Book excerpt: Enterprise Planning and Development outlines the options and risks involved in setting up a business. It shows how to avoid this failure by focusing on the planning stage and building on this framework as the business develops. The book contains all the underpinning factual information required to prepare a successful Business Plan for presentation to a bank manager, or an alternative potential source of finance, or for use in an NVQ portfolio. It is in line with the major syllabuses for Business Start-Up, and can be used as a course book for anyone completing a formal NVQ level 3 and 4 qualification in this area, with tips on NVQ structure and assessment. Enterprise Planning and Development shows how to make the most of business growth and also how to deal with the different types of problems that are encountered along the way. All businesses pass through several stages of growth and it occurs for a number of reasons, such as change in the commercial market, increased customer demand for services or product and higher numbers of customers. The book is structured to follow a logical sequence of questions that makes it readily accessible: Where are we now? Where do we want to go? What resources are needed to get there? What sales and marketing policies do we need to develop? It examines the personnel and staffing implications, the efficiency of the current financial management process and the owner’s own abilities to make it all happen