Business Plans Top Tips

These are the most important things to remember about writing a business plan;
  • Every business plan is different. But for each it is the story that comes first so you absolutely don't want to start by downloading templates and spreadsheets for some off-the-shelf plan
  • You may need help writing the plan and even with working through some business issues but the plan must be yours
  • Like any story, yours is exciting, clear and not too long. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. 
    • The beginning summarises everything in the document on a page or less. 
    • The middle sets out who you are, what you are doing, what you want to do, all about the market, the numbers etc. This is the engine room for the plan. 
    • The end tells the reader what you want them to do, what they will get out of it and what the risks are.
  • The team matters. Suppliers, customers and financiers all back the people in the business. If they don't trust you or don't think you know what you are talking about or think you lack critical skills then that is the end of it.
  • Evidence matters: numbers matter. This is how you convince the reader. But it is just evidence so make it speak to people without swamping them with irrelevant data.
  • If you need detail like copies of contracts or property information, put it in an appendix at the end so it does not disrupt the flow
See also my blog on business plans