Helpful TIps When Writing a Business Plan

I am currently in the process of writing the business plan for my company.  When I started my business plan I was not sure what to expect.  I was also not sure if I could effectively include everything that is needed in order to have a successful business plan.  I researched experts Dave Lavinsky and Tim Berry in order to give me some guidance when writing my business plan.  As I continue to write my business plan, there are a few things that I want to take from these experts that I did not think of before.

Dave Lavinsky, President of Growthink, talked about 4 critical things that should be incorporated into your business plan and from those four, one really stood out to me.  He believes that the first thing you should do when writing is one line that clearly summarizes what your company does (Lavinsky, 2012).  This has been helpful because I want to make sure that investors or anyone else, who reads my plan, has a great understanding of what my company is about.  Because of this advice, I have made sure that at the beginning of each new section, I summarize what my company is about.  All investors do not read business plans from beginning to end, so it is very important that no matter what section they start from, they know what the company is about.

Tim Berry, President of Palo Alto Software and founder of bplans.com, shared 8 factors that make a good business plan.  Of the 8 factors, the one that really stood out to me was, communicate the business plan to those who have to run it (Berry, 2009).  This made me sit and really think about all of the responsibilities needed in order to run my business.  This advice has made me rethink some of the responsibilities and it made me realize that there are positions that I do need to have that I did not have before.  It also reiterated communication to me.  I have to make sure that when I do hire new employees, I have to communicate what I want my business to convey so that my employees convey that same message.

A business plan is very important when starting a new company.  There are many aspects and doing each section correctly is key. However, I feel the most important part of a business plan is the executive summary.  According to Susan Ward, “the purpose of an executive summary is to summarize the key points of a document for its readers, saving them time and preparing them for the upcoming content” (Ward, 2012).  Setting your readers up to understand the content of a lengthy business plan is very important.  I feel your executive summary can make or break your business plan.  If your readers do not understand this critical part of the plan, then they might not understand your business, which could hinder the start of your business.

References

Berry, T. (2009, February 18). 8 Factors that Make a Good Business Plan. Retrieved July 27, 2012, from Planning Startup Stories: http://timberry.bplans.com/2009/02/some-key-questions-on-business-plans.html

Lavinsky, D. (2012, January 1). How to Make a Business Plan: Free Business Plan Tips. Retrieved July 27, 2012, from Growthink: http://www.growthink.com/businessplan/help-center/key-components-business-plan-part-1

Ward, S. (2012, January 1). Executive Summary Definition - Executive Summary. Retrieved July 29, 2012, from About.com: sbinforcanada.about.com/od/businessplans/g/execsummary.htm