For the past few months, I have been working on a potential business plan as part of my requirement for my educational program. This has truly been an exhausting, rigorous but very insightful process. Many entrepreneurs have taken for granted the importance of writing a business plan. I will boldly confess that I was one of those individuals, if it wasn’t for enrolling into the Sports Management program at Full Sail University. I probably would’ve never researched or written an entire business plan. It was like a light bulb instantly went off in my head. Therefore, I feel its only right for me to share with you some of my views on the important matters of writing a business plan that will hopefully attract investors. Now, I don’t have the accomplishments or experiences such as experts Daymond John or Mark Cuban as of yet. However, I do represent a vast percentage of students and future entrepreneurs that will eventually have to take on this difficult task. So, take my advice as things to expect during this process and please conduct other research as well as.
What Really Matters…
The Who?
Investors want to read a clear detailed explanation about the purpose of the company. Therefore, the plan should have a section for the company’s description and industry analysis. Which includes a clear mission or vision statement, describes the target audience and the key competitors in that industry. Often times, countless individuals fail to thoroughly explain to investors how they will specifically target this market (Small Business BC, 2011). If investors are confuse by the jargon or see that the target market is not consistent in the business plan. Then it’s going to be perceived that you don’t know the direction of your company brand and you didn’t research the industry. The goal is to always give investors a clear understanding of your company.
The What:
This section defines the type of product or service the company will render. In addition, it is very important that all possible distribution channels are listed as well as how and why these channels will assist in reaching the target market to generate brand identity and sales.
The When:
During one of my courses, I was so focus on getting the financials and marketing strategy together that I completely overlooked the developmental date. This section is not just to reveal the projected launch or opening day of the company. Its letting investors know all about the things you have accomplished. For example, acquiring any type of intellectual properties, purchasing any property and especially the city and state the company will reside. Basically, anything that has been done prior to the submission of the business plan that will help the investors to see that you have put forth time and effort in the company establishment instead of waiting for their financial backing.
The How:
This part of the business plan can be difficult because the main goal is to explain how you’re going to generate sale and any other sources of funding. Therefore, a marketing strategy should be included, along with financial projection such as, start-up cost, marketing, sales and etc. These financial projections should allow the investors to see what your expenses are, when the company will generate money and hopefully an opportunity see a return on their investment sooner if the company should do well.
All these factors listed above are what I had to take into consideration after reviewing the advice from my experts. Therefore, I had to do some major changes to ensure that potential investors could visualize in their heads what my company does and how we made money. Like Daymond Johnson said, a business plan “is like a roadmap, personalized just for you, that is going to guide you from where you are now, to where you want to be.” In addition I had to make some adjustments to the financial projections of my plans. To demonstrate the growth of the company in a certain amount of years and even giving investors a quick return on their investments. Please do not forget to conduct additional research; sba.gov is a great starting point. See you at the top!
-The Sportnista ‘95
Picture Reference:
Ozkan, E. (n.d.) What Is A Business Plan? Retrieved November 18, 2011 from http://siteboat.com/what-is-a-business-plan-business-development-series-2/
Planini. (2011). Why Business Planning Is So Important? Retrieved November 18, 2011 from http://www.planini.com/2011/10/why-business-planning-is-so-important/
