Business Research #1 - Business Reports (Entry #26)

Last year, I took the course "Introduction to Business", our final project of the year was create a business report - we have to apply the skills we learnt throughout the year into one big project. This gave me an idea of how a professional business report looks like and what it consists of. However, before I start my business report (the parts that don't require the actual results - that will be added in after the event), I will need to do research about lots of aspects such as the formatting, purpose... etc. Since this time, I'll be writing a business report based on an ACTUAL business, there will be a lot of differences from the one I wrote for class last year as it was imaginary.

http://sydney.edu.au/business/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/90359/Txt_business_reports.pdf

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vbs/teaching/publications/VBS-report-writing-guide-2013-July.pdf

Here are 2 links I found that are both complete guides of business reports, from how to format, purpose, how to use headings and much more! I will be mainly using these 2 guides as a research tool for Criterion A: Research.

Why am I writing this report/what is the purpose?

• My ultimate goal for this report is to aid next year's run, as all the money made from my hot dog stand is to raise money for the run and charity, therefore, the business guide will help next year's organizers raise the most money possible
• Assist in decision making
• Will offer information, analysis and recommendations for next year 

What are the steps to completing a business report?

1. Planning, this includes constructing the basic outline of the report and determining target audience
2. Complete the sections that do not require any findings, which may include more researching and organizing
3. After the event, drafting of body section/main findings begin
4. Start conclusion and recommendations (final part to be completed in the report)
5. Proof-read and edit

Who is my target audience?

• Organizer of the hotdog stand for the marathon next year
• The Terry Fox Run committee - they will be interested in how much I raised, the demand... etc.

What is the format of the report I'll be using?

• Personally, I think this is the most important point be researching about since I will be basing my whole report with this format.
• There are two types of formatting that is common in a business report
• Indirect approach
• The conclusions and recommendations are at the end of the report
• Direct approach
• The conclusions and recommendations are at the beginning of the report 
• Usually for readers who aren't interested of what I have to say and have no time reading it
• I will be choosing the indirect approach, looking at my target audience, I'm pretty sure they will be reading everything in detail in order to make the marathon and the hot dog stand successful next year
• Business report formatting

1. Title page
2. Acknowledgements 
3. Table of contents
4. Executive summary
5. Introduction/background
6. Findings/discussion
7. Conclusion
8. Recommendations
9. References
10. Appendices