Taking the Experts Advice.

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