What is benchmarking?

Benchmarking is a means by which an operation can assess and improve its environmental, social and economic performance quantitatively. Benchmarking indicators establish the measures that need to be recorded by an operation. It is essentials that collecting benchmarking should involve practical, everyday measures such as the volume of water used in a year as shown by an operation’s water bills and the amount of electricity used.

Continued…

1. You need a business plan if you are applying for a business loan. Most banks require it, and even those that do not strictly require it, expect it. They expect it to be a summary of the business, with some predictable key points.
2. You need a business plan if you are working with partners. The business plan defines agreements between partners about what’s going to happen.
3. You need a business plan to set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes or to sell a business.
4. You need a business plan to communicate with a management team. How do you know where you are in business without establishing where you started and where you intended to go? How can people commit to a plan they can’t see?
5. You need a business plan if you are looking for business investments. Investors look to the business plan to define and explain your business. They plan will not get you the investment, but not having a plan will likely mean that you will not get your investment.