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how
to / create centres /
business plan / writing
You can think
of a Business Plan or Project Plan as a list of questions
- answer them and you will have your plan.
This section
takes you through those questions.
You will find guidance links to explain ideas or techniques
in more detail, or to show you sample wording you might
use in a plan. Useful links both inside and outside
this site are also shown.
You can also
choose to work through the guidance in other ways:
- View
or download the whole
Business Planning Guidance Notes in
Microsoft
Word
or PDF
- Coming
soon: you will be able to look at example cashflow
forecasts for similar centres or download a sample
cashflow forecast in Microsoft Excel or PDF format
Writing
a Project Plan will give you all the information you
need to fill in a funding application and present an
on-going funding plan and marketing plan. These pages
focus on the opportunity to apply to NOF/DfEE for ICT
Learning Centres funding, but can be used to apply for
other sources too, as most funders require similar information.
Questions
Who
are you and what is your idea?
Answer this question
and you will have an Introduction, or a section
which gives an overview of the whole project. You could
call it The organisation and project idea.
Describe your
group; its ideas and vision; give an overview of the
project idea and who you want to help - you could put
a list of project aims here. You can list group members
in an Appendix.
For guidance
that relates to the NOF/DfEE Learning Centre Application
Form click
here
You can visit
the website relating to NOF and DfEE funding through
the links
page on this
site.
What
are your aims?
To answer this
question, you may find it useful to produce an overall
Mission Statement for your group or project.
List your goals
or targets. Try to divide them into what you will aim
to achieve in the short, medium and long term (eg in
1, 3 and 5+ years).The more specific you can be here
the better; use numbers and time-scales as well as descriptions.
Be realistic and compare different targets to see if
they all fit together (eg number of centre users per
week or day - does this match the number of terminals
available?). If you set yourself measurable targets
that relate to your finances, the number of people you
will serve, the number of hours people will use your
facilities and so on, you will be able to see how you
are doing and keep your project on course.
For more guidance
on what to write and how to put it click
here
Where
are you?
Answer this question
and you will have a section called Location and Premises
Briefly describe
your community and location - why is it important to
do the project here? (also covered in next section in
more detail) Describe your premises, if you have some
in mind; if you don't, indicate the size or kind of
premises you might need, or how you might share premises.
You can put details like maps or an outline plan in
an Appendix. Follow this link for ideas on Buildings
and
for ideas on sharing and hosting in joint premises click
here
If you are applying
for NOF/DfEE funding or would like more guidance as
to how to describe your location and premises in a way
that help with funding, then click
here.
Why
you want to do it
This question
will give you section you can call Market Research,
or just Research. Click here if you need more help with
market research.
This will be
one of the broadest questions you have to answer and
might produce a long section with lots of detail: ranging
from interviews with local people to facts and figures
from publications. But it's an all important section
that will trigger the funding!
Try working from
the general to the specific. You can start by giving
the context for your project:
What
needs does your community have?
See if your Local
Authority or local college has done any recent local
research on community needs which they can let you read
or reproduce. If not, see if your local college, or
school can help with any research - going out and asking
people questions. You can prove there is a need for
your project locally by summarising the answers to a
questionnaire
Are there any
national figures you can refer to - such as local employment
and income? Social issues? The growth of the Internet
and IT use? Are there any local (or national) politics
affecting your community? Try
the
links
pages for more
ideas on where to get information, or refer to section
five of the ICT Learning Centres funding guidance.
Who
else is doing it?
Answering this
question will give you a sub-section of Market
Research - you
can call it "Competition" or "Competitors". But
don't forget that you can and should work with others,
so some competitors should and will turn out to be partners!
No funding schemes
will give you money to reproduce what is being done
already in your community or to compete with private
businesses. So it's more important to describe who else
is offering a similar service, and if it is accessible
and affordable to your target group. If there is no
other service or nothing else affordable or close by
- or acceptable for certain sections of the community
- then it will strengthen your funding bid.
For DfEE or NOF
funding you will also need to explain how your project
could support or complement other lifelong learning
and ICT strategies (See Application Form section 7.3)
and how your project will create new opportunities or
enhance existing provision for lifelong learning in
you community (7.4)
Visit organisations
which offer similar services. Make notes or record audio
tapes. Find out about prices, opening hours, equipment,
access, public transport, help and support available,
what the staff are like and so on. Collect leaflets.
You might like to take photos. Make a list of who offers
what - and the pros and cons (or strengths and weaknesses)
of the existing services you have seen.
Use this opportunity
to identify gaps in provision that you could fill or
to offer a different service to whatever exists already.
It may be that
there is nowhere else close by where the community can
get the services you are planning - particularly access
to computers and the Internet or affordable training.
But it is up to you to show that you have looked, and
to show how your proposals fit with what is already
available. This is what market
research is
all about.
How
do you plan to do it?
This section
will give you a detailed description of the project
and how it will work - You could call it "Project
Implementation"
- Try to give
outline targets and timescales - even if you have
to change them in the light of later information.
- What skills
will you need? Will you employ anyone? Will you use
volunteers? Can you get help from people seconded
from a local company?
- Consider how
you will promote and market the project. - you could
make this a separate section called Marketing
or Marketing Plan (basing it on the results of your
research)
- Outline what
prices
you will charge.
- How will people
find out where you are and what you do - and how much
will it cost to tell them? Will you use leaflets?
Signage? A web page? meetings? Special events? How
much can you do yourself and with volunteers? Outline
your plans for Promotion
How
will you keep within the law?
There are two
main areas of legislation you will need to consider.
The first is to do with the structure and operation
of your committee, group or organisation. If you have
not fixed that yet, you can get
further information
on this site, for guidance only, or go to our links
page. Consult
a legal expert before any undertaking with legal implications!
The second area
of legislation concerns how your project will stay within
various legal requirements to do with buildings, planning,
insurances,employing people, health and safety, people's
rights, data protection and so on. You can find guidance
on
these pages
but again you should seek help from the experts. Your
Local Council would be a good place to start - they
are there to help!
What
do you need?
You might call
this part "People, Resources and Equipment"
Describe: what
you have, what you need, where you might get it.
Remember people
are your most valuable resource. Describe your partners,
volunteers, skills, assets, funders, donations and the
time everyone has put in so far.
On this site
you can find guidance on:
You
will also need to consider where to get other equipment
you might need, such as furniture, and make sure it
complies with legislation.
Consider
also stocks of consumables you will need: paper, disks
and computer supplies.
How
much will it all cost?
Finally - you
should now be in a position to deal with a section on
Finance
Divide your costs
into:
- Capital costs
(assets you need to buy) and
- Revenue costs
(ongoing running costs like consumables, heating,
subscriptions and any salary or volunteer costs).
List all the
assumptions you are making (e.g. how much one of something
costs and how many you will need in a year; how many
days you will be open etc). It's a good idea to do this
straight into a spreadsheet.
If you are not
experienced in calculating financial projections or
working out cashflow, and there is no tame accountant
willing to help your group voluntarily, then get expert
advice (see Where
else can I go for help?)
Even if you are a whizz with spreadsheets and figures
it's a good idea to get someone to look over your costs.
The DfEE is providing
worked financial models which will be available on
their website http://www.dfee.gov.uk/ict-learning-centres/
Section 8 of
the ICT Learning Centres application form shows some
headings that you might need to include. Ideally a detailed
cashflow forecast should be produced to generate the
figures to be inserted in section 8.1 If you are asking
for more than £50,000 you must provide a cash-flow
forecast. In section 8.2 you will be required to show
any other income for the project and the value of any
contributions in kind.
The TCA have
a sample cashflow for a Start-up Telecottage in their
Teleworking Handbook (http://www.tca.org.co.uk
).
Funding
Plan
When you know
how much things will cost, you can work up a funding
plan.
For NOF/DfEE
funded projects under the ICT Learning Centres initiative
which require more than £50,000 a funding plan
is mandatory. You will need to give your organisation's
fundraising experience, and details of staff
who will do
the fundraising. You will also need to list current
and future sources of funding and whether they are confirmed,
with expected release dates. Incase you do not reach
your targets, you need to show what else you might do
instead - contingency plans.
For projects
designed to generate their own revenue through charges
- or a mix of charges and funded sub-projects - you
can use your cashflow forecast to demonstrate how much
income you expect to generate and then make fund-raising
plans for the short-fall.
Match funding
Some funders
want to see how much you have raised already from other
sources; others have a fixed percentage you must raise.
NOF funding bids should record "realistically" what
non-costed time given to the project is worth, and where
any additional funding is coming from.
Any donations
you receive - in kind or in cash - or any work done
by volunteers can usually be counted into the start-up
costs or revenue costs as match funding. Find out from
your funder how you can charge volunteer hours: for
example some guidelines suggest £5.75 for general
labour provided by volunteers.
how
to / create centres /
business plan
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