Series: Business plans – Part II: How to design a business plan
November 18, 2020
Series: Tech startup success – Part I: How to project potential revenue and growth
December 20, 2020Series: Business plans – Part III: Pros and cons of creating a business plan
Welcome to our latest entrepreneurial series. This one covers business plans, with tips and advice on the best way to get your company moving with a solid outline in front of you. In this instalment, we’re going to look at the pros and cons of creating business plans. If you’ve missed any of the past ones, you can catch up here on our blog.
Okay, let’s dive in by looking first at the pros:
- Understand viability: Until you put it all down on paper, it’s difficult to take that all-important step back and assess just how realistic (and potentially profitable) your business idea is.
- Attract funding: Having a strong business plan that emphasises not just your product/service but the talent within your team is a vital component when attracting investors.
- Create strategy: A solid plan will help you keep on the right track when the day-to-day challenges of running a business start to push you off course.
- Boost recruitment: A great business plan means you can present your company to future partners and employees in the best possible light.
Now let’s take a look at the cons of writing a business plan:
- Too static: If you get too stuck on your plan, you may lose agility and the ability to adapt to constantly-changing conditions. So ensure your plan is flexible and one you can adapt.
- Single-minded: The value of a business plan is determined by the broad range of thinking that goes into it. So make sure you get a lot of different input when creating it.
- Looking backwards: It’s easy to look back at the business plan and see what you’re not achieving. This can waste time and pull your focus away from the future.
- False guarantees: A plan can give a sense of certainty that is not really there. The plan is just a forecast, and things can change.
This wraps up our third business plan series. Next time, in our final instalment, we’ll look at what we can learn from the legendary business plans of well-known companies.
