Need a solid business plan? Wondering what makes a business plan solid? There's no simple answer, but most people believe that a business plan is “solid†if it makes an airtight argument for the market potential of a concept, and then backs that up by presenting an integrated financial model that uses market-driven assumptions and shows a profitable venture. In other words, if you say you can sell Product X to 100 people for $100k each and your cost is only $50k per unit, you're saying you can turn a profit of $5 million. If Product X seems like it would sell and it's believable that 100 people might buy it, you have a decent business plan. But if you have quantifiable proof that you can make $50k on each unit and there's a market research report that backs up the claim that there are 100 highly-interested and financially-able buyers, your plan becomes infinitely more convincing. The less risk, the more appealing any reader will find your concept. The better the data, the more comprehensive your financial model, and the better integrated those two components are, then the more solid your final plan will be.
Of course this degree of integration isn't always possible. Oftentimes there's no way to know the market for Product X with a high degree of specificity. If your product is new, or your service suite has never been available before, only primary research (interviews, canvassing, etc.) will give you an idea of its success, and these measures are always fallible. If you need to know how many of a certain kind of device exist in order to know how successful your widget could be, but the only company that makes the device in question doesn't report the figure publicly, you have to use intelligent guesswork. Does this mean you can't have a solid business plan? No, it just means that you need to shift your expectations. Investors in particular will understand that “best available†data is something all that can be obtained, and if they believe in your product or your service concept, they will perform their own due diligence if they have any worry that your business plan research/model was insufficient. This happens all the time. If you need more information or want to know whether the plan you're working on is solid, call MasterPlans at 877-453-2011. A consultant can review your plan and put you on the path to success like the other 8,000 MasterPlans.com has helped to date.
