Writing Winning Business Plans. Garrett Sutton
writing in your journal, be as specific as you can. Use all your senses. What will your perfect business look like? How will you feel about it? What sounds do you hear (peace and quiet, a busily ringing cash register)? Really put yourself in the place and time you are striving to reach. Think about the steps you will take. Think about the outcomes. Think about alternatives and what-ifs. Think about what life will be like five, ten or even twenty years from now.
Don’t worry about the business plan when you are goal-setting or exploring your dreams. That comes later. Thinking too far ahead at this early stage can derail the process as fear turns to procrastination. For now, just let your mind fly. You will likely use some of the material you put down in a goal/objective section of your business plan (not all plans include such a section) or as part of your mission statement. Even what you never put in your plan will be useful.
So, after all this journal writing, are you ready for brevity?
Mission Statement
Can you now summarize your mission into a single sentence? That is the aim of a mission statement. To succinctly put forth the main reason why you are in business. The mission statement should briefly describe what you do and what makes you special. Investors, friends, and family will use this one sentence to form an impression of the opportunity.
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Rich Dad Tips
• Most people start a business only to make money, not recognizing that money for money’s sake is not a strong enough mission. Money alone does not provide enough fire, drive or desire.
• The mission of a business should fill a need that the customers want, and if it fills that need, and fills it well, the business will begin to make money. Think first to serve people and then to make money. Often the more people you serve the more successful you become.
• Listen carefully to your inner thoughts and deep dreams during the mission writing process. Great plans come from simple, clear and grand missions that inspire your heart and soul.
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Executive Summary And Business Strategy
“What is conceived well is expressed clearly,and the word to say it will arrive with ease.”– Nicolas Boileau
Executive Summary
This is a section that must be included in your plan. It is the first and most read section of any business plan and needs to be given great emphasis.
Your executive summary is a summary of your business that answers all the key questions (why, who, what, when, where, how). Though it is the first section of the plan, write it last. If you try to write your executive summary first, it will likely be the hardest thing you ever write. If you write it at the end, after you’ve thoroughly thought through your unique products and systems, built your team of mentors and advisors, researched your market and competition, planned your financial needs and potential earnings and analyzed your business’ strengths and weaknesses, it will come much more easily.
What information does an executive summary include? The basics. Include the name and type of business (including its legal structure) and required investment or loan information (the amount and purpose of money you are requesting and your repayment plan – principal and interest). If the plan will be going to a lender or potential investor, be as specific as you can about the money aspects of your plan, including how you will use the money.
Even a business plan has room for dreams. Don’t be afraid to include a sentence or two about why you want to (or why you wanted to) start your business. After all, “why?” is one of your key questions. This is often best answered with your mission statement and a brief description of the motivation behind your mission.
Remember to keep your executive summary short, for it is sure to be read…
Maria and Paul
Maria had an excellent idea for a new business opportunity. She and a group of colleagues had advanced engineering degrees and were involved in nanotechnology research and development. Nanotechonology is the art of manipulating materials on an atomic or molecular scale to build microscopic devices. It is considered “the next big thing” by many venture capitalists. Nearly $10 billion a year was being invested into nanotech due to its promise.
Marie’s group, now incorporated under the name NanoNow, Inc., had developed a patented technique whereby nanoparticles were added to an automobile’s gas tank. Their unique fuel additive worked as an oxidation catalyst to help the fuel burn cleaner. Their company name NanoNow, stood for Nanotech New Oxidation Winner. Of course, everyone wanted cleaner burning fuel for less polluted air and for the better of the environment. But even more beneficial for Maria and her colleagues was that venture investors were currently quite interested in nanotech. Just like biotech and the internet in previous years, simply by mentioning nanotech doors were opening.
Maria was in charge of writing the business plan. NanoNow was seeking to raise $50 million in a first round of funding to begin commercializing their patented technology. The plan discussed the market, their competitors and their unique patented position in the industry. It was a 300 page well supported and convincing scientific argument for investing in NanoNow.
Paul was a business consultant who helped entrepreneurs shape their business plans. While he liked all the work Marie had put in on such a detailed business plan, he also knew that not only is brevity the soul of wit, it also defines the soul of many venture capitalists. They want the brevity of a hot business area times dollars invested to equal huge quick gains. Demonstrating that magic, vault-opening equation in 30 or even 300 pages was one task. But condensing the equation into a one page Executive Summary was an art.
Paul knew that the venture investors didn’t have time for a long and detailed narrative. Their assistants could wade through all that. Instead, they wanted one persuasive page, which after reading, they could snap their fingers and bark, “Check it out.’
This is why Paul was so focused on getting Maria and her group to write an effective Executive Summary. One page meant the difference between $50 million or continued polluted air. It was an important page. But Maria and company were engineers. They weren’t used to brief persuasion. Everything had to be proven and re-proven. Maria said she couldn’t possibly summarize and persuade in one page.
Paul had seen it before. Many of his clients could write a brief and winning Executive Summary in their sleep. But for engineers and other technical types it was nearly an impossible task. They just weren’t trained to write that way. As a result, Paul had a previously utilized solution to the problem. He hired a copywriter to write the Executive Summary. The copywriter was used to writing short, persuasive copy. He knew which buttons to push and where in the copy to push them. He was the expert they needed.
As it turned out, with a persuasive one pager for the venture guys and voluminous material for the underlings to check out, NanoNow was funded. Maria and her colleagues went on to great technical and financial heights without ever fully appreciating how influential the art of an Executive Summary was to their success.
Again, it is important to remember that an Executive Summary should do what it says: Summarize the business plan. It should be very short (one page is ideal), and should highlight the most important sections of the plan. Beware, it may be the hardest thing you write during the planning process. Condensing 30 to 40 pages (or in Maria’s case many more) down to their very essence takes an intense understanding of the subject matter and considerable writing skill. It is best left until you have written all other parts of the plan and have come to a thorough understanding of all the subjects. Your plan should be well conceived before you start writing the summary.
If you are using your business plan to attract funding, you might think of the plan as a resume for your business. Your business plan sets out all the reasons why someone would want to give you money. And just as an employer has to look at