What?
A business plan is a written document that describes a business, its objectives, its strategies, the market it is in and its financial forecasts.
Why?
| Externals |
For Yourself |
| Business Angels |
To understand your opportunity |
| Partners/Team |
To plan what needs to be done |
| Banks |
|
| Grant funding bodies |
|
| Competitions |
|
| Buyers |
|
When?
As soon as possible – you might not have all the information available, but the exercise will help structure your thoughts, identify gaps and help you decide whether you are ready or not.
Tips
- People are busy and have 100s of business plans on their desks every week: 20 page max
- Any additional information in the appendices
- Punchy and to the point
- Make it visual: pictures, diagrams, tables
- No less than font 11 and don't overdo it with colour
- Have a table of content and clear references
- If you are on your own show that you've at least identified gaps in your management team
- If you have previous commercial experience – say so.
- State what sort of person you'd like to join your team
The business plan only has value when it's reviewed and updated regularly.
For a more detailed explanation as to 'what makes a good business plan?' please register for FREE for the Converge Challenge website here www.convergechallenge.com
In return we'll give you a FREE download 'What makes a good business plan?' which goes into more detail about the financials, products/services, marketing, operations, risk assessment, actions and executive summary.
