T
his chapter makes a gentle start on developing your business plan. The main focus
is on helping you develop a standard format for your document. This takes care of
many mechanical aspects of the plan. It helps achieve consistency when several people
are making contributions. And it also provides you with a useful framework for any other
documents that you produce.
Also, I want to help you produce a presentation that has the look and feel of success. As
discussed in Chapter 12, a major problem is persuading recipients to actually read business
plans. You want to do everything that you can to draw in your readers – to encourage them
to pick up your plan, thumb through the pages, and stop to read something.
A concise communication
A business plan should be inviting to read and easy to understand. You will put a great deal
of work into the business planning process and you want to communicate your ideas as con-
cisely and effectively as possible. This might sound obvious, but it is surprising how many
plans are poorly presented and do not maintain interest. There are three things to consider:
the presentation of the document;
the information that it contains;
tricks for getting the required message across.
This chapter reviews the presentation. The remainder of the book considers the informa-
tion itself. Along the way, the tricks for getting your message across are discussed.
There are two elements to presentation: page layout and the physical look and feel of
the document. Corporate policy might specify either or both. If so, you are perhaps lucky
that this preliminary work is in place. Even if it has been done, you should still consider
the best way to operate within the framework. You can comply with it yet still produce
rubbish or excellence.
If you do not have existing guidelines then you can adapt the ideas here to meet your
own needs. Indeed, you might want to use this exercise to establish a standard format for
all of your substantive written reports.
Computer software
There are many computer applications designed to help you write a business plan.
Essentially they provide you with a list of contents into which you type your own details.
They are perhaps dangerous because they take away the thought process and lead you
into a framework which may not be appropriate for your unique needs. You are holding
a book that gives the same information, but which allows you to use it to suit your per-
sonality. Business planning software might help remove some of the terror or tedium of
preparing the financials but, again, you have that same assistance with this book.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE 25
26 CHAPTER 2 A WINNING PRESENTATION
On the other hand, a computer word processing application such as MS Word or
OpenOffice Writer will reduce the amount of work that you have to do and enhance the
professionalism of your output. These are usually more than adequate. Either way, you
can set up a standard framework or template that can be used for every report you have
to write. You can make simple corrections and revisions and reprint a page easily, and you
can track the many versions through which most business plans go.
In addition, a spreadsheet application such as MS Excel or OpenOffice Calc is essen-
tial. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine preparing a business plan without one. They take all
the hard work out of assembling numbers and performing calculations. If you set it up
correctly, it will allow you to make small changes and see how they ripple through your
projections. And it will serve you for years, as the numbers change but the calculations
and relationships stay the same.
A sample business plan, the spreadsheets from this book and other additional material
may be found at: www.definitivebusinessplan.com
The fast track to establishing a basic document
Document control
Establish a procedure for numbering documents and their revisions.
Keep a record of who receives which version.
Make sure that contributors and recipients have signed confidentiality
agreements.
Presentation
Select paper and binding that are both practical and good quality.
Consider using tabbed dividers to identify key sections of the plan.
Page set-up
Consider formatting the page so that you can print on either A4 or US letter
paper.
Make the left margin wide, so the text itself is no more than 5 inches/
125 mm across.
Set up headers and footers – perhaps similar to those in Figure 2.3 (later).
Choose a font for about three levels of headings – (see Fonts).
Create an outline document
Type the first few pages, based on the sample in Figures 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4.
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