Assessment 1 – Business Plan
Sole practitioner and small practice focus
To be completed by participant
Name
PMC codeor dates
Date submitted
Office use
Pass/Fail
Notes
Assessed by
Date
Queensland Law Society | QLS Practice Management Course: Managing People / Page1of 2
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Revision information
Version 1 - March 2016
1.Introduction: Business plan assessment
This assessment requires you to develop an integrated high level business plan, including a marketing plan and budget.
This assessment item assesses competence in relation to the following units:
- Business Planning
- Marketing and Business Development
- Practice Finance
- Costs, Billing and Profitability
You are free to choose the practice or practice group that these plans are being developed for. They could be:
- your existing practice
- your existing practice group/practice team/practice area
- a former practice or practice group
- another practice or practice group you are familiar with
- a practice or practice group you are planning to establish/develop.
You are strongly encouraged to complete initial drafts prior to the workshop sessions for the above units as this will enhance the learning experience. Final assessment submissions are due 15 working days after the final PMC workshop day.
Completed assessments should be kept to 25 pages or less (plus the budget spreadsheets) and should be emailed to .
To pass the assessment, you must demonstrate understanding and application of the principles and concepts covered in the workshop and pre-reading.
As the PMC is a competency based course, assessment is graded on the basis of ‘demonstrates competence’ or ‘fails to demonstrate competence’. A PMC Statement will be issued on the basis of demonstrating the required standard of competence. If you are considered to have failed to demonstrate the required standard in any of the assessment tasks, you may have to re-take the assessment or undertake alternative/supplementary assessment until the required standard is demonstrated.
2.Business plan assessment: requirements
To complete and pass the business plan assessment, you must develop and submit an integrated high level business plan, including a marketing plan and budget, that demonstrates understanding and application of the principles and techniques covered in the workshop and pre-reading.
Specifically, you are required to complete and submit the following business planning elements within 15 working days of the final PMC workshop day.
3.1 / Mission, vision and values
3.2 / Analysis
3.3 / Business model
3.4 / Goals, objectives, targets
4 / Business development and marketing
4.1 / Key messages
4.2 / Implementation/action plan
5 / Practice finance
5.1 / Revenue calculations
5.2 / Profit and loss budgets (Excel spreadsheet provided separately)
5.3 / Cash-flow budget (Excel spreadsheet provided separately)
3.Business planning templates
3.1.Mission, vision and values
Complete this template to define the overriding purpose, ambitions and values for your practice. You may expand sections as required, but please keep total document length to less than 25 pages.
Strategic vision / What the practice wants to be.
(A vision is more ambitious/aspirational than a mission statement.)
Practice values
3.2.Analysis
What could impact on the success of your practice? What strategies might be considered in response? You may expand sections as required, but please keep total document length to less than 25 pages.
Competitor analysis / Who are, or will be, your main competitors? What are your strengths and weaknesses in relation to these competitors?
Market trends / What external opportunities or threats could impact on the success of your practice? Consider the SEEDTIP model from the study guide.
Strategies arising
3.3.Business model
Complete this template to develop your practice’s business model. You may expand sections as required, but please keep total document length to 25 pages or less.
Customer segments / Who are your customers? Mass market? Niche market? Segmented? Diversified? How does this approach differ from your competitors?Practice areas and services / What services do you offer? How are these different from your competitors?
Customer relationships / What sort of relationship do you seek with your clients? A personalised, long-term, trusted-advisor relationship, or a quick efficient service with low client time costs?
How is this approach different from your competitors?
Channels / Through which channels, partners or media will you market or deliver your services?
Value proposition / What value do you deliver to the customer? Why should someone choose you rather than one of your competitors?
Key activities / What do you actually have to do? (Marketing? Client contact? Legal work? Administration? Billing?)
Key resources / What resources will you need inside your practice to do what needs to be done? (People, premises, IT and knowledge?)
Key partners / What external partners, suppliers or outsourced service providers will you work with? How will these drive practice success?
Cost structure / What are the most important costs (to your practice) in your business model? Are these fixed or variable? Is the practice cost-driven (focused on reducing costs) or value driven (focused on value and greater revenue creation)?
Revenue streams / How do you charge for your services? (Time costing? Menu prices? Fixed fees? Retainers?)
Queensland Law Society | Practice Management Course: Assessment 1: Business Plan / Page 1 of 15
3.4.Strategic goals, objectives, targets
What are the practice’s primary strategic and financial goals? How you are going to meet these goals in terms of more specific objectives and targets? Consider the big picture rather than anything too specific or operational: what are really trying to achieve? (Refer to your strategic vision and keep asking ‘why?’ to help you focus on the bigger picture.) You may expand sections as required, but please keep total document length to less than 25 pages. You must include three objectives and three targets for each strategic goal.
Queensland Law Society | Practice Management Course: Assessment 1: Business Plan / Page 1 of 15
4.Business development and marketing
4.1.Key messages
Develop three key messages and/or supporting statements that you might use to differentiate and promote your practice.
Key message2
Key message3
4.2.Implementation/action plan
Complete this template to identify the specific actions that will help you to achieve your marketing and business development objectives. You may expand sections as required, but please keep total document length to 25 pages or less.
List specific actions you will take to generate new opportunities. / Performance measure
Convertingopportunities
List the actions you will take to improve conversion of opportunities.
Relationshipmanagement
List the actions you will take to manage and develop existing client/referrer relationships.
Other activities (product development, pricing initiatives)
5.Practice finance
5.1.Revenue calculations
Complete the following tables, as applicable, to estimate practice revenue.
If you only charge according to hourly rates or fixed fees, you do not need to complete those tables that are not relevant.
Hours and rates – best case scenario
(create line for each
fee-earner) / Annual chargeable hours (standard 44wks/yr) / Hourly rate / Total potential fees / Assume 85% recovery $
Total
Transaction value and volume – best case scenario
Total
Total anticipated revenue: best-case scenario
Hours and rates – worst case scenario
(create line for each
fee-earner) / Annual chargeable hours (standard 44wks/yr) / Hourly rate / Total potential fees / Assume 85% recovery $
Total
Transaction value and volume – worst case scenario
Total
Total anticipated revenue: worst-case scenario
What assumptions are being made in producing the above estimates?
What is required for the practice to achieve the best-case scenarios?
5.2.Profit and loss budgets
Develop practice profit and loss budgets for both best case and worst-case scenarios in the provided Excel templates. Please add or amend income or expenditure entry lines as required.
Figures do not need to be researched in detail, but the overall budget should demonstrate an understanding of practice costs and revenue in your proposed practice.
Those completing a budget for a team in a larger practice should identify direct costs (such as salaries) but thereafter may provide a general ‘overheads’ figure where costs would be allocated from a broader practice budget.
5.3.Cash-flow budget
Develop a worst-case cash-flow budget in the provided Excel template.
What assumptions are being made in producing this cash-flow budget?
What arrangements could you implement in your practice to improve cash-flow?