1. S
Mr. Xerxes Dastur started by
giving insight on what a Business
plan is. He explained the
importance and objective of a
business plan. Then he informed us
about the various milestones that
are reached in the process of
making a business plan.
Mr. Dastur continued with
talking on various plans i.e.
introduction plan, short term plan
and long term plan. He also told the
importance of having all of them
prepared.
While informing us
about the components
of business plan he
stressed on the
importance of statutory
compliances. In a
country like India it
becomes very
important to take
various statutory
organizations as
partners from the
beginning instead of waiting for last
moment. With a tax rate of about
33% it becomes very important.
Moving further, he informed us
about the concept of product or
service to be provided. The need to
identify a human need was stressed
upon. As long as the product
satisfies a human need there will be
a demand for the product. It is very
important to identify the right
market and your target customer. A
product is the most important thing
that will take your business
forward. So now, it is important to
plan the operating process and test
check the product before jumping
into the market. Organizational set
up and resources are the next
important thing. Here we were
informed
about the
scale of
production,
investment
in fixed
assets,
technical
expertise
required,
expected
investors
and normal
market practices. Also, money
value of intellectual property,
patents, copyright and goodwill
were talked about.
A company needs a strong
financing and investing plan if it
wants to prosper. He stated that
Mr. Xerxes V Dastur
Partner at V. S. Dastur &
Co. Chartered
Accountants.
Vice Chairman - Mumbai
Chapter at World Zarthusti
Chamber of Commerce,
Trustee and Chairman of
the managing committee
of the Ripon club.
Honorary secretary of Sir
Ness Wadia Memorial
Pavilion and a mentor at
the National
Entrepreneurship Network
(NEN).
Highly experienced in strategic
consulting, especially in business
plans and sales strategy
development
Advises new businesses on
formation of corporations and
business structures, drafting
privacy policies and structuring
commercial transactions. He is
also experienced in outsourced
CFO services and administration
of Family Offices.
“A PRODUCT OR A
SERVICE IS THE
LIFELINE OF AN
ORGANIZATION. IT IS
THE PRIMARY
DETERMINANT OF AN
ENTERPRISE'S GROWTH
AND WELLBEING. ”
How to make a Business Plan
Mr. Xerxes V Dastur| Partner at V. S. Dastur & Co. Chartered Accountants

2. How to make a Business Plan | February 2015
Shailesh J Mehta School of Management | IIT Bombay, Powai – 400 076 Page 2
the funds should not be left idle.
Right amount of funds make you
work properly. Extra funds may
sometime lead to lethargy among
young entrepreneurs. The plan
must be created in such a way that
it has a favorable debt to equity
ratio. Great capital turns are
favorable. Opportunity cost and
time value of money should also be
taken into account.
Statutory compliance is very
important as suggested by him.
Compliance with labor laws,
company’s act, RBI requirements,
SEBI requirements etc., to name
some, are very important. A lot of
amount is to be paid as tax; hence
proper tax management system
becomes very important. According
to him risk is an inevitable part of
any business. The ability to manage
risk is the most important element
of a plan. He suggested carrying out
SWOT analysis to understand
various parameters. Insurance
against calamities like flood, fires
etc. are also very important. It is
also important to devise a backup
plan.
Marketing and development
plan is also very important. It is
necessary to identify appropriate
positioning of product life cycle,
detailed promotion and advertising
strategy. It is also required to
create an effective marketing
budget. Research and Development
expenses are gaining much
popularity in this era.
Employees are the most
valuable resource for any company.
It is very important to place right
person at the right job. Staffing
function planning and development
of proper salary structures are very
important. A detailed
organizational chart should also be
prepared.
The talk came to an end with
some suggestion from the speaker.
He suggested keeping the plan
simple. The plan should be realistic
and requires proper documentation
and dedicated review. He
suggested that planning is a long
term investment and synergy of all
functions.
The speaker then answered the
questions that the audience had
about the business plan.
Student Feedback:
It was a good introduction
on how to make a B-Plan.
It was simple enough for a
person new to
entrepreneurship and
interesting as well. The next
session can be more
technical since the basics
of B-plan is understood.
The session gave us a
chance to understand the
significance of financial
engineering in B-Plan.
The Q&A session was very
good. It would be better if
the speaker could share
examples for the same.
Illustrations make a deep
impact on the mind and
help understand better.
More workshop based
session will be very much
appreciated.