15 important key highlights that investors look for in your business plan
- Market Opportunity: Investors want to see a large and growing market for your product or service. This can be demonstrated by market research, industry reports, or customer surveys. You should be able to articulate the size of your target market, your target customer demographics, and the potential for growth.
- Competitive Advantage: Investors want to know what makes your business unique and how you plan to differentiate yourself from competitors. This could be based on technology, intellectual property, branding, customer service, or other factors that give you an advantage in the market.
- Business Model: Your business plan should clearly describe your business model and how you plan to generate revenue. This includes your pricing strategy, revenue streams, and how you plan to acquire and retain customers. You should also include information about your costs, margins, and profitability.
- Management Team: Investors want to know who is leading the company and what experience they bring to the table. Your business plan should include bios of your management team, highlighting their relevant experience and achievements. You should also include information about any advisors or mentors who are supporting your team.
- Financial Projections: Investors will want to see financial projections that demonstrate how your business will grow and become profitable. This should include projections for revenue, expenses, profits, and cash flow. You should also include assumptions and sensitivities to demonstrate that you have thought through potential risks and opportunities.
- Scalability: Investors want to know that your business has the potential to scale rapidly and become a significant player in your market. This could be based on your technology, network effects, economies of scale, or other factors that enable you to grow quickly and efficiently.
- Customer Acquisition: Your business plan should include a detailed plan for acquiring and retaining customers. This could include your marketing strategy, sales channels, customer acquisition costs, and customer lifetime value. You should also describe any partnerships or collaborations that will help you reach your target customers.
- Risks and Mitigation Strategies: Investors want to know that you have identified potential risks and have plans in place to mitigate them. This could include market risks, regulatory risks, technology risks, or operational risks. You should also describe any contingencies you have in place to deal with unexpected events.
- Exit Strategy: Investors want to know how they will eventually realize a return on their investment. This could be through an initial public offering (IPO), acquisition by a larger company, or other means. You should describe your plans for exiting the business and how investors will be able to realize a return on their investment.
- Realistic Timeline: Your business plan should include a timeline that shows key milestones and when you expect to achieve them. This could include product development, customer acquisition, revenue growth, and profitability. You should also include any dependencies or risks that could affect your ability to achieve your goals.
- Traction: Investors want to see evidence that your business is gaining traction and making progress towards its goals. This could be demonstrated by early customer adoption, revenue growth, partnerships, or other milestones that show that your business is on the right track.
- Innovation: Investors are often attracted to businesses that are pushing the boundaries of innovation and creating new products, services, or business models. Your business plan should highlight any innovative features or technologies that set your business apart from others in the market.
- Sustainability: In today’s world, many investors are looking for businesses that are focused on sustainability and have a positive impact on the environment and society. Your business plan should demonstrate how your business is contributing to a more sustainable future and how you are mitigating any negative impacts.
- Team Culture: Investors want to see that your team has a strong culture that supports collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Your business plan should describe how you are building a strong team culture and fostering a positive work environment.
- Communication: Finally, investors want to see that you are able to communicate effectively and build relationships with investors and other stakeholders. Your business plan should be well-written, professional, and easy to understand. You should also be able to articulate your vision, strategy, and progress in a clear and compelling way.
In summary, investors look for a well-written and researched business plan that clearly articulates a large and growing market opportunity, a strong competitive advantage, a scalable business model, a talented management team, financial projections, a clear plan for customer acquisition and retention, a thorough risk analysis, an exit strategy, and a realistic timeline for achieving key milestones.