One of the most common mistakes I see among aspiring entrepreneurs or small business owners looking for financing is a failure to view their business plan as an investment – a tool to be utilized to achieve further investment in their business.
The business plan is your sales pitch, a guide that helps a potential investor or loan officer understand your concept, your vision, and the financial picture. Most importantly, it gives the investor an understanding of what’s in it for them, and what you are contributing to ensure the success of the venture.
I see a number of business plans that are rushed through, using poor pre-designed templates or lacking adequate research. A good business plan can’t be developed in a few hours or days, or even a week. Business plans take hundreds of hours for most entrepreneurs. Even the most skilled writers will still spend dozens of hours working on a business plan.
Don’t rush through your plan just to get something to an investor quickly. Take your time to ensure you have all of your bases covered. If you have your plan developed professionally by a firm such as Optimus Business Plans, make sure that company is writing your plan from scratch and spending time doing research to enhance your plan. Unfortunately, too many people/firms skip over the important steps to be more “efficient,” only to come up with a document that that will never get funded.
