accurate and consistent
Types of Business Plans
You can divide business plans into four different types. There are plans that are extremely short called miniplans. You can have work plans, presentation plans, or electronic plans. They require very different amounts of labor and do not always yield different results. That means a longer plan may not be better than a shorter one dependent on the purpose you are employing it for.
The Miniplan. Miniplans are one10 to 10 page document that should cover key topics such as marketing strategy and financing, business concepts and financial statements. It should include income and cash flow projections, and balance sheets. It is a great tool to quickly test a business idea or to gauge the interest of prospective partners or minor investors. It can also serve as a great prelude to a detailed plan.
Be careful about misusing the miniplan. This miniplan should not be considered to be a substitute for a full-length one. If you send the miniplan to an investor seeking a more comprehensive plan it will look foolish.
The Work Plan. The working plan is a vital tool for running your business. It has to be long in detail, but it can be short on presentation. You can afford to be more candid and casual when you are making a plan of action, as you can do with a miniplan.
A plan that is internal may not include crucial details that are essential for someone outside of the company. For instance, you don't have include an appendix containing the resumes or contact details of key executives. Nor would a working plan especially benefit from, for instance, product photos.
Working plans are likely to be different in their finishes and styles, and will fit. The issue is not whether the working plan is printed on high quality paper and enclosed within an elegant binder. A binder with three rings can be used and the "Plan" written on it with the felt-tip marker.
The internal consistency of facts and figures is as important in a working plan as for one that is targeted at people from outside. There are a few things you can do to ensure that your work plan is as consistent as you can: being concise and concise, adhering to corporate style, and adhering the proper format of dates. This document can be thought of as the old pair of khakis that your husband is wearing to work on a Saturday or the one and only delivery vehicle that has never stopped working. It's meant to be used, not to be admired.
The presentation plan. A presentation plan is a combination of a working plan with low emphasis on impression and cosmetics, and a twisting knob to increase the attention to its appearance. This plan can easily be presented to investors, bankers as well as other individuals who are not part of the business.
While your presentation might have a different design, almost all information will be identical to that of your working plan. In particular, you should use standard business vocabulary and avoid informal jargon, slang and shorthand which are so helpful in the workplace, and suitable for a work plan. Remember that the people reading it won't have any knowledge of your company. This plan is not meant to serve to remind people, but rather as an introduction.
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You'll need to include additional elements. Among investors' requirements for due diligence is information on the risks and threats to competitive companies. Even if some of them are of minor importance, it is important to be aware of them and provide the relevant information.
The distinctions between work plans and presentation are in the specifics of design, appearance, and design. Working plans can be printed on the office printer, and then stapled to one corner. The presentation plan should be printed with premium inks and perhaps color. It must be bind carefully into a book that is durable and easy-to-read. It should contain tables, graphs, graphs and illustrations.
It is important that a presentation plan is accurate and consistent within the organization. An error could be interpreted by someone outsider as an untrue representation. It is cautious at the best. It is possible to say "Oops!" if the plan's summary says that $40,000 is needed for financing however the cash flow projection shows that $50,000 is available in the first year. The summary wasn't changed to reflect the latest figures. But, it is likely that the person you're soliciting cash from will be as generous.
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The Electronic Plan. Electronic plans are the most common type of business plan. Electronic transfer of information about business is becoming more common. You may feel it is suitable to create an electronically transferable version of your plan. An electronic plan can be useful for presentations to a group via a computer-driven overhead projectedor or to satisfy the requirements of an investor who wants to dive into the intricacies of complicated spreadsheets.