If you are just going to use your plan for internal purposes to manage an ongoing business, a much more abbreviated version may suffice. A financial statement for one period is useful, but static. An important question to ask is, How do I raise money and not violate the law ? Legal professionals can guide you in your planning process to ensure that your company will not violate the laws regarding financing. In the event of bankruptcy, bondholders compete with other creditors for repayment.
A poor approach to Strategy
Bankers
are less likely
to provide startup money to turn a concept into a business, and they are even less likely to put up seed money to prove a concept unless you have a track record of launching previous businesses with successful results. The
same goes for
big online retailers like Amazon. This
requires mobilising suppliers,
implying that the buying firm needs to demonstrate and explicate the value of close relationships. For
now, you just
want to give people an idea of how the ownership will be divided.
Taking care of your Governance team
That
means you don
t have to pay out hard-to-get cash in the form of interest and principal installments. (For
simplicity s sake,
the term product is used to refer to both products and services unless otherwise indicated.) This is clearly a very important section of your plan. If
you already have
relationships with potential investors, they may simply want a miniplan. Starting
small doesn't need
to mean telling people you are small, however.
Attention to detail in each of these areas is imperative
Business
deals rely on
existing calculations and measurements, but sometimes they also initiate developments of new ones. A
business transaction works
because each party assigns a higher value to what it receives than what it provides. What
specific results are
we trying to accomplish? The
management style of
hiring quickly and trying to fix them later doesn't work.
What are you selling?
Either
way, you should
make it clear in your business plan which key positions you want to fill and how you plan to go about finding the people to fill those roles. A
large customer is
going to have loads of invoices to process and if you don't get things right on your invoice it will be left to languish at the bottom of the pile. Each
team member must
know what is expected and what systems must be followed before starting work. In
reality, they are
providing those great services and products at a very competitive price.
Don't assume the barrier is too high to allow new entries
An
effective 'loyal customer'
strategy will increase sales, create profitable customers, earn business at your price, and convert repeat customers to loyal ones. You
ll want to
take special care to make it easy for managers to compare sales revenue, profitability, and other key financial measures against planned performance. So
are new inventions.
Then
you ll want
to emphasize such things as stock options and other aspects of compensation, as well as location, work environment, corporate culture, and opportunities for growth and advancement.