5 Rookie Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid

When developing their business plans for investors and lenders, there are lots of mistakes that entrepreneurs make. Here are the 5 biggest:

1. Forgetting that Your Business Plan is a Marketing Document

On of the key goals of your business plan is to convince lenders and/or investors to fund you. As a result, you need to think of your business plan as a marketing document.

In brief, think of your business plan as a brochure versus a product manual. A brochure gives high level features and benefits and gets people excited. Conversely, a product manual provides tons of details (which are often boring) and is generally hard to read.

Use your brochure/business plan to excite the reader so they agree to meet with you. During the meeting, you can provide additional details they want to know.

2. Failing to Prove Your Case

The second common business plan mistake is not adequately proving your case. Just like a lawyer has to prove his or her case, your business plan should prove the case as to why an investor or lender should fund you. There are two key ways to do this.

First, show why you are uniquely qualified to succeed in your business. For example, maybe you and/or your management team have unique expertise and experience. Or you have a unique and patented product. Or maybe you are first to market. Or maybe you have already secured critical strategic partnerships. Identify these key reasons and include them in your plan.

Second, include market research that proves your ability to succeed. For example, show how big your market is. Show how market trends support (or at least don’t hurt) your business’ success prospects. Detail who your customers are and their needs. And show you understand who your competitors are and their strengths and weaknesses.

3. Not Clearly Describing Your Business at the Start

Too many business plans fail to clearly describe the business at the very beginning of the plan. This is a critical mistake, because if readers are confused after the first paragraph, they often won’t continue reading.

So, rather than starting your plan with a long story, start by clearly describing what your business does so readers “get it.” Then, you can explain why it will succeed, the origins of your idea, etc.

4. Using Lots of Superlatives

Using too many superlatives turns off most investors and readers, and when unsubstantiated, hurts your credibility.

Specifically, avoid superlatives like “best,” “greatest,” “most powerful,” etc., unless you can back them up. For example, saying that you have the “best management team” will turn off many investors.

Rather, you should say something like, “our management team has the experience, skills and track record to successfully execute on our plan. Among other things, our management team has [and then list the credentials of your team].”

5. Trying to Answer Every Question

The final mistake that most entrepreneurs make in their business plans is trying to answer every question in them. The solution, rather, is to answer the key questions, but not all the questions.

Similar to the above mention of how your business plan should be like a brochure, your plan should not answer every conceivable question readers might pose.

Rather, answer the big questions that will get readers excited about your venture, proves you really understand it, and influences them to invest more time meeting with you to discuss further.

During the meeting you’ll have the opportunity to fill in the details, which are often different for each potential funding source.

Avoid these five mistakes in developing your business plan and you will have much more success completing your plan and using it to positively influence funding sources.