Dodo Loves Marketing

It might seem as if I’m complicating matters by suddenly suggesting the possibility of writing several business plans. After all, you might ask, if I’m having difficulty writing one business plan, won’t I simply compound my problems by trying to write two or more plans?

My experience is that you will actually find it easier to address the plan to specific audiences rather than to an abstract, all-inclusive, single audience. When you know your audience, you can “speak” to those readers in terms you know they want to hear or do not want to hear. ..more

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The income statement is the one we all tend to focus our attention on because it provides the proverbial “bottom line”— the company’s profit or loss. It’s usually done on a quarterly basis.

As you look at the basic income statement you’ll notice that it seems a lot like the cash flow statement. You start with your revenues less commissions. From that, you subtract direct labor (drafters and architects, for instance, for an architectural firm) and materials.

The result is a subtotal that gives you your gross profit or loss. (The percentage of gross profit to revenues can be a very useful number. It’s your gross margin and can help you compare yourself with others in your industry—it tells you immediately whether your labor or other costs are way out of line.) ..more

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The key concern in preparing multiple business plans ismaking sure that each is tailored to the interests, needs, and fears of its readers. A business plan that is exciting to one group of readers may be terrifying or simply irrelevant to another group.

Consider a business plan for financing. A company wants toraise $3 million and isn’t fussy about whether the money comes from a banker or a venture capitalist. Chances are strong, though, that the business plan that appeals to the venture capitalist won’t appeal to the banker, and vice versa. ..more

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