The Truth
Behind Business
Plans TO P
SEC
R ET
Feargal Byrne

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YO SS
INE
BUS N
PLA
Many believe that the first thing that you should do when starting a business is to write a
Business Plan.

After all, this is what they teach in Business School.
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Executive Summary
Business Overview
Founders’ Background
Market Research
Operations Plan
Competitive Analysis
Suppliers
SWOT Analysis
Marketing Plan
Financial Projections
querf aqoeii
......................
..................
...........
.......
Layout your Executive Summary and follow it with 50+ pages of congested text.

When your plan is completed, after about two full months of keyboard bashing.
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You should send your Business Plan to Investors who will be overjoyed at receiving a thesis
on why your idea will make them...
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...hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Of course, once they have read your 20 times proof read and immaculately formatted
document they will immediately pick up the phone and agree to invest.
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Here’s the problem. Nobody invests in ideas and a business plan is just one big idea. This is
the core mistake that many first time entrepreneurs make.
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They assume that a Business Plan is the key to getting investment. So, as a result, they spend
far too much time writing one.
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Vault Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbrand/3289161324/

The reality is that Business Angels and Venture Capitalists only invest in actual businesses.
That’s right, they invest in businesses. Logic would suggest that if you are looking for
investment you should spend most of your time building a business and very little time
writing a business plan.
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Sales & Profits
You do need a plan for building a business but it should be laser focused on getting traction.
Sales and profits are the highest level of traction.
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Most entrepreneurs can write this initial plan on an A4 piece of paper. It should look more
like a scorecard than a definite plan of action which must be followed no matter what. Each
item should be tested and measured in real time.
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External
Investment
Your
Business
Your
Your
Business
Business
When you start to generate profit and you believe that additional funding will help to scale
your business. At this point, you should consider writing a business plan for investors.

ge +
0 Pa SS 10 - 15 Slide Deck -
5
US INE
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P LAN Printed Out
or PDF
However, this plan should not be in the form of a 50+ page document. A 10 - 15 slide deck
printed out or in PDF is enough.

“Once upon a time my business
did.............”
This deck is the story of your business so far and...

“My projections are based on the
actual conversion rates that I am
currently achieving”
... future projections based on actual conversion rates and profit margins. The quicker it can
be read and understood the better.

Check out this Sample Business Plan
Template and Video

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