Creating Business Plans

by Harvard Business Publishing

A well-crafted business plan generates enthusiasm for your idea and boosts your odds of success--whether you're proposing a new initiative within your organization or starting an entirely new company. Creating Business Plans quickly walks you through the basics. You'll learn to:

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Entrepreneurship, Leadership

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is a publisher founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, independent corporation and an affiliate of Harvard Business School (distinct from Harvard University Press), with a focus on improving business management practices. The company offers articles, books, case studies, simulations, videos, learning programs, and digital tools to organizations and subscribers.
HBP consists of three market units: Education, Corporate Learning, and Harvard Business Review Group. Their offering consists of print and digital media (Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review Press books, Harvard Business School cases), events, digital learning (Harvard ManageMentor, HMM Spark), blended learning, and campus experiences.

Reviews

[Juan Castro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Key Concepts
• Creating a business plan is a vital step in the life of a business. It generates buy-in and enthusiasm, improves
the odds of success, helps to raise capital, and sustains the business over time.
• A business plan should be organized around four factors that are important to every new venture. These are the
people, the opportunity, the context, and the risk and reward.
• Most business plans follow a general structure. The components include the executive summary, the business
description, industry background, analyses of the market and the competition, and the description of the
management team, as well as the operation plan, the marketing plan, the financial plan, and attachments.
• An effective business plan provides a profile of the proposed business. This should include how it addresses a
clear business need, why customers would want to buy its products or services over competitors’, and how
it fits in the context of the larger business environment.
• The key to turning a solid business plan into a successful venture is the leadership team. The plan should highlight
the qualifications, accomplishments, and professional reputations of the people who will run the business
and those who will provide key resources and services.
• The plan should address the everyday operations and underlying strategies of the business. This allows an entrepreneur
to address possible problems and solutions.
• The marketing plan shows how the business will promote and sell its products or services. It covers opportunity,
buying behavior, the customers’ value to the venture, and a review of objectives.

[Harry Gómez-Morón Castro · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Imma go founder mode con este libro” pensaba….

Lo llevé a migraciones en Breña para esperar a que le renueven el pasaporte a mi mamama. Es adulto mayor así que (pensé) la atenderían al toque, este libro me entraba en la riñonera, era perfecto… Nop, en efecto es “un libro de 20 minutos”. (A menos que te pongas a responder las preguntas/propuestas que plantea, además del quiz).

Terminé parado en en la esquina como baboso -tú, baboso, en la esquina parado idiota ctm- 4 horas sin cel, sin audífonos, sin peruanos cerca… el real fallout.

Sumado al sinsabor de un libro que pareciera que le hayas pedido una lista base a chatGPT, y le hayas pedido a GROK que ejemplifique.

Por último, si no han probado la chicha venezolana, no la prueben. Con este libro igual nos pondremos MONK MODE.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content is mostly padded by a simple "example" business plan--probably half the already very short book. Overall, this takes you through the right questions to ask and the necessary content to include in your business plan, but is very much for beginners who have never designed and pitched any kind of project before. Perhaps a good primer for the analyst stepping up to the project design plate for the first time. If you're going after real VC investment, though, you will need a lot more help to succeed.

[SILeadership · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a business owner or entrepreneur, one should know the importance of defining and displaying business plans. The Book "Creating Business Plans" will help to understand the importance of writing down the business plans. On the top of that, it will quickly walk you through the basics and will help you to understand how to develop and present your idea clearly. Due to its small size, it's very handy to carry away along with you and can be a good travelling partner…

Watch full book review by SIL Founder and one of the finest business coach Dr. Yogesh Pawar at: https://youtu.be/SZYb-6J1iFA

[Radoslava Koleva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good high-level advice how to structure your business plan. It might not be enough to help you create a really proficient masterpiece to wow people, but it's a great starting material. Very quick read and written in concise easy-to-grasp way.

Recommend for anyone with a hazy business idea who want to structure it a bit before they start any real work on it.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

HBR's 20-Minute Manager: Creating Business Plans is a quick, no-frills guide that helps users cover the basics of drafting a business plan. It’s practical and concise but may feel a bit too simplified for those needing more depth. Overall, it’s useful for busy professionals, though it leaves out some nuances of more comprehensive planning.

[Ercüment UZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A handy book on preparing business plans. Written precisely. Not a very detailed one, since it contains less than 100 pages excluding index, quiz, reference and further reading, but still it is one of the best step-by-step guides. Strongly recommend it.

[Joseph Willie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but not what I expected

[Archit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boilerplate. The book contains a very superficial overview of the elements in a business plan.

[Mark Stapel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible Book Added notes and also have Kindle Edition.

[Olatomiwa Bifarin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delivers its promise. 

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy to read and understand book on how to write a business plan, why they're important and has a case study included so that the steps are easier to understand.

[Vianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to the topic for a teenager

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect quick guide and easy read. I intend to use this an a few others as a quick reference guide. I recommend this book to any self learner interested in business.

[Naveen Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

#86 of 100 self help books
Short and informative

[Abby Epplett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so much a how-to for creating business plans as a fictional account of wealthy women creating a weight-loss program for other wealthy women, making the content neither relatable nor appealing.

[Serra Sauerbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series.Books are very easy to read and give you the solid perspective about business side.

[Leela Shamash]

abolish the diet industry

[Derek Forrest Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much time on the fake example

[Thecritic · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to write a business plan and get funding.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knowing what your business is all about is not enough without carefully laid out plans to execute its underlying ideas. This is the reason why creating business plans is very essential. Business plans helps to clarify not only to the entrepreneur but also to investors and other stakeholders the real purpose of business and how it will work.

This book by Harvard Business Review Press is full of ready to execute steps for any entrepreneur to create a business plan that will communicate the soul of a business. It is very easy to read and the steps are really easy to follow. If you want to get the most efficient way to know how to create a business plan, read this book.

[Matthew Mechtly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who created a company, I can't recommend this book enough. This book guides you through a series of necessary considerations.

I would have saved myself a lot of pain had I read this book before started my company.

[Saketh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary of important aspects of a business plan.
No new insights. Just a crisp summary of existing ideas.
More from an entrepreneurial perspective than a managerial perspective.

[Delhi Irc]

Location: ND6 IRC
Accession No: DL030730