Business report writing

The purpose of a Business report is to communicate information to assist in the business decision making process. Some reports might propose solutions for business problems or might present relavent information to assist in the problem solving process. A Business plan is a kind of report which serves to communicate the Business model, Business management model and the commercial objectives of a business.

In general when writing a business report the following steps have to be followed

1. Determining the scope of the report
2. Understanding the Target Audience
3. research to collect supporting information
4. formatting and organizing the report

Determining the scope of the report

In this step the author has to determine the scope of the report. This process would involve what topics would be covered in the report and what elements are not necessary. This step would also help to determine how detailed the report would be.

Understanding the Target Audience

A target audience, or target group is the primary group of people that something, is aimed at appealing to. A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender, marital status, etc. (ex: teenagers, females, single people, etc.) A certain combination, like men from twenty to thirty is often a target audience. Other groups, although not the main focus, may also be interested. Discovering the appropriate target market(s) to market a product or service to is one of the most important stages involved with market research. Without knowing the target audience, a company's advertising and the selling efforts can become difficult and very expensive.

In this step potential requirments of the readers have to be considered and the target audience has to be identified. Questions such as who will use the report?, educational level of the audience?, knowledge level of the reader?, what is the reader expecting from this report?, prsonal demographics of the audience?, What should be the level of technical complexity?

Collection of Information

In this step all previous reports, surveys and publications about the topic should be studied. A lot of reports would require some form of Data collection. Many times Investigative research might be needed. It is important that the process and methods used for research are explained. Data which is collected during this process should be presented clearly in the report. Recommendations and proposed solutions have to be studied and reviewed in this process.

Formatting and organizing the report

This is usually the final step before actually writing a business report. In this step the format of the report has to be decided. The following questions might rise during this step, how would the data be presented?, what charts/diagrams will be used to complement the information presented in the report?, how would the report be presented?, what medium of presentation would be used?.

Further Information

Advice about writing a Report [http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/Reports.htm ]
Recommended Headings for Business Reports [http://www.managementhelp.org/writing/rechdngs.htm]
Report Writing [http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/rep_business.html]
Guide to Business Report Writing [http://bestentrepreneur.murdoch.edu.au/Guide_To_Report_Writing.pdf#search=%22business%20report%20writing%22]