Welcome to the Business Development course where we examine business planning and organisational development issues of relevance to sole traders and small to medium sized enterprises (both commercial and non-profit.)

Course Overview

An enterprise must contend with different external and operational demands as it develops over time. Managing change, building resources, generating trading revenue and maximising impact (in the case of a non-profit), all take careful planning. In this course, we will take a practical look at levels of organisational planning and development of particular relevance to enterprises who may wish to plan a new business venture or scale their existing operations.

Target Audience

This course is designed with the needs of a range of trading entities in mind. It provides a practical hands-on approach to business planning and organisational development for directors, senior managers and supervisors who do not have a background in business management.

Course Structure

The course is divided into three component parts and takes approx. 1.5 hours to review. Participants should allow time to read through the practical templates accompanying lessons. Course topics are self-contained to facilitate micro-learning for the time conscious participant.

Lesson 1: Planning Alternatives

This lesson explains the different types of plans in use in SME and non-profit organisations.

Topic 1: Crafting a Strategic Plan

Topic 2: Developing Operational Plans

Topic 3: Exploring Business Ideas

Lesson 2: Writing Effective Business Plans

Business plans have been used as ‘blueprints’ to guide the development of enterprises for well over one hundred years! This lesson takes an in-depth look at information typically presented in a business plan.

Topic 4: Structure and Content

Topic 5: Information Gathering

Topic 6: Financial Projections and Resource Acquisition

Lesson 3: Scaling an Enterprise

As enterprises seek to scale business opportunities, additional issues must be considered if the quality of service delivery is not to be compromised.

Topic 7: Capacity Issues

Topic 8: Understanding Costs

Topic 9: Productivity Issues

Disclaimer

The content provided in this elearning resource is not exhaustive and should not be construed as advice. The resource is intended to aid in the development of management knowledge by participants completing the course. If you plan to use the content and especially the templates and other sample documents accompanying this course in your organisation, please ensure that you first adapt them to suit your own requirements. No liability can be accepted for any consequences arising from the use of the content provided in this course.

Course Commencement & General Instructions

1. Please progress through each of the lessons in the course sequentially.
2. To move from one lesson page to another, click on the ‘Mark Complete’ button located at the end of each lesson page. Once you have clicked the ‘Mark Complete’ button, you may then progress to the next lesson in the course.
3. Some lesson pages contain interactive resources. To open an interactive resource, click the orange ‘Launch’ button contained on the web page. Click on the ‘Next’ buttons or arrows within each interactive resource to move from one screen to the next within each of these resources.
4. Document names in blue within a lesson or topic page denote that the document is available to download. Just click on the document name (in blue) to open it for viewing and download.