 So basically the business plan program fits very nicely into the educational programs of NPE and as you can see on our strategic objectives One of them and one of the main ones is to build capacity and capability among our members try to create stronger groups where they already exist in European countries and to help to create new groups where they at the moment don't exist and for that Obviously, you need a very clear objectives and you need to know how you're gonna get to those objectives and for that business plan is a must My name is Neda Hamozi and I work with public sector and charitable organizations and SMEs around business planning and how to make an effective Plan that they can deliver. So for me a business plan is a blueprint a little bit like the map That you take to build a construction site That helps you go from A to B But actually keeps you focused on the steps that need you need to deliver the final results So whatever goal you have set to achieve for yourself and we tend to in daily life We tend to get drawn into other activities What a business plan or good business plan does is it sets out the steps that helps you get to the ideas So the idea Was born last year in 2014 during the masterclass which was on capacity building where our members Attendants for workshops and one of them was on building how to develop a business plan and based on that We got very good feedback, but it was other they have the feeling that it was a very brief workshop and that they needed more Coaching more guidance on on really developing these business plans and making them achievable and realistic So it actually is a response from MPE to a need of of our members I'm Hans Schuurer from Hematon, Stichting Hematon from the Netherlands Well at first it's interesting for all our members because we We are all organizations and we can compare them And learn from each other for my own organization. It's interesting because we are Relatively newly started organization. So we we are busy with making a business plan Everyone who works in a patient association or in an NGO or charitable organization Has that burning desire has the passion to make a difference And that is key to being successful in anything What happens often is that daily life routines Even tools like technology that are really effective instead of becoming useful They take up all of our time. So we get distracted from delivering The task that we set ourselves to do So one of the things that came up yesterday and today is people saying Ah, this is really useful because we have so many objectives And I now know I need to narrow it down So my name is Kenneth Zemba. I came from Poland. I represent the foundation She's called Karita. Yeah, I think it's Definitely crucial for us to do the good business plan And before I can we discuss all together what we need to Send somebody to the workshop just to extend our reviews and to do something new And also to Vidate what we think now and we are in a good way and we know how to do it properly A business plan that becomes a document and a beautiful document that sits on a shelf is not important What is important in my view are the steps you take in creating that business plan because by working through the steps of the business plan You look at your strengths at your weaknesses You have an idea you have the idea of what you want to achieve at the end always in sight And you work through the various steps of operational activities resources funds Relationships time lines how when you can achieve something and you push out of the way Those activities that get in the way of delivering your plan So the most important part of a business plan is doing the work to finish it. It's a bit like preparing for a marathon It is the preparation that gets you to run a marathon not turning up Well, I take home all those papers and all those notes and next weekend I put it with our share of him at all What kind of plan we have for the next two years and then maybe also the next five years, but that's a little further on and In between we go Next month with the other participants of the workshop Working on our own business plan give comments to each other feedback and We keep on learning from each other We looked at the range of membership you have We looked at aspirations of MKE and also the aspirations of the members as they are now And we thought the best way to do this is not to run a program that people turn up to Are told how to write a business plan go away or fill a template and Walk away, but they thought it will help them over a period of time To actually develop a document that is going to work for them. So we spend two days Together looking at the various elements of a business plan Then we will spend the next 60 years 60 days not 60 years on webinars Where we will work on individual needs so people will bring different elements of their work And discuss issues get some peer support Then they go away And they spend the rest of the another six months working on delivering the business plan Then we'll get together virtually again And see what elements were maybe too aspirational what needs to be tweaked What needs to be improved so they can design a longer term plan from there So it's actually going to be a program that will last a period of nine months I think it's very important to challenge And I think in my organization we have to discuss a lot of things maybe more after this workshop I give you ideas what we should exactly discuss and in which point which point are challenging for us And on which point we should spend more time So I think it's positive for every kind of organization to be in a business plan Because if you have a business plan and you know where you go And you have some goals and you know how to reach these goals And I think every organization should have a business plan that will be there