I have been writing business plans since 2011 and have learned a lot over the years. Our business has written plans for restaurants, non-profits, manufacturers, energy companies, schools, and so many additional industries.
I thought it would be great to give you my top 10 business plan tips.
- Before my team and I write a business plan, we always ask ourselves “Who is the audience? What information must they see within the plan?” Some people write business plans to raise funds. Others for immigrant visas. Others for grant money. Others to lure a great team member for below market value. It’s important to ensure the reader sees the proper goals/vision within your plan.
- The first paragraph of your Executive Summary can make or break your fundraising efforts. It should cause the reader to think, “This will be a great business plan.” Great business plans cause the reader to say, “Wow! This is one of the best plans I’ve ever read.”
- Business plans fuse solid research, compelling stories, and believable financials. When you discuss a statistic, market size, or other research items, it’s important to footnote your sources or give a clear explanation to how you calculated your market size. This is just as important for you as it is for the reader.
- It takes 40 hours and 3 revisions to write a great business plan. My team and I have discovered the model of writing a first draft and 2 revisions is a winning formula.
- It takes 4 weeks minimum to write a great business plan. You can’t rush a good thing.
- Use cases can help explain highly technical or complex businesses.
- If you have conservative revenues and aggressive expenses and you’re still able to show a profit, you have a winning enterprise.
- Never forget to write your financial assumptions within the financial section of your business plan. Give clear explanations. You’ll need them for yourself as well as the reader/investor.
- Have 2 editors – one for strategy and one for grammar/spelling.
- Practice your pitch. If you’re asking for $2 million (or any amount of money), you should never go into a pitch meeting without rehearsing.
Cheree Warrick is a business plan writer that helps companies nationwide. She writes business plans for bank loans, angel investment, government certifications, immigrant visas, and more. Contact her at wewritebusinessplans.com.