Taking advice from industry professionals such as Tim Berry, Susan Ward and Bill Gates is easy considering how much knowledge they all have to offer. Berry talks about how realism plays a big part in how eager investors will be to give money and I have considered that greatly in building my business proposal (2009). I have changed the number of workers we will be starting with (by cutting 2 workers) to help with startup costs as well as lowering overall startup costs by making costs cuts in certain areas. It makes sense because potential investors want to see how you have exhausted all the ways to cut costs and utilize all the funds wisely.
Ward, who has been writing about business and more specifically, business plans since the late 1990's (2011) has an abundance of knowledge on the subject. Ward states that when completing a business plan, you should partake in a large amount of research about the business you are going into. For my own business plan, I have begun talking to owners of other sports bars in Atlanta to ask questions. Questions such as, what is business like in your area, what was the toughest part about opening a sports bar, what was your biggest start up cost, etc. Asking these question gave me more of an understanding about what I'm actually up against because these people have went through it.
Gates is one of the most successful businessmen in the history of mankind but can you believe he didn't really have a business plan when he built Microsoft? Gates' thought process was to invite the smartest people he knew to be partners with him and in return, he gave them a share of the company (2008). I also followed this model by asking Chef Fitzgerald Faison to partner up with me and run the kitchen of the restaurant. I do not have extensive cooking experience so I knew I had to bring someone in who did. This makes sense for investors because they understand that someone who has knowledge of running a kitchen will be in charge of that aspect of the business.
My business proposal is pretty straight forward so I believe the most important part of it is the ROI or return on investment for the potential investor. This section will tell the investor how long it will take to start seeing a positive return on their money. Any smart investor wants to know when they should start seeing a return on their money so this section is very important when building your business plan.
References
Berry, T. (2009). 8 Factors that make a good business plan. Retrieved on 9/23/11 from www.timberry.bplans.com.
Dean, J. T. (2008). How to use the Bill Gates business model. Retrieved on 9/25/11 from www.bukisa.com/articles.
Ward, S. (2011). Writing the business plan: section 6. Retrieved on 9/23/11 from sbinocanada.about.com
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