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CMR BUSINESS PLAN SERVICE & PLANNING ADVICE

 

CMR provides business planning service to help companies maximise their chances for success. Unlike some business planning services provided by accounting firms, government agencies and universities, CMR's Business Planning Service is undertaken by seasoned, senior executives who have great sharp-end experience in the actual business area concerned

 

The CMR Business Planning Service provides two distinct types of help:

1) Funding-related business planning
- this reviews the business development strategy being adopted, and presents the information and all other relevant aspects of the business in the best way to attract investors. The prime objective of any business plan is to help an investor understand the proposition enough to want to talk with the company's management in more detail. CMR's experienced executives will be able to advise on any changes they believe should be made, and of course, if the company needs any special help or support, this can be provided from CMR's extensive resources.

2) Operational & Strategic Business Planning - this is a specialist planning service, undertaken by CMR executives with particular experience in your business area. The result is not just a very professionally produced strategic & operational business plan, but also a thorough expert review of all the component parts. The moderate costs involved will be amply repaid from the insights and benefits our executives bring to bear.

FREE ADVICE ON BUSINESS PLANNING

Produced below is some detailed advice on how to construct a business plan for your business. However, before going into the detail, it's important to look at the principles involved.

If you are hoping to raise new capital for your business, you will need to start with a plan that both clearly sets-out your objectives, and how you are going to achieve them. Most investors have a sort of two-stage brain - the first part needs to get excited about the business opportunity being presented - if that excitement (we call it the RTI - the reason to invest) is not generated within the first few pages of whatever the investor reads, it will go onto the reject pile, probably never to be looked at again! If they do get excited, then most investors will spend the rest of their time looking for good reasons not to put their money in. It means that your business plan must spell-out the RTI, in rational carefully thought through terms, avoiding rhetoric or unrealistic, optimistic statements (which will always turn-off investors). Think through the assumptions you have made, particularly in respect of the market acceptability of your business plans, and give the investor the rationale for these and the reasons you believe they are valid. Most sensible investors will ignore any financial projections you have made until they have bought-into the underlying marketing and profitability strengths you have claimed. It is often worthwhile at this stage to take advice from an outsider, because very often the entrepreneur (i.e. you!) is too close to their own plan and cannot be as objective as they should, or be able to communicate the excitement of their business in the dispassionate terms necessary to gain the attention of investors.

Having got the investor's attention, move onto looking for the things that might turn-off an investor - remember, they will be looking for reasons not to invest. Most investors will go through a professional due diligence stage, which will look at the financial and legal minutiae - so if there are any possible skeletons in your cupboard, think through how to explain them and how to convince the investor they are not an issue for them. Generally it is better to be up-front about these, rather than let the investor's professional advisers discover them. Again, it could be worthwhile taking some outside advice on how to handle these issues.

Don't just concentrate on the nitty-gritty’s, you must spend time looking for business-related weaknesses in your plan that could adversely affect your prospective investor. Is your management base and track record good enough? Investors generally do not want to invest into business rookies - if you personally do not have a reasonably impressive track record, it might be a good idea to bring-in external experienced expertise, even on a part-time basis, to give that confidence. This is an area CMR's executives can help with.

Do you have enough reserves built in to cope with things not working out exactly to plan (they rarely do!)? Investors will want to feel comfortable that your plan can take the rough with the smooth, and that you have been realistic in accommodating things not going 100%. Giving investors the feeling that you know where you want to go, and have thought through all the possible pitfalls, will give them greater confidence in you, and your ability to make money for them - usually the primary interest the investor will have! If in doubt on how to give that confidence, take outside advice - if you do not build that confidence level, you will not attract an investor - it's that simple!

Now read the following 'conventional' advice on how to construct your business plan, and on the various components that will be required. However, please don't get too bogged-down in the detail - many people do - keep in your mind the need to clearly and rationally present the main elements of your business plan. Don't lose the wood for the trees!

Click this line for conventional business planning template 

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