Contemporary medicine needs innovating solutions and effective organization of the care process. However, implementing innovation involves taking risks that have to be carefully assessed. Writing a business plan is usually the first step towards elaborating on a new initiative that helps to evaluate its strengths, weaknesses, and feasibility. While there are numerous recommendations about what elements an effective business plan should include, there is no universal solution to the problem.
Therefore, before starting working on the Collaborative Learning Community (CLC) Business Plan, it is beneficial to be acquainted with business plan models for both profit and non-profit organizations. The present paper describes and compares five different business plan models and indicates the model that best suits the CLC project.
Background Information
The assigned (CLC) Business Plan is a group project that aims at creating a mobile health promotion program that can reach diverse communities in all areas. Its essence is to find and use a vehicle that helps to promote and provide screening tests for the American Heart Association and Hypertension. The plan will also describe the situations where this measure can be used to provide quality care. The document will be based on a hypothetical situation; however, it will be made as close to reality as possible. In short, The CLC Business Plan is a team effort to design a method of community health improvement.
Business Plan Examples
During the research for the present paper, several business projects in healthcare were analyzed to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. First, Wells et al. (2019) offer a nine-point business plan that includes an executive summary, strategic congruence, statement of goals, SWOT analysis, marketing plan, operation plan, administrative/managerial organization chart, implementation/verification plan, and financial plan.
The offered model seems to cover all the essential points in detail providing considerable insights about the future strategy. Therefore, the primary strength of the template is the ability to conduct a thorough assessment of future efforts. However, the elaboration of the offered plan can take an extended amount of time and can be challenging for beginners. Therefore, the central advantage of the plan is a disadvantage at the same time, as the model is supposed for experienced managers.
Second, Day (2017) offers a business plan for an inpatient dialysis unit consisting of eight elements. It includes market analysis, literature review, determination of gaps in the current process, identification of framework to guide project development, SWOT analysis, assessment of key stakeholders, financial analysis, and evaluation plan to promote safety and quality (Day, 2017). While the business plan seems reasonable, it lacks several crucial elements.
For instance, there is no executive summary that would help to captivate a reader’s attention and attract potential investors. Despite the evident flaws, the project includes a literature review to include the latest evidence about the process of care, which is crucial for healthcare. However, even though the offered business plan model is unique for including the evaluation of literature, the template does not seem to be appropriate for the CLC project.
Third, Jacobsen (2017) in her thesis provides a business plan for an anesthesia unit that includes eleven components. It consists of an executive summary, strategic overview, service offering, market analysis, marketing strategy, organization and management, financial management/projections, operations, malpractice insurance, case documentation, and implementation/conclusion. The business plan seems to have similar strengths and weaknesses with the one introduced by Wells et al. (2019); however, additional features must be mentioned.
On the one hand, Jacobsen (2017) incorporates a more in-depth understanding of operations and financial challenges by including malpractice insurance and case documentation. On the other hand, she fails to identify the key stakeholders and describe the team, which is crucial for every business plan according to Volker and Phillips (2018). Therefore, even though the model is a laborious undertaking, it lacks several central elements.
Fourth, Volker and Phillips (2018) offer a comprehensive business plan model that consists of six elements. It has an executive summary, problem statement, definition of the product, market assessment, description of the team, and seed capital evaluation. The primary strength of the model is the amount of effort and experience needed to elaborate on the document. It is laconic and does not require much time to create, which is crucial, as most of the paper’s formats that are generally accepted by the business world often add to the probability of the concept of death by paperwork (Volker & Phillips, 2018).
However, the model addresses financial projections only for six months, making it troublesome to apply to a more extended period. In short, the presented model seems to be adequate, even though it is comparatively small.
Microsoft Project Template
Microsoft Project Professional 2016 is a program designed to assist in creating, evaluating, and managing projects. It includes several templates including a standard business plan model that consists of four phases: strategic planning, defining business opportunity, designing an action plan, and implementation. The third step includes the elaboration of a detailed 5-year business plan that describes 18 elements. The template differs considerably from the models described in the previous section and does not seem to suit the CLC project, as it is overly extensive and is best used for commercial products. Therefore, the model will be excluded from further comparison and evaluation.
Comparing and Contrasting Models
The four examples of the business plans described above are to be carefully evaluated to select the most appropriate one for the CLC project. The models offered by Wells et al. (2019) and Jacobsen (2017) seem to be too sizeable for a team with limited experience in the sphere. However, they include some crucial components omitted by Day (2017), which are the executive summary and team description. The model offered by Volker and Phillips (2018) misses a SWOT analysis and long-term financial projections while including all the other crucial parts.
At the same time, all the mentioned business plan templates do not include a mission or a vision statement that is considered central by Moseley (2009). However, it seems acceptable for a non-profit organization to omit the matter, as it is clear for the majority of stakeholders. The strengths and weaknesses of the assessed models lead us to a definite conclusion about the choice of the business plan template.
Making the Choice
The model that will work best for the CLC initiative is the six-point business with the SWAT analysis included in the definition of the product. The template contains a minimal number of elements, which is beneficial for a group of inexperienced students to decrease the number of possible mistakes. Even though Volker and Phillips (2018) did not include a SWAT analysis into the model, it can still be conducted and placed in the third section. Additionally, the lack of long-term financial projections is not a flaw, as the CLC business plan is supposed to operate only for six months. In summary, the six-point business plan format seems the most acceptable for a group of inexperienced students to develop a cohesive document that describes a non-profit program.
Conclusion
A business plan is a laborious undertaking that is thought of as an integral part of an entrepreneurial journey. There is no universal solution for the format of the document; however, it should include some of the crucial points. The most appropriate model for the CLC project is the six-element model as it keeps the paper concise, captivating, and enthusiastic.
References
Day, J. (2017). Inpatient dialysis unit project development: Redesigning acute hemodialysis care. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 44(3), 251-254, 264.
Jacobsen, K. M. (2017). New anesthesia services in office-based endoscopy: An anesthesia business plan. Web.
Moseley, G. (2009). Managing health care business strategy. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Volker, J., & Phillips, M. (2018). Six points: A plan for success. Journal of Management Policy & Practice, 19(1), 104-110.
Wells, W., Thrall, M., Sorokina, A., Fine, J., Krishnamurthy, S., Haroon, A., … Hariri, L. P. (2019). In Vivo and Ex Vivo microscopy: Moving toward the integration of optical imaging technologies into pathology practice. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 143(3), 288-298. Web.