Planning
The industrial business plan. Assumptions matter more than forecasts.
Whoever reads an Italian piano industriale, a bank, a fund or a shareholder, does not look at year three revenue. They look at whether the assumptions behind it hold: how many customers, at what price, with how many people, funded by which investments, over what period.
Short answer
An industrial business plan translates a company's strategy into actions and numbers over three to five years: market context, commercial and operating plans, investments, organisation and full P&L, balance sheet and cash flow projections. In Italy it is required by banks, funds, courts and shareholders, and takes six to ten weeks to build credibly.
At a glance
| Horizon | 3 years, 5 in capital intensive sectors |
|---|---|
| Build time | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Typical readers | Banks, funds, courts, shareholders |
| Mandatory parts | Strategy, actions, investments, P&L, balance sheet, cash flow |
| Most common flaw | Revenue growth with no matching growth in structure |
| Refresh | Annually, quarterly during a crisis |
Structure professional readers expect
There is no legal template, but there is an expected shape. Miss one of these parts and the plan reads as a sales document.
- Market context and competitive position, on verifiable data.
- Strategy and action plan with owners and deadlines.
- Commercial plan: volumes, pricing, channels, accounts.
- Operating and investment plan, with capacity implications.
- Organisation and hiring plan.
- Financial projections with sensitivity analysis.
What makes it credible
Internal consistency. If the plan doubles volume with no production hires, no capacity investment and the same commercial structure, a professional reader spots it within five minutes. Every assumption should be stated explicitly and anchored to history or comparable markets.
Want to know if a fractional manager is actually right for your company?
Let's talk →Written by whoever executes it
A plan built by someone who then walks away belongs to nobody. I build the plan and stay for the execution, in the formats described under services and method. For a fixed term executive mandate, see interim manager.
When this is the wrong choice
- Anyone needing the document within a week for a bank deadline.
- Numbers reverse engineered to reach a predetermined result.
- Pre product startups, which need a shorter and far less certain plan.
Fractional manager in Milan, Rome, Italy and Europe
Management consulting and fractional manager services for companies in Milan (Milano), Rome (Roma), Turin, Bologna and across Italy (Italia). If you need to hire or find a fractional manager, a part time CEO, CMO, CRO or COO, or a fractional Chief Executive Officer in Milan, Rome or Italy, this fractional manager and consultant works with clients in Lombardy, Lazio, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Tuscany, Liguria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino, Marche, Campania, Puglia and Sicilia. Fractional consulting mandates also across Europe: EU, Northern Europe, UK, EMEA. The fractional manager and part time chief executive officer travels from Milan to Rome, Turin, Bologna, Padua, Verona, Florence, Genoa, Naples, Bari and other leading Italian and European cities. Senior management consulting brings operational leadership in Italy without the cost of a full time chief executive officer.
Frequently asked questions
01What goes into an Italian piano industriale?
Market and positioning analysis, strategy and concrete actions, a commercial and operating plan, an investment plan, the organisation, plus three to five year P&L, balance sheet and cash flow projections with every assumption stated and testable.
02How long does it take to build?
Six to ten weeks for a credible plan: two or three weeks validating historical numbers, three building assumptions and the model, one or two reviewing with the owners and, where relevant, the bank or the investor.
03Who asks for it?
Banks during credit approval or renegotiation, investors and funds, Italian courts in crisis composition procedures, and shareholders facing a major investment decision. What actually gets read is whether the assumptions and the numbers hold together.
Presenting a plan to a bank or an investor? Talk to me before the numbers get written.
Contact me →