The 5 business plan mistakes

Let's continue our review of the 5 mistakes you could make in creating your business plan. It is an indispensable document to start your new activity: to give it time and to have the right reflexes, what our business plan software Start My Story wants to do. Find our article on the first two mistakes to avoid in your business plan.

Define the key steps of your funding need

One of the issues that may be problematic is not being clear about your financial needs to start your business. In your business plan, do not be afraid to mention all the financial needs you need to start or invest.

Define your initial needs with the initial financing plan (resources / needs), and the sustainable needs (costs of setting up your business, working capital requirements, investment ...).

Then, give details of your forecast profit and loss account (turnover / operating expenses, personnel costs, etc.), as well as your projected cash flow. Finally, the three-year financing plan and the break-even point will show how your business is evolving and where it is profitable.

Lying, hiding information, or trying to hide risks

A business plan is mainly aimed at finance organs, but we have seen that the business plan is above all a means of convincing you in the truth of your project. Also, you should not hide anything in order to have a convincing speech and make your project even more successful.

If you are looking to hide data or lie on certain numbers, your contacts will see it. You will then be at an impasse and you may even tarnish your reputation with other organizations. Do not take this risk. On the contrary, if you wanted to hide a given, it is because you are not sure of your project. Rethink it or, analyze how you can fight the problem that you have identified and that you do not want to make visible. These are areas of improvement that can only be beneficial.

Do not reread your business plan by someone who knows nothing about your sector

If Start My Story was created, it is to enable you to build a solid, coherent, informed business plan that can help you start your business. Our business plan software allows you to take a step back on your project and see it from a more clinical point of view.

However, to be reassured and more convinced by the fundamentals of your business plan, third-party proofreading is far from a bad idea. If the latter does not know anything about the sector you want to conquer, his eyes will be all the more critical and therefore useful for any modifications and corrections.

However, be careful not to influence the re-reading of your business plan. Make sure to simply give your business plan without any specific instructions, otherwise the general opinion on the relevance of your document and the viability of your business project may be distorted.