This is the sixth year for these Awards and the annual programme has become well established as an important feature of the business planning tool kit.
Great success in business is directly related to great planning. This has been the experience of business advisors such as the IBA 2013 Judges, and the business coaches at Unitec (Sponsor of the ‘Business Excellence in Innovation category), underscoring the important role played by the Awards. ‘
Many New Zealand businesses do not have a written business plan. They may well have a plan in mind, but find it difficult to summarise and explain to an investor or bank manager.
The Elevator Pitch
IBA 2013 questions are designed to draw out information and data that should be available in a business plan. If there is no written plan, then gathering the information necessary to complete the entry will be a useful start to the planning process.
Part One of the IBA 2013 entry starts with a question, ‘About your Business.’
Being able to state your business succinctly is more difficult than it seems. Americans call it the ‘Elevator Pitch’ – what you would say to a stranger who gets into the lift with you at level 1 and wants to know what you do before he exits at level 10. That is less than one minute and it takes clear thinking to summarise it in that time.
A clear statement about your fundamental business purpose and your business model is essential start point for the business awards entry, and your business plan.
By the way, your business model means the way in which your business earns its income. For example, is your business a retailer, wholesaler, manufacturer or an internet trader? Each of these businesses earns its income through different processes and hence is structured differently.
Straight questions
Question Two in the IBA 2013 entry form seeks to find out about your business performance. This is a good opportunity to outline where your business is aiming to be in the next three to five years.
The entry then looks at the products and services offered by your business. Does your business have a competitive advantage in the range and type of product offered, or in the quality of services provided?
Next, the entry asks for your understanding of your target market and whether your products and services meet customers’ needs.
As a follow-on point, this question seeks to understand the role of the leader in your business and the strength of the management team and staff, and the role of governance and risk management.
The final part of Question 2 asks for details of how your business measures and manages financial, customer and staff performance.
From your answer to this Question, the Judges want to know what you are aiming for, how do you plan to get there, and what progress has been made in the last three years. Your answer should include successes with products and services; sales and marketing achievements; development of the management team and staff; strategies to improve financial results; and systems for monitoring and managing performance.
The Judges will be interested in strategies and examples of how you have bounced back from the downturn over the last several years.
The final question in Part One is a statistical template, which gathers your data over the last three years to see what trends have been established.
I will outline tips on how to complete this in my next article.
Chad Wilkie is Executive Director of Ignition Partner and Chairman of Panel of Judges of the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards 2013. He is an experienced company director, adviser on shaping businesses for growth and structuring deals to achieve business growth.
