Business Plan Success
When you make any statement or claim in your business plan, don't think
about how it comes out of your mouth; think about how prospective investors¡¯ will hear
it. If you do this, you just might catch yourself thinking this statement sounds
ridiculous, non-compelling, or worse yet... not very convincing.
Your business plan must convey a message that compels prospective
investors to conclude, "This is the business venture and team I want to back."
To judge whether or not the statements you write in your business plan are
truly compelling ¨C before you actually put them in front of potential investors ¨C use
this simple evaluation. Ask yourself if the claim or statement would trigger a prospective
investor to respond by saying "Well, I would expect so!"
To illustrate this, let¡¯s say you¡¯re describing in your business plan
why a customer would favor your business over your competition. After you write the
statement use the "Well, I Would Expect So" evaluation and see if the answers
hold weight. To show you what I mean, consider a start-up aircraft lighting company that
explained why airlines would chose them over traditional equipment providers by saying:
"We offer brighter, more reliable, aftermarket lighting systems." Can¡¯t you
hear a prospective investor exclaim, ¡°Well, I would expect so! You're in the lighting
business! Isn't that what you¡¯re supposed to do?¡± See how weak this statement sounds?
Now suppose they said something like this: ¡°At three- hundred miles per
hour, our lighting systems give pilots 250 more yards of visibility and 4.2 seconds more
reaction time to avoid potential disasters.¡± Do you think this would spark the same type
of response? I don¡¯t think so.
Are you getting the idea about how this evaluation works? Just read any
statement in your business plan to see if it would cause a prospective investor to respond
with ¡°Well, I would expect so!¡±
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Let¡¯s take another company. This one plans to develop a national chain
of personal beautification centers. Here¡¯s their differentiation claim, "We help
people look their best." Well, I would expect so. What else would you expect them to
say? "Hey, we're lousy. We'll make you look worse than before and have you back to
work in no time." You've got to articulate what you do better than that. Force
yourself to break away from the usual platitudes and generalities of lazy communicators
and say what you need to say well.
Use this
important evaluation question whenever you make any claim in your business plan. In
fact, apply this test right now to each section of your business plan. Then honestly
evaluate your answers against the "Well, I would expect so!" evaluation. Go
ahead, pick any section of your business plan and apply this evaluation to each of your
claims. If your statement produces a mind numbing ¡°Well I would expect so¡± response,
then you can bet your prospective investors will have the same reaction to it.
After you complete one section of the plan, move on to the next. Do they
pass the "Well, I would expect so!" evaluation? If not, be more articulate and
change the statement immediately.
It¡¯s sad when businesses with truly differentiated advantages either
don¡¯t take the time or don't know how to articulate their superiority. They settle for
"Well, I would expect so!" verbiage in their business plans and fail to build a
case for their respective businesses that lead investors to conclude that their venture is
the obvious investment choice.
Here¡¯s the take away. Realize that you can make your business plan more
compelling, help potential investors draw better conclusions, and build a better case for
investing in your business venture than just churning out lazy statements with little or
no meaning.
Mike Elia is a Chief Financial Officer and advisor to
venture capitalists and leverage buyout specialists. His manual Business
Plan Secrets Revealed shows how to make your business the most appealing
investment choice.
Free Business Plan Discovery Kit
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