Participating in creating business plans

A business plan is usually an official document containing specific product-related business objectives of the organization, timeframes for implementation, plans, and strategies for achieving targets and defining financial needs. Except for the usual funding application or for presenting plans to the board of directors and other stakeholders, BVOP suggests it also serves as a guide for internal teams comprising further steps and implementation guidelines. 

The business plan may be a source for creating non-formal documents and resources like product visions, initial high-level roadmaps, project plans, etc.

A business plan may contain the following information in details:

• Executive summary
• Mission statement
• Business description
• Business environment analysis
• SWOT analysis
• Industry background
• Competitor analysis
• Market analysis
• Marketing plan
• Operations plan
• Management summary
• Financial plan
• Milestones

The Business Value-Oriented Product Management (BVOPDM) office representatives may participate in the creation of formal business plans, which may be a time-consuming activity. The main focus of the BVOPDM office representatives is creating clear, concise, and straightforward documents containing rationalized topics. An example of such a document may be the popular Product vision.

Product vision may be a simple document, chart, table, spreadsheet, or a graph that should contain at least 3 required information categories regarding the product:

• Target group
• User needs
• Business goals

These three categories of information at least provide who the target audience is, what its needs are, and how the organization will benefit from the realization of a product in that respect.

The Business Value-Oriented Principles (BVOP) require, at a minimum, these groups of information to be collected and validated before any teams start any further research and development processes.

The product vision information may be collected from product management roles, internal organizational teams, third parties, or any other source of information that may be valuable.

Expanding the product vision is the next logical step. More information categories may be included in the product vision, such as:

• Initial product description
• Competitors strengths and weaknesses
• Cost factors
• Detailed users analysis
• Channels of distribution
• Value proposition

The product vision serves as a reference to all teams and stakeholders. All initiatives, additional research and development activities, and finalized productions need to be assessed according to the information collected in the document.

Any new, valid, and useful information about the product should be reflected in the document on time.

Comments from the BVOP™ community on “Participating in creating business plans”

Helma Schröder

Many professionals in the field believe that business plans are documents created by administrative and marketing roles. The product manager plays a role in creating a business plan by providing important information, knowledge gained from previous experience, and can be a consultant in properly creating this important document.

Remember, BVOP teaches you teamwork. We need to work together to achieve common goals. The product manager is a very significant figure with knowledge in many areas and the involvement of this role in the initial phases of the product can bring many benefits to the organization. It is no secret that the business plan serves as a document to apply for funding. If your product manager plays the cards well, the product can get very good funding.

Summary

A business plan is a formal document with product-related objectives, implementation timeframes, strategies for achieving targets, and financial needs. BVOP recommends it as a guide for internal teams. It can also be used to create non-formal documents like product visions and project plans.

A business plan includes an executive summary, mission statement, business description, environment and SWOT analysis, industry and competitor analysis, market analysis, marketing and operations plan, management summary, financial plan, and milestones. The BVOPDM office may help create these plans, with a focus on clear and concise documents. An example is the Product vision.

Product vision is a document, chart, table, spreadsheet, or graph that should have 3 categories of information: target group, user needs, and business goals. These categories provide information about the target audience, their needs, and how the organization will benefit from the product.

BVOP requires certain information to be collected and validated before starting any research and development processes. The product vision can be obtained from various sources and should be expanded to include categories such as product description, competitors, cost factors, user analysis, distribution channels, and value proposition. The product vision acts as a reference for all teams and initiatives, and any new information should be promptly added to the document.