2 David Gould set up his accounting firm, providing accounting services to small businesse

Question

2 David Gould set up his accounting firm, providing accounting services to small businesses, in 2001. Within three

years his fee income was in excess of ￡100K a year and he had nearly 100 clients most of whom had been gained

through word of mouth. David recognised that these small or micro businesses, typically employing ten or fewer

people, were receiving less than satisfactory service from their current accountants. These accounting firms typically

had between five and ten partners and operated regionally and not nationally. Evidence of poor service included

limited access to their particular accountant, poor response time to clients’ enquiries and failure to identify

opportunities to save clients money. In addition bad advice, lack of interest in business development opportunities for

the client and poor internal communication between the partners and their staff contributed to client dissatisfaction.

David has deliberately kept the costs of the business down by employing three part-time accountants and relying on

his wife to run the office.

David had recently met Ian King who ran a similar sized accounting firm. The personal chemistry between the two

and complementary skills led to a partnership being proposed. Gould and King Associates, subject to securing the

necessary funding, is to be launched in September 2006. David is to focus on the business development side of the

partnership and Ian on the core services provided. Indicative of their creative thinking is David’s conviction that

accounting services are promoted very inadequately with little attempt to communicate with clients using the Internet.

He is also convinced that there are real opportunities for the partnership to move into new areas such as providing

accountancy services for property developers, both at home and abroad. Ian feels that the partnership should set up

its own subsidiary in India, enjoying the benefits of much cheaper accountancy staff and avoiding the costs and

complications of outsourcing their core accounting services. Ian sees fee income growing to ￡2 million in five years’

time.

David has been asked by his bank to provide it with a business plan setting out how the partnership intends to grow

and develop.

Required:

(a) Write a short report for David giving the key features that you consider to be important and that you would

expect to see in the business plan for the Gould and King partnership that David has to present to his bank.

(12 marks)

Answer 1

正确答案：
(a) To: David Gould
From:
Writing a business plan is a critical stage in moving an idea for a business into a reality. The reality includes presenting a
convincing case to potential financers of the business, be they banks or venture capitalists. The key ingredients include clearly
saying what you plan to do and why people should want to buy your particular service. Experts warn of starting with a detailed
cash flow and then working backwards to make the numbers fit. You should regard the business plan as a management tool
and not simply a sales document. Again, the advice is to make credible and achievable projections; it is better to exceed low
targets than fail to achieve over-ambitious ones. Many business plans are based on deeply flawed research. Key to your
business success will be the size of your target market. There is much evidence to suggest that it is the make-up of the team
presenting the plan and their commitment rather than the business idea itself that will determine whether the necessary
financial support is made.
Clearly, you need to say how much money you require and why. Again the advice is not to be afraid to ask for large amounts
if your business requires it. Linked to how much you want is a clear statement of the return the investor or lender will get –
how much of the equity are you willing to give or what security can you offer the lender? Figure are important and you need
projected cash flows, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets for at least three years ahead. Potential investors and/or
lenders are likely to be impressed by a plan which clearly indicates where the major risks are to be found and the strategies
available to handle such risks.
There needs to be a clear statement of the major steps and milestones on the way to achieving your goals. Where are you
now, where do you intend to be and how are you going to get there. One expert argues there are three elements of the plan
itself – an executive summary pulling together the key points in your proposal, secondly the plan itself and finally an ‘elevator
pitch’, a one paragraph description that explains the business in the time it takes to go up in a lift.
In summary, your business plan should contain an executive summary as explained above, the objectives of the business,
including key financial targets and the philosophy of the business, the target market and relevant forecasts, the range of
products/services, the marketing strategy linked to the target markets, resource availability, people and organisation involved,
performance measurement to measure progress towards stated objectives and a summary of financial information.
One final point is to remember that no business plan ever was carried out exactly! In many ways it is the quality of the thinking
the plan includes and the actual process through which it is developed that will determine success.
Yours,