Startups.ie

After coming up with an idea, discussing it with friends, family etc. and deciding that you think it is a runner, most people decide “I need to write a business plan!”. Lots of ideas dont actually get much further than this point for 2 reasons 1) It is easier to talk about something than to actually do anything about it and 2) People become intimidated by business plans and get confused and frustrated by templates, how to guides etc.

First things first, business plans are a good thing, they are essential if you are looking for any source of funding, they are useful as a business management tool to give your business some direction and they are amusing to look back on and see how wide off the mark you were.

The first business plan that I wrote was a pretty exhausting experience, my business (an internet cafe) was actually already up and running at the time but I was looking for a grant and the enterprise board required a business plan for this. I spent hours online looking up advice, I even bought a few templates off some American website. By the time I was finished the plan was like war & peace and I was sick to death of it. Whether anyone ever read it I don’t know but I did get the grant. A few years later I was with a successful businessman who was approaching the bank with a business plan for his third shop. I remember being surprised that the plan was no more than 10-15 pages simply presented, he was looking for a substantial sum of money at the time. He received the funding, shop number three in the bag.

The second business plan that I completed was done and dusted in a day or two. I think that I had to struggle through business plan number 1 to get an understanding of the process and to make the rookie mistakes along the way. So why so easy second time around? basically I knew what I was talking about (as obviously did mister 3 shops!). If you are taking ages with a section of the plan it may be because you dont really know what you are talking about, which is perfectly understandable if you have not set the business up yet. You are trying to sound knowledgeable about something that you are guessing about.

The best advice that I can give you is to be clear, concise and stick to the crux of the business. The idea is this, It will make money because of this, Here are the sums to support that. A short well presented business plan will have a much higher chance of being read and if the banks ever decide to lend again you never know you might actually get the money you are looking for.