Business Plan Services
Business plans are used to raise equity capital, raise debt capital, win grants, annual planning and budgeting, to sharpen operational focus, and to collaborate with partners or employees. For each end goal the business plan development process is slightly different and they are written in a different way.
They all include several key elements:
- Executive summary
- Description of the product
- Market research
- Management team
- Operation plan
- Marketing and sales strategy
- Financial model
When most people write their first business plan it reads like a report about the company, with the executive summary introducing the company. However, the executive summary should summarize the entire rest of the plan. The executive summary should be able to stand alone as a high level overview of all the key components of the business. You may circulate the executive summary independent of the business plan. It is often best to write the body of the business plan first and then write the executive summary.
Business Plans for Raising Capital
Most business plans are written to raise money so let us describe how a business plan written to raise capital is read. Investors receive dozens of business plans each week. They simply do not have time to do a detailed review of each one. Typically an investor will skim the Executive Summary of your business plan (sometimes just the first paragraph and bios of the founders) review the financials and, if interested, will want to meet you. If all goes well, the investor may dig into the guts of the business plan.
In light of how a plan is read, you have one paragraph to catch the investors’ interest. If the investor is interested, you have the rest of the plan to sell the idea. You must clearly describe what your business does without jargon. You also must explain why your company is the best investment and why your team is the best team.
Cost and Timeline
An investor-ready business plan written by an experienced fund raiser will cost between $4,000 to $20,000+ with average being $6,000 to $10,000. A good plan will take 80 to 100 hours of active work and typically takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete from start to finish. The price can range significantly based on amount of market research required, complexity of the financials, novelty of the business model, how much material you have already written or compiled, and many others. Since a feasibility study includes exhaustive market research, and market research is a significant part of writing a business plan, commissioning both together results in a significant discount versus buying them separately.
We have written dozens of business plans and have a very good idea what investors are looking for. And if we don’t, we can call them and ask without revealing who you are or your strategy. We talk to investors nearly every day.