Remove Business Plan Remove Cost Remove Forecast Remove Matching
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How to Conduct a Plan Vs Actual Analysis With Spreadsheets

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I used plan vs. actual analysis once a month, comparing forecasts and budgets to actual results since I started Palo Alto Software back in the 1980s. And nowadays you can get Microsoft Excel for about what a lunch costs per month, and Google Sheets — a competent alternative — for free. For the record, this method still works.

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How to Forecast Sales

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Sales forecasting is much easier than you think, and much more useful than you imagine. You review and revise your forecast regularly. Since sales are intimate with costs and expenses, the forecast helps you budget and manage. Since sales are intimate with costs and expenses, the forecast helps you budget and manage.

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How to Write a Business Plan

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You’ve reviewed what a business plan is , and why you need one to start and grow your business. It’s time to dig into the process of actually writing a business plan. In this step-by-step guide, I’ll take you through every stage of writing a business plan that will actually help you achieve your goals.

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How to Forecast Sales

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First, allow me to deal with a very common problem: Business owners are often afraid to forecast sales. I was a vice president of a market research firm for several years, doing expensive forecasts, and I saw many times that there’s nothing better than the educated guess of somebody who knows the business well.

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The Different Types of Business Plans

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Business plans go by many names: Strategic plans, operational plans, internal plans, and many others. Lately, I’ve been focusing on lean business plans. There are also one-page business plans, although those are really more summaries. Business plans for startups.

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The Key Elements of the Financial Plan

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Financial experts will have different opinions about what should be included in a financial plan, depending on the type of business you have and what you’re trying to accomplish with your business plan. Sales forecast. Personnel plan. and maybe some business ratios and/or a break-even analysis.

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Lean Business Planning with Tim Berry [VIDEO]

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We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. It’s all about making your business life easier, doing what works best, getting the best results by tracking what works and always improving.

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