Building a Better Business Plan

By all means try to communicate something of your personality, if it's important to your startup, but don't skimp on hard data

by Karen E. Klein

I'm writing a business plan for my new company. I'm torn between making a standard business plan and making a plan that presents my company as I want it to be seen, which is as something fun, goofy, socially aware, and light-hearted. I feel that business plans tend to be very dry and without personality, which is the extreme opposite of how I want to present my company. Does anyone besides a bank actually read the business plan anyway?—J.D., Chicago

A business plan serves two purposes: It's an organizing tool for you, to help you simplify and clarify your business goals and strategy. And it's also a document that sells your business idea and demonstrates that your product or service can make a profit and attract funding.

"A completed and well-thought-out business plan also acts as a touchstone or litmus test against the reality of your business operations once you open its doors. It should be a guidebook for your business…telling you what you should be doing and how well you're doing it," says Frank Fiore, author of Write a Business Plan in No Time (Que Publishing). "A business plan also acts as a dry run for your business even before it starts. It's actually a written description of your business' future."

As a selling tool, your business plan should sell others on your business and give you confidence that your hard-earned money will be well-spent on an idea that can succeed. Over the long term, your plan is likely to be read by potential investors, lenders, strategic partners, and even management candidates, Fiore says.

THE VITAL INGREDIENT.

As such, it certainly should reflect your company's unique style and sales proposition, says Linda Pinson, a business-plan software developer and author of Anatomy of a Business Plan (Dearborn Trade Publishing).

"A business plan doesn't have to be dry at all. The whole idea is to write statements that are powerful and tell who you are. If you want to get across that your company will be a fun and valuable place, your business plan should reflect that," Pinson says. "There's nothing that precludes you from building your personality into the business plan. In fact, if you're the vital ingredient, and you fail to inject yourself and what you're bringing to the business, it won't be a proper business plan."

Although the text you write can build in a playful but smart tone that presents your style, remember not to skimp on the numbers and charts that are essential to proving your concept. "When it comes to the financial part of your plan, that's where you'll take the personality out and let the numbers speak for themselves. They should reflect what you said in the text and translate that tone into the revenues your company can earn," Pinson says. Good luck!

Karen E. Klein is a Los Angeles-based writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues.