Use The Business Cube to Structure your Business Plan
InterTradeIreland offer a range of funding supports to help start-ups and early stage businesses get investor ready. Their pitching masterclasses, business planning workshops, regional equity advisory clinics and Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition offer first-hand insight and advice from experts and real-life investors. The objective of a business plan is to raise money. You have to convince a potential investor that your business is a worthwhile investment. InterTradeIreland advises entrepreneurs to use The Business Cube, a business planning tool, to structure their business plan. The model has proven to be successful for many companies that have gone through their highly coveted Seedcorn competition.
Business Cube Methodology
The Business Cube is a simple and intuitive tool that outlines the key information components that investors look for when evaluating investment opportunities. It is a useful guide for start-ups, helping to address key issues in which potential investors will express greatest interest. Reflecting the components of The Business Cube, business plans should be structured as follows:
1. Executive Summary
2. Business Overview
3. Market Opportunity
4. Industry and Competition
5. Product or Service Proposition
6. Marketing Plan
7. Management Team
8. Operations
9. Key Risks
10. Financial Plan
11. Funding
12. Exit Strategy
13. Summary
14. Schedules
15. Appendices
To download your free copy of The Business Cube, go to the Seedcorn: How it Works page on the InterTradeIreland website. You will find the document in the downloads section towards the bottom of the page. The guide will provide you with simple recommendations regarding the specific content for each of the sections outlined above, and how to determine how much weighting should be afforded to each.
Even during these uncertain times, investors are still out there, looking for businesses to invest in. You need to show them what makes you different and why they should play a part in your success, writes Shane O’Hanlon of InterTradeIreland.
BUSINESS PLAN TIPS
Preparing a business plan is a useful discipline for all businesses because it encourages management to clarify how it sees the business developing. A good management team will already have prepared a corporate strategy written for their own purposes, which may form the basis of a business plan to raise finance. The financial forecasts are a critical part of the plan. Consideration should be given as to how each piece of information in the plan affects the plausibility of the forecasts. The investor needs to be convinced that management has the expertise and commitment to execute the plan and realise the potential of the business. The plan should be brief. Most are 15-20 pages, and it should not exceed 25 pages. A balance must be struck between ensuring the document is concise and well-presented and providing sufficient information. The investor will often conduct his own investigation and so will not always need detailed explanations in the body of the plan. Any detailed information should be provided in the appendices. Provide primary and external research, including data or publications, to support the information given. Unsupported opinions and assertions show a lack of preparation and professionalism, and credibility will be undermined.
ESSENTIAL POINTS
• Pay particular attention to presentation – first impressions are important. Approximately 95% of business plans are rejected, often because their presentation lets them down.
• Be frank – if you misrepresent something, the astute reader
will see through it and will not be impressed.
• Make every effort to sustain the reader’s attention from
start to finish.
• Ensure the logic, proposals and assumptions are consistent
throughout your business plan.
• Do not underestimate the time taken between presenting the business plan and receiving the required finance. Depending on the type of finance required, the delay could be anything from a few weeks to several months.
For more information on equity support and services available from InterTradeIreland visit intertradeireland.com/funding-advisory-service/