Three Tips For Writing A Killer Business Plan

Creating a business plan can be a nerve wracking experience

, especially if you're never attempted one before. There's nothing mysterious about the process. It will take some time and research. Here are three tips for writing a killer business plan.

Stand By Your Plan

Before you meet and discuss your Plan with potential financial partners, it is a good idea to prepare for the questions they may ask. You need to inspire confidence right from the initial meeting. Know the plan by heart. Know how it is organized so you can quickly find statistics you wish to quote. Know the formulas used to generate the projections. Invite some advisers or associates over to have a role playing session where they portray the venture capitalist and ask you questions about the business. Be prepared to defend the assumptions you make in the plan; venture capitalists see so many companies and review so many plans each year--about 1,100 per year for the average VC firm--that they are highly skilled in poking holes in flimsy logic. You will likely be surprised at the depth of questions they are able to ask. Be ready for them!

Rome Wasn't Planned, Funded, and Built in One Day

The process of putting together a coherent Business Plan will probably take longer that you estimate. If you think you can do it in a month, it will probably take two--or more. And that is precisely why the process is valuable. Along the way you will probably stop and say, "you know, we haven't really thought our strategies out very well, have we?" or "we don't really know our competition as well as we thought we did," and you will take the time to hone your strategies and get up to speed on the competition before you finish the plan and present it.

In other words, you will have a Planned Business as well as a Business Plan.

Management, Management, and More Management

The crux of the matter in writing a Business Plan is to prove to the reader that the people involved in the business have the skill and experience to create a successful enterprise.

Investors put money behind people, not simply behind cool products and interesting technologies. There are many wonderful, patented inventions that never see the fluorescent light of day at Wal-Mart because no one could figure out how to profitably manufacture and sell the product. You must tell the reader about what you have accomplished in your business career, not just tell about the positions you have held or what mighty corporations you have worked for. What have you done that can inspire confidence in your ability to execute the business strategy in the plan? Write in active terms: I increased revenues 100% in two years. I cut divisional costs by 45%. I supervised 100 people in 8 states.

One of the most striking, and succinct statements I have ever read in the Management Section was: "In our last venture, I earned the investors a 2,500% return." Most of us would take a chance on backing that guy.

by: Dee Power

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