The definition of an effective business plan for your own local retail business is one that gets the idea sold or funded or off of the ground. That is why you write it, isn’t it?
To do that, you have to tell the story openly and critically. Answer all of the questions and provide all of the solutions a prospective reader may ask themselves.
What is your idea? In simple terms, what are you proposing? There is no need for super detail at this point. Catch your reader’s interest. Get them to read further.
What are you looking for from the reader? Why are you writing this? In other words, tell your reader what you need up front so that if they don’t have it you won’t waste anyone’s time exploring this relationship further.
Why is this going to work? Now, it is time for some details beyond the simple concept. What is the market? Why will people buy this? Who are you and why will you be successful with this idea? Where and when will you execute this plan? What makes your idea unique? At a medium level, you have to answer all of those questions to keep your audience reading.
The next step is to take each of those ideas and really dig into the nuts and bolts of the issues. In marketing, analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Talk about competition. And demand. Talk about how you will meet the demand and beat the competition.
And, talk about you. In the end, unless you have a wildly new, and protected, idea, investments are made in people. Why you? What skill set do you have that makes an investor want to partner with you. And, what could go wrong? Everyone touts strengths, but the best managers understand their weaknesses as well and address those. People that have their holes covered get funded. People that don’t, don’t.
Finally, how does your reader make money? What do you need and what do they get for their effort? How do they get paid back? What could go wrong and cause them to lose their investment?
Never lose site of the goal. Sell your idea. Anticipate questions and concerns and answer them up front. Let people fully grasp you know what you are doing and have a plan. Those are the business plans that get funded.
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