Develop Your Operational Action Plan
Develop an Action Plan to implement your short and long-range operational goals.
In some cases it is difficult to determine whether a goal should fall into this Element or the Marketing Action Plan (Step 45) in the Marketing Section of your business plan. In my case, for example, which Element should house a task such as “building a website” or “providing a seminar”? I decided to leave the website production in the Marketing Section and to include the production of the seminar here. The key is to compare the two action plans in order to avoid duplication or repetitiveness.
View a business plan example: Operational Action Plan
Tip: You can let your imagination soar, but be very careful not to scare off your reader by dwelling on wildly unrealistic long range plans.
Action
If you have set up a working copy of your business plan using the Shell™, this information will be entered under section 4 “Operations” under the heading 4.8 “Operational Action Plan”
Download the Operational Action Plan Worksheet
To prepare yourself to complete this Element, first go back and review your Strategic Plan and Goals (Step 35) in the Business Concept Section of your business plan, your Marketing Action Plan (Step 45)in the Marketing Section, and all Elements of this, the Operations Section (Steps 46-53) then develop your Operational Action Plan with attention to the following categories:
- Setup of your premises and facilities.
- Purchase and setup of equipment.
- Purchase of materials and supplies.
- Steps required for mitigating potential risks.
- Engagement of management, professionals, employees, or contractors.
Note: Unless there is an advantage for doing so, it can be problematic to put goals with deadlines into your Operational Action Plan. This is because the plan quickly becomes outdated, necessitating continuous updating to remain accurate. A;though you will need timelines for internal planning purposes, it can be less complicated to leave the timelines out of this Element if the plan is to be viewed by anyone outside the business.