The Foundations of sustainable business

There are some remarkable changes, happening in the financial Industry, which has strong implication into the businesses worldwide and related industries . Further,financial institution are thought as the very foundation of our global economy . In Europe there are banks which have assets valued more than some of the nations economy . In US , the general entrepreneurial aspiration is focused around, building large financial institution ,like in India ,it is about building IT companies . The changes which are happening in the last one year, and which get worsened in last month is indication, of an important paradigm shift of the global economy. It was surprising to see such large financial institution like Morgan Stanley and Lehman brothers which have survived some of the biggest threats of economy and related depression in this century, are not able to survive through the credit crunch . Now that a systematic help is assured from the end of Government , it is worth to reflect that are this financial institution are fundamentally sustainable .

The foundation of sustainable business is holistic in nature . It is not the narrow intention of money multiplication that can make a sustainable business . Money multiplication is obviously one important thing , but we have to understand that Money is the means of exchange . It is nothing more than that ,nothing less than that. The sum total of Global money symbolizes the availability of Global resources in forms of products and services to all humanity . That's why we cannot narrow down our focus an dissect multiplication of money out from the Global resource availability and build stand alone financial products which just multiplies the currency notes without looking at the available resource pool. Most of this financial institution have just done that . They narrowed down their focus into just money and build instruments of money multiplication which has nothing to do with Global resource availability.

They have forgotten the holistic element of money and the important connect of multiplication with Global resource pool ,and that's why the value of their assets evaporated very fast . The foundation of sustainable business is on 'connected money' ,in India which is known as 'Artha'. Artha fundamentally doesn't means money only. Currency or money is the outer expression of the concept of artha. But 'Artha' is much larger concept , which indicates good governance that satisfies the subjects, with productivity that uplifts society, and is friendly to environment .

Artha is the holistic concept of money ,which makes a business sustainable as it is based on the idea that currency is an exchange mechanism of the available goods and services . It is not a smart de-risking technology, where you make layers of movement of money and growth without the growth of the gross productivity alongwith services and products that reflects that .

The element of good corporate governance which involves upliftment of society and friendliness with environment, that's why is the important foundation to make sustainable business.

Built to Last - Business Plan for Enviromentally Sustainable Business

Business and Financial institutions (FIs) are under closer scrutiny than ever before. Investors and regulators are increasingly asking challenging questions about corporate governance, the social and environmental impacts of operations and investments and how business support their local communities.

Answering these questions is not easy and requires organizations to change policies and practices. This may seem a daunting task.The best place to handle the concerns is having proper planning provision on the business plan itself and allocating expenses for the regulatory scrutiny and turning regulation as a opportunity of growth in new segments.

This seems to be the best way to make business sustainable .

Business Planning in Software Industry

Business Planning is a very regular activity in both off-the-self and custom software Industry. The present fall down of the global financial institute , would definitely lead to contraction of the market on terms of value and growth . As, all financial instruments heavily used both custom and off-the-self software to get their solutions to customer.

Custom and off-the-self Industry background :

The custom software industry grew rapidly during the tech boom of the late 1990's. When the economic downturn hit, however, business spending on equipment and software contracted even more than the overall economy. Business spending on computer equipment and software rose 6.4 percent in 2003, eight percent in the first quarter of 2004, and ten percent in the second quarter. Unlike the prepackaged software industry, which sells to consumers as well as corporate users, the custom software industry relies almost exclusively on corporate demand.

Whether demand for custom software services will continue to rise is far from certain. The present financial crisis is leading to lot of problems in custom software industry. Consumer confidence is declining, as is the rate of job creation. As businesses become more uncertain of the economic climate, they will be likely to control spending and be less likely to initiate new information technology projects. Businesses may be expected to continue to invest in ongoing IT projects and new projects that they believe will help them reduce costs or gain a competitive edge.

Seeking New Markets

In order to remain competitive, the custom software industry must expand into new markets. Fortunately, as long as the business world continues to grow and change, there will be a demand for new systems to keep up with the demands of the current business climate. New challenges facing the business world are often new opportunities for the custom software industry.

One challenge facing the corporate world is the increase of government regulation in the wake of recent accounting scandals. Compliance requirements with new Federal and state regulation can be expected to drive capital spending in the information technology fields of data storage, automation, architecture, and services. New regulations require companies to not only store data for several years, but to be able to retrieve the records quickly at the request of a regulator or auditor. While the regulations rarely require specific technologies, compliance essentially demands sophisticated programs for indexing, tracking, archiving, backup, and retrieval. Many companies are turning to customized software solutions to meet these demands.

Another market opportunity for the industry is the rise of consumer-driven healthcare (CDH), a concept in which consumers make more choices in their healthcare and health coverage. For example, under the CDH paradigm it is sometimes possible that a prescription for a given drug may be charged as either a preventive drug or a treatment for a chronic condition, with the medical coverage being different for each option. The consumer would make the choice, which would need to be tracked by either the consumer's employer of care provider.

Employers instituting more consumer-centric initiatives into their employee health care programs will need to make a number of strategic, operational, and IT decisions. The CDH market has a wide range of variation among regional and employer-specific models, making it ideal for providers of customized information technology solutions. It's also a developing market with little standardized software support in place. Even as prepackaged software solutions are developed for the CDH market, it is likely that they will need to be complimented by custom development in order for companies to create a total IT solution.

Competing with Off-the-Shelf Software

Prepackaged business management software has grown more sophisticated, providing more competition to the custom software industry. Prepackaged software is generally less expensive to acquire and requires less time to implement.

There are still advantages to having custom designed software. Few companies require all the features and functionality that come with off-the-shelf software and often end up adapting the software package to their needs. In many cases, a smaller, simpler application designed to meet the company's needs is more efficient.

Businesses must weigh the pros and cons of each option. Some companies argue that using packaged software forces workers to adopt standard processes that improve overall business performance. Others argue that if the company must change the way it operates to fit a prepackaged software model, such a change may rob it of its competitive advantage.

Conclusion

While economic indicators are uncertain, corporations will likely remain cautious about new information technology projects and investments. It is likely that demand for custom software development will continue, however, as corporations strive to meet new regulatory and business challenges.

Business Plan Editing - Adding the Believability factor

The most important factor of a Business Plan is believability. Infact, that is what Business editors has to focus, very extensively, to write a successful business plan . Often the entrepreneurs write that their products or services are best in the market . However , adding an authority, who is saying that same statement , will add a lot of believability on the plan. Even if the endorsement is not from an authority, mentioning some third person also creates a certain form of believability .Business editors has to realize the fact that any form of endorsement, creates a positive impact in the mind of investors.