One feature of planning is that as well as being creative, it is a way of forcing our questions and decisions which need to he made, and of 'problem solving in advance' by identifying potential problems and finding ways of preventing, eliminating or dealing with these situations.
Here are key questions to be addressed in the opportunity plan:
- Restate what the opportunity is.
- Is there a name or title for the opportunity or business venture?
What will you call it?
- What is the single most important goal to be achieved through the opportunity? £
- When will this be achieved? How will you measure it?
- What are the other goals which need to be achieved?
- How do these relate to the overall goal, and are they compatible? What are their timescales?
- How will the success of these be measured or assessed?
-What tasks or activities need to be completed to achieve each of these goals?
- Who are the people who will make the opportunity happen?
- Who will take responsibility for each goal?
- Do they have the skills, information and time to achieve these goals?
- What resources are needed to achieve these goals?
- Which resources are already available and which must be obtained?