A critical component of your business plan is a strategy for managing your company’s operations. A comprehensive operations plan needs to answer the following questions:

• Operations strategy
  • How will operations add value?
  • What will you emphasize – cost, quality, timeliness, flexibility?
  • Does your process give you a competitive advantage?
• Scope of Operations
  • In-house or outsource?
  • Product and process design?
  • Order fulfillment?
  • Customer service/technology support?
  • Installation?
• Describe how you will get off the ground running as a business
  • Product/process development
  • Intellectual property
  • Rollout strategies – regions, products, channels
  • Marketing strategy – advertising launch, activations, online
  • Agreements with key customers/partners
  • Strategic alliances
  • Facilities and equipment installations
  • Market tests or beta tests
  • Key hires
• Describe the initial management team for the business
  • Background and experience for each management team – a strong start off management is vital for investors
  • Any holes in the management team? If so how do you plan to address it?
  • Board of Directors or Advisory Board?
  • Organizational chart
  • Ownership structure
  • Corporate Social Responsibility/Impact Investing

In summary, an operations plan should describe the process for producing and delivering your product/service and is a critical element of your business planning exercise.

Read Also: Key Components of a Business Plan I