You might wonder what simple business plan formats look like. Perhaps the standard 30-page investment pitch isn't what you need, so something more concise will fit the bill? You have several options. First off, to clarify, traditional business plans will clock in around 25-30 pages. They include an executive summary, a description of your product or service, a market analysis, a section on your marketing ideas, an overview of your management team and staffing needs, and a financial forecast – 3 years for banks, or 5 years for investors – showing your anticipated sales weighed against corresponding expenses. It may sound simple, but it's usually a dense 25-30 pages. A simple business plan format, though, will strip this information down to the bare bones. The nitty-gritty of what a bank or investor is looking for can usually be achieved with an extended executive summary. These documents, sometimes called ExecSums for short, are in essence the most important parts of each section of the business plan consolidated into a single document. (They're also called “one-pagers†on occasion, though this is sometimes a misnomer as they can be 3-5 pages.)
What should an executive summary document contain, if that's what a simple business plan format should yield? Think of it this way: what does a banker or investor NEED to know? Which parts of the plan can they not understand your venture without? The document should give a concise description of your company or concept. Make it clear what you're selling. For the market section, don't worry about industry trends or abstract metrics – get right to the point. How big is your target market? Who will you compete against most directly? For marketing, just state the top few methods you'll pursue. You don't need details here. For the money part, explain three things: how much you need, what use you'll put it to, and what sales levels you hope to achieve with it. This should be sufficient for an extended executive summary. If you want help crafting these documents, this is the sort of quick special project that MasterPlans.com works on every day. We've had hundreds of special projects turn into successful presentation pieces for lending agents and institutional investors. Call 877-453-2011 to talk to a business plan writer about your company and the simple business plan format that you have in mind.
