the truth behind business plans
Post on 01-Nov-2014
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The Truth Behind Business Plans
TOP SECRET
Feargal Byrne
YOUR
BUSINESS
PLAN
Many believe that the first thing that you should do when starting a business is to write a Business Plan.
After all, this is what they teach in Business School.
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Executive Summary Founders’ Background
Business Overview
Market ResearchOperations Plan
Competitive Analysis
Suppliers
SWOT Analysis
Marketing Plan
querf aqoeii
Financial Projections
.............................
.......
......................
Layout your Executive Summary and follow it with 50+ pages of congested text.
When your plan is completed, after about two full months of keyboard bashing.
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You should send your Business Plan to Investors who will be overjoyed at receiving a thesis on why your idea will make them...
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...hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Of course, once they have read your 20 times proof read and immaculately formatted document they will immediately pick up the phone and agree to invest.
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Here’s the problem. Nobody invests in ideas and a business plan is just one big idea. This is the core mistake that many first time entrepreneurs make.
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YOUR
BUSINESS
PLAN
They assume that a Business Plan is the key to getting investment. So, as a result, they spend far too much time writing one.
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The reality is that Business Angels and Venture Capitalists only invest in actual businesses. That’s right, they invest in businesses. Logic would suggest that if you are looking for investment you should spend most of your time building a business and very little time writing a business plan.
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Sales & Profits
You do need a plan for building a business but it should be laser focused on getting traction. Sales and profits are the highest level of traction.
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Most entrepreneurs can write this initial plan on an A4 piece of paper. It should look more like a scorecard than a definite plan of action which must be followed no matter what. Each item should be tested and measured in real time.
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External Investment
Your Business
Your Business
Your Business
When you start to generate profit and you believe that additional funding will help to scale your business. At this point, you should consider writing a business plan for investors.
50 Page +
BUSINESS
PLAN
10 - 15 Slide Deck - Printed Out
or PDF
However, this plan should not be in the form of a 50+ page document. A 10 - 15 slide deck printed out or in PDF is enough.
“Once upon a time my business did.............”
This deck is the story of your business so far and...
“My projections are based on the actual conversion rates that I am
currently achieving”
... future projections based on actual conversion rates and profit margins. The quicker it can be read and understood the better.
Check out this Sample Business Plan Template and Video
Brought to you by:
LostJobStartBusiness.com
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