Why the business plan sucks
The business plan can be critical to a business but in reality it raises questions that not many people who are starting up their own business are in a position to answer, it also get used to confuse people by adding lots of technical jargon and big unnecessary words. They also tend to be over optimistic on profits and sales and underestimate risks and costs. In other words they often get created to show the business in the absolute best light possible. So to make sure you business plan doesn’t suck remember the following;
- Make sure you have researched all the competition
- Know what will bring the money in
- Research what the true costs will be
- Include contingency planning
- Use the basic every day words
- Don’t be vague
- Read it over to make sure it makes sense
- Get someone independent to read it to make sure it makes financial sense
- Don’t overuse graphics, such as graphs and charts
- Don’t make assumptions that things will be the way you have planned them
- Go through several what if scenarios
- Question the validity of the plan as if you were the investor
- Make sure its spell checked and grammar checked
Remember the business plan is just that, a plan. Not everything will go according to your plan, things outside your control can and almost certainly will change. Costs can change, income can change, people you rely on can leave, competitors can develop the same marketing campaigns. Someone can come up with the same product as you and beat you to market.
Flexibility and adaptability in business is important, and having a plan B can often remove some of the pressure and uncertainty when things inevitably change.
