As a newbie in business, making a business plan is not easy. I talked about it in previous posts.
Here are five common mistakes:
1/ The project
description and strategy is not entirely clear. An outsider will find
the 'what en how' in your business plan a little vague. It is not
detailed enough. Have a friend read your business plan and ask him if
all is perfectly clear for him.
2/ Mistakes in the financial
plan; not all expenses counted. You have to research all the costs
involving your project thoroughly. Did you include insurance,
marketing budget, state taxes, the guarantee on the lease of the
building?
3/ Revenue estimations are not realistic. This is, in my
opinion, the most challenging part of the business plan. How much
revenue will you get? The better your business plan, the less your
future revenue estimation is a wild guess.
4/Inadequate market
analyses. Check out the market, the demand for your product, the
competition, the price point. Your product or service will not sell
if there is no market for it. I am not saying you have to hire an
agency to do it for you. There is a lot you can do yourself. Ask
around, Google, find your competitors, visit them, watch how they
operate. Old school investigation work pays off!
5/ Believe it or
not, but many business plans forget to mention a salary for the
owner. If you start a small shop on your own, you must include the
equivalent of one employee salary in your financial plan expenses. If
you show the business plan to an investor or the bank, they will ask
where the money is? What's the purpose? Even in case you are not
planning to take out salary the first six months, you mention that in
the financial plan. But you do not leave it out.
Top 10 about the author; Erik Victor
1. is a serial
entrepreneur and started his career in Engineering
2. currently a
majority shareholder in corporations in the fields of Industrial Real
Estate, Wealth Management & Investment funds, and International
Tax Planning
3. has a passion for the dynamics of young
businesses and actively endorses several start-ups
4. is an
engaged member of several think-tanks and an international conference
speaker
5. has a business footprint in six countries
6. speaks
five languages
7. personal life - resides in Europe
8. Erik
(48) is known as a discrete and private person, a family man
9.
loves to spend his limited holidays in the mountains or at sea on his
yacht
10. Erik has no social media accounts
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