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BUSINESS PLANS : How far will a business plan get you?Business plans can be useful tools. But a new study finds that they do little to help small businesses get financing. This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. A business plan, in the words of the Small Business Administration in Washington, is a tool with 3 basic purposes. As a communication tool, it can show possible investors how well you have considered your business ideas. As a management tool, it can list goals and ways to measure progress. And as a planning tool, it can help guide a business around problems. For people starting a new business, the biggest problems commonly involve financing. Small businesses often seek venture capital. This is money from wealthy individuals or investment companies for the purpose of building new businesses. Each year, small businesses with ideas for the "next big thing" flood venture capitalists with business plans. But John Mullins of the London Business School, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says most business plans are never even fully read. A good business plan, he says, must define a problem that the new business will solve. Many plans fail to show how a product or service meets a need. Also, business plans often assume it will be easy to gain a share of a large or fast-growing market. Professor Mullins advises entrepreneurs to do market tests so they have real numbers to support their claims. And he says honesty about possible problems with the plan is important. Successful businesses often change plans as conditions change. Business students spend hours and hours learning how to write a business plan. But even a good one has its limits. A new study suggests that venture capitalists rarely consider the business plan when deciding whether to invest in a new company. David Kirsch is an associate professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He and others examined more than seven hundred requests made to an American venture capital firm. He says he was startled to find that planning documents have such little influence. Professor Kirsch tells us that venture capitalists instead talk to people who know the entrepreneur. They talk to business experts, lawyers and other knowledgeable people. The study appeared in the May issue of Strategic Management Journal. David Kirsch considers business plans a good way to organize an entrepreneur's ideas. But, in his words, "A smart entrepreneur should spend his time developing the business rather than the business plan." By: Mario Ritter JUNE 30, 2009 - http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2009-06-25-voa3.cfm Writing a Business DescriptionThe first thing you need to concentrate on when you write the business description is its structure. By structure we mean the type of operation....Business Plan DefinitionA business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals...Free Sample Business PlanRemember that your plan should be only as big as what you need to run your business. While everybody should plan a outline to help run a business, not everyone needs a complete formal business plan...Design Business Plans to Start a BusinessBusiness planning is about results. For every business plan, you need to make the contents of your plans match your purpose. Don't accept a standard outline just because it's there.Five Business Plan MistakesIf you are preparing to raise capital from either an investor or a bank, you’re probably writing a business plan. Here are five of the most common mistakes that I have seen as a result of my experience as a commercial banker and corporate-finance consultant...Do I Need a Business Plan for a Loan?Not everyone who is going to start a business begins with a business plan. It all depeneds on what size and kind of business. If you are a freelance designer or you are a one man show data entry business...Three key messages for designing business plansThree key messages for designing business plans you must clearly and convincingly communicate to your lender or investor...How to Write a Business PlanWriting a business plan can be ohat is worth doing, you need to take the time and aquire some information....Other related Articles: Start-Up Founders Forget About Business Plans? Dec 15, 2009This past summer, HubSpot Inc. received several offers from venture firms to invest in the marketing software start-up all without a formal business plan. ...Develop a business plan to make more money October 27, 2009It's time for you to develop a business plan, whether you're just starting up or are already running a company. ...Wow Investors : Web-Savvy Business Plan August 27, 2009As an online business owner or potential startup, one of the major documents you will need to get funds from potential investors is your business plan. ...Home Based Business Plans August 23, 2009Business school students spend a lot of time learning about different strategies to create a successful business plan. All businesses should have a fully ...How far will a business plan get you? June 30, 2009Business plans can be useful tools. But a new study finds that they do little to help entrepreneurs get financing. ...Why Business Plans Don’t Deliver June 30, 2009An economic downturn is a great time to start a business....and prepare a business plan? ...The business plan- who, what, when, where June 16, 2009Once you've decided you may want to start your own business, you need a business plan as well as two important milestones ...Business Plan Competitions Offer more then Money Apr 2 2009In a time when money is tight and funding is tougher than ever to get, winning a business plan competition could provide a nice boost in cash for a start-up. ... |
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