Business Plan Preparation Tips

The following is a list of business plan writing tips which can be key to the success of your business plan. Check back often as this list will be growing regularly.

Category	The Tip
Feasibility Assessment	Use the POCD Framework: People, Opportunity, Context, Deal; all components are interrelated and all four areas need to be strong in order for the proposed venture to be deemed poised for success.
Market Size	Don't say 'we can capture 1% of market X for sure'. You need to qualify the market (e.g. tech savvy, cheap, reachable, loyalty factors) and justify why you believe you can capture a certain percentage (e.g. based on current satisfaction levels and position on the adoption curve, but also considering customer loyalty, switching costs, etc.)
Market Segmentation	Your target market segment should first and foremost be significant in population, profitable, and reachable. You should possess special capabilities to create value for them, and it would be optimal if your competitors have not yet targetted this segment (at least not too many of them!)
Strategy	At the highest level, your core corporate strategy will be one of the following: Differentiation, Cost Leadership, or Focus Strategy
Strategy - Differentiation	When differentiating yourself from competitors, conduct research to see what are the needs and purchase criteria of customers and non-customers and capitalize on those. Common purchase criteria include: Quality, price, speed of delivery, convenience, the experience, and customizability/personalization/flexibility
Marketing - Product	Innovation is a huge driver of sales and competitive advantage. A great source of innovation is to be inspired by ideas from other industries - e.g. Banks learned from Tim Horton's TV screens hanging behind cashiers/tellers.
Marketing - Place	When selecting the site and location of your business, consider the following factors: location of competitors; proximity to target market, labour force, and suppliersl and access to highways and ease of transportation.
Financial Projections	Tie revenue to projections of number of customers and number of units sold per month; justify projections for # units sold and enlist your assumptions.

Business Startup Planning Links and Resources

The following are links to useful documents around the web with valuable tips on building a business.

Category	Icon	Description
Business Model		WePopp Wants To Cut Down On The Back And Forth When Planning Nights Out With Friends Business Model where app is free and revenues are from affiliate programs with partners http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/03/wepopp/
Business Planning		Restaurant Business Plan - Overview A 9-minute summary of the sections and ideas that need to be covered in a typical restaurant business plan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhetW0-grpI
Business Planning		SWOT Analysis Great template and explanation with examples of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for businesses https://depts.washington.edu/oei/resources/toolsTemplates/SWOT_analysis.pdf
Business Planning		How to Write a Great Business Plan - Harvard Business Review An in-depth examination of the POCD (People-Opportunity-Context-Deal) model http://hbr.org/1997/07/how-to-write-a-great-business-plan
Exit Strategy		Selling Your Business: The Trick To Finding The Perfect Buyer Discusses the 3 classes of buyers: Strategic, Financial, and Operator Buyers https://www.openforum.com/articles/selling-your-business-the-trick-to-finding-the-perfect-buyer/?extlink=of-syndication-sb-p
Financial Projections		Marketing Budget This is a great guide by the US Small Business Administration on how to set marketing budgets for a new small business. The huristics are equally applicable in Canada. https://www.sba.gov/blogs/how-set-marketing-budget-fits-your-business-goals-and-provides-high-return-investment
Financial Projections		Cost of AdWords Online Advertising Succint article explaining how Google AdWords works and how much it costs. E.g. it mentions that the average cost per click is between $1 and $2; and that the average small business using AdWords spends between $9,000 and $10,000 per month on it. www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/05/21/how-much-does-adwords-cost
Financial Projections		Cost of Radio Advertising This article can serve as a great guide for estimating radio advertising expenses when preparing a business plan for a local small business. It also helps find and negotiate good deals when purchasing such advertising. http://www.fitsmallbusiness.com/radio-advertising-costs/
Funding		Leadership Grants (Canada) Non for profit that issues grants of up to $100,000 to small business owners and entrepreneurs in Canada http://www.leadershipgrants.ca
Innovation		Technologies that are Revolutionalizing Industries VIC2RY Consulting's Facebook page where we post information about new and emerging technologies that are transforming entire industries. https://www.facebook.com/VIC2RY_Consulting-1426578854220357/timeline/
Innovation		How Cooking Lunch Can Be a Business Model Innovation This article shows a good way to attract and maintain talent http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/05/06/how-cooking-lunch-can-be-a-business-model-innovation/#sthash.uvgd5vzE.dpuf
Market Research		Market Research That's Specific to the Specialty Food Business This article provides a great example of how to conduct market research when preparing a business plan. While it focuses on the Specialty Food business, the techniques used can be applied to gain valuable insights into other industries as well. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254693
Market Sizing		Total Available Market (TAM) Youtube video by Tony Seba from his course at Stanford: "Strategic Marketing of High Tech and Clean Tech" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgVjdxAcf4
Online Marketing		20 Ways To Drive More Traffic To Your Blog This webpage is full of practical, actionable advice https://www.openforum.com/articles/20-ways-to-drive-more-traffic-to-your-blog/?extlink=of-syndication-sb-p
Opportunity Assessment		BDC's Analysis and Research Reports on SMEs BDC shares a series of research and unique reports offering insightful knowledge of the SME sector. http://www.bdc.ca/EN/about/sme_research/Pages/default.aspx
Opportunity Assessment		Evaluating New Venture Opportunities Conversations with Venture Capitalists from the Harvard Business School http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurship/newbusiness/2004fall_1.html
Performance Measurement		Measuring Supply Chain Performance This report, prepared by USAID (for public health managers) provides a comprehensive list of KPI's (key performance indicators) which apply to most industries. When preparing a business plan it helps to prepare a list of applicable KPI's. http://deliver.jsi.com/dlvr_content/resources/allpubs/guidelines/MeasSCPerf.pdf
Pitching		Pitching to Angels Great notes on how to pitch to angle investors and present business plan to them http://www.cmu.edu/olympus/events/start-smart/pitching-to-angels-cmu-11-2012-1.pptx
Strategy		Strategy 101 - Session 4: Competitive Analysis Excellent short video on competitive analysis and strategy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsjRlSYGh7I
Strategy - Differentiation		Tips on How to Differentiate Your Business In this article you will read tips on how accounting firms would be able to differentiate their services. This serves as a great general article as tax preparation is a field that is preceived to be boring and difficult to generate interest in. http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/12144785/5-ways-to-differentiate-your-firm-from-the-pack-this-tax-season
Strategy - Differentiation		Want more business? Differentiate your offering. Great article that emphasizes the importance of differentiation and fully communicating it to the consumers. The author uses the example of cruises in the Dominican Republic that specialize in 'Whale Watching' to get his points across. http://www.collisionrepairmag.com/news/features/16552-blog-want-more-business-differentiate-your-offering