Part 2 of How to Write a Killer Business Plan

Part 2 of How to Write a Killer Business Plan

Note: Pay close attention to the Executive Summary.

Your executive summary should be the first thing a prospective funder reads. In the film industry, it's said that a great script is never truly written—rather, it's only rewritten. Similarly, you should approach your executive summary in the same manner. It is the most important section of your plan since it serves as a shop window for the rest of the plan and must entice the potential investor in.

When you only need three, why use five? Why do you think that?



Key words: company plans, company planning, company plan, company planning


Main Body: Pay close attention to the Executive Summary

Your executive summary should be the first thing a prospective funder reads. In the film industry, it's said that a great script is never truly written—rather, it's only rewritten. Similarly, you should approach your executive summary in the same manner. It is the most important section of your plan since it serves as a shop window for the rest of the plan and must entice the potential investor in.

When you only need three, why use five? When you can be direct, why be ambiguous? Rewriting till you know it by heart is okay; it needs to have impact and punch above its weight class.

Start by summarizing each key component of the overall strategy in one paragraph; do not repeat yourself. Provide a clear explanation of your company's purpose, who it works for, how it produces money, and the terms of funding, repayment schedule, and exit strategy in the first paragraphs.

It is preferable to be as precise as possible.

You have to Finish before you can Finish first.

While it's not a bad idea to have a living, breathing document for internal purposes, failing to bring things to a finish is a huge turnoff for external investors. Knowing when to terminate your plan is nearly an art form in and of itself. More than half believe that company plans are overly lengthy, which makes them lose interest or assume they will never finish them since they have other important obligations to attend to first.

However, the opposite is also true: If you are too brief, the investor may feel that you haven't thought this through or researched it sufficiently, or worse, they may not have enough knowledge to make an informed investment decision. Doubt arises from uncertainty, and uncertainty is absolutely no justification for taking a financial risk with investments.

Similar to the story of Goldilocks, the strategy must be "just right," and while every business is different, the porridge that gets devoured most often is between 12 and 25 pages.

Show that you are not greedy.

You will eventually need to demonstrate that you have conducted market research and that you have considered the implications of these findings for your company.

The idea is to consider the area, subsector, or specialty that you work in. The global automobile market, for instance, is worth billions of dollars, but if you're opening a manual car wash in your neighborhood, this is not the market for you.

Consider both the customer's reality and relevance. Even if you may want to dominate the hand car wash industry, start with the first step and work your way up to the second. Illustrate the need or desire the customer has for your goods. Don't presume the investor is aware of this. Give it a proper spelling.

Describe how your goods and services will meet that need. Discuss with the customer how they will find you or receive your message. Talk about how frequently that need arises. It's known as the "itch cycle" by certain salespeople. There are times when you just have to scratch it.

For instance, an automobile needs to be repaired at least once a year for everyone who owns one. When it runs out, everyone who like ketchup will want more.

Include these purchasing cycles in your investigation.

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