Masterplan Lean User guide

Within this user guide, we will walk you through MasterPlan Lean, the business planning tool which will revolutionize the way we think about business plans. As you move through this guide you will get a detailed breakdown of what to input into each section of the plan, starting with your Overview and finishing with retrieving the final plan from the software.

Navigation & General tips

Masterplan Lean is designed to be as straightforward as possible, with a navigation bar across the top of the module will be your guide, and in the modules most basic form you will be moving through the modules from left to right, inputting information in where requested before either selecting “Save and Continue” (You can also utilize the “back” prompt to go to the previous section)

or Clicking on the name of the section of the plan you wish to enter (e.g. “Products”).

In addition to this, some sections of the plan have more that one tab which requires input, such as the “Overview” section, which includes two tabs, “Business Overview” & “Assumptions”

This will be noted within the guide when it appears.

Please also note, next to the “MasterPlan Lean” module name, you have a dropdown box which acts are your scenario management tool. When clicked, you will be provided with prompts which will allow you to either change which scenario you are currently in, and also create a new scenario, or edit/remove the scenario you are currently viewing.

To the right of the Scenario drop down box, you will note the prompt, which will save any changes made to your plan in its entirety.

FAQ:

What is the difference between the “Save” prompt next to the Scenario drop down box, and the “Save & Continue” prompt?

- The “Save” prompt saves the entire plan, and all work performed in it. Best used when you are finishing up a session, or have been moving around the plan non-sequentially.

- The “Save and Continue” prompt will save the section of the plan you are currently working on, and move you to the next section.

Are you required to complete the plan in sequential order, e.g. start with “Overview”, then move to “Products” etc.

- No, while we would advise that you complete the plan in sequential order for the most straightforward workflow, you are welcome to complete the sections of the plan in any order.

What if I am unable to complete sections of the plan accurately, e.g. the 5-year sales forecast?

- The plan will only be able to be produced based on the data that you have input, meaning that if you are required to make assumptions to complete the plan, this will be reflected within the final plan. You are able to leave sections blank if you wish, however, this will also be reflected in the final plan (which is a fully editable PowerPoint)

Overview

In this section you will be providing details regarding the business itself, including details such as the background of the Business & Customer Testimonials. This section of the plan is split into 2 sections, “Business Overview” & “Assumptions”, with “Business Overview” requiring you to input text regarding the business, and “Assumptions” will be confirming details such as currency type, name of applicable tax, etc.

FAQs:

Is there a limit to how much text I can input into the fields on this page?

- Yes, as the plan produced is intended to be as “Lean” as possible. Each field is uniquely limited to provide the best possible output in your final Plan, with the limitation shown in the system next to each prompt.

Products

The products section will allow you to input details regarding the products solid by the business. This section requires only basic details such as the previous year’s sales & CoGs. The system will also provide you with a Total based on this year’s sales figures.

As the user, all you will need to do is utilize the “Add Product” prompt to add the number of products required, and then input the specific information for these products, such as the Sales, Growth forecast and CoGs.

FAQs:

Does the data from here move into the later sections of the plan, such as the “Financial” tab?

- Yes! All data input regarding your “Products” tab will be mapped across to the “Financial” tab, meaning that you will not have to input this data in twice.

o Please note, you may experience a slightly extended load time when moving from this tab to another, as the system will take a moment to map your data across the rest of the plan.

Is there a limit to how many products I can input into the plan?

- Yes, as the plan produced is intended to be as “Lean” as possible. The System currently has a Maximum of 8 products which can be entered.

Team

Within this section you be looking input details about your team and culture into the plan. This will allow your plan to be more specific to your business, and also more personal.

The section itself has 2 Tabs:

Our Team

- Here you will be inputting the details of some key team members, including an image, their name, job title and a short blurb regarding their background and positioning within the business.

Our Culture

- Here you will be inputting a few details regarding the team as a whole, such as the nature of the work place environment, and the kind of employee you bring into the company.

FAQs:

How do I delete a team member?

- You will simply have to click on the tick box on the left of the employee’s image, and press the “Remove Employee” prompt.

Is there a limit to how much text I can input into the fields on this page?

- Yes, as the plan produced is intended to be as “Lean” as possible. Each field is uniquely limited to provide the best possible output in your final Plan.

Markets

In the “Markets” tab, we will be identifying what markets your company and its products/services are present in, and will follow this up with the needs of the market segments, and how closely your products meet those needs. This section will require some critical analysis and honest responses for the plan to be the most value to you, so please ensure that you fill in this section as accurately as possible.

In regards to inputting the data, this section is very similar to the previous section, with 2 Tabs:

Target Markets

- In this tab, you will be aiming to add all relevant market segments via the “New Segment” prompt, and remove any irrelevant segments via the same process used to remove team members. Once Added, all you will be required to do is input the % of your total revenue that this segment accounts for, how you could be more successful in this segment and how well you have addressed this segment

Customer needs

- The Customer Needs Tab follows a very similar process to the Target Markets Tab, but is even more succinct. Here you will be adding/removing customer needs via the same process we have used previously in the plan, and then rating your fulfilment of these needs compared to your competitors.

FAQs:

Is there a limit to how many segments I can include?

- Yes, the system is capped at 12 segments to ensure that the final plan is succinct and “Lean”. Should you be present in more than 12 segments, you may wish to group you segments together.

Do the Potential Revenue (%) fields have to add up to 100%?

-

Are the “Customer Needs” linked to the “Target Markets”?

- No, while both being intrinsic parts of your marketing strategy, these two tabs are not linked to each other, and are expressed separately within the final plan.

Is there a limit to how many Needs I can input into Customer Needs

- Yes, as we are endeavouring to create the Leanest plan possible, this section is capped at 10 needs.

Competitor

Moving from the Marketing Tab to the Competitor Tab, we will be continuing on the same train of thought, where you will now be required to input the basic details of your competitors, and provide a break down of how you perform in comparison to them.

You will be using the same process as the previous Tabs to add/remove competitors from the list, input the subjective data regarding the competitors, and also utilize the dropdown box to select how you match up against them in regards to Price & Marketing.

FAQs:

Is there a limit to how many competitors I can include?

- Yes, the system is capped at 12 Competitors to ensure that the final plan is succinct and “Lean”. Should you be aware of more than 12 Competitors, you may wish to group you segments together based on similarities.

Is there a Limit to the amount of text I can input into the boxes in this section?

- Yes, as the plan produced is intended to be as “Lean” as possible. Each field is uniquely limited to provide the best possible output in your final Plan.

SWOT

The SWOT section of your plan is going to be the most straight forward to fill out, but may require some of the most critical thinking out the whole plan.

Within this section, you will simply need to enter in the data regarding your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, the Opportunities that are open to you and Threats which could negatively affect your business into the relevant boxes. As you would expect, a section like this is most useful if populated with accurate and critical information based on an unbiased observation of the company in question.

FAQs:

Is there a Limit to the amount of text I can input into the boxes in this section?

- Yes, due to the desire to produce a concise, “Lean” plan. Each field is limited I how much text you can input to ensure the best possible output in your final Plan.

Goals

In this section of your plan, you will be addressing the company’s overall goals, and their goals within a few key areas such as Revenue/Financial and Innovation/People.

This page is very straight forward, and you will simply be inputting the information within each field. The “Big 3 Goals” area will be where you will be inputting the name of the goal, the financial effect/goal and finally the description of this goal and its impact if achieved/reason for being pursued.

After completing the big 3 goals section you will have 5 more Goals sections to address, one of which (Shareholder Goals) is optional, with the other 4 being required for the best possible final plan:

FAQs:

Can I add Additional Goals?

- No, this section limits you to 3 goals to keep the focus of the plan and to best report on the specific overall direction of the business. You will have opportunities later on in the plan to input short term goals or actions which can contribute to these overall Business Goals

Is there a Limit to the amount of text I can input into the boxes in this section?

- Yes, as the plan produced is intended to be as “Lean” as possible. Each field is uniquely limited to provide the best possible output in your final Plan.

Strategies

This is the tab where you will be outlining the summary of your company’s strategy, and the strategic goals. This section of the plan starts out by requesting that you input some basic information, before having you outline your current strategic goals and the tasks which will allow you to achieve these goals. In doing so, you have begun adding accountability to your plan which will ensure that the implementation process is as straightforward as possible.

This section itself has 2 Tabs:

Strategic Summary

- This section will have a few strategic areas in which you will have to clarify your company’s position, such as Product Strategy, and Influencer Strategy. This section is very straightforward if you have already completed the previous sections of the plan.

Strategic Goals

- This tab is one of the driving features within Masterplan Lean, as it will allow you to piece together the different strategic goals, and the tasks that will be required to achieve these goals. You will first want to input your goals into the plan via first selecting the appropriate goal type via the “View Goal” drop down box, and then enter the specific goals for this section of the business

- Once you have input your Goals, you can then add actions via the “New Action” prompt

Actions created with this prompt will request you to input data into a number of fields, but the fields with the * are the only required fields. This system will also allow you to attach the task to a

particular user within your account via the prompt next to the “Accountable user” field, and can

also utilize the prompt to add a new employee into the system if necessary. After building out this section you will have a succinct breakdown of your ongoing goals, and how you are going to achieve them.

FAQs:

Is there a Limit to the amount of text I can input into the boxes in the Strategic Summary Tab section?

- Yes, as the plan produced is intended to be as “Lean” as possible. Each field is uniquely limited to provide the best possible output in your final Plan.

Do the “Tasks” within “Strategic Goals” appear elsewhere within the system?

- Yes, if you have access to the “Milestones & Projects” module, all of these tasks will map over to this module

Milestones

Within the “Milestones” section, we will simply be reviewing the tasks input in the previous section, and also adding new tasks if necessary. This tab reflects the workflow and processes of the “Milestones & Projects” module very closely, so if you are aware of how to use that module, you should feel very at home within this tab.

The tab will allow you filter what tasks are shown via the various prompts on the top left of the module, and will also allow you to export the list to excel, send via email or print, in addition to add a new task via the actions bar above the module. You can also Click on the name of a task to view/modify the details.

FAQs

Do additions, amendments or changes made within this section effect the “Strategic Goals” section of your plan, or the “Milestones & Projects”

- Yes, changes made here will be reflected within the “Strategic Goals” tab of the plan and if you have access to the “Milestones & Projects” module, all of these tasks will map over to this module as well.

Why can’t I see all of the other projects and tasks I have in “Milestones & Projects”?

- This tab is specifically designed to be utilized for the plan you are currently writing, so only milestones relating to this plan will appear within the “Milestones” tab. If you would like to view the full list of Milestones & Tasks, please view the “Milestones & Projects” module.

Financial

The Financial tab has 3 tabs total, and is the most unique of all the tabs in this module has an optional tab, which will allow you to get a greater output for the plan, but is not required to produce the final plan. The tab in question is the “All Assumptions & Statements” tab.

The first two tabs, “Sales Forecast” and “Profit Forecast” are fairly straight forward and similar to the previous areas of the module:

Sales Forecast

- This tab should be pre-populated by the information input into the “Products” section, should you be completing your plan in a sequential fashion. Ideally, you will have the product names filled in, and will have to enter the forecasted growth for each year

Profit Forecast

- Within this tab, you will be reviewing your forecast based on the previously input assumptions, as the system will calculate aspects such as the Revenue and Ebit. If required, you can change the setting from “Financial Statement” to “Manual” if you would like to manually amend fields such as Cost of Goods % and Margin %. You can also amend whether or not you would like the system to display Ebit or EbitDA, and how the figures are to be displayed. You will also be invited to qualify the numbers you have input via text.

All Assumptions & Statements

- Please remember that this Tab is optional, and only required if you would like to produce a Bank Ready Profit & Loss, Cashflow and 5 Year Forecast document.

- This Tab borrows heavily form MasterPlan Lean’s predecessor, MasterPlan. Here you will be looking to enter data into the first 3 subtabs down the left-hand side of the screen, “Sales Assumptions”, “Expense & Cash” & “Seasonal Patterns”

o The Sales Assumptions subtab will have you review and possibly expand upon your Product assumptions previously listed within the plan.

o The Expense & Cash subtab you will have you review and input the expenses that are relevant to the business in question, and also identify if these expenses are monthly payments, or occur irregularly over the course of the month. Below the expense assumptions, you will also be invited to input some cash flow assumptions.

o The Seasonal Patterns subtab will have you input the seasonal variations on each of your products, with a benchmark of “1”, you may note a sales increase of 50% in December, so you will be looking to input “1.5” into the December section of that product’s assumption, and then repeat this process for each product.

- Once completing these 3 sub tabs, the proceeding 3 subtabs (Profit & Loss, Cash Flow, 5 Year Forecast) will auto fill almost entirely, and you will be invited to review the figures and give the output a review.

o We recommend that you do review these tabs before producing the final plan, as they so have areas which require input, for example, the Other Income field within the “Cash Flow” subtab:

FAQs:

Are the forecasting precents calculated on the original year, or the previous year?

- The are calculated from the previous year, so all % increases will

Does the data from here move into the later sections of the plan, such as the “Products” tab?

- Yes! All data input within your “Financials” tab will be mapped across to the relevant sections of the “Products” tab, meaning that you will not have to input this data in twice.

o Please note, you may experience a slightly extended load time when moving from this tab to another, as the system will take a moment to map your data across the rest of the plan.

Can I add products via the “Sales Forecast” tab?

- No, produces will have to be entered via the “Products” section, to ensure that all required data is input.

Report

Congratulations! If you have gotten this far, you have likely finished your plan, or at the very least very close to completing it. This tab provides you with numerous options for reports. The Primary deliverables are as follows.

Power Point Presentation

- This prompt is the primary output & deliverable of the MasterPlan Lean program. This will produce your final plan within the Power Point Presentation format, which will include all of the data you have previously input (aside from the data input into the “All Assumptions & Statements” tab from the “Financial” section, and all subsequent subtabs)

Export Strategic Goals as PDF

- This prompt will produce a PDF version of the data you have input into the “Strategic Goals” tab of the “Strategies” Section, which we have found to be very valuable within both the presentation and implementation of the final plan.

Export Financial Statement as XLSX

- This prompt will provide you with the Bank Ready Profit & Loss, Cashflow and 5 Year Forecast document, based on the data input into the “All Assumptions & Statements” tab from the “Financial” section.

FAQs: