Five Things To Keep In Mind When Writing Your Business Plan

The first thing an entrepreneur encounters when considering starting a business is the business plan. A significant number of people will say the sole purpose of a business plan is to obtain funding. Not so. In my opinion, the most important reason to produce a business plan is to make you a better entrepreneur. The processes you must go through when producing a solid business plan is invaluable to laying a1.      Although it is good to relay a positive tone throughout your business plan, it is just as important to present the downside. Remember, be realistic. No one expects your business NOT to have a downside.  Entrepreneurs who fail to present the downside are obvious “rookies” in entrepreneurship and this causes investors to get nervous.

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2.      When writing a business plan, be thorough in your effort. There are good business plans and there are bad business plans. Anything other than a good business plan is a failed one. The most important way to ensure your business plan is good is to avoid blind spots in your plan. The blind spot occurs because an entrepreneur is so involved in their idea or concept that they fail to see other perspectives … hence the blind spot. To avoid “blind spots” conduct thorough research on every assumption you proclaim and provide the appropriate supporting data.

 

3.      Long is not always better. The question is often asked, “How long should my business plan be?” The quick answer is, “As long as it needs to be.”  It needs to be as long as it takes for you to concisely convey your business idea. The key word is concisely.

 

4.      Weak revenue model. Entrepreneurs love to write about their idea but fail to focus on the age-old questions, “How are you going to make money?” Your business plan MUST convey the answer to that question. The answer needs to explain from the beginning as to where the customer initially comes into contact with your product/service all the way through to follow-up after the sale. In other words, how are you going to bring in revenue?

  

5.      Please, no grammatical errors. Having grammatical mistakes in your plan is another big red flag to investors. If you don’t care enough about presenting a plan without grammatical and punctuation errors, why would you care to manage a business (and their money) correctly? Make sure your article is well written and please do not rely on any grammar software to check for mistakes. If necessary, hire a professional editor. A mistake-free business plan is that important!