Have you written your business plan but found that it is yet to bring you success in the form of funding? Or have you written your first draft but want to check that it is up to scratch before sending it out into the wild? Take a look at these tips for troubleshooting your business plan.
1. What’s Missing?
First, check if your business plan contains all of the sections it needs to. These include, but are not limited to:
Executive summary
Mission
Goals
Business proposition
Business description
Details of your business model
Market opportunities
Location
The drive behind your company
Market analysis
Competitor research
Market trends
Target audience
Customer profiles
Offering
Products or services offered
Benefits of products or services
Organisation and management
Company structure
Legal structure
Organisational chart
Funding requirements
Amount required
Reason and use of funding
Financial plan
Financial projections
Cash flow statements, balance sheets, collateral (for existing businesses)
Appendix
Supporting documents
This may not be the exact layout of your business plan, and you can add sections as required. If one of these is missing or not as complete as it could be, make sure you add it in so that potential lenders or investors aren’t left wondering about the missing information.
2. Check Your Formatting
When you’re checking the formatting of your document, think “easy to read”. Do you use headings, clear fonts, bullet points, numbering, white space, charts, tables and other aids to make your business plan easy to read? Think about the length, too. See our blog posts “How In-depth Should Your Business Plan Be?” and “How Long Should A Business Plan Be?” for help on knowing when you need to add more and when enough is enough.
3. Is Your Tone Correct?
Business plans are professional documents and should be written with excellent spelling and grammar, in an appropriate writing style. Take a look at our blog post “What is the Right Tone and Writing Style for Your Business?” to find out how to do this well, and get someone else to read through your document – a second pair of eyes can help to spot any mistakes you might have missed.
4. Are Your Goals Appropriate?
Our blog post “3 Golden Rules For Setting Business Goals” approaches this subject in more depth, so have a read and consider whether your business goals are realistic, specific, quantifiable and manageable.
If you would like any help with writing a successful business plan, get in touch with cbm. Contact us online using the form on the right or call 01604 420 420. We look forward to hearing from you!