Business Plans are meant to be read and updated frequently. If your Business Plan is too long or too complex, it will rarely be read and thus will not be useful. In this important document, you need to demonstrate the unique character of your business, your mastery of its details, and your plan for financial success. The questions that follow are aimed at stimulating the writing process and should not be construed as a template that you must follow.
Customers. Who are your potential customers and how many are there in your market? How will you find them with a cost effective marketing and sales plan? Why will they decide to do business with you?
Competitors. What are your most significant sources of competition? How do you plan to meet your competitors’ threats? What are your most significant sustainable long term competitive advantages?
Management Team. What are the special skills and experiences that your management team brings to this venture? How have you assessed their level of commitment to your business? How will they be compensated?
Cash Flow. What level of sales is necessary for your business to break even? How long will it take to reach this milestone? How much cash will you consume before you break even? What is your fall back strategy if sales are lower or costs are higher than you expect? How much capital will you need to start your business and how will it be deployed?
Expansion. How profitable will the company be when its sales are twice its break even volume? What will be the company’s sales and profits in three and five years? Do you plan to expand beyond this region, and if so, how and where?
If you want to connect your business or idea with our company, this Business Plan discussion should be read in conjunction with other pages on our website. For example, you will want to review the FAQs we have provided and examine the three pages of representative transactions (in Commercial Real Estate, Commercial Lending and Private Equity) to help ensure that your business interests closely resemble ours.
If you choose to submit a Business Plan to us, we prefer that you respond to these five questions in no more than three pages.