As the saying goes, "People don't plan to fail--they fail to plan." In business, this failing is fatal--because planning is essential to the well-being and success of any company. Seven Steps to a Successful Business Plan cuts past the traditional planning problems, and provides readers with a documented method of building a simplified business plan that works!

The book helps managers find a sensible starting point, understand the value of an integrated planning model, and finally write a logical business plan. Four features make it all work:

1. A Seven-Step Planning Process--How you plan to integrate planning down to the lowest level.

2. Your Management Story--Defining what the company is "about," and asking yourself if it makes a good "story."

3. The Concept of backPlanning--Where do you want to be, and how do you work backward from there?

4. The 5-Page Business Plan--How can you create a concise, functional, and user-friendly plan--in just 5 pages?