Angels Den Blog

Writing business plans that will WOW potential investors is no mean feat. It requires extreme attention to detail, a complete understanding of your financial data, and a little pizzazz that will make people want to find out more about you and your venture.

Your business plan may well be the difference between gaining the partnerships and funding your business needs to succeed or finding yourself in need of a new job. So you’ll appreciate the importance of every section of the document being as impressive as it can be.

One of the most important considerations when writing business plans is to get across the strengths of those who will be influencing and acting on your strategies. Information on the people you surround yourself with is an essential part of any business plan. It is important that they are portrayed as complimenting your own skills and experience to improve your credibility and the credit worthiness of your business.

All about you
As the MD, founding director, CEO, senior partner (or whatever other title you might give yourself) of your company your background and talents will undoubtedly be what has got you to this point. It is important to express your own accomplishments clearly in your business plan, but investors will also be interested in how you personally will be able to manage the future development of the company, which could change quite radically with the injection of funds they are considering giving your business.

Your management team and advisors
The people you rely on for guidance and to supervise the implementation of your strategies are just as important. One of the talents you’ll need to possess when writing business plans is the ability to promote your people as well as you promote your products, services or business concept. Investors will be looking for justification for their salaries, their input into the enterprise and whether they are going to be a positive influence on the future success of the business.

You should include a CV or at least a paragraph for all members of your management team to highlight their experience and past achievements and to explain why they are essential to the growth of the business. Their skills and talents will go a long way to convincing potential investors that your business is on a firm footing.

Advisers such as solicitors, accountants and marketing experts who may not be on the payroll but are used to tap into skill sets that help to guide your enterprise are also important to include when writing business plans, and it’s vital to show the strength and longevity of these relationships.

Your workforce
If you business has staff it is important to prove that they are the motivated, detail orientated, well-oiled machine that drives your business forward. What skills do they have; how did you recruit them; how are they divided into different teams and tasks and do you monitor their productivity, training and advancement through the business?

It is just as important to mention if any tasks are outsourced and what plans you have for recruitment in the future.

And in conclusion
Writing business plans is all about presenting every justification an investor might need to decide whether to partner with you before they ask for it, and to pre-empt and avoid any reasons for them to question this decision. Who they are dealing with is always going to be top of their agenda to discover, so give them what they’ll need and you’ll find investors to be far more responsive.

Unedited Photo: nathidau