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During the past 20 years, I've read several thousand business plans and executive summaries for angel, venture capital or business buyout investments. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs make it too easy for investors who have the biggest check-writing capabilities to discard their business plans.
What did these well-meaning entrepreneurs do wrong?
On the first read of any business plan, investors are looking for fast reasons NOT to invest, rather than reasons TO invest. They evaluate risk then reward, in that order.
Yet, entrepreneurs tend to overstate the upside of a business opportunity in their written presentations. Their "perfect world" plans lack balance, making it too difficult for investors to believe anything in the document.
To improve your chances of appealing to investors, follow my top 10 business-plan presentation recommendations.
Say it fast. The first page of your executive summary should be the most interesting and well-written page of your business plan; otherwise, investors may not bother reading on. State your entrepreneurial purpose clearly and include how much money you want to raise. The point is to get to the point. Avoid hyperbole, exclamation points and statistics that run on for pages and pages.
Think like an investor. What matters to investors is more important than what matters to you. Emphasize in your executive summary and elsewhere those factors that lead to successful investment outcomes: industry-leading gross profit margins; intellectual property rights; brand extension capabilities; customer contracts; recurring revenue potential; partnerships with larger companies; competitive advantages; likely acquirers, etc. If you dedicate more business-plan space to describing cool product features and social networking public relations plans than standard "investment fundamentals," then your plan probably won't get a second look. Experienced investors invest in businesses, not hip products that can become obsolete in fast-changing markets.
Read more about business plan presentations on www.better-presentetion-skills.com
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