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Readings
- This is an example of a business plan layout. You can
use this to start putting together your own
business plan for Activity 5.
- The telecentre cookbook has some
excellent sections on business plans. Although
it is designed for telecentres, many of the
aspects covered are very similar to those of a
technical service centre.
- These are simple examples of an income statement, a cash flow projection and a balance sheet for a business
plan (taken from www.businesspartners.co.za).
Obviously the contents of your financial model
will differ depending on the operating
assumptions that you use, but these are
nonetheless useful layout examples. Whatever
your assumptions, you will need to create an
income statement, a cash flow projection and a
balance sheet for your business.
- This is an article on cash flow and why this is
critical to business success.
- Raising funds to set up your business –
refer to this excellent resource on fundraising.
- Joris Komen from SchoolNet Namibia has
created a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
model for supplying refurbished PCs to
Namibian schools. This model looks at everything
from the cost of equipping schools with networks
and PCs, to replacement costs, to country
infrastructure costs, to ICT Deployment and
Support costs (setting up a technical support
centre), to the cost of educational content. Of
particular relevance to you during this course
is the section on ICT Deployment and Support
costs, but the whole model is worth looking at
and understanding as it could be adapted to work
out a similar TCO model for supplying schools in
your own country with ICTs.
- This is the section on costs taken from SchoolNet Africa’s research
report on Refurbished PCs for African
Schools. It gives a good overview of the issue
of determining the total costs associated with
importing and using second-hand PCs in African
schools.
- The DFID Tools for Development
Handbook for those engaged in development
activity draws together a range of techniques
designed to help DFID officers and others
undertake development activities and
interventions of any size and kind. This is a
manual from which to pick and choose: you may
need to employ different skills at different
times or several skills at the same time. Some
are more likely to be employed at the outset, or
in the design stage. Some skills may be employed
once; others will need to be revisited and may
be revised as the activity or intervention
continues. And the skills and techniques you
start out with may need to be added to as you
progress. This document began life as an attempt
to draw together many people’s years of
experience undertaking development activity.
However, many of the skills outlined here, such
as those relating to teamworking, facilitating
group activity, influencing and negotiating, or
conflict reduction, are ones that you will need
in everyday life. They will prove particularly
useful when engaged in team-based and
multi-disciplinary work that is becoming
increasingly the means by which development
activity is delivered.
- The European Commission/EuropeAid’s
Project Cycle Management Handbook is a
brilliant ‘how to’ guide for writing a business
plan and manage a project cycle using the
logical framework approach. The handbook is
addressed to all persons who want more detailed
information about planning, management and
evaluation of projects and programmes funded by
external aid programmes.
- AusAID has also produced a guideline to the Logical Framework
Approach that might be worth reading once
you have read EuropeAid’s Project Cycle
Management Handbook.
Additional
Resources/Info
How to write a business
plan
These sites are excellent, with lots of
useful examples and articles about writing
business plans:
http://www.bplans.com/fb/article.cfm/2
http://www.businesspartners.co.za/
(go to ‘writing a business plan’ link)
Other sites about how to write business
plans
http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/bizplan/bizplan.html
http://www.bplans.com/dp/
Free Internet course on starting your own
business: http://www.myownbusiness.org/
This website has already written business
plans for sale (in US$) – including a plan to
run a computer maintenance centre:
http://www.businessplanning-4-you.com/cb/businesses/index.html?hop=100248%20
Cash flow models
Free
cash flow templates in MS Excel:
http://www.exinfm.com/free_spreadsheets.html(see
number 17.)
Cash flow software site:
http://www.planware.org/cashplan.htm
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