Gearing Up for the 2009-10 Academic Year

Open call to all teachers, students, entrepreneurs.

Young Entrepreneurs of America wants to make the 2009-10 Academic Year your best year ever for learning entrepreneurship and starting new businesses for young entrepreneurs.

What can we do as an organization to help?

Crafting an Effective Business Plan (Part 5) – Tips for Maximizing Your Success

This series of posts has concentrated heavily on the idea that crafting a successful business plan is an art of communication. One does not simply check all of the boxes of required items to make a business plan an effective tool in your arsenal of fundraising. However, this post discusses a few very specific tips that can ruin an otherwise thoughtful business plan.

Be Complete, Accurate, and Thorough

• Include all relevant details
• Put them in the right spots (not all in the executive summary)
• Be credible (remember, this plan is going to be read by people who read business plans for a living. If you are truly talking to the right people, they are already going to know a tremendous amount about your market, your financials, and your strategy than you do…you better know what you are doing and your plan must be a strong reflection of your knowledge and skills.
• Don’t beat a dead horse

Be Crisp

• Use as few words as necessary to make your point
• Say exactly what you want to say

Target Your Audience

• Know who likes your product and why
• Know how big your market is, who the other players are in that market and how your solution STANDS OUT
• Know who will be reading your plan and what stage they are in the fundraising process

Plan Your Attack

• Know how you are going to get your first customers
• What needs to happen to build the business to support your 100th customer?
• What is your breakeven point?
• Show significant traction

Show Your Excitement

• Have a clear, compelling introduction
• Your plan/pitch should match your company’s voice, product, market, etc (pix, colors, format, quotes)
• Tell your STORY
• Exude Honest Energy