Warren,
When I think of building a business, I look at how I can replicate
this business over and over again. So if it were a physical presence,
that would be called a Franchise Turn Key System. For a virtual
business, we would look at how multiple servers would be configured to
handled the load and remain synchronized. To achieve this
replication, I review all the processes that a business needs in order
to function. Not just the products that will be offered, but how
every aspect of the business comes together to support that product
offering.
This document a flat description of the many departments that almost
every business has:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3s6kOK3d-nbMjYyMzhlZTItYWQxMS00NDdhLWI3ZWMtMjU2ZTBjZmQwNjk4&hl=en
In contrast a business plan is more about top down management,
financial forecasts, and marketing strategies. Which are necessary,
but from my perspective, limiting, as it tells nothing about how the
company will be structured, who will do what and how and why. What
impact doing that will have on the client's perspective of the company
as a whole from a consistency stand point.
I'm searching for another diagram to show how the organization is laid
out vertically.
Mike,