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Business Guide to Business Plans: From Executive Summary to Strategy and Implementation

Business plans allow you to set goals, identify company problems, distribute resources, identify threats to your business, determine your strengths, and identify the weaknesses of your company. This document serves as a planning tool for business executives and helps investors determine where to spend their money. A business plan contains the following sections: executive summary, industry profile, market analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, management plan, operating plan, and financial plan. The plan concludes with exhibits and appendices such as surveys, marketing studies, sketches, or photographs of your products, contracts, and legal agreements. Business plan writing services develop complete business plans to help you formalize your business goals, monitor business performance, attract investors, and identify opportunities for expansion.

Benefits

Expertise

Although you know your business inside and out, you may not have the financial or managerial knowledge needed to develop comprehensive business plans. These plans contain financial statements and cash flow projections, so accuracy and completeness are important. Hiring a qualified business plan writer eliminates the need to spend time and effort learning how to write a business plan from scratch. Business plan writers also have editing and polishing skills, helping you get the most professional business plan possible.

Business Planning

Analyzing trends in your business helps you identify critical errors and plan for the future. Without business plans, business owners would have a difficult time collecting the data needed to create comprehensive business reviews. The business plan contains all of this data in one place, making it possible to assess your business and adjust your goals at any time.

Professional Input

Business plan writers have experience managing businesses and analyzing business trends, giving them insight into the state of your business. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that more than 20 percent of new business ventures fail within two years, making the professional input of a business plan writer very valuable.

Time Savings

If you choose to write your own business plan, you will have to take time away from running your business or use your personal time to complete the plan. Those who write business plans for a living take this task off your to-do list, allowing you to focus on managing your business.

Objectivity

As a business owner, you may have difficulty taking an objective approach to assessing your business. Someone who writes business plans for a living will not have any personal attachment to your business, allowing the writer to stay neutral and write the best plan possible.

Pitfalls

Scams

Shopping for business plan writing services leaves business owners vulnerable to scams. Some writers offer business plans at a very low cost, attracting clients who need to conserve money. These low-priced writers often have little business experience, leading to inaccurate business plans that have no value.

Hiring Difficulties

If you decide to hire someone to write business plans for your company, you need to take the time to interview several candidates. You should never hire a business plan writer without seeing work samples and receiving several quotes. Although these steps protect you, they are also time-consuming. You may find that the person you hire is not a good fit, creating the need to assess additional candidates and make a second hiring decision.

Work Differences

Business plans follow a very specific format, but the content in each section varies greatly based on your industry, the products and services you offer, the size of your business, and the number of competitors you face in the marketplace. You may encounter some differences of opinion when working with a professional business plan writer. Most of these differences can be resolved professionally, but lasting issues may make it necessary to adjust your expectations or replace the business plan writer.

Pricing

The average cost of a business plan is $4,100 according to a survey conducted by Writer’s Digest Books and published in the 2011 version of Writer’s Market. The same survey indicates that a business plan may cost as much as $15,000. The benefits of a well-written business plan outweigh the initial costs, however. Your business plan acts as a tool for attracting investors to your company, allowing you to raise funds for capital improvements and business expansion. The University of Michigan estimates that average business start-up costs exceed $25,000. Hiring a professional business plan writer for a few thousand dollars is well worth the opportunity to attract $25,000 or more in investment capital.

Having a business plan is essential for business growth and success. Business plans outline your goals, analyze your competitors, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and help you identify ideas for business expansion, new products, and enhanced services. When shopping for a business plan writing service, avoid hiring the first writer you meet. Ask several writers for samples, references, and price quotes to avoid hiring a sub-par writer or paying too much for your business plan. Consider updating your plan when you need financing or new competitors emerge in your market, as business plans should change regularly to match changing business needs.