Business Plan, Schmizness Plan

What’s the logic in writing a 30 - 50 page plan if nobody is going to read it? Investors will tell you that it’s to prove an entrepreneur has thought out the idea. I got a better idea – how bout a 7-8 page Mini-Business Plan (MBP) than an investor may actually read and spend the rest of your time doing what’s really important – running a business and proving market feasibility. With 7-8 pages, you can really avoid the BS and get down to the core of your business – in the MBP you should attempt to answer the following questions:

What need are you addressing?

What is your idea and how does it work?

Who are you and your team (and what have you done in the past)?

Pertaining to this idea, what have you/your team accomplished so far?

What is the market/target demographic like for your product or service? Is the market changing?

Who are the current players? (I would analyze the top 1 or 2). What differentiates your company from them? What are the barriers to entry? Potential future competitors?

How do you plan to make money (sources of revenue)? BTW, attracting site visitors and selling out to a media conglomerate is probably not a good answer.

(If applicable) Do you have any proprietary technology or patents?

What is your next step (prototype, beta testing, test market, product roll-out, etc)?

And very briefly discuss:

Costs (Start-up and Operating) and how much money you need from investors.

Revenue/Profit Projections – Most of these numbers are BS anyway, so no need to go nuts with pages and pages of projections.

Legal/Issues of Concern – While most Business Plans paint a completely rosy picture; it’s ok to say that things look good, but here are some issues (both internal and external) that could affect us.

Exit Strategies (very very briefly)