Hi,
I am a sole trader growing a little quicker than I want at the moment and so very very busy. A relatively new client needs a business plan done and said it was fairly urgent - I said I would do it as soon as I could. He provided the first batch of information to me on Wednesday and today I have an email from him asking when it will be finished!
I have responded saying that I hope to start on Monday but it may take a few days to complete and I may need more information from him.
How quickly do you respond to client in this type of scenario?
Also, I now want a software package to do this rather than my Excel templates - any suggestions?
Thanks
Replies (6)
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Charge a premium
Business plans are often needed yesterday, I think 1 week is a reasonable turnaround.
Depending on how detailed the business plan needs to be, what the purpose is for (gain funding, management tool etc) I would expect from receipt of all the required information that it should take 2 days to produce.
If he wants it done quickly charge a premium and or outsource it.
In my opinion the generic software packages that produce business plans are crap.
If this is the type of thing you will be doing on a regular basis its worth investing the time in producing your own excel based template for the financials and having a word based document to generate the narrative.
Have a look at some of the products on the 2020 website, these may give you headstart.
Edit - delete duplication in post
Business Plan Pro
Have a look at Business Plan pro : http://www.paloalto.com/uk/ - I have used this in the distant past - I thought it was pretty good.
I tend to avoid or outsource business plans nowadays - with a one to two week turnaround depending on the complexity and completeness of info provided.
avoid now
I used to do these when I was short of work but now I avoid them. Quick turnround requirement means that my other recurring clients work end up getting demoted. If I did do them regularly I would definitely want to use software to streamline matters.
Go with Kent Accountant
If a client wants something done urgently then we charge a premium. It upsets our workflow planning which we forecast to ensure we have a stable level or work and may involve overtime or evening work.
We are quite open to our clients about this, and we give them a deadline which we will not miss. 99% of the time they understand the initial amount and are very happy when we provide the information before the deadline (we always give some breathing space!).