There’s a rumor that investors don’t
want to read business plans.
Do you know why that is?
Because most of the business plans suck!
The problem is most people don’t include the information investors are looking for.
Perhaps they thought they could BS their way through it like a college paper,
as if it were going to be graded by a TA in a hurry to meet friends for a beer.
Perhaps they used a crappy template they got for free…
Building a business requires more than just an idea and a plan.
For a moment (and you may need to refer to this moment often),
put yourself in an investor’s position…
What would YOU want to know about a business before you invested in it?
We often recommend investing an amount of money in a friend’s business
just to get the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of
investing precious CASH in someone else’s business.
Now, more than ever, you must be convincing to the bone.
And, expect that intelligent people, with money to invest,
will want to feel comfortable with you and your answers.
You will find that, no matter who you are and what you’re doing,
you’re going to need answers to these basic 20 questions (in plain-English):
- Who are you?
- Why are you in business?
- What is the opportunity / need / current situation in the world?
- How big is the market?
- What will you sell?
- How is your business structured?
- How will you make money?
- Who else is doing the same thing?
- How do you compare?
- Who are your most important customers?
- How will you reach and inspire them to buy from you?
- Do you have any strategic partners who will help?
- Who are the people running your business?
- What experience do you/they have?
- Who else are you working with?
- Who are your advisors? Who is on your board?
- Where are you today? What traction do you have? What have you accomplished?
- How much money do you need to start / grow?
- What will you do with the money? What’s the deal?
- When & how will investors make their money back?
Investors likely have many interests
When you approach them with a complete plan…
A) You will have the above answers firmly in your head and you will be able to speak them with certainty
B) Your plan will provide written documentation that adds believe-ability
C) Having done the math, you will feel great about your prospects for personal wealth,
as well as a huge payoff for your investor(s)(who may get even richer then you do from your deal).
And that’s cool!
So, do investors read business plans?
Not at first — it’s too overwhelming given they don’t know if you have what they’re interested in,
but they will often review a 2-page summary if your 30-second intro grabs them.
Next, you’ll meet and give your pitch, using your pitch deck.
Investors want to know what you know
So… Yes, they will read your business plan if they are really considering investing,
and they will ask a lot of questions!
Most of them can be anticipated and covered in your business plan.
The better job you do on your business plan, the better deals you’ll make.
It all adds up to building a compelling case…
based upon the market, your strategy, business model, the story you tell,
the information you provide, the people on your team, the realistic promise in your projections,
plus your personal gravitas — YOU / your knowledgeable presence when pitching.
Learn more when you grab your FREE COPY of
“How to Gain the Advantage With Investors“
Your secret for a business plan investors will read
The better job you do on your business plan, the better deals you’ll make!
More than a cheap quickie app or a plan you can write in a day… if you want real capital, isn’t it worth your own investment to give investors something they can believe in and fund?
Show investors what you know. Sell your BIG idea… Be the best deal on their desk.
BizPlanBuilder writes a professional business growth plan and roadmap for your project quickly and efficiently. Its organized system of pre-scripted sample business plan templates in Microsoft® Word, flexible Excel financial models, and PowerPoint presentation example can be downloaded as an app or accessed online where you can collaborate with your team and advisors. It works for both Windows / Macintosh.
This isn’t offered as a loss-leader. We’re betting the farm on it and so can you.
BizPlanBuilder offers the fastest and easiest way of turning your ideas into an investment-grade business plan and a successful business. BizPlanBuilder also supplements the “business model canvas” and “lean start-up” ideas to give investors the details they want so they’ll actually appreciate and enjoy reading your business plan! And dramatically increases the potential for them investing in your company.
BizPlan Builder is the funding leader evolved and vetted over 33+ years through thousands of deals with banks, SBA lenders, angel investors and venture capitalists worldwide.
We now have a brand new dashboard that makes it even easier to write your business plan! Take a look…
