How to Prepare a Business Plan
Engage the services of a Business Plan Consultant
A business plan consultant can prepare a business plan for you based on information and basic data you provide. You still have to be prepared to think through your business and understand the underlying concepts in your business idea. Consultants normally offer various options for providing business plan services. The scope of the business plan consultant's work needs to be clearly defined and understood in order to avoid misunderstandings. You also need to make sure that the business plan consultant you choose has the necessary practical business experience who can contribute ideas and recognize gaps or problems in the information you provide him. The business plan consultant also needs to be familiar with what investors and lenders are looking for in a business plan so those issues can be properly addressed. Here are some of the services a business plan Consultant can provide:
- Write the business plan for you.
- Review a draft of a business plan that you have written.
- Review and edit a draft of a business plan that you have written.
- Assistance with the planning process.
Do it Yourself Method
You can educate yourself on how to prepare a business plan by reading some of the various good books available on the market that will help you understand what needs to go into a good business plan. Or you can take a course at a local college. Another method is to purchase a good business plan software package that can be used as a tool to guide you through the mechanics and organization of the business plan but you will still need to create the plan yourself. If you want to go this route, check out Palo Alto Software Products which sells the leading business planning software on the market. We recommend the Premier version of Business Plan Pro which has more features and options. All these do it yourself methods are helpful but involve a significant learning curve and time to learn how to prepare a business plan.
While preparing your business plan or after completing the initial draft, it is usually still a good idea to have a professional business plan consultant answer any questions you have, help you with some of the details or review and critique your completed draft. This method will give you the benefit of professional opinion and save you some money over having the business plan consultant do the entire plan for you.
While preparing your business plan or after completing the initial draft, it is usually still a good idea to have a professional business plan consultant answer any questions you have, help you with some of the details or review and critique your completed draft. This method will give you the benefit of professional opinion and save you some money over having the business plan consultant do the entire plan for you.