Note: This could be the second article in the 3-part series about Writing the Best Business Plan. There are millions of articles, courses, outlines, and knowledge available, both free and priced. The knowledge available is indeed overwhelming, that it must be very difficult to know where to start and things to trust! These articles are designed to give practical, useful, and valuable advice about how exactly to accomplish it.
The 5 Major Points About “How” To Prepare To Write The Best Business Plan
In Part One, we looked over purposes and types of formal strategic plans; the reason dictates the kind of document to create. All executives, bankers, investors, and business leaders agree that all businesses really should have a formal business plan that is tailored to the desired purpose and result.
Many new business organizations – and lots of entrepreneurs – don’t realize the best way to properly prepare to write down an effective plan. The rule of thumb is: “Proper planning prevents poor performance!”
There are 5 major items to consider in preparing to write down an elegant business strategy:
1. Purpose
Who could be the Business Plan being written for, what’s the proper scope, and what’s the desired result? These points were covered in Part One of this informative article series:
- a. Is it to attract a venture capitalist? The plan must be a “brief sales piece” geared directly towards questions an investor asks.
- b. Is it for the bank loan, SBA-backed loan, or another commercial loan? The plan should then cover the information a banker will want.
- c. Is it only for the business enterprise owner and also to serve as a guide?
- d. Is it for multiple purposes, as well as to be utilized for various ends? Consider a “parent” plan or targeted plan(s).
2. Available Resources.
The overall quality of a business plan is going to be largely the result of identifying excellent resources (provided the writer is competent). What is great is the fact that most of the best resources are free!
- One of the very best resources intended for the Best Business Plan will be the SBA (The Small Business Administration). Their website is excellent, easy to navigate, and packed with the best, up-to-date tools and information. And this is free of charge!
- Another excellent free resource is “SCORE” (Service Corps of Retired Executives). Like the SBA, the SCORE website is awesome. SCORE helps 20,000 businesses begin each year and possesses helped over 8.5 million companies.
- Here’s a list of other great resources: Economic Development Council, Small Business Council (local), Chamber of Commerce (local), SBDC (Small Business Development Centers), the area library, Entrepreneur Magazine online, therefore additional!
3. The writer.
Be sure that whoever writes – or perhaps hired to write down – your business strategy will be the right person for the position. The same way you’d seek a professional carpenter of a construction contractor, you ought to seek a writer; seek advice, view samples, get references, etc.
- If the author won’t ask you in regards to the audience and intent of the plan right in the beginning, provide a red light! This is not a good sign.
- If the writer is often a large corporation, likelihood is good you will not get enough personalized service; often you happen to be merely another account so you don’t want a “cookie-cutter” business strategy plan at all. Be very careful about hiring a big company.
- If the writer will not have personal business experience, or specializes in a very certain area, or will not have an extensive understanding of your organization variables, usually do not hire him or her.
4. The Executive Summary.
The Executive Summary will be the first section of a great business plan, nevertheless often its vital importance and effectiveness are overlooked.
- I recommend that this section is written last then inserted in the beginning.
- As the document is written, notes, information, and data will then be schedule (copied) which might be ideal for inclusion inside the Executive Summary.
- The Executive Summary is like a mini business strategy plan and may directly serve the purpose, plan type, and result desired. It must be as brief as you can, nevertheless as inclusive and persuasive as is possible.
5. The panel of Consultants.
It is my recommendation that all business strategy features a “Panel of Consultants” to be able to provide quality assurance, consistency, and even more importantly, credibility. This can be somebody that is/was a “resource” (see #2 above), people from inside a particular industry, or someone that provides vital supportive information.
In conclusion, in this article, we’ve taken a shorter look at preparing to write down a proper business strategy. Some people might include that assembling your data for your “Financials” is additionally important in preparation. Although this is entirely true, I have chosen to incorporate this in Part Three.
My suggestion would be to carefully research when hiring someone for the task. As with anything positive, it is advisable to consider your desired result before taking action.
In Part 3, I will discuss “Writing The Best Business Plan”. The rule yet again is: “Proper planning prevents poor performance.”
