Longwood  

Small Business  

 Development Center  

Your Business Plan

Your business plan should be brief and to the point. The summary and financial projections are the first parts of the plan your banker or investor will read. If they make financial sense, then the rest of the plan will have additional value. Use the sample business plan outline as a guide to organization and content.

Most plans, except for those requiring a very large amount of money, should be no more than 20-25 pages long. Additional research data, surveys, letters of intent, resumes, catalog pages, samples, diagrams and other information should be included in a separate binder or folder as the appendix. Consider using a loose-leaf binder, so you can insert changes as often as needed. Make sure your plan avoids the 10 most common business plan mistakes.

Always have someone else read your plan for style, spelling, grammar, accuracy, consistency, and completeness. If it is an easy plan to read and understand, it will be easier for possible financing sources to say "YES!"

For more information and a more comprehensive guide to business plans read our Cookbook, How to Start Your Own Business: A Recipe For Obtaining Capital , available in Adobe pdf  format.  This format requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader available from Adobe.com.  If you do not have this software click  to download.