May 22, 2015 : Babatunde Fajimi
Babatunde Fajimi
Writing
business plans involve putting the start-ups’ value propositions in the
public domain to enable stakeholders make positive decisions to either
invest in or buy from the business.
You write for stakeholders
The smart business plan begins with the
executive summary. Although it comes first, it is usually written last.
It presents the concise outline of your propositions, that is, what is
in it for investors, buyers and customers who are your stakeholders.
It demonstrates your sound understanding
of your idea, products, operating environment, deployment of resources,
judicious management of money and how to bring all these factors
together to create wealth. This is presented in texts, graphs, tables,
charts and maps to sell your value propositions to your stakeholders.
You
write your business plan, not for yourself, but for stakeholders. You
must get them on your side early to attract and sustain their interests.
Write for decisions
Your business plan should be written to
enable the investors make up their mind to support you or make customers
buy from you. Consequently, you have to be factual, persuasive,
presentable and compelling to pull the investors in your direction.
Getting money from investors
Business plans are not static documents:
they are responsive to market dynamics. You should target the funds or
money you can get from your investors and not be afraid to go for it by
writing a compelling business plan.
There is no one-size-fits-all business
plan. The format may be the same but the presentation will vary
depending on what or whom you are writing for.
Whether you are writing to start-up your
business idea, raise funds from investors, obtain loans from banks,
expand your product lines or grow your going concern, you should write
to attract money for your ideas.
Selling your ideas
You write to show your ideas can sell.
Your business plan should communicate these ideas in clear, concise,
complete, correct, coherent, concrete and courteous ways to elicit
positive response from your stakeholders, particularly the investors who
can provide the money you need to start up or grow your business.
Be clear
You should be clear about your value
propositions. The reason you are writing a business plan should be clear
and stated from the onset. What do you really want to achieve?
If you do not know what you want, it will
be difficult to convince anybody that your business plan document
contains any valuable information. Unless you are sure of your
proposition, you can neither attract investors nor customers to your
products.
Be concise
The days of elaborate feasibility studies
are gone. It does not have to be voluminous and technical to sell. Your
business plan should focus on your value propositions and stick to a
plan of action that the investors can identify with.
The fewer words you use to convey your
value propositions, the better chance you stand in the marketplace. The
attention lifespan of adults is relatively short. Investors are busy.
They want to get the big picture from the executive summary. You should
avoid long and windy paragraphs of compound-complex sentences when you
can write in simple sentences.
Be complete
You have a responsibility to provide your
investors all the necessary information they need. You do not leave
them to figure things out themselves or fill in the gaps.
You should be proactive to answer any
questions they may likely raise. You should not be vague. You should
cross check the records you provide on financial information, bio-data,
contacts and phone numbers for feedback.
Be correct
Your business plan should be free from
grammatical errors and avoidable mistakes. You should use English
language to communicate your plan except where the stakeholders would
better understand you in other languages.
The business plan should be user-friendly
and speak the language of the stakeholders. Avoid using colloquial
language and slangs. A business plan is a formal document.
You should be accurate with information,
dates, references, names, products, competition analyses, market and
macro-economic demographic statistics presented in your business plan.
Be coherent
Your business plan should be simple but
presented in a logical order. You should avoid haphazard presentations
of thoughts, texts, tables, graphs, charts and maps. The business plan
should be consistent in language, tone and flow.
Be concrete
You are an artist as an entrepreneur. You
want to paint a picture of potential products to potential customers.
So, you have to be vivid and offer sufficient facts to convince your
investors that you are not on a wild goose chase or embarking on white
elephant projects with your dreams.
Be courteous
The tone of your business plan
presentation should be open, honest and non-adversarial. Investors value
integrity in entrepreneurship. You should endeavour to present your
facts after diligent research and logical presentation of your thoughts
and propositions.
Entrepreneurs are susceptible to some of
the seven deadly sins such as pride and arrogance. They also suffer from
messianic syndrome. These things put off the investors. You have to be
level headed. You should be able to present your value propositions with
respect, dignity of labour and honour.
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