Business Plans – a Sure Cure for Insomnia…
Safer than prescription medication and cheaper then over the counter sleep aids, the average business plan will induce near catatonic conditions within minutes. The secret lies in a number of very common and highly developed characteristics of business plan writing including the required use of very long and tedious paragraphs, bland meandering sentences and of course no color, no graphics, no headings, no energy, no creativity and most importantly - no focus.
The irony is that very few documents are exposed to the level or intensity of competition that the typical business plan must face. An average VC firm will review several hundred business plans for every one that they fund and the reality is that most plans don’t make it past the first page. Given these less than desirable odds, common sense would tell you that progressive thinking plan writers would do something to improve the readability of the plans. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case.
With a few very minor exceptions, business plans have remained fundamentally unchanged since Gutenberg invented the printing press. Sure, we’ve added a few new catch phrases like unique selling proposition, value positioning and core competencies, but these are hardly major leaps forward.
Part of the problem may be our over reliance on the “content is king” concept. Most plan writers assume that the purpose of content is to inform and thus the copy invariably lacks critical elements that compel the reader to do something -- anything, including the simple act of reading. If the first few paragraphs of the plan don’t capture and motivate the reader, nothing short of a loaded pistol is going to help.
Website designers understand this concept very well. In their world, duration or “stickiness” is king. Getting someone to the site is only a small part of the challenge. The hard part is keeping them there. So what makes a Website sticky? Research points to a number of factors including a mix of good crisp and persuasive copy, focused message points, a pleasant design and effective graphics – all working together.
About the Author:
Daniel McGilvery is a professional business plan writer with over 14 years of experience.
Daniel McGilvery
President
The Business Planning Institute
561-242-0469
info@bpiplans.com
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