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Business Coach |
Twenty General Tips on Start-up Business Plan Preparation |
Partially adapted from: "Angel
Investing" by Osnabrugge, W.V., and Robinson, R.J.
20 Tips
Sample Table of
Contents
20 Tips
Every business plan is a sales tool. It must look
professional and read well to be effective. Here are some general guidelines
that every entrepreneur must follow to develop the overall form of a business
plan:
- Develop your business plan yourself, rather than hiring someone else to do
it.
- Keep the full plan as short as possible, focusing on key issues, not
extraneous details.
- Put yourself in the mind of the target investor.
- Start with a short, compelling, and concise one-page executive summary to
attract immediate attention.
- Get straight to the point!
- Articulate concisely a simple but powerful plan for an innovative solution
to an emerging but important consumer problem that is still unmet.
- Be specific about your market and your firm's fit within the environment.
Show that you really understand the target market.
- Leave out technical jargon; use plain English.
- Be clear in your key assumptions, using independent sources to back them
up.
- Be realistic in all your projections.
- Openly address risks and problems, and how they can best be overcome. Any
good investor can identify them and will not invest until they are addressed.
- Demonstrate that you have a management team that has the experience and
balance to make the venture a success.
- Include milestone charts for past events within the firm, and those
projected for the future.
- Clearly discuss the firm's financing needs, by addressing:
- How much money you need,
being very specific about the amount sought
- What you plan to use the
money for
- How this money will
improve the business
- How the business will
pay the money back
- If Plan A does not work,
what the backup plan is
- Prepare a time schedule for additional funds that are likely to be needed.
- Show that you fully understand the needs and interests of investors. The
entrepreneur must learn to think in terms of the investor's risks.
- List possible exit strategies for investors.
- Solicit comments and criticism from everyone you know.
- Revise, revise, revise.
- Try not to let the process of fundraising adversely affect your firm's
ongoing operations.
Sample
Table of Contents for a Business Plan
Cover letter
Cover
sheet
Table of
contents
Executive
summary
Business concept
Name
Product or service
Market and competition
Management experience and expertise
Business goals
Summary of financial needs
Earnings projections
Market
analysis
Total market analysis
Industry trends
Target market
Market competition
Product
or service analysis
Product line or service description
Proprietary nature
Competitive threats
Marketing
strategy
Overall strategy
Pricing policy
Selling, distribution, servicing methods
Management
Officers, organizational chart, and responsibilities
Résumés of key personnel
Composition of board of directors or advisors
Financial
plan
Historical analysis
Budget projections
Income statement
Balance sheets
Cash flow
Capital expenditures
Explanation of projections
Key
business ratios
Explanation of financing needs and anticipated use of funds
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