Then as life rolls on, there is never time to update it to reflect your evolving situation. When your accountant nags you, you just feel bad. And your bank manager makes a new business plan a condition for any money discussions so you rush into guessing again.

As I coach my clients, I encourage them to create a simple, effective Business Plan that will earn them money as their business grows and their market changes.

Be succinct and clear

I encourage the owner to write their Business Plan in less than two sides of A4. In my experience with small businesses, briefer is better. The four sections should each have a couple of paragraphs to say:

* Why are we in business? – your purpose and intentions in running the business
* What do we sell? – your products, services and the combinations that customers want to buy
* Who do we sell to? – your clients’ demographics, locations, spending habits and interests
* How do we plan to run the business? – staff, structure, targets, management and a simple cashflow table (in an appendix) predicting the income and expenses for the next 12 months

Stay flexible and customer-centred

You need to consider the Scale, Scope and Structure of your business and align them with your long term Mission. Then you can include this detail in the right paragraphs of your Business Plan.

Your mission is simply “Why are you running the business?” State who your customers are, the needs you satisfy with products and services and your unique approach to your market. A strap line of 15 words is ideal.

Your scale describes your team – whether you employ them, associate with them or do sub-contracting. You might also show how the effort will flex as your sales levels change.

Your scope outlines the customers you want to work for and the key products and services you expect to sell to them. Where your market has a number of niches, each could be described individually.

Your structure defines how you sell to clients, the experience and skills needed for purchasing, production and delivery and how you manage your cash flow.

Being small, you are unlikely to have departments but you will have individuals following processes within a team. On the one hand, organising your firm will always be an exercise in frustration because the supply of your products and services rarely equals the customers’ demands. On the other hand, small companies thrive by picking off market opportunities to which their bigger competitors cannot respond quickly:

* Time and market events overtake even the best organisation – so design flexibility into your business ready for when you need it.
* Unintended consequences grow with time – so keep watching for the unexpected. Set up triggers to flag possible issues, agree who monitors each flag and make the most interested person responsible for fixes.
* Make-buy decisions always trade-off costs against co-ordination – so monitor how the actions of your suppliers and associates effect your ‘internal’ costs of quality control, communication and re-work. Be prepared with a ‘plan B’ and re-take these make-buy decisions at least once a year to keep people on their toes.
* Understand the balance points in your business. But only re-organise once in three years – even small changes take several months to work through a business.

Look for results

Before you finalise the draft of your business plan, you need to answer four questions honestly:

* Do you tell a clear story in simple business terms?
* Do you show where extra investment (of money or effort) will lead to increased returns?
* Do you show where unique value is added for your customers?
* Do you describe how you expect to maintain your competitive edge even as your market changes?

Finally It is my experience that an effective plan is marked with coffee stains and pencilled comments that show the business owner has reviewed it month and re-written it yearly. As you keep your business plan focused on the needs of your clients, you will thrive.

What kind of entries go into my rubbish bin?

It’s always intuitive to tell people what cannot work in such competitions. The same advice can be applied to the kinds of the companies which I am interested as an angel investor. I have heard pitches and will not bother to reply to pitches with “me-too” ideas. Here are the features in those entries which often end up in my trash can:
# Something which you can do it yourself without going into this competition:
# If you write an executive summary about starting an internet cafe, a restaurant, a consultancy, a chicken rice stall or etc, it is 100% without fail that your entry will not make it to the next stage. If you want to start a service startup using existing business models, forget it too. If you feel angry and disappointed with such decisions and your philosophy is that of entrepreneurship can mean the starting of small businesses, my reason to your gripe will be, “This is not the kind of entry that the business plan competition is looking out for. Since you do not understand what the market wants, why are you taking part in this competition?” In short, these businesses can be started by yourself, and I will strongly encourage that you do it yourself. I know that my co-founder, Weichang often start such businesses without taking part in such competitions. If he can do it while he was sick (with cancer at one point of time), so can those people who are healthy and wants to start their own enterprises.Systems don’t work:
# This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based on three existing patents into something that can be done by anyone, it is also out. It’s very simple to give an example on this kind of business plan. Remember the dot com bubble, when people talked about integrating web services to create online stores to sell bicycles. If that is not enough, this is what an inventor told me, “I want to create a new music player made out of a component from this company and that company.” My immediate response to him, “Do you realize that you have just infringed twenty patents from twenty MNCs?”If your idea is still science fiction…
If you want to build a transporter (in Star Trek) or a pair of shoes that can allow you to fly, that’s also out. We want something that is innovated concurrently as our markets are moving. The business plan competition or an investment does not fund ideas, but something concrete of a product which can become a hit. The only places where such pipe dreams get funded are in your imagination.

The REAL Thing we are looking for

There are three important traits we want to see in a good executive summary. Trust me, I do google search on some good ideas to see whether it is a “me-too” type. So, if you think that the judges just read and do no due diligence, you are going to get a cultural shock. I call this three important traits: Innovative, Sustainable and Scalable:
# Innovative:
# I have always told some students of mine to be involved in technology rather than be business people. Yes, the process is hard for a technologist but making an invention that transforms an idea to a commercializable product is something that offers a boost to anyone who takes part in this type of business plan competition. Most student competitors leverage on an inventor’s work to build their business plan. We seek innovation in the business plan competition and hence you can see that the winners are pro-technology. However, if you can innovate by changing the market landscape, you may get a chance. For example, there was an entry years back in the competition which was about selling “ba-gua” (barbequed pork) to US with an innovative marketing model. In the words of the judges, it’s only once in a blue moon that such entries get through. If you have problems in finding innovations, try the A-STAR Exploit website or INTRO website for technologies and create a value proposition. After all, entrepreneurship is also about gathering ideas and teams and creating a successful team.Sustainable:
# Sustainability is important for a business. How does your business make money and how do you secure your customers? A lot of technologists seem to imagine their own markets. You need to show in your summary that your product is in market demand or how you can make the customers buy your product. Imagination is power only in your own mind, but market reality is something that you have to grasp.Scalable:
Can your product create more products? Can your business grow into a big chain? Can your company develop into a medium enterprise and subsequently into a region company, finally into a multi-national company? It is a criteria which the judges look. After all, some of our judges are successful investors who have taken companies to IPO. So, they have a sense in what kind of businesses are scalable and which ones are not.
So, now that you understand what the judges want. How do you write one? I will talk about that in the next article.

Use the sample plan to create a plan that reflects your vision for the future. Incorporate your personal information and research findings into your plan, adding information in each category to express your business plan goals and objectives. The following categories should be outlined in detail and information specific to your venture should be added:

Step 1: Your Trucking Business Plan

List your major competitors with names and addresses. Region where you plan to operate? Which products and what companies will compete with your business.

Competition: Will they compete with you across the board, or just for certain products. Will you have important indirect competitors? How will your company, products and services compare with the competition? What distinguishes your business from the competition? This detailed analysis of your competition will give you a clear picture how your trucking plan will fit into the marketplace and allow you to make adjustments accordingly.

Financial Projections: Management Mistakes: Several common mistakes will limit the effectiveness of the management team section of your business plan, leading to rejection by lenders or investors. Your financial projections will be highly scrutinized by the individuals who read your trucking business plan; therefore, it is important that you present accurate and truthful information and that your financial forecast is realistic. We have included sample financial projects based on years of experience along with a sample spreadsheet, which will assist you to create your own realistic financial projections based on your personal situation.

We recommend you use a spreadsheet to create your own financial projections. Financial statements and projections should follow generally accepted accounting standards and must include properly prepared balance sheets. If you feel that this task is beyond your expertise, you may seek the assistance of a good accountant who is willing to prepare financial projections for a reasonable fee, based on the trucking plan information you provide.

Demonstrate your professionalism by avoiding the following pitfalls:

Placing unqualified friends or family members in key management positions

Presenting a one-man-team management philosophy

Assuming that previous success in another field will guarantee success for your trucking business plan

Failing to obtain a knowledgeable board of advisers

Hiring top managers without sharing ownership

Your business plan to establish your start-up trucking company is almost complete. You did the research and you followed the instructions to create your personalized trucking plan. You proofread and reviewed it and you are proud of your accomplishment; however, your work is not yet complete. Set the plan aside for a few days and then review it again critically from the viewpoint of a banker or investor. Ask yourself if the information presented makes sense business-wise, is the information presented in a professional language, and does your plan make a good impression. If you are not completely satisfied with the results, then implement new ideas for a trucking business plan, and make the appropriate changes.

Exposure to Mentor and Counselor

Once you participate in business contest you get exposure to all well known entrepreneurs. You get a chance to interact and communicate with them. Also you present your business strategy and plans to them. You get valuable feedback and advice to go about it.

Support from Corporate Entrepreneurs

Sometimes you get an invitation to attend the corporate seminars and business meetings where you have opportunity to provide your suggestion and ideas. There are times where you are offered to go through their successful business case study.

You learn real time execution of business, management and its administration. You can trend out the market analysis in your plan and even predict the necessary financial statistics.

Validate, verify and review business plan

There are moments when your business plan gets selected by panel. At that time your business plan will be forwarded to expert who will blog reviews and validate its success ratio. They will compare your business plan with exiting market demand supply dimension. Based upon their validation you will be called for explanation and presentation. In turn you can bid your business blueprint if required.

Earn while you learn

If you win the business competition then you are eligible to earn cash prize. This how you get an opportunity to execute you business plan as pilot project. This is how you earn while you learn.

You can make use of business software that is available online. This software is very useful in developing strong links in your business. You can find some reputed websites online and get the hold on some of the most reliable business software website.

Investing in one of the best business software is one of the primary and most vital steps in establishing a successful online company. Many wannabe entrepreneurs are continually on the watch out for a high-quality product which walks them throughout the tasks of creating solid plans for their latest venture.

“When all think alike, then no one is thinking.”

“To keep on doing the same thing while expecting different results, is the definition of insanity.”

We have all heard these quotes before. But do we ever take the time out to apply them to our own lives?

The underlying lesson behind all of these sayings is innovation is the key to success. This is true in science, in art, in sports and yes even in business financing. Particularly in this economy, it is important to step away from tradition when searching for ways to secure the funds needed to start grow and maintain a business. This may mean doing things you never considered before.

Below are two alternative ways to fund your small business when usual methods of business financing fail.

Business Cash Advance

The business cash advance takes the common and traditional practice of using credit cards to make purchases and puts an innovative twist on it. Small business owners who process at least $5,000 in monthly credit card sales can sell their future credit card sales to a business cash advance lender and use their advances to pay for business expenses or to expand their businesses. The amount that they can receive is based on the average of the last four months of the business’s credit card sales (12 months if the business is seasonal).

This is a very convenient method of business financing for small business owners who have owned their businesses for at least six months. Especially since typically, there are no restrictions on how a business cash advance can be used.

Competitions

There are a variety of competitions and contests that give small business owners the chance to compete for business funds. One in particular is the annual Rice Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, in Houston Texas. “The Rice Business Plan Competition is a three-day event intended to simulate the real-world process of entrepreneurs soliciting start-up funds from early stage investors and venture capital firms,” as stated on the University’s website. “$800,000 will be awarded at the 2009 Competition. The Grand Prize package is worth over $350,000.”

Though this competition is limited to students of “top MBA programs,” there are many other contests that small business owners who are not currently enrolled in MBA programs can compete in. You can find them by simply searching online.

Some entrepreneurs get carried away in their zeal to demonstrate barriers to entry that set their company apart from others. A “Barrier to Entry” is proprietary information or knowledge, or a set management team experience no one else can claim. Factors that make your company stand out are attractive, but the reality is that no business has no competition.

The Industry Analysis section of your Business Plan must show the size of the industry in which you compete. The Market Analysis will show the sub-set of that industry on which you will focus. The Competitive Analysis must show your competitors strengths-and how you will overcome them.

You can have your cake and eat it too, in other words. You must show there is enough competition to convince investors that the market is large enough to cash in big- time, but that your strategy is focused and unique enough to navigate an exclusive path through the waters of that competition.

Use First-Mover Advantage As Your Chief Exit Strategy

Companies who’s sole exit strategy, or investor payout point, is to flood the market with a new product or service, and then sell the company in a year, will not find worthy investors. Things move too quickly in the information age. Investors want a company that can grow quickly but steadily in phases. They look for Business Plans that show a sober, realistic lookout, and fiscally responsible exit strategies.

Target Just One Large Company To Eventually Buy Your Smaller Company

For example, if your company is developing new software, do not place all your eggs in the Google and Microsoft basket. If the exit strategy of your Business Plan depends on a larger company buying yours, provide parallel case studies. Show sufficient evidence that the conditions are the same for your company as they were for the successful sale of the case study companies.

Furthermore, show why a larger company would not want or be able to develop the same product in-house.

Let us be absolutely clear:

Don’t Claim a lack of competition

Don’t Use first-move advantage as your chief exit strategy.

Don’t Target just one large company to eventually buy your smaller company.

Avoid those Business Plan mistakes and your path to funding will be much clearer. Make sure to set your Business Plan aside once completed for a few days and review it again with fresh eyes.

They call it the TWITCH (Twitter Pitch) contest. And this brings me to the topic for this article, “How long should your business plan be?” Here are some of the advice you may find on the Net:

* It can vary from a 10 to a 100-page document;
* It should be short enough to not bore your reader;
* The shorter, the better;
* Shouldn’t take up more than 25 pages;
* Limit the plan length to 15 pages;
* 15 to 25 pages is the optimum length;
* Basic plans are under ten pages;
* Comprehensive plans are often 10-25 pages long;
* Length should be 20 to 30 pages max;
* Can be any length.

The general feeling is that shorter is better. A few factors should dictate the ideal length of your business plan.

The nature of your business – The simpler the shorter, the more complex or “new” the longer.

Purpose of the plan – To raise millions may have to explain a lot more.

We personally believe that the shorter the better as long as it achieves its objective. One expert said that “A business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the investor, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy.”

The “empathy” test, once the business plan has been done, is to put yourself in the shoes of the audience and to ask yourself if you would have done what you want them to do based on what you see and read.

If the plan does not pass your “empathy” test there may be several reasons for that and one of them may be incomplete information. This will require that you add more pages.

If one looks at the advertising industry the greatest challenge is to sell a product on the TV in a 30 seconds commercial. Can you sell your plan in 30 seconds? We therefore go for the “Short is good, long is bad.” approach. When we look at the various areas that should be covered in more detail we will endeavour to indicate how long each section should ideally be.

In the next article we’ll have a look at the concept of the “elevator speech” and how that can become a powerful tool in business planning.

4 CRITICAL STEPS TO A COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Step 1 | Categorize your competition
Step 2 | Investigate your strengths & weaknesses
Step 3 | Explore and examine your opportunities and threats
Step 4 | Assess your position amongst competitors

The outcome of your company’s comp. analysis institutes the competence required to do well in your business, while defining your viable advantage. To gain from your comp. analysis and market research, capture scores of weaknesses about your competitors and transform them into impending strengths for your company. Slim your inventory of competitors to just the matter that will offer your company the aggressive edge. Items to consider when populating your Competitor catalog:

* Fits a unambiguous market
* Intended to resolve a hitch in your company or take care of a explicit need
* More importantly, ROI-effective, rational and practical

Upon doing a comprehensive job in carrying out your competitive analysis, your company will produce a lot of data, which while vital to investors can become rather cumbersome for you. A competitive matrix presents hordes of information in an actionable and rich format.

AXIS 1 | list the significant assessment criterion characteristically used by potential clients to weigh against the rival offerings.

AXIS 2 | list main competitors. Rank the competitors aligned with the criterion.

*Be sure to make the matrix the essential section to your competitive analysis, while providing relevant content in paragraph form.

Lastly, subsequent to completion of the competitive analysis describe how your company speaks to a specific market.

Like any other types of businesses around, the first and primary step in opening a company is the development of a good business plan. It is vital for companies to have one because it serves as their guide and benchmark for daily operations. Remember that business plans can either make or break a company, thus shareholders should take time to develop and prepare their business plans efficiently.

Factors to consider when developing your business plan:

* Competition — Once you already have formulated and formed your business plan, you should also consider the market competition. You should take time to conduct feasibility studies or surveys to determine what are the different feasible market categories. By doing this, you can easily identify which products and services are commonly found in the market and which ones are seldom served. This will help you create your own brand and determine which suitable merchandises and services to concentrate on. You should also determine strategies and tactics to use in responding to competition in the market and ways of staying competitive.

* Corporate brand — Another important thing that you must take into consideration is your company name. Be sure to choose one which is easily remembered, easily identified and related directly to the merchandise and service you provide. You should provide quality and durable items because it reflects your corporate brand.

* Market — You need to determine where to sell or market your goods. Do you want your products to be considered in the basic level, premium level or high level? Thus you should know the type of consumers to concentrate on. Another thing to keep in mind is the marketing mediums to use in promoting your products and services. Do you intend to use the traditional marketing channels like newspapers, magazines, television and radios? Do you want to use the latest marketing channel? With the advent of computers and telecommunications, more and more companies are using the Internet and short messaging service (SMS) in marketing their products and services because apart from their ability to reach thousands or millions of customers in the shortest feasible time, these channels are also cost-efficient compared to the traditional marketing channels.

* Prices — After you determine where to market your items, you should also formulate your pricing strategy. Be feasible and considerate when setting prices for your products and services because it will affect how you attract customers, how you boost your sales and how you establish future growth.

* Customer service — You should also determine how to reach out to customers, establish quality relations with them and get their trust and loyalty as well. Remember that majority of customers prefer companies who value them and take care of them.

o The best known competition in the entire country is the MIT 100k Entrepreneurship Competition. Six awards are given out at the contest. Two in the Venture completion, and two in the Entrepreneurship for development competition. Each winner of those prizes takes home 30 grand, and the 4 runner-ups each win 10 grand.

o The Stern School of Business at New York University has one of the largest cash purses for a contest. They have over 150,000 dollars up for grabs. The contest is open to the greater NYU area, and offers two tracks. A normal business plan track is offered as well as a Social Entrepreneurship track which has to do with developing businesses that are socially responsible and helpful.

o At the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue University, the largest business plan competition in the Life sciences field is offered. The competition is open to any service or products in the life sciences industry and has 134,000 in prize money.

o For graduate students who are greatat the elevator pitch, there is a contest just for you. Wake Forest University’s Elevator Competition has 65 Grand in prizes for the ultimate elevator pitch.

o All of these competitions so far have been on the east coast. On the west coast, the Venture Challenge at San Diego State University has a traditional business plan competition with over a 15 Grand prize for the top competitors.