It may be a bold statement, but it’s true. Business plans are becoming almost archaic in our fast-paced world.
Every entrepreneur needs to know what the new business blueprint looks like or they won’t be able to get business investors to buy into their idea or get the funding they need to scale.
Why are Business Plans Dead?
Simply put, TIME.
Our most valuable asset is TIME and high powered individuals, banks, and investors know that there is nothing more precious than time. 50 page business plans can take HOURS to read through and glean the most critical information. Quite frankly, that is not an effective use of time for an investor OR for you.
If you go to venture capital firms, angel investor groups, or anyone else that really understands the world today – the last thing they want to go through is 30-50 pages of data.
What is the New Business Blueprint We Should be Using?
Modern investors want to see a pitch deck that summarizes the fundamentals of why your business is going to be a success instead of a business plan.
At IdeasPros, we have every single one of our partners create a pitch deck. We typically do it for them, but we want them to be involved in the process as the pitch deck contains all the information investors need to make a positive decision.
The pitch deck fundamentals include the following:
- What problem exists currently?
- How do you solve the problem?
- Who is your target market? How much potential do you have to reach them?
- Do you understand your target market? Have you done surveys?
- What is unique about your method or services? What makes you better than the competition?
- How far have we gotten with pre-sales? Or how many members so you have if you have an app
- What are our predictions for the future sales based on what we had done so far with very little capital
- What assets do you have? (strategic partners like IdeaPros, team members, or a unique experience)
The pitch deck gets rid of all the noise and gets right to the point. This is why it is the new business blueprint that you should be using.
Our blog Tips to Create An Effective Pitch Deck and One Page Business Plan Template will give you more details about the topic and help you get started.
“Think about it… In one case, here’s my 50-page business plan that I’ve written. I’ve never been in this industry before, I’ve never competed in this industry, I haven’t really spoken to consumers. So this is what I believe is going to happen. How powerful is that compared to here’s my one page summary of what I do or here’s my seven to 10 page PowerPoint slide presentation of the problem, the solution, why we’re different, who we have participating in this.” – Fred Cary
What is The Investors’ Point-of-View?
Even banks, that can be considered the most conservative type of investors, are not insisting on Business Plan anymore and that is another clear sign that we need to move forward with new strategies.
“Everything is product-centered now, we usually see demonstrations of the product along with a brief slide presentation – no more than 10 – 15 slides. I won’t read a business plan.” Nikhil Nasu Trivedi, Shasta Ventures
“Entrepreneurs should send a one-page executive summary that includes a reason to invest. You are selling the investment, not the product, I want to know what the entrepreneur wants (how much funding), why they want it and what the return on the investment will be.” Liddy Karter, of Enhanced Capital Partners
“Pitch decks are almost becoming business plans in PowerPoint form.” – J. Skyler Fernandes, head of the Simon Venture Group
What investors want to know is if this investment is an opportunity, how big is the market size, is the product or the app solving a problem that needs to be solved, and if you can get their attention in the first couple of minutes. Then you will have a real chance at making the next step.
“If you’re selling water, you sell it to people who are going to drink water. If you’re selling to somebody who wants to make money instead of drinking water, you’re selling the investment.” – Fred Cary
How Can We Help?
Recently we partnered up with an entrepreneur who has been trying to get his product out on the market for the last 20 years. That’s a long time to be patiently waiting for your product to come to life!
We are very excited about his revolutionary product. We are going to apply our resources, experience, and tools to make his product available to the world. Partnering with our team can make the process from idea to marketable product 1 to 1.5 years, instead of the typical 3 – 4 year process.
We partner with entrepreneurs at any stage and who are ready to invest in the success of their idea. If you ever feel stuck or you just don’t know where to start, apply for an interview and let’s explore partnering together.