Who will peruse your bag aim and why?
Aboriginal you charge to really accept the aim of your bag aim and who your audience (reader) will be. This is an big point as a bag aim being written for a $100,000 loan is VERY altered than a document needed for a $10 million round of adventure chief! Since this article is focused on aboriginal-age baby bag owners, I will bull's eye on preparing bag plans raising less then $1 million in chief. For this startup or seed bag aim 30-35 pages are absolute. You are not expected to deliver a thick book (and no one will peruse it anyway!). Once you accept this down, you can honestly assess which sections you are able / comfortable writing and which may charge consulting advice.
Here is what you should inscription on your own
It is big for you to inscription a basic draft / outline of your bag aim. Without this direction you are probably asking too much of your consultant. Once you accept your thoughts organized on paper you can beam what you are comfortable completing. Here are a few suggestions:
Executive Summary: Draft the opening of your bag aim then hire a pro to come in and re-inscription it. Your executive summary will be peruse aboriginal and aboriginal impressions are critical!
Marketing: You charge to inscription your own definition of your target customer / audience. For the marketplace research on industry advance and fancy charts action ahead and hire a consultant.
Competitive Analysis: You should put at buttoned up the aboriginal draft of this section, as it is almost as big to accept your competitors, as it is your customers. If you acquisition a consultant that is an expert in your field, then you can assignment at buttoned up and add to your initial list.
The Dreaded Financials
This is the most ambitious allotment of a startup bag aim, as you are manufacture projections and assumptions on products / services that you accept not even produced or sold yet! If you are stuck on this section you can hire a bag aim consultant to aloof abetment you with completing your projections (income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet). Figuring out the cost of goods, delivery costs, and return rates can be simplified by breaking them down into a ablaze spreadsheet. Abutting you charge to accept your startup and operating costs items according to electricity, biking, phone expenses, etc. Again aloof adjust these and your consultant can accomplish all the fancy charts and graphs. Aloof accomplish sure you accept all of the assumptions for archetype if you are opening a retail bag, you should not attending towards your consultant to guess your rent action out and accommodated with a realtor and come back with absolute data. If you assignment closely with your consultant, the financials are a abundant section to bring in able advice.
Managing Expectations
Any more that you apperceive a bit added about when to hire a bag aim writer you again charge to administer your expectations. You cant expect a $1,000 bag aim to accept 20 pages of competitive analysis and a full-blown marketing strategy! If you carefully assignment buttoned up which sections of your bag aim charge outside advice and then administer your consultant closely, your final document will be a accomplishment! My abutting two articles will bull's eye on How to Acquisition / Hire a Bag Aim Consultant and added importantly When to Blaze your Bag Aim Consultant!
About the author:
Howard Schwartz is a partner in several bag strategy groups, including HJ Ventures International, Inc. Howard has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide with a bull's eye on writing bag plans for companies absorbed in raising chief from Adventure Funds and Angel Investors. Howards bag plans accept secured several million dollars in funding.
For added advice: http://www.hjventures.com
Originall posted March 12, 2012
