When you're authoring a business plan, it's important to recognize that there's no single right format. There's no one way to do it. Although business plans and investor presentations may tend to cover the same topics, there's not a universally applied format that's right for every team or every investor. Start with understanding who your audience is for your plan. Now, I believe that you ultimately as the team as a core audience, but to the extent you're going to be submitting that plan, for competitions, for investors, for lenders, for accelerators, or others, understand what their format is. And recognize, much like a resume, you might change it a little bit, change the order, change the structure, to the audience that you're going to be submitting their plan to. The format that I like is one from Sequoia Capital, one of the leading VC firms here in the states, and their suggested format is to start with a sentence. So you may have heard of an elevator pitch that might be a one, two, or three minute pitch of your venture and that's a good thing to practice and to have. But if you can just describe your company in one sentence, that's something that should resonate and that should be memorable and so that's what they start with. From there they advise you to introduce the problem. Describe the pain, or the gain that you're going to deliver. Outline how the customer, addresses that issue today. And include some evidence. Don't let it just be your opinion or your observation. One of the central reasons for doing that is most investors are not terribly concerned about how you're going to solve a problem if they don't believe there's a problem. So you want to make the case for that problem and it being a meaningful problem at the beginning of your plan. From there you can begin to address your solution. Once we understand the problem. We can talk about how we're going to solve it. And we can talk about why it needs to be solved and why it needs to be solved now. We also want to talk about how many people are experiencing that problem, how many people in terms of numbers and in terms of dollars. Are concerned about solving that problem, now and in the future. We want to talk about competitors, even near competitors. Generally, it's false to say that there are no competitors. No, there are competitors to electric cars, and it's not only the other electric cars. It's the non-electric cars. And it's not only the non electric cars, it's bikes, and scooters, and public transportation. And planes and trains. There are lots of ways to have transit. So in that way you want to think broadly about your competitors, and where you fit now and in the future. And what the relative advantages are that you have to them. You want to talk about the product and service that you're delivering in more detail. So you've introduced the solution but now we're getting into the features, we're getting into the specifications. We're getting into the intellectual property and any patents or trademarks that you have in mind as well. The business model, very important to illustrate how you're going to generate revenues. How are you going to make any money doing what you're doing? Talking about the sales model, talking about the distribution model, talking about partners and suppliers so all of the elements of the business model canvas would be part of the business plan. The team, the founders, the management. Directors or advisors that you're engaging with as well are important to illustrate. And in that way you want to share who they are, what they've done, what they're going to be doing with you, and really help your reader get to know them. The financials. Income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet are the big three statements that are typically shared in business plans. They give a landscape of how does the money come in and out of the organization? From a cash flow, what's your money in the bank? On a monthly basis where you're not going to run out of money. And also the balance sheet of how do the assets and liabilities in the company change over time. And some closing. So you don't just want to have a balance sheet and that's the last page. I'd encourage you both in your plan and in any presentation that you have a bit of an executive summary on the back end as well that gives the reader a reminder of the opportunity, of how you're going to do it, and give them some measure of confidence that you have a solid plan and that you're ready and willing to execute. So in summary, look at the formats that are out there. I encourage you to think about the format that I've shared, but that's not the only one that's available. It's important to recognize the audience and to give them the format that they're expecting, particularly if it's a competition, an investor, or a lender. Also be clear, specific, and convincing. So in that way beware of confusing mistakes. Don't make it overly long. Some of the best plans I've seen are around ten pages. Investors typically have a short attention span. They're likely not going to read a 20, or 30, or 40 page plan. Also, look for making it clear on what your plan is for profitability. Demonstrate that you have a good understanding of the market and your competitors. Don't just have a competitor section, that's a several logos, or that's the name of a few competitors. Tell us more. When did they get started? What do they do? Are they successful? What are the features, the price points, the benefits, the gaps? So let us understand that you understand the business that you're trying to start. Also be wary of having a weak team. Now many entrepreneurs might be new to what they're doing, and you may not have a mince of experience and that's okay. But supplement that with other people you're going to add to your team. As well as advisors that you may affiliate with, that may bring that experience, and that may buttress the team as well.
