Business Planning

Writing a Business Plan (Part 2 of 4)

Written by Rodney Miller for Gaebler Ventures

Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster. This article discusses the importance of tailoring your presentations of your plan to fit each audience and why that is important.

This is the second part of a four part series on writing a formal business plan.

In our first article on business plans, we went over preparing to write a business plan and gathering information.

Another important aspect of the business plan writing process is tailoring the plan you present to potential investors.

It is important to tailor these plans to the individual tastes and interests of each investor group that you present to.

Why is this important? Well, if you are presenting your information to a board of venture capitalists that have a history of success in business, they probably aren't all that interested in your emphasizing creativity and passion as being at the heart of your business model.

Rather, this type of investor is probably more concerned with the bottom line; projected costs, investment returns and growth of the company.

In contrast, if you have a group of independently wealthy art lovers and you are proposing opening a design studio you may want to focus on your creativity. In this scenario, your business plan should primarily highlight the types of art you will be creating with the occasional profit chart thrown in.

Usually two or three different presentations can be derived from the same set of research, so there is no need to do additional legwork. Just omit certain parts of the presentation depending on who the audience is. Another great method may be to change fonts, letterheads and layouts.

Again, if presenting in an upscale board room the professionally typed and bound booklets coupled with multimedia displays will probably be the obvious choice. If presenting at the local coffee shop, a small easel with some printed pictures of layout and design may be a good focus while you present your facts and convey the personality of your business.

So when customizing your presentation remember the following:

Know your audience
Keep it on their terms
Show them you care about their interests and investment

To sum it up, just approach each situation with an objective mind and see where your heart guides you.

It's your baby and chances are you have been preparing to set this business up for a long time. After presenting and getting feedback from all of the people you have presented to you will have to make the decision to move forward or not. That is what we will discuss in our third article on business planning.

Rodney Miller is an experienced entrepreneur who likes to write about entrepreneurship. He has started numerous businesses, including a tanning salon and a landscaping company. Rodney is currently studying business management at Park University.