Are the products and services you offer of the highest quality? Are they presented to the public in the most attractive manner? Be critical, and honest with yourself.

It is not only quality, but also efficiency that has to be addressed. You should be able to look at all aspects of your organization and determine if there are ways you could achieve the same or better outcomes more effectively or efficiently.

Think about how the Internet could help you in light of what you have discovered. Could the Internet complement your present methods?

Checking your competition online

Who is your main competitor online? What are your other competitors doing? How does your competition differ from you? Do you have any competitive edge? Or do they? Remember, too, that the online community is a global one.

Checking out your market

An important aspect of deciding who is the competition lies in determining where your market is. Who are they? What are their characteristics? Are they changing?

From time to time you need to factor in an assessment of your market or audience. You may be able to utilize your website for online surveys and publicize it through your email newsletter.

Whatever you do, your website planning process is a part of your organization's general business development process.

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