WHAT IS PLANNING

The word planning incorporates both ideas: It means determining the organization's goals and
defining the means for achieving them. There are many definitions for the term “planning,”each
person has his/her own ideas concerning the meaning of the term “planning.”Among the most
common definitions for this term are

•
Planning is the process by which an individual or organization decides in advance on some
future course of action (Omran, 2002, p. 68).
•
Planning is the process of determining how the organization can get where it wants to go (Certo,
2000, p. 126).
•
Planning involves selecting from among alternative future courses of actions for the organization
as a whole and for every department or section within it.(Cook, Hunsaker,Coffey, 1999, p. 16).
Planning allows entrepreneurs the opportunity to adjust to the environment instead of merely
reacting to it. Planning increases the possibility of survival in business by actively anticipating
and managing the risks that may occur in the future.

In short, planning is preparing for tomorrow, today. It's the activity that allows entrepreneurs to
determine what they want and how they will achieve it.

Not only does planning provide direction and a unity of purpose for organizations, it also
answers six basic questions in regard to any activity:

 What needs to be accomplished?

 When is the deadline?
 Where will this be done?
 Who will be responsible for it?
 How will it get done?
 How much time, energy, and resources are required to accomplish this goal

Planning is important
Why is planning needed by every entrepreneur

 It enhances the decision making process

 It emphasizes on the organizational objectives

 It helps angers to be future oriented

 It helps in the establishment of organizational direction

 It helps as a measurement of the accomplishment

  It pushes entrepreneurs to coordinate their decisions

BUSINESS ENTREPRISE

What is a business enterprise? Business enterprise is the activity of making one's living or
making money by producing or buying and selling products (goods and services).Simply put, it
is "any activity or enterprise entered into by individual or group to satisfy human need by taking
risk for the purpose of making profit. According to well-known professors William Pride, Robert
Hughes, and Jack Kapoor, business enterprise is 'the organized effort of individuals to produce
and sell, for a profit, the goods and services that satisfy society's needs.' A business enterprise,
then, is an organization which seeks to make a profit through individuals working toward
common goals. The goals of the business will vary based on the type of business and the
business strategy being used. Regardless of the preferred strategy, businesses must provide a
service, product, or good that meets a need of society in some way. Examples of business
enterprise includes the following : grocery stores, jewellers, hairdressers, office cleaning service,
popcorn makers, bars and photographers beads making, . sports viewing centre, phone
repairs,farming, food production, catering services, blogging, consultancy service, rental
services, laundry services, computer repairs, sales of phones and accessories, pure water
business, daycare centres, photocopy/computer cen. event management/decoration , entertainer,
shoe making, ice cream production, transportation services, coffee etc.

WHAT IS A PROJECT

A Project simply means a Planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period
and within certain cost and other limitations. A project is usually deemed to be a success if it
achieves the objectives according to their acceptance criteria, within an agreed timescale and
budget. And a project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of
operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. So a project team often includes people who
don’t usually work together – sometimes from different organizations and across multiple
geographies.The development of software for an improved business process, the construction of
a building or bridge, the relief effort after a natural disaster, the expansion of sales into a new
geographic market — all are projects. And all must be expertly managed to deliver the on-time,
on-budget results, learning and integration that organizations need.
Projects are separate from business-as-usual activities, requiring people to come together
temporarily to focus on specific project objectives. As a result, effective teamwork is central to
successful projects. EXAMPLES of a typical project includes the following: ict center, plant for
industrial use, borehole for farm use, roads, installation of transformers, designing of websites
,intranet & internet,

IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING TO A BUSINESS ENTREPRISE

planning involves envisioning the results the organization wants to achieve, and determining the
steps necessary to arrive at the intended destination--success, whether that is measured in
financial terms, or goals that include being the highest-rated organization in customer
satisfaction. The following are reasons why planning are so important to every entrepreneurs
irrespective of the size :

Efficient Use of Resources

All organizations, large and small, have limited resources. The planning process provides the
information top management needs to make effective decisions about how to allocate the
resources in a way that will enable the organization to reach its objectives. Productivity is
maximized and resources are not wasted on projects with little chance of success.

Establishing Goals

Setting goals that challenge everyone in the organization to strive for better performance is one
of the key aspects of the planning process. Goals must be aggressive, but realistic. Organizations
cannot allow themselves to become too satisfied with how they are currently doing--or they are
likely to lose ground to competitors. The goal setting process can be a wake-up call for managers
that have become complacent. The other benefit of goal setting comes when forecast results are
compared to actual results. Organizations analyze significant variances from forecast and take
action to remedy situations where revenues were lower than plan or expenses higher.

Managing Risk And Uncertainty

Managing risk is essential to an organization’s success. Even the largest corporations cannot
control the economic and competitive environment around them. Unforeseen events occur that
must be dealt with quickly, before negative financial consequences from these events become
severe. Planning encourages the development of “what-if” scenarios, where managers attempt to
envision possible risk factors and develop contingency plans to deal with them. The pace of
change in business is rapid, and organizations must be able to rapidly adjust their strategies to
these changing conditions.

Team Building

Planning promotes team building and a spirit of cooperation. When the plan is completed and
communicated to members of the organization, everyone knows what their responsibilities are,
and how other areas of the organization need their assistance and expertise in order to complete
assigned tasks. They see how their work contributes to the success of the organization as a whole
and can take pride in their contributions. Potential conflict can be reduced when top management
solicits department or division managers’ input during the goal setting process. Individuals are
less likely to resent budgetary targets when they had a say in their creation.

Creating Competitive Advantages

Planning helps entrepreneurs get a realistic view of their current strengths and weaknesses
relative to major competitors. The management team sees areas where competitors may be
vulnerable and then crafts marketing strategies to take advantage of these weaknesses. Observing
competitors’ actions can also help organizations identify opportunities they may have
overlooked, such as emerging international markets or opportunities to market products to
completely different customer group.

Planning Reduces Overlapping and Wasteful Activities:

Under planning, future activities are planned in order to achieve objectives. Consequently, the
problems of when, where, what and why are almost decided. This puts an end to disorder and
suspicion. In such a situation coordination is established among different activities and
departments. It puts an end to overlapping and wasteful activities.

Consequently, wastages moves towards nil, efficiency increases and costs get to the lowest level.
For example, if it is decided that a particular amount of money will be required in a particular
month, the finance manager will arrange for it in time

Planning Promotes Innovative Ideas:

It is clear that planning selects the best alternative out of the many available. All these
alternatives do not come to the manager on their own, but they have to be discovered. While
making such an effort of discovery, many new ideas emerge and they are studied intensively in
order to determine the best out of them.

In this way, planning imparts a real power of thinking in the managers. It leads to the birth of
innovative and creative ideas. For example, a company wants to expand its business. This idea
leads to the beginning of the planning activity in the mind of the manager. He will think like this:

Should some other varieties of the existing products be manufactured?

Should retail sales be undertaken along with the wholesales?

Should some branch be opened somewhere else for the existing or old product?

Should some new product be launched?

In this way, many new ideas will emerge one after the other. By doing so, he will become
habituated to them. He will always be thinking about doing something new and creative. Thus, it
is a happy situation for a company which is born through the medium of planning

Planning Establishes Standards for Controlling:

By determining the objectives of the organisation through planning all the people working in the
organisation and all the departments are informed about ‘when’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ to do things.

Standards are laid down about their work, time and cost, etc. Under controlling, at the time of
completing the work, the actual work done is compared with the standard work and deviations
are found out and if the work has not been done as desired the person concerned are held
responsible.

For example, a labourer is to do 10 units of work in a day (it is a matter of planning), but actually
he completes 8 units. Thus there is a negative deviation of 2 units. For this, he is held
responsible. (Measurement of actual work, knowledge of deviation and holding the labourer
responsible falls under controlling.) Thus, in the absence of planning controlling is not possible.

SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING SMALL BUSINESS

PROFITABLY

There are many business skills required to run your own business apart from the knowledge of
the marketplace.

If you're starting up on your own, you'll need to run everything from serving customers to
preparing your accounts, and this is often a tough requirement for anyone. Below are listed the
core skills required for running a business and how you might develop your core skill set further.

Leadership Skills

From our early childhood, we followed leaders from our parents to inspirational figures that
provided a structure in our life and a sense of belonging. The best run businesses are not only
marketing led but have influential leaders at the helm that know what's required to attain set
goals.

They will motivate their team to perform well to meet the overall company objectives. These
leaders will not procrastinate in their decision making and will lead the company forward in the
right direction. There are several leadership styles that work well in different environments,
including autocratic, laissez-faire and participative.

Some people are born leaders and know precisely what's required to run a successful business,
but most of us are not in that space. Therefore, training programmes have been developed to
improve leadership skills to lead strategy, lead teams of people, lead change management
programmes and adjust and manage the company politics that organisational change may disrupt.

Strategic Business Planning Skills

Every business follows a plan even if it's not written down in a document. But developing and
implementing strategic change is a skill all business owners need. Undertaking a strategic audit
and writing a business plan is the first step in this discipline.

Thinking strategically in your outlook is a rare skill amongst business owners and managers as
most people are focused on the daily operations and dealing with customer issues to be able to sit
back and think about the future. And before they know it another year has passed and they've
made little real progress.

Applying strategy in your business will help you step clear longer-term goals that will meet
longer-term objectives (rather than just survival or a 1% increase in profits).

Marketing Skills

Perhaps at the heart of every successful business is a real marketing person who understands that
customers pay the bills and grow the business. Completely and utterly running your business for
your customers' needs is where successful businesses develop. Anyone can run a business during
boom times, but it's those businesses that thrive during a recession are the ones that clearly
understand what their customers want and provide products and services accurately matching
those needs.

Marketing is a fundamental skill to have and by delivering what people want to buy is an
obvious requirement for running a business. However, not many people truly understand how to
market a business correctly. Marketing led organisations always buck the trend and tend to
produce more revenues and profits than their competitors.

There are many excellent introductions to marketing books that are worth a read or training
courses run by the Institute of Marketing.

Sales and Customer Relationships

Selling is almost an art form, and everyone has probably sold something in their lives already.
Whether you have an interview for a job (where you have to sell yourself), or you've sold a
house in the past, you may already have the basic skills required.

The negotiation skills required in sales are really to understand the selling process; from initial
contact to completing the transaction. It's worth having a look at successful websites to see how
the selling process works. Many sites fail because they forget to "ask for the order". Good
salespeople rarely leave a meeting without an order or at least a commitment to continue
negotiations. Just dropping a few leaflets off at a prospective client without any follow-up
activity will not get you that sale.

The sales process has six basic steps as follows:

 Prospecting the market for new leads.

 Initial contact with the prospect.
 Present the sales materials to motivate the buyer.
 Objection handling.
 Close the sale with your new customer.
 Follow up/ after sales service.

As mentioned above, the objection handling and closing the sale are probably the most important
areas to perfect. These are the most difficult areas to overcome for those people without a sales
background.

Communication Skills

Communicating effectively with others is a skill that successful business owners possess whether
it be with their staff, directors or customers. Most people write on a daily basis even if it's a short
email, but often the written word is misinterpreted because there is reduced emphasis on phrases
that the spoken word has. Using the right words in the appropriate context is essential but
perhaps writing is the last resort because conversing directly with people increases the chances of
the recipient of your discussion understanding the points raised.

Headline Examples

You can find great examples of written communications in advertising messages and magazine
headlines. If this is new to you, it's best to employ a good copywriter rather than try and do this
in-house. Many people believe they are great copywriters, but this is rarely the case. Using the
right words can boost response rates by 2 or 3 times and copy skills are critical for an improved
call to action response.

Selling Yourself Effectively

How you present yourself dictates how the other person acts upon what you're saying. You'll
need not only to be confident but show you know your subject matter. Not everyone needs real
public speaking skills, but remember that if you need to present to a broader audience, they want
to learn from you. It's unlikely you'll get banter from those listening to you or heckled and if you
know your subject matter why should you?

There are plenty of courses to develop your communication skills but just immersing yourself
with other people on a daily basis will improve your confidence.
People Management and HR

If you have or are thinking of hiring staff, you'll need to be able to set them goals, motivate them
to perform to your standards and also follow all the associated employment laws and regulations.

People management is part of the leadership skills set and staff need to be aware of where the
company is heading, their role within the company and their personal key objectives.

Finance and Accounting Skills

Perhaps the most significant headache in running a business is the ability to manage your cash
flow. Cash is the lifeblood of any business. Profitable businesses fail and go bust if they run out
of money and can't pay their suppliers or their employees. Supplies soon dry up, they have
nothing to sell, and the employees leave to find alternative employment.

You should also be aware of some of the details in your business such as the selling price of each
product, the cost of each product and, therefore, the margin. If you believe cash is running dry,
then you should speak with your bank or accountant in an attempt to get some help before it's too
late.

Taking time away from the business to plan ahead, even if it's only a couple of weeks, is critical,
so you don't get any nasty surprises along the way.

You should also be aware of some of the details in your business such as the selling price of each
product, the cost of each product and therefore the margin. If you believe cash is running dry
then you should speak with your bank or accountant in an attempt to get some help before it's too
late.

Getting some basic grounding in accounting skills is another essential for running a successful
business.

Analytical Skills

Today’s workplace is becoming more technologically advanced and complex. With this rapid
increase of technology, the need for analytical thinking also increases. Analytical thinking is the
ability to objectively assess the present state of your business, to determine where you want to be
in the future, and what to do in order to close the gap between the present and the future growth
of your business. The key is to know how to gather, review, and evaluate data that is necessary to
formulate and express compelling arguments.

Time Management Skills

Time Management is a set of related common-sense skills that help you use your time in the most
effective and productive way. Time Management is a very important skill to master. Learning this skill
will empower you to achieve more and to use your time wisely. The key is to know how to manage your
time efficiently and to focus on the activities most likely to deliver value to your business.
Team Building Skills -- Team-building and teamwork skills are essential for an entrepreneur in today's
workplace. People working at their potential in teams generate better solutions and more productivity
than individual members working independently. The key is to know how to build teams of employees,
partners, advisors, and investors that will help you take your business to the next levsel.