Hi, friends

There are different institutions that provide funding such as banks, angel investors, venture capitalists; etc. For the purpose of this post, please allow me to refer to them all as investors.

A business plan is known as map for your business-it is a way of directing the steps which a business is supposed to take in order to be successful. It has become even more popular as a document which you serve an investor when you need them to invest in your business. This document shows them the way in which the business will operate in order to make back the amount injected in the business by them.

There has been a perception amongst entrepreneurs that the business plan has to be long, and full of jargon-that is not true!!! Who wants to read a 100-page business plan while checking for meanings in a dictionary? Certainly not me!

With my experience in reading and writing business plans, I have come to notice these points as some of the most important:

Keep it simple and straight-to-the-point: As I said before, don’t try and impress the investor by using unnecessary jargon. I will give an exception to the entrepreneurs who are trading in highly technical products. They too could try and present the plan in layman’s terms.

Again I say-Keep it short: Don’t bore the entrepreneur with long unnecessary detail. They will fall asleep before they get the chance to fund your business.

Give the plan a professional image: Before evaluating a business plan, the first thing that catches my eye is the layout of the cover-page, the logo, even the slogan. This tells me that you are passionate about the business.

Avoid grammar and spelling mistakes: A colleague of mine was evaluating a business plan and he said to me: “How the hell will this entrepreneur run a business if he can’t even spell.” This taught me that some investors may have the same mentality about spelling mistakes and grammar. Most computers have spell-checkers, use them.

Use graphical aids: Drawings, graphs, images, etc help draw the attention of the investor back into the document. It builds interest for the investor.

Prove your figures: For an investor, figures and money is a very touchy topic. This is where push will come to shove. If you need R30 000 for computers, why don’t you back it up with 3 quotations from suppliers? Be as specific as possible about amounts.

There is so much to a business plan. You could go and get someone to write a business plan for R200, but as I believe: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For more information about business plans, please contact me on: 072 901 7789 or email me on makhensamash@gmail.com. We offer quality business plans at affordable prices.