| |
| |
|
Strategic Planning Information |
|
|
|
When Do I Need To Hire A Business Plan Consultant
Every new business owner knows that a business plan is critical - it is drilled into them by potential investors and every banking officer they meet. So why is something that is so important to the launch of a new venture so difficult to write? Good question! In this article I will try to address when you should go out and hire a business plan writer versus taking on the task yourself. First time entrepreneurs often cringe when sitting down to write their business plan. Some spend 6 months agonizing over each period and comma, and even worse others spend 6 months procrastinating and do nothing. So lets break it down and see where / when a business planning company should be brought in: Who will read your business plan and why? First you need to really understand the purpose of your business plan and who your audience (reader) will be. This is an important point as a business plan being written for a $100,000 loan is VERY different than a document needed for a $10 million round of venture capital! Since this article is focused on first-time small business owners, I will focus on preparing business plans raising less then $1 million in capital. For this "startup" or "seed" business plan 30-35 pages are perfect. You are not expected to deliver a thick book (and no one will read it anyway!). Once you have this down, you can honestly assess which sections you are qualified / comfortable writing and which may need consulting help. Here is what you should write on your own It is important for you to write a basic draft / outline of your business plan. Without this direction you are probably asking too much of your consultant. Once you have your thoughts organized on paper you can see what you are comfortable completing. Here are a few suggestions: Executive Summary: Draft the opening of your business plan - then hire a pro to come in and re-write it. Your executive summary will be read first and first impressions are critical! Marketing: You need to write your own definition of your target customer / audience. For the market research on industry growth and fancy charts go ahead and hire a consultant. Competitive Analysis: You should put together the first draft of this section, as it is almost as important to understand your competitors, as it is your customers. If you find a consultant that is an expert in your field, then you can work together and add to your initial list. The Dreaded Financials This is the most difficult part of a startup business plan, as you are making projections and assumptions on products / services that you have not even produced or sold yet! If you are stuck on this section you can hire a business plan consultant to just assist you with completing your projections (income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet). Figuring out the cost of goods, delivery costs, and return rates can be simplified by breaking them down into a "light" spreadsheet. Next you need to understand your startup and operating costs - items like electricity, travel, phone expenses, etc. Again just organize these and your consultant can make all the fancy charts and graphs. Just make sure you understand all of the assumptions - for example if you are opening a retail business, you should not look towards your consultant to "guess" your rent - go out and meet with a realtor and come back with real data. If you work closely with your consultant, the financials are a great section to bring in professional help. Managing Expectations Now that you know a bit more about when to hire a business plan writer you also need to manage your expectations. You can't expect a $1,000 business plan to have 20 pages of competitive analysis and a full-blown marketing strategy! If you carefully work through which sections of your business plan need outside help and then manage your consultant closely, your final document will be a success! My next two articles will focus on "How to Find / Hire a Business Plan Consultant" and more importantly "When to Fire your Business Plan Consultant!" Howard Schwartz is a partner in several business strategy groups, including HJ Ventures International, Inc. Howard has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide with a focus on writing business plans for companies interested in raising capital from Venture Funds and Angel Investors. Howard's business plans have secured several million dollars in funding. For more information: http://www.hjventures.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Strategic-Planning - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Leverage Your Current Ideas And Products Into Multiple Revenue Streams Diversify - to make diverse, give variety, to balance, to divide securities in different industries, to produce variety, to engage in varied operations.Diversification is a wealth building strategy; it is also an excellent method for becoming more profitable. Secrets Of Effective Brainstorming Have you been in a "brainstorming" session where each person just defended their own ideas? Worse is when people don't suggest ideas at all, for fear they'll be attacked. That's no way to brainstorm. Connecting Your Offline Business to Your Online Business These may sound like no brainers, but you'd be surprised. No matter how high-tech your business has become, there is no doubt you still have some non-electronic aspects of your company. Strategic Planning Consulting Strategic planning and consulting is the strategy roadmap to manage business very effectively. To improve the performance in each business level, business strategic planning & consulting is essential. Break-Even Analysis A significant advantage of some business ideas is that the venture can break even at what seems to be an easily achievable volume. A technique for quantifying that volume, called break-even analysis, examines the interaction among fixed costs, variable costs, prices, and unit volume to determine that combination of elements in which revenues and total costs are equal. Be Like Bill - Think! Twice a year, Bill Gates goes to a remote island hide-a-way for a week at a time. No, he's not going for a fishing vacation; instead of rods, reels, and lures he takes market analyses, position reports, engineering reports, and opportunity papers. Writing Your Business Plan is Actually Storytelling Storytelling and writing a business plan actually go hand in hand. The same ingredients used in telling a story are also used in writing a business plan. Getting Started with Succession Planning: Part I GETTING STARTED WITH SUCCESSION PLANNING: PART IA survey of 4,300 small business owners by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) revealed about 37% said they plan to sell their businesses upon retirement to non-family members. Twenty-six per cent said they planned to transfer or sell their business to family members, and an equal percentage had no business transfer plans yet. Alice In Wonderland - A Parable for A Business Plan Remember reading "Alice in Wonderland?"She asks the Cheshire Cat, "which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where," said Alice. How to Write a Business Plan Market Analysis Writing a business plan is an essential part of the initial strategic planning of any company. One thing, which seems to hang up most entrepreneurs, is figuring out what kind of data and information goes into the Market Analysis section. Menu Driven Business Planning A menu is the foundation of any restaurant; Guests will support or avoid a restaurant for its food. Starting with a preliminary menu is a simple and basic approach to restaurant development. The Chief Cause of Business Failure & Success Business rises and falls on leadership. According to business guru, Brian Tracy, "Leadership is the most important single factor in determining business success or failure in our competitive, turbulent, fast-moving economy. Top Reasons To Form A Strategic Business Alliance A strategic alliance is when two or more businesses join together for a set period of time. The businesses, usually, are not in direct competition, but have similar products or services that are directed toward the same target audience. Elite Positioning Brings Higher Profits Imagine spending the same amount of money on marketing and performing the same amount of work to deliver your products or services, but earning more money and keeping more after your expenses. That's what happens when you institute elite positioning for your business. Vision Getting Dim? A recent conversation started with a typical question, "How's business?" The reply was equally typical and prefaced by a sigh, "You know (another sigh), same old / same old."Clearly the person responding has "VCD" or "Vision Challenge Disorder. Why 9 in 10 Businesses are Overspending on Day-to-day Expenses Experts estimate that 90 percent of Australian businesses are overspending on day-to-day expenses, by as much as 75 percent in some cost categories!Looked at the operating costs of your business lately? You might be surprised at the savings that can be gained with a systematic approach to cutting costs.The easiest way to lift profits is to cut the fat out of costs. Rules to Setting Business Goals and Objectives: Why and How to be SMART We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and a plan cannot run without having its objectives set.That applies to any kind of plan, whether we're talking business or personal finances, university degrees or NGO programs, website promotion or weight loss. Strategy Without Tactics is Futile From time to time there seems to be a flurry of studies and surveys on effective communication in the workplace. As a communication specialist, I'm always eager to read these studies, but am often disappointed with what I see. Could You Be Setting Your Business Plan Up For Failure? David E. Gumpert, author of Burn Your Business Plan, often tells the story about how he and his partner failed to raise money after sending their business plan around to venture capitalists and meeting with several others to make presentations. What is a Shared Vision? So what makes a vision successful? Everyday companies try to create a vision that will lead them into the future but seldom does that vision ever impact the organization. The reason for this is that the vision is created by a few and never becomes a 'shared vision' of the entire organization.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |