In my endeavor to learn more about the art of creating a
well defined business plan, I stumbled upon two industry experts who gave me
more than I’d hoped for. Tim Berry is a
business planner and Angel Investor who founded BPlans.com and he’s the writer
of “The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan”.
Kaye Vivian is a noted author and contributor to “Write Your OwnBusiness Plan” written by the staff of Entrepreneur.com and she has more than
25 years of experience with assisting everything from Fortune 500 companies to
startups.
The most profound information that I gleaned from several of
Mr. Berry’s articles was that, in the business of business plan writing, one
must know the difference between the types of available investors and who to
ask for what. Before you know what the
investors are looking for, you need to know the particular investor. Venture capitalists are often looking for
business startups that have great management teams who have already been
successful at launching other businesses.
If you’re thinking of presenting your business plan to these types of
investors without a “tried and true” management team, think again. Berry also suggests that you “check with an
attorney before taking any type of investment for your startup.” One of the reasons behind this rule is that
there are many different laws that controls the way people privately invest
their money. Preventing stock and tax fraud being at the top of the list. The best advice that I gathered from Berry
was that the business plan needed to be the work of the actual business owners,
and their management team, not that of an outsider. Investors are looking for businesses with
owners that know their market, know what the future projections look like and are
sure that they can get a return for the investment. Having a business plan written by someone who
is not on the management team or an owner could seem impersonal. Berry also
says that unless the business owner is well versed in the actual business plan
before presenting it to potential investors, then the situation could go from
bad to worse. Business plans often need revisions as time goes on and it’s hard
to revise a plan that you never had a hand in writing in the first place.
In
her portion of “Write Your Own Business Plan”, Kaye Vivian gave more logical suggestions such as “knowing your
competitors”. Having the knowledge of
what your competitors are doing can help you stay ahead of the game when
contending for the same target audience and market. She suggests that you “know your
audience”. Knowing your audience, their consumer
habits and their potential trends is a huge bonus when presenting your business
plan. She also states that you should
“be logical” when giving timeframes, projections and budgets. All of these recommendations are essential
for preparing to present your business plan to investors. Whether they are friends, family or a board
of “Angel Investors” it’s a good thing to know your market, your business as
well as your audience inside and out before asking for someone else’s money. Investors want to be sure that they will get
a return on their money and being able to guarantee them that is paramount.
Laying the foundation for my newest company, and even when
revising the existing ones, I’m definitely going to be taking all of this great
advice into consideration. These experts
have been in the field of business plan writing for decades and it wouldn’t be
wise of me to think that I could ask for an investment without first being sure
that I can make good on all the promises that my company is making. I look forward to the future knowing that the
plan that I’m laying for my business is a solid one and sure to gain the
investment backing that it needs.
References
Berry, T. (2013, September 6). 10
Business Plan Benefits You Might Be Forgetting. Retrieved February 6, 2015,
from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228220
Berry, T. (2014, October 9). Start With a
Simple Business Plan and Grow It as Needed. Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238119
Expert Advice: 10 Tips to Craft a Strong
Business Plan. (2015, January 15). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241079
Tim Berry. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6,
2015, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/author/tim-berry
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayevivian
TimBerry.com
