The Importance Of A Business Plan And Ethical Training Essay By ETPL.

1. Meet with your partners to discuss and analyse your business performance, based on the issues raised above. Include evaluation of performance against the key result areas including, as relevant to your business:

profit and loss and triple bottom line
community awareness or branding
environmental impact
governance
product quality and sales
the workforce

Write a progress report against each of the above and any changes required.

Write up tables and reports with your business partners for each area you are reporting on.

For the purpose of this project, you can share this task and can make up any additional details in consultation with your partners.

2. Review the performance indicators in your business plan and identify any changes necessary.

3. Write a report in which you analyse your business performance against the business plan. The report will be one that you use to communicate with your key stakeholders including your business partners, financiers, customers, staff and any technical advisors. In your report:

Describe how successful your business has been
How the business performed against each of the performance goals and indicators
Any changes or refinements to the plan required
How you will review your processes and work methods regularly as part of continuous improvement
The strengths and weaknesses of the Business Plan
Write the report in a formal structure. Be sure to organise the report with clear headings for each section.

The report must be your own work.

Attach documents or reports you used during the evaluation process.

4. Develop a training program to provide the skills and knowledge to deal with the issue of regulatory and legislative compliance for your staff.  Include:
A list of topics that need to be included
Who will participate in the training
How the training will take place

Executive Summary

A business plan is the basic picture of an entrepreneurial venture which entrepreneurs prepare. A business plan shows that the nature of the business, the products the new entrepreneur would offer and the way it would create value for customers. The business plan then go on to give information about the external market in which the business operates. The preferred models used in this case are generally PESTLE (or its variants like STEEPLE) and Porter’s Five Forces Model. Then the business model goes on to mention the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which the business would likely encounter using the SWOT model. Then the business goes on to shed light on the management strategy, organisational structure preferred, financial information, expected skills of the employees and finally an idea about the ways the entrepreneur would measure the performance as well as business objective.

The purpose of a business plan giving a clear picture about the business and prospects to external stakeholders like venture capital, government and incubators. This enables the entrepreneurs create interests among these stakeholders to invest in the business. Thus, the main purpose of the business plan to enable the entrepreneur acquire financial resources.

The businesses should use plans for two reasons. The first reason is that it enables the businesses to gain financial capital and secondly, it enables the entrepreneurs to manage their respective businesses more efficiently.

A business plan is used by a new venture whereas a strategic plan is used by an existing venture. However, a business plan can also be used by an existing company while launching a new business segment. Secondly, while a business plan covers several aspects like marketing, management and financial aspects, the strategic plan may either cover all the aspects or specific aspects like marketing.

Section	Description
Executive Summary	The findings from the business plan.
Business summary	The section reveals salient features of businesses like their location, their prospective formats, their owners, their prospective business goals, visions and missions. This section also reveals about the products the businesses would offer.
Management / operational plan	This section speaks about the leadership structure of the businesses. It also uncovers details about the decision making mechanism that would be followed in the businesses.
Market planning	This section reveals about the marketing plan of the entrepreneurial firms.
Future plans, vision, goals and milestones	This section uncovers the business goals which the entrepreneurial ventures seek to attain in short and long term. It also speaks about the visions, goals and milestones which the ventures in question want to achieve.
Financials and funding	The section gives information about the funding processes of the firm. It also gives information about the expected financial performances.

Performance Objective	How success will be measured
Higher profits(both gross profit and net profits)	Profit and loss account
Current ratio(2:1)minimum	Current assets: current liabilities(balance sheet)
Employee retention	HR records

The six steps are acquisition of facts of the prospective business market, setting of a vision statement, deciding on a mission statement, pointing about the strategic business objectives, deciding on the strategic business plans and continuous management of the progress.

The increasing incidences of employee thefts in the retail sector in Australia are having immense impacts on the revenue of the retail companies. The employee thefts can range from theft of inventory to theft of cash worth millions of AUD. The employee thefts devastate the financial base of the company. This growing internal financial threat has made it important for retail companies to seek help from professional firms. The firm under study namely, ETPL should enter the market of Australia and provide training to the employees of the retail companies. The firm would enable the retail companies to curtail employee theft and financially strengthen themselves.  AS already mentioned the products of ETPL would include both products for individual and corporate clients. The headquarters of the firm would be Brisbane.

Business Summary

The business question would vocational education to train retail sector organisations to manage and minimise employee theft. Leading American international channel CNN reports that employee thefts cost businesses losses as high as $ 50 billion annually. Thus, it is very important for employers to manage and reduce the losses they incur due to employee thefts. The Fortune Magazine narrows down to scope of the report pointing out that US retail businesses lose about $ 42 billion a year due to thefts by employees. The Queensland Times reports an employee stealing gift vouchers worth $ 3500 intended for tenured employees. Thus, it can be pointed out that employee thefts are serious issues retail sector companies. Australia being the headquarters to leading international retail chains like Woolworths is experiencing a boom in its retail sector. However, in the light of the three aforementioned articles it can be pointed out that employee thefts would have serious implications on the retail businesses both in terms of financial position and goodwill. The retail organisations in Australia do have methods to deal with inappropriate employee conducts like offering ethical training . However, it is clear from the news reports that there exists a huge gap between the actual employee supervision methods in the present retail organisations in Australia which is giving ways to employee thefts. The new business organisation aim to provide vocational education to business heads working with retail organisations to train them to controlling employee thefts. The name of the organisation would be Ethical Training Proprietary Limited or ETPL. The company would be based in Brisbane, Queensland and listed on ASX.

Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would be registered using the Business Registration Services or BRS which is provided by the Australian Government. The company would be given Australian Business Number or ABN by Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

Ethical Training Proprietary Limited should obtains permits from the Australian Government and also the state government in order to commence and run business successfully.  The company must get permits like Australian Business Number, Goods and Services Tax or GST, a tax file number and pay as you go (PAYG) withholding. ETPL should register its website name and obtain trade marks for vocational educational packages it would provide to enable retail companies in Australia check employee thefts. The company should operate according to the laws laid down by the union government and state governments. ETPL, being a public limited company should comply with the directives of ASIC and ASX. The company while operating in the market should comply with the policies Reserve Bank of Australia. The company would be based in Brisbane and would be required to acquire property in Brisbane. The company would be required to obtain approval from the Brisbane City Council. The company would also require to obtain the permission from the City Council while advertising its products. Similarly, while expanding and establishing its business to Sydney, the company would require to obtain permits for the City of Sydney Council. Thus, it can be inferred from the discussion that Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would be required to obtain permits from both the Central Government of Australia as well as the local government bodies administering the cities in which it would operate.

Management/Operational Plan

The company would acquire its own property to establish its headquarters in Brisbane. The company would also expand its operations to other top Australian cities like Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide as a part of its three years business strategy. Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would also expand into other countries like New Zealand as a part of its five year plans.

The products and services which Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would provide would consist of corporate training packages, individual training packages and special services. The product line of ETPL would aim to place the company at the top positions in the business counselling market in Australia. The following are the details of the products and services which ETPL would offer to its clients:

The corporate training packages would aim to benefit the retail companies which are operating in Australia. The corporate training packages would be available in four variants according to the needs of the companies. The small scale package would be designed for the small scale industries in Australia and would cost AUD 10000 per package. The medium scale package would be designed to meet the requirements of the medium scale companies and would cost AUD 20000. The large scale package would be designed to meet the employee training requirements of large scale multinational retail companies and would cost around AUD 50000. The startup package would aim to provide ethical training to employees of start-up companies. The cost of a single start-up training package would cost around AUD 1000. The cost of start-up training package has been kept lowest of the four considering the limited financial resources of the start-up businesses. However, it should be noted that if a start-up is a subsidiary of another company, the same would be considered according to the band the parent company would belong to.

Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would provide individual counselling to employees employed with retail sector companies. The experienced employees would be required to pay AUD 1000 to avail a single package. The fresher can avail packages AUD 500 prior to joining retail sector companies.

The special services would aim at providing counselling to employees employed with retail companies who have already been caught stealing stock or any other assets belonging to the retail companies employing them. The speciality of the product would be its individualistic nature. The employees take to stealing due to various reasons like financial needs, greed, habits and in order to lead lifestyles beyond their current incomes. Thus, keeping in the view the various grounds which can be attributed to employee thefts in the Australian retail sector, the individual counselling sessions would aim to uncover the reasons which are responsible for particular employees practicing thefts. The counsellor would then accordingly design appropriate counselling approaches to rectify the stealing habits among the employees. The sessions would take place within the premises of the employers. The advantage of this product is that the managers the employees being counselled can also participate in the counselling sessions. Each sessions of in-house training would cost AUD 1000 approximately. The cost may be borne by the employee in questions or the employer.

Market Planning

The field training would aim to train managers employed in the retail sector companies to manage their employees so as to reduce employee theft. The departmental managers of departments like inventory management and accounts are under continuous pressure to ensure that employees reporting to them do not resort to theft. The field training would train the senior managers to detect employee thefts, if any and how to manage such situations. The cost of each field training sessions would be AUD 2000 approximately and the cost either be borne by the manager(s) or by the employer.

The online training would aim to provide counselling services to both groups of employees and individuals. The aim of this product would be providing counselling services in urgent situations in which one to one sessions or packaged training sessions cannot be held. The reasons behind this can be either time constraint or cost constraint. The cost of each session would be AUD 1000 for corporate training and AUD 800 for individuals. The session can take place over video conferencing.

Product Line of Ethical Training Proprietary Limited
Corporate ethical training packages				Individual counselling		Special services(One to one training)(per session)		Online training
Small scale	Medium scale	large scale	StartUps	Experienced	Fresher	In-house training	Field training	Corporate training	Individual training
10000	20000	50000	10000	1000	500	1000	2000	1000	800
All costs in AUD

Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would be required to conduct a market research of the country of Australia in order to plan its respective marketing activities. The following section would conduct a brief market research of Australia:

The intended customers of Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would be corporate organisations operating in the retail sector and individuals, namely employees employed with retail organisations. The product line of ETPL of would be designed to cater to the needs of the retail organisations suffering from employee theft as well as employees who suffer from tendency to steal in their workplaces. The company would seek to create value for both its corporate clients and individual customers.

Ethical Training Proprietary Limited would seek to create value for corporate clients namely, the retail companies by providing ethical training to their employees. The company on receiving training order from a retail company, hold meetings with the apex managers and the departmental managers regarding the nature of thefts. This would be followed by preparation of appropriate reports. Then the departmental managers would decide whether an entire team of employees require to undergo the training or only employees accused have to be counselled. If a team of employees have to be trained, the companies concerned can opt for packages. If a small number of employees have to be counselled, the appropriate product option would be sessions. The ethical counselling sessions would enable the retail companies to minimise employee theft and thus reduce the losses they suffer due to employee thefts.

Future Plans, Vision, Goals, and Milestones

ETPL would aim to create value for individual customers mostly employees working with retail organisations. The employees employed with retail organisations would be able to undergo counselling sessions which would enhance their self-control and ethical decision making power. Thus, they would abstain from attempting thefts at their workplaces which would allow them to create a strong images. This would enable them to boost their scope of getting promotions and salary hikes. Thus, it can be pointed out from the discussion that ETPL would create value for both fresher and experienced employees, enabling both to avail career growth.

Customer demographic:

The current demographic of ETPL as already shown in the above table would consist of both retail companies and employees working with retail companies in Australia. The firm would target both senior and junior employees to strengthen their ethical decision making to prevent them from stealing assets from their employers.

Competitors:

The main competitors of ETPL in Australia would to top counselling bodies like Australian Counselling Association. These bodies have strong presence in the professional training market in Australia. They offer professional counselling and psychotherapy to employees employed with diverse sectors like retail and manufacturing.

Pricing options:

The Pricing options of ETPL would be at the crux of its value creation strategy both while serving retail companies and individual employees. The small scale companies would have to pay less than the middle scale companies and large scale companies. Similarly, the fresher candidates would be charged less than individuals with steady sources of income from the salaries they draw from the retail companies employing them.

ETPL would use integrated marketing approach to expand its business in Australia. The firm would market its products on its official website which would provide details about the entire product line and aligned pricing strategy. The official portal would be provided with customer care numbers and email ids which the customers can dial to clarify their doubts. The company would also market its products and services by releasing videos on Youtube which would emphasise on the need to curb employee theft in retail companies. ETPL would also open its own Facebook and Instagram handles to communicate with stakeholders like investors and customers on regular basis. The marketing team would also visit the clients to generate leads and gain information about the service experience. The social media pages of the company would also enable the company to gain customers’ feedback. The apex management would integrate the feedbacks while forming future business strategies. ETPL would also participate in retail and trade fairs. This integrated marketing approach aligned to the business requirement of ETPL would enable it to generate a huge clientele. This would enable the company to generate an immense revenue.

Financials and Funding

ETPL would operate in Australia from its headquarters in Brisbane. The operation of the company would commence under the supervision of the apex managers. The branches in main Australian cities like Sydney and Canberra would be under supervision of the respective branch heads. The company in order to operate would employ human resources from Australia. ETPL would open accounts with leading Australian banks. The main banker and financial partner of ETPL throughout Australia would be Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The below table shows the human resource requirements of ETPL. The recruitment process would be external sourcing for lower level employees and internal promotion for higher level employees.

Human Resources of ETPL		Total	Salary per head(AUD)	Total salary(AUD)
Human resources	Kuwait
CEO	1	1	1000000	1000000
Company secretary	2	2	300000	600000
Departments and directors	10	10	200000	2000000
Finance	2
HR	1
Marketing	1
IT	1
R&D	1
Ethical training	1
Legal	1
Administrative	1
Australian operations	1
Managers	24	24	300000	7200000
Finance	2
HR	2
Marketing	2
IT	2
Social media manager	2
Offline training managers	2
Online training manager	4
R&D	2
Procurement and manufacturing	2
Legal	2
Administrative	2
Assistant managers	25	25	200000	5000000
Finance	2
HR	2
Marketing	5
IT	2
R&D	2
Offline training managers	2
Legal	3
Administrative	3
Online training manager	4
Executives	56	56	100000	5600000
Finance	4
HR	4
Marketing	4
IT	4
R&D	4
Offline training managers	10
Legal	8
Administrative	8
Online training manager	10
Total	118			21400000

Strengths: 1. Financial strengths: ETPL is  financially strong. It is a limited company and can source capital from the market. The financial strength is evident from the booming retail sector in Australia from where the company would be able to generate a huge client base. 2. Huge customer base: ETPL would serve both individual and corporate clients, thus generating an immense customer base. 3. High quality products: ETPL markets high quality products.

Weaknesses: 1. New status in the market: The company is new in the Australian counselling market with already established companies. 2. Lower competitive strength: ETPL owing to its lack of goodwill and market image would find it difficult to obtain clients. 3. High operating costs: Operating in offline and online business attracts a huge operating costs compared to the revenue generated.

Opportunities: 1. Digital expansion: ETPL  should strengthen its digital format. This would enable it to generate high revenue by marketing its products to several clients 2. Marketing of products: ETPL should market its products to generate higher revenue. 3. Generating higher capital: ETPL would be able to provide information about its products, financial performance and other business related facts on its official website. This would enable it attract more capital by projecting a more transparent image before the investors.

Threats: 1. Cyber threats: ETPL on entering the digital platform would also expose itself to cyber threats. 2. Legal threats: ETPL would be required to comply with laws pertaining to internet operations and ecommerce businesses. This would require the company to employ specialists.

Year 1	Establishment of business in Brisbane
Year 3	Establishment of business in other major Australian cities like Canberra and Sydney
Year 5	Expansion in foreign markets like New Zealand

ETPL would be public limited company listed on ASX and would consequently be able to generate funds by issuing shares in the Australian share market. The company would acquire financial resources from the share markets by inviting investments from both individual and institutional investors. The primary banker of the company would be Commonwealth Bank of Australia while it may also approach other banks as secondary bankers. The financial resources of the company would be under supervision of fund managers who would be responsible for spreading the entire financial investments over an assorted asset classes. The company would invest in both high and low risk securities to earn immense return on investments.

The financial indicators as shown in the profit and loss account below would be revenue and net income. The target productivity has already been set for each product variant and attached.

Particulars	Amount(AUD)
Income
Sales	26160600
Discount received	200000
Interest on investments	1500000
Profit from sales of assets	2100000
Total	29960600
Expenses
Accounting expenses	1000000
Licensing costs	100000
Legal expenses	100000
Advertising costs	500000
Interests on bank	100000
Cost of service provision	100000
Electricty	200000
Maintenance of buidling	100000
Salary	21400000
Telephone	400000
Repairs and maintenance	100000
Miscellaneous	5000000
Total	29100000
Net Profit before tax	860600
Less: tax @ 20%	172120
Net profit after tax	688480

Particulars	AUD	AUD
Cash flows  from operating activities
Cash received from customers	13080300
less Interest paid	10000
Less: income tax paid	1000000
Net cash flow from operating expenses		12070300
Cash flows from investing activities
Dividend received	1000000
Net cash flows investing activities		1000000
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents		13070300
Add: Opening balance		200000
Closing balance		13270300

	Product Line of Ethical Training Proprietary Limited										Total revenue(target productivity)
	Corporate ethical training packages				Individual counselling		Special services(One to one training)(per session)		Online training
Items particulars	Small scale	Medium scale	large scale	StartUps	Experienced	Freshers	In-house training	Field training	Corporate training	Individual training
Cost per unit(AUD)	10000	20000	50000	10000	1000	500	1000	2000	1000	10
Target units(per month)	30	20	20	30	50	100	30	20	10	5
Target units(yearly)	360	240	240	360	600	1200	360	240	120	60
Revenue(AUD)	3600000	4800000	12000000	3600000	600000	600000	360000	480000	120000	600	2616060

Stage Two: Monitoring Performance:

The apex management should monitor the financial reporting stringently. The accepted variance is 5 percent. If the business generation fall below 5 percent of the target amount, the departmental heads should hold meetings to analyse the reason for the fall in business generation.

Stage Three: Responding to performance data:

The management of ETPL should hold meetings with the entire board of managers to respond to performance data. The performance data should comprise of both capital generation and revenue generation. The directors must consider the capital generation and prolonged fall in capital generation would invite meeting with the main investors. Similarly, reduction of revenue would necessitate meetings with the clients.

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