Business plan

[Jayne266]

I want to change my role in my current job and the manager has asked me to do a business plan to show the boss.

Any good books/website/tips any one can give me.

I have never done anything like this I am not business orientated at all.

[MoonlightandRoses]

Don't worry so much about the 'business' bit per se. You need a plan that sets out clearly:

An Executive Summary (basically a precis - should be no more than one page, can be a lot less). The summary should set out:
What your goal is (i.e. what will be the results of the role change),
What the benefit to the company (not you) is (so efficiency improvement, long term cash saving, risk reduction etc)
A timeline to completion of role change (ten days, by xx date etc.)

Then, on the following page(s) under the heading of 'Plan' set out the detail of how you intend to achieve this.
What are the costs (time / cash) involved at each point in the project?
Are other people involved/impacted by the change (detail who and how)
Split out activities into stages, with a review point after each stage so that you can ensure the plan is running to target
Within each stage give:
A statement of that stage: E.g. stop doing xx and move to y
Any dependencies for completing the stage (by which I mean what would prevent you completing a stage and is that risk avoidable e.g. if you are only able to make the changes once someone else is trained up in your role then you have a dependency as that individual could be half-trained and go out sick/may change their minds etc. )
What support is needed to achieve the stage (IT, personal training, access to management mentoring etc.)
At what point is that stage complete

It sounds complex, but it really could be as simple as:

Stage 1:
Reduce number of daily reports from ten to three by checking validity and streamlining. Set up regular review meetings to maintain usefulness of new reporting layout and information post improvement
Dependencies: Availability of x,y,z for discussion on how they currently use the reports
Risk management: Schedule meetings with x,y,z and ask them to nominate a.n.other in the event of their absence
Support requirements: None, discussions and report re-drafting to be completed by Jayne
Completion: Once reports successfully merged
Outcome: Improved business efficiency due to reduction in reports being produced and improvement in currency of information reported.

You might want to post this in one of the Work topics too (click on "All Topics" at the top of the page and then on "Work") as there will be a number of experienced posters on those boards who will be able to provide support.

[MoonlightandRoses]

Oops - forgot the most important thing - best of luck!

[Jayne266]

Wow thank you very much