What is business planning? How is it carried out?

Summary:

A business plan specifies your nonprofit's business idea. It's sometimes needed for funding or to justify a new program. The plan often includes a market study, strategic plan and financial projections.

Answer:

Free Management Library includes links to a large number of free resources that together explain:
- What is a business plan?
- Why do I need one?
- How do I prepare one?
See http://www.mapnp.org/library/plan_dec/bus_plan/bus_plan.htm

Don Greismann has written a general introduction to starting a nonprofit that emphasizes the importance of having a business plan and provides guidance on how to prepare one. See http://www.tess.org/misc/010708NP_Biz_Plan.pdf NOTE: this file is in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document (.pdf) format. You will need Adobe Acrobat reader software to access the file; this software is available without charge from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

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Posted 1/19/00 -- CM; revised 7/8/01, link updated 7/3/05 -- PB