Hello Professor & Class,
As our textbook states, a business plan, or what is sometimes referred to as a loan proposal, investment prospectus, or a venture plan, serves as a roadmap for any entrepreneur wanting to start investing in an enterprise he believes will be a success. It is a document that is a considered as a road map which outlines the plans on how to achieve one’s goals. It must be comprehensive enough to cover all aspects of the new venture from planning and risk projections to marketing and implementation procedures of the whole plan. A business plan is primarily used to communicate, manage and implement an entrepreneur’s goals and objectives resulting to a successful business venture. It is a very important document if an entrepreneur wishes to enter into an investment for the success of one’s business venture. It is used to attract potential investors to become partners in one’s company.
In coming up with a business plan, there are guidelines to follow. Amongst these guidelines, I have noted that the three most important ones are the following: keep the business plan short but concise, effectively present the business plan in an organized manner, and most importantly, avoid exaggeration of estimates and figures. A business plan is presented to prospective investors which value their time more than anything. To these people, their time translates to income. Wasting their time by presenting a lengthy and drawn-out business plan would definitely not get you the results that you want. A business plan should just be within 20-25 pages long, just enough to be able to present, in a concise manner, all the aspects of the plan to attract potential investors. In order to do this, the plan must be constructed in an organized manner. Critical in the presentation would be the overall neatness of the document with a well put-together components such as the table of contents, executive summary, graphs and tables, and appendix. It must be logical and well-written with no grammatical errors. An entrepreneur must also take note that in presenting figures, estimates and calculations, it is very important to be realistic and avoid padding or over-estimating. In doing so, the credibility of the whole plan is compromised.
The next step in business planning is the actual presentation of the plan or the elevator pitch. The following are some guideline that must be followed to be able to properly present your business plan:
It must be injected with spontaneity to spark interest among the listeners and be able to sustain their attention.
The presentation should be able to identify the problem you are solving with your business plan to make the investors realize the need for your venture.
The target market should be within reach to make it seem more realistic. During the pitch, it is important to stress the income that the investors will be getting out of your venture. This can be done by focusing on the skills and competencies of the management team and by explaining how you were able to arrive at your estimates.
Most importantly, by the end of the pitch, the investors must be convinced that your business venture is the right move at the right time.
Works Cited
Kuratko, Donald. Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process, Practice. Cengage Learning, 2017. Web. 23 Aug. 2016.
