Business plans are not only for start-ups, but are also the key to successful business development. Yet many companies fail to make coherent plans to achieve future growth. One of the many advantages of a business plan is that it allows you to make mistakes on paper before you make them for real. The process of thinking through every aspect of your proposed growth strategy and subjecting it to external scrutiny will weed out the weaker ideas and increase your chances of success. The Best Laid Business Plans is a comprehensive guide to the business planning process for all companies, old and new. It explains frameworks that can be used to measure past and future business performance. There's advice on analysing the areas of marketing, sales, production, customer service, new product development and finance. And, crucially, on how to prepare meaningful and believable forecasts. Whatever your business objective, this book is your route map to planning for success.