Business Plans

As someone with experience of writing business plans for owners seeking business finance I was interested to see a comment from Maria Lyle, assistant director of the Department for Business Innovation & Skills in the East Midlands. Commenting on applications for Regional Growth Funding she said that the bids most likely to succeed were those that presented short strong business plans, broken down into simple language and without jargon.
 
"The Treasury doesn't like phrases such as 'transformational step change' when assessing bids," she added. " And those of who work with High Growth businesses and others seeking business finance are only too well aware that Business Angels, Venture Capitalists and Banks don’t like to see such “management speak” in the business plans they receive either.
 
So where do such phrases come from and how do they find their way into the business plans of small and medium size businesses? I suspect that in most cases they’re put there by consultants who have spent their whole working lives in corporate life where it’s essential to be up to speed with the latest “in” phrases; especially the ones your boss uses.
 
Those of us who have spent our lives running and advising small and medium size businesses don’t talk like that, and nor do the high net worth individuals who act as Business Angels and Venture Capitalists.
 
The business plan that is most likely to attract funding starts with an Executive Summary that sets out the business case briefly and in a way that enthuses the reader to reading on. The body of the plan should set out in more detail the well researched business case, with realistic and achievable targets, a clear statement of why the finance is needed, and how the investor will be repaid. All the supporting evidence for the business case should be contained in Appendices.
 
There’s no point in owners bleating that their bank won’t lend them any money. Many banks and other sources of business finance are sitting on pots of money waiting for strong businesses with well defined plans for their future to state their case.
 
And I’m always looking for owners who need, and more importantly are prepared to accept, guidance on developing their businesses, whether they need additional business finance or not.