BOOST SPOTLIGHT | Business Planning
A business plan also serves as your mission statement explaining your business objectives to investors, shareholders and business partners as well as to your employees and customers. Business planning also helps you to understand your market, how to forecast and manage cash flow and to focus on the strategy behind your business. Boost: Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub offers a wide range of support programmes to help Lancashire businesses at all stages of growth. Read how three organisations have been able to devise business plans and grow with the help of Boost’s support programmes.
An initial diagnostic meeting with an advisor from Orvia, delivery partner for Boost’s mentoring programme, identified that Glenn Stock’s commercial cleaning business was growing very rapidly. It was proposed that Glenn needed professional mentoring support to streamline internal processes and prepare a strategic plan to ensure this rapid growth was sustainable.
He was so busy doing everything in the business, Glenn found he had little time to actually work on the business. Through careful mentoring Glenn learnt how to spread responsibility across his team, allowing him more time to take stock and think about the growth of the business in a more strategic way. He also learnt how to free up time for other important things in life, like family and friends. Since receiving mentoring support Unique Clean, Hire & Facilities, based in East Lancashire, has increased its team from 10 to 48 people and has doubled turnover to more than £1.2million. The cleaning business now operates as part of the Unique Group, set up by Glenn to manage the growth of cleaning and related business services in a more manageable way. Read Glenn’s planning for growth story.
Working alongside Boost business coach Hayley Caine, a diagnostic of Jonathan Shaw’s property and building consultancy revealed that its strategy was on target, but the ‘growth pains’ were in the team structure. As part of Boost’s Bespoke programme, Hayley helped Jonathan to formalise a more effective operational structure and forward-looking development plan for Anderton Gables, in order to embed a continual improvement culture throughout the practice. Hayley said: “Anderton Gables has an appetite for growth. Jonathan is keen to establish an improved discipline towards company structure and team projects with an emphasis on leadership and management as the team continues to grow and develop. Anderton Gables currently has 17 employees in Preston and seven more spread across its two offices in Sheffield and Manchester. The new company structure will help to identify key skills, people, processes and equipment required and help Jonathan plan to deliver this year’s and future growth targets. Read Jonathan’s planning for growth story.
Michaela Barker discovered Boost by searching online for business support. She approached Boost as she needed a business development strategy for her new marketing business Guardian Angels. Following an initial interview, she was matched with Yusuf Musa, a specialist business adviser at Enterpise4all, which delivers the Growth Support programme for Boost alongside Winning Pitch.
Yusuf commented: “Michaela had all the marketing and strategic knowledge but lacked experience in other areas, including preparing a specific niche-focused business plan and understanding how to concentrate on being a specialist provider. Michaela attended workshops run by expert advisers that explored topics such as diagnosing business needs, partnership working, delivery support, and understanding business finance. Guardian Angles Marketing now has a focussed business plan as a digital agency delivering bespoke services to healthcare organisations. Clients within her niche market include national and international specialists in biotherapy, pharmaceutical and medical devices. Read Michaela’s planning for growth story.
If you’re an eligible Lancashire business and need support with planning to help grow your business, please talk to Boost. Call 0800 488 0057 or contact us online.
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