Is a brand new business plan in store for you and your company? There's no harm in this – there are lots of reasons to scrap your old plan. If your business has evolved beyond its initial scope, you can probably repurpose an older version of your plan or expand the initial thinking into some new lines of research. But if your plan feels so dated that the market research you have says nothing anymore, or your core service is something that has long ago gone the way of the dinosaur, then yes – you should probably start over. But take this as a good challenge. Some industries change at breakneck pace; other concepts are hot one minute, and saturated the next. You'll benefit hugely from rethinking things from scratch. Remember to cover:
• How has the industry you're in fared over the past couple years?
• What is unique about your concept?
• Who will buy your product or service (commonalities)?
• What are the big competitive comparables here?
• If you need more funding, what's the target and how will you spend it?
The brand new business plan should outline the intended use of funds clearly, particularly if this is a second round or you already have people vested in the company who need to see how the additional capital will be applied. Remaking the full model is also imperative, even if you keep the same framework as before (from software or a custom build) – show a revenue projection and proposed P&L scenario for five years from the point you get the money. Don't forget to brush up your bio, re-examine the marketing strategies you used to use, and give the resulting document a thorough once-over. Want to outsource the headache? The business planning experts at MasterPlans.com can write the entire document for you. Call today at 877-453-2011.
