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.Perfecting the elevator pitch can have a significant impacton the success of a new venture and a poor one can be the kiss of death. Asa final word, any elevator pitch to a potential investor should provide evi-dence of what the investor will get from the investment in terms of rate ofreturn and the timing of the return. Appendix 155THE WRITTEN BUSINESS PLANIn prior chapters of this book we have tried to walk the reader throughissues that all entrepreneurs need to address concerning their venture.Nowis the time to take the answers to the checklist at the end of each chapter thatI asked you to respond to and bring them together into a written plan.Whenwriting a business plan the minimum sections you will need to have are1.Executive Summary2.Business/Concept Description3.Market Analysis and Plan4.Competition/Industry Analysis5.Management Team6.Operations Plan7.Critical Risks (can be integrated throughout other sections)8.Financial Plan and AssumptionsThe above should be approximately twenty-five pages (not including finan-cial spreadsheets or appendixes).It seems short but plans that are hundreds ofpages do not get read, and frankly it is the executive summary that most peo-ple will read.If they have to plod through a tome to find out critical informa-tion, they will not read it.Over the years we have learned from hundreds ofplans that people fatigue if they have to read more than twenty-five to thirtypages, and frankly entrepreneurs need to learn to be focused and clear in whatthey write and present.Our rule for visual presentations is no more than fif-teen slides at maximum.We also believe that you should limit appendixes tofifteen pages.Your whole business plan should not exceed forty pages.Keep thefont size big enough so that people do not go blind reading it (likewise for thespreadsheet numbers).If people want to see more detail on a given area, thenhave a longer version of each subsection, especially marketing and operationalplans.Appendixes should be provided as necessary.The most common andessential appendixes are management resumes, product materials, and taxreturns (if an existing business).When assembling a plan be sure to put it in theproper order (consistent with the order of topics in the executive summary).Be sure to include a cover page (with firm logo and name) and a Table ofContents with page numbers.The final product should be bound, preferablywith a binding that allows the reader to turn and photocopy the pages easily.CAUTIONS AND RED FLAGSEvery presentation, booth, and written plan creates red flags to viewers andreaders.Some are words or phrases the entrepreneur uses to describe the firm. 156 AppendixAmong the more obvious fluff phrases are world class, state-of-the-art, everyone wants our product/service, and a new and exciting opportunity. The real issue is to show that the venture is world class and state-of-the-art.This means the entrepreneur needs to show substance, not just acclaim theseas virtues.Readers see red when they read statements like we believe and word of mouth marketing instead of giving specific data to understand howthese will work.For those with college education we blanch when seeingexcessive technology or industry jargon or excessive use of MBA jargon likeSWOT, Porter s Five Forces, and the like.Every investor comments on hatingto see straight line projections for growth. Investors worry if they see theCEO is not taking salary or the infamous according to our conservative cashflow projections. The reality is that most cash-flow projects are grossly opti-mistic.Other red flags include undefined acronyms (such as FIT, EBTDA,DNA, and RNA) in excess.The same acronyms have different meanings indifferent disciplines [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Perfecting the elevator pitch can have a significant impacton the success of a new venture and a poor one can be the kiss of death. Asa final word, any elevator pitch to a potential investor should provide evi-dence of what the investor will get from the investment in terms of rate ofreturn and the timing of the return. Appendix 155THE WRITTEN BUSINESS PLANIn prior chapters of this book we have tried to walk the reader throughissues that all entrepreneurs need to address concerning their venture.Nowis the time to take the answers to the checklist at the end of each chapter thatI asked you to respond to and bring them together into a written plan.Whenwriting a business plan the minimum sections you will need to have are1.Executive Summary2.Business/Concept Description3.Market Analysis and Plan4.Competition/Industry Analysis5.Management Team6.Operations Plan7.Critical Risks (can be integrated throughout other sections)8.Financial Plan and AssumptionsThe above should be approximately twenty-five pages (not including finan-cial spreadsheets or appendixes).It seems short but plans that are hundreds ofpages do not get read, and frankly it is the executive summary that most peo-ple will read.If they have to plod through a tome to find out critical informa-tion, they will not read it.Over the years we have learned from hundreds ofplans that people fatigue if they have to read more than twenty-five to thirtypages, and frankly entrepreneurs need to learn to be focused and clear in whatthey write and present.Our rule for visual presentations is no more than fif-teen slides at maximum.We also believe that you should limit appendixes tofifteen pages.Your whole business plan should not exceed forty pages.Keep thefont size big enough so that people do not go blind reading it (likewise for thespreadsheet numbers).If people want to see more detail on a given area, thenhave a longer version of each subsection, especially marketing and operationalplans.Appendixes should be provided as necessary.The most common andessential appendixes are management resumes, product materials, and taxreturns (if an existing business).When assembling a plan be sure to put it in theproper order (consistent with the order of topics in the executive summary).Be sure to include a cover page (with firm logo and name) and a Table ofContents with page numbers.The final product should be bound, preferablywith a binding that allows the reader to turn and photocopy the pages easily.CAUTIONS AND RED FLAGSEvery presentation, booth, and written plan creates red flags to viewers andreaders.Some are words or phrases the entrepreneur uses to describe the firm. 156 AppendixAmong the more obvious fluff phrases are world class, state-of-the-art, everyone wants our product/service, and a new and exciting opportunity. The real issue is to show that the venture is world class and state-of-the-art.This means the entrepreneur needs to show substance, not just acclaim theseas virtues.Readers see red when they read statements like we believe and word of mouth marketing instead of giving specific data to understand howthese will work.For those with college education we blanch when seeingexcessive technology or industry jargon or excessive use of MBA jargon likeSWOT, Porter s Five Forces, and the like.Every investor comments on hatingto see straight line projections for growth. Investors worry if they see theCEO is not taking salary or the infamous according to our conservative cashflow projections. The reality is that most cash-flow projects are grossly opti-mistic.Other red flags include undefined acronyms (such as FIT, EBTDA,DNA, and RNA) in excess.The same acronyms have different meanings indifferent disciplines [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]