Jacqueline Shaw-Nicholson, communication and client services manager, JN Small Business Loans (JNSBL) has said a business plan is ineffective if not realistically thought through and most importantly not implemented.
“I encourage entrepreneurs to let their business plan represent them and their ideas, too many business plans are generic, representing business hopes and research data that the owner hardly returns to during the process of starting up and especially after the business has started and continues to develop,” the JNSBL communication and client services manager stated.
“I further encourage entrepreneurs to make realistic plans, considering the unique elements of their idea and make it come to life by including practical and well-thought out steps to achieving their goal. When completed, it should assist with convincing your lender that you can achieve what you are planning to do,” she added.
While a plan is useful and is a typical document requested of many institutions for financing, if the entrepreneur is not familiar with its content, it then becomes useless in the process.
She adds that for start-ups, a business model canvas is quite useful and facilitates a thorough and strategic think through of the business. Completing the canvas also assists with finalising the business plan when necessary. The canvas allows the entrepreneur to consider the key elements to be successful and to respond to those areas in context of the development and growth of the business.
“Many plans lack vital information, or are not well presented,” the communication and client services manager for the small business lender said. “The business plan doesn’t have to be a 30 or 40-page document, but it must have certain basic information.”
Leave A Comment