Business planning: Tips for Writing a Mission Statement for your Business Plan

A while back I was shopping for a new car. In the show room one dealer had a plaque over their door that read,”Our mission is to become the most profitable [brand] dealer in Northern California.”  Uh oh! What does that tell you? ( I wonder if they are charging too much.)  That ‘mission statement’…

Business Planning: Adding more products and services to your business plan?

Quite frequently, BizPlanBuilder users will write-in to ask how they can add more products, more profit centers, or more SKUs to their business plan. It seems to be very exciting to think you can dazzle an investor or lender with lots of products. Actually, the opposite maybe true. BizPlanBuilder includes enough space to add up…

Your business plan presentation to investors

Much has been said and written about investor presentations. The “PowerPoint presentation” may seem like the all-important (and sometimes, harrowing) opportunity to make your pitch for capital, but it shouldn’t be a surprise introduction for investors. Investors will often request a copy of your PowerPoint deck prior to meeting with you. Send it to them.…

Business Planning – Sequencing your presentation for capital

Building a business requires more than just an idea and a plan. For a moment (and you may need to refer to this moment often), put yourself in an investor’s position… What would YOU want to know about a business before you invested in it? We often recommend investing an amount of money in a…