From Business Plan Essentials: How to Write a Business Plan
What This Chapter Covers
Operations prove feasibility. This section shows how your business runs day-to-day, who does what, which assets and tools are required, how quality is assured, and how risks are managed. It must reconcile with the financial model (staffing, COGS, opex, capex) and the go-to-market plan.
Operating Model Overview
- Service/Product Flow: lead → order → fulfillment → invoicing → support.
- Capacity: units/hour, appointments/day, utilization %, peak vs. base load.
- SLAs: response, turnaround, quality thresholds, refund/redo policies.
Tip: One diagram (swim-lane or flow) can replace a page of prose. Keep labels to verbs and nouns only.
People & Roles
- Org Structure: leadership, delivery, sales/CS, finance/ops, contractors.
- Headcount Plan: hires by quarter with triggers (MRR, locations, utilization).
- Job Descriptions: top 3–5 accountabilities and KPIs per role.
- Coverage: holidays/peaks; cross-training & playbooks.
Suppliers, Partners & Facilities
- Critical Vendors: who they are, what they supply, lead times, MOQs, alternates.
- Contracts: pricing terms, rebates, SLAs, termination clauses.
- Facilities & Equipment: address, zoning, lease terms, capacity, compliance.
- Logistics: inbound/outbound shipping, 3PL options, cold-chain if applicable.
Systems & Controls
- Core Stack: CRM, ERP/accounting, POS/e-com, scheduling, ticketing, BI.
- Data: single source of truth, backups, access control, PII handling.
- Financial Controls: approvals matrix, 3-way match, cash handling, variance reviews.
- Quality: SOPs, checklists, audits, NPS/CSAT loops, corrective actions.
- Compliance: licenses, permits, health & safety, industry standards.
Implementation Timeline
| Milestone | Owner | Target Date | Dependencies | Success Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finalize lease & insurance | Ops Lead | Month 1 | Board approval | Signed LOI & COI on file |
| Vendor onboarding & terms | Procurement | Month 1–2 | Shortlist & RFQs | Primary + backup vendor per category |
| Hire priority roles | People Ops | Month 2 | Budget sign-off | Offer acceptance for 100% critical roles |
| Systems go-live | IT/Finance | Month 2–3 | Data migration | Transactions & reporting validated |
| Pilot & SOPs freeze | Ops Lead | Month 3 | Training complete | ≥95% SLA compliance in pilot |
Risk Register & Mitigation
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier delay | Medium | High | Backup vendor; safety stock; expediting clause | Procurement |
| Key staff turnover | Low | High | Cross-training; bench candidates; retention plan | People Ops |
| System outage | Low | Medium | Redundant backups; incident runbook; RTO/RPO | IT |
| Regulatory non-compliance | Low | High | License calendar; periodic audits; external counsel | Compliance |
Operational KPIs
- Capacity & Utilization: booked vs. available hours/units.
- Throughput & Cycle Time: order→delivery; bottleneck analysis.
- Quality: defect rate, rework %, on-time delivery, NPS/CSAT.
- Cost: COGS per unit, labor cost per unit, scrap/shrink.
- Working Capital: DIO, DSO, DPO; cash conversion cycle.
Download the Ops Checklist & SOP Template
Roles, SLAs, controls, and a ready-to-edit SOP outline.