Action Plans

The action plan is our name for the portion of the business plan in which you account for business operations that weren't covered in the marketing and sales plans. The marketing and sales plans spell out the steps your business will take in an effort to achieve its financial and sales goals. The action plan explains how you will operate and manage your business. It also addresses the back office activities that don't relate directly to providing goods or services to customers. These include activities such as:

• employee hiring and management
• obtaining and working with vendors for needed materials and supplies
• ensuring that production takes place as planned
• providing customer service and support after the sale
• order fulfillment
• collections
• dealing with a changing business environment

These types of issues can be conveniently grouped into three categories for purposes of dealing with them in your plan. The categories are:

• operations plan
• management plan
• contingency plans