How to choose an attractive format for your business plan

In order to get anywhere with your small business you are going to have to create a business plan. Business plans are very important when you are trying to get funding for your business because it will allow your lenders to see what your business is about, how you plan to make a profit, what kind of expenses you expect to incur, and many other things that are needed to run a successful small business. Business plans can be written down on paper, but many times your paper business plans just end up sitting on desks in piles because they are not among the more attractive business plans. But the good news is you can also use power point slides as a format for your business plan.

Using power point will enable you to use concisely state your business plan because you only have so much space to work with. Using the least amount of words also makes it easier for potential lenders or venture capitalists to read. Power point also formats your business plan in a slide show that is easy on the eyes but provides a more attractive background format then just plain white paper. When using a power point slide show to format your business plan you should use about 10 slides with a professional looking background.

Here are some tips on what your 10 slides should contain for your business plan.

Slide one:
This is going to be your cover slide and it should include all contact information for your potential business. If you have already established a tagline for your company you should include it on your cover slide as well.

Slide two:
All companies have a mission statement that identifies what the company plans to achieve, but keep in mind you want to make sure that you haven't already achieved. The only time you want to include your mission statement is if it is different from your tagline, in other words you don't want to include your mission statement if what your company is planning to achieve is rather obvious from your tagline.

Slide three:
Your third slide should introduce the members of your team, yourself if you do not have business partners. You should include some of their background information that makes them special to your business, such as education or previous work experience.

Slide four:
Here you should provide information about what problem your company is going to address. You should include why your company will be able to address the problems where your competitors have not.

Slide five:
Here you are going to want to talk about your product and what its benefits are; this slide should follow along the lines of the previous slide, which means that it should address the market problem you have described in your previous slide.

Slide six:
This slide should be used to describe the technology or the methods you have used to develop your product. If your product is patented you should mention it on this slide.

Slide seven:
This is a great point to insert early customers or early distribution progress. You can include testimonials, logos, or numbers in a variety of formats.

Slide eight:
Here is where you are going to talk about your sales strategy; you are also going to want to show the expected cost of obtaining customers, which means you are going to need to show how you plan to market your product so that you can obtain more products and how much you have budgeted for marketing expenses.

Slide nine:
Here you are going to want to describe how you are going to compete against your competitors. Even if you think your company is unique you are still going to have competitors and you should anticipate any questions that the lender or venture capitalist might have. You can also include market size estimates on this slide, which can help you show how your company is needed because of market size and how few competitors there are.

Slide ten:
This is where you are going to want to include your Earnings Statement and other financial statements, if you are already established you should include historical information as well as forecasts. But whether you are a new company or an established company you should include forecasts that cover at least three years of your business. This will also show how you expect your business to perform and how much capital you will need know and in the future.

One thing you should be aware of when using a power point format is that you should also try to get the chance to give an oral presentation with your power point, this will allow you to provide important information that you have not included in your slides. Also keep in mind that what information your slides contain can vary depending on your type of business.