Guy Kawasaki is a
well-known entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author, and was the
chief technology evangelist for Apple for many years. He has gone on to become
a widely successful blogger, because of his practical tips on how to create
business plans, start new businesses, and “enchant” customers.
In Guy’s blog article from January 2012, called “How to Create An Enchanting Business Plan,”
he goes over six elements that he believes are crucial for any successful
business plan. Below is a summary of
these elements.
- Write to solidify the “who, what, where, when, and how” of the business, and not to attract investors.
- Have only one person write the business plan, ideally the CEO.
- It should match the PowerPoint pitch, addressing the same issues (Executive Summary, Problems/Opportunity, Competitive Advantages, Sales/Marketing, Competitive Analysis, Business Model Structure, Financial Forecasting, Team Structure, and Projected Milestones.
- Spend 80% of your time writing the Executive Summary and 20% on the rest of the plan, as this part is more crucial than any other.
- Keep the flash out of it, and write a tight, clean, shorter plan that will get read more easily.
- Write in a very deliberate, assumptive manner.
Resources:
Peter Cohan is
also a venture capitalist, strategy consultant, best-selling author, and
startup investor. He has invested in six startups, three of which were sold for
a total of $2 billion. All of his books are about investing and how startups
can gain funding.
In Peter’s Young Entrepreneur article from August 2012,
called “6 Key Elements of a Good Business
Plan,” he also narrows down six crucial steps. We will see how the two
experts match up, or disagree. Below is
a summary of Peter’s six elements.
- Focus on the Executive Summary. If you only have two minutes in an elevator or escalator, it is the elements from the Executive Summary that the investor is looking for.
- Have a clear Business/Product Description, especially the competitive advantages.
- Know exactly who the target market is, and provide the research to back it up.
- Create a clear section about Market Goals, and how the company will grab the market share from the competition.
- Create strong biographies of the Management Team that show how each person is a winner and dedicated to the business.
- Have a realistic financial forecast, based upon sound research.
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