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Writing business plan

entreplanetentreplanet subscriber Posts: 3
edited December 2007 in Business Planning
Does anyone have any business plans recently written? I`m looking for a shorter template to use, instead of the traditional lengthy one with all the clutter...any advice would be great, thanks!
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  • sagetroutsagetrout subscriber Posts: 1
    What I would love to see but I never do see in business plans are ones with a brief hard-hitting executive summary and then appendixes that cover in detail each major component of the businesss plan (i.e. market research, financials, technology, etc.).   Then the reader can delve into the parts of the business plan that interest them the most.
     
    Instead what happens in most business plans is you have to wade through reams of pointless writing to get to the punch line...if one exists. 
     
    Just as websites fail because they don`t consider the user experience, a lot business plans fail because they don`t consider the reader experience.   Too many business plans I read fail because they wander aimlessly and talk about aspects that aren`t relevant to a funding decision. 
     
    What an investor wants to know is how am I going to make money with this idea.   Give it to them in factual bullet points and then prove your points in detail with supplemental information. 
     
    A lender wants to know how you`ll be able to generate sufficent cash flow to repay the debt.   Show them how and why they should believe you`ll be able to do that.   Again, support that with detailed supplemental information.   Most lenders are only interested in the executive summary and the financial statements and projections. 
     
    There is no magic template to write the perfect business plan.   However, that`s no excuse for poorly written and disorganized presentations.   Grab the reader`s attention early in your presentation and then sustain it by allowing them to find what they want in supplementals instead of forcing them to wade through volumes to find it.  
     
     
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  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    Does anyone have any business plans recently written? I`m looking for a shorter template to use, instead of the traditional lengthy one with all the clutter...any advice would be great, thanks!

     
    What is your reason for writing a plan?
    Seeking funding or internal guidance?
     
     
    robertj12/10/2007 11:59 AM
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  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    I believe in developing a business plan in stages and "layers". Typically, the final "layer" is the operational plan which contains details (i.e. schedules, due dates, assignments, etc) that are not included in the external plan which is often distributed as part of capital acquisition.
     
    I`ve seen some folks have difficulty keeping their different plans in "sync" so I find that the layer concept - starting with an initial concept description, to the strategic direction & overview through to the detailed operational (or execution) plan - helps keep things tied together and in sync!
    robertj12/10/2007 12:50 PM
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