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Wednesday, April 09, 2025 |
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5 Warning Signals Your Business Might Have A Cash Flow Problem
A key reason for business failure is poor cash management. If you don�t pay attention to your daily cash flow, you face extinction; yet so many business people loss site of their cash flow. No matter how fantastic your company�s products are, you...
Dealing with Anger
Dealing with Anger Jason is a division manager at a large manufacturing plant. He has a reputation for being very loyal to the company, hard working, bright, and dedicated to building customer loyalty. Due to his stellar performance record, none of...
Operational Excellence for Wholesale Distributors
Executive Summary
Formula For Success & An Operationally Excellent Profile
Executive Summary
Do you have a vision and desire to transform your operating environment into that of an operationally excellent distribution...
Preparing to be an Entrepreneur
I believe the free market economy and the wealth of a community is built on the back of the entrepreneur Taking the entrepreneurial business path can be exciting, exhilarating, and an emotional roller coaster of ups and downs. There are a number of...
Start Thinking Strategically About Your Business
�You�ve got to think about the big things while you�re doing the small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.� - Alvin Toffler
While we all know it is important to plan for the future, very few businesses...
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How to Use Graphs and Charts in Your Business Plan
I often hear the question, �how many graphs or charts should I have in my business plan?� As with most other business planning questions, the answer is �it depends.� This article discusses the key factors influencing the number of graphs and charts to include in your business plan.
To begin, the key point to consider in developing your business plan is the time restraints of your audience. If your audience is a retired angel investor, he may have few obligations and can spend an hour reviewing your business plan. However, the more likely scenario is that a venture capitalist, corporate investor or loan officer will review your plan while sitting at a desk topped with fifty other business plans. As such, it is critical that your plan conveys its key points quickly and easily � this is where graphs or charts come in.
In determining whether to use a graph or chart, consider the old adage, �a picture is worth a thousand words.� The point here is that the picture should save a thousand words. That is, the graph or chart should supplement the text; it should not be explained ad naseum in the text, or that defeats its purpose. Likewise, the graph or chart must be relevant and support the text, rather than detract from it.
In addition to respecting the time constraints of the audience, the business plan must respect the audience�s energy level. That is, after reading seven business plans, an investor is likely to skip a page with 400 words of straight text. Even if no charts are applicable to support
the page, Growthink suggests using appropriate spacing and/or callout boxes (e.g., key text phrases highlighted in boxes) to make the page more readable.
Finally, if the business plan is only being presented to a single or a small number of investors, the amount of graphs and charts should reflect the wants, needs and sophistication of those few readers. For instance, if the plan is being presented only to strategic investors who understand the market, graphs can be used to convey information for which these investors may already have background knowledge.
Conversely, always keep in mind that the plan is not a slide presentation, and too many graphs and charts may position the company as one that is too lazy to complete the process of developing a formal business plan.
To summarize, the amount of charts and graphs used in the business plan must reflect the audience for the plan; an audience that is usually time and energy constrained. The charts and graphs must complement the text, enable the audience to quickly and easily digest the information, and as always, interest the audience in taking the next step (e.g., scheduling an in-person meeting) in the investment process.
About the Author
As President of Growthink, Dave Lavinsky leads a company that develops strategic business plans, conducts market research, and builds financial models for growing ventures. To date, Growthink has developed over 200 business plans for clients who have raised over $750 million in venture capital.
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| Strategic Planning (in nonprofit or for-profit organizations) |
| Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... First, a Point About For-Profit and Nonprofit Strategic Planning ... |
| www.managementhelp.org |
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| Basic Description of Strategic Planning (including key terms to know) |
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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| Strategic planning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| en.wikipedia.org |
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| 08/26/96 STRATEGIC PLANNING |
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| Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation |
| Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation. |
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| Guide 7 |
| Strategic Planning in Smaller Nonprofit Organizations ... In short, as a result of a strategic planning process, an organization will have a clearer idea of ... |
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| STRATEGIC PLANNING MANUAL |
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| Your browser may not have a PDF reader available. Google recommends visiting our text version of this document. |
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| BPubs.com: Strategic Planning & Business Planning Articles |
| Business Publications related to Corporate Strategic Planning. |
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| Strategic Planning Tools |
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| Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc. |
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| LEADERSHIP: Strategic Planning and Strategic Management |
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| The CEO Refresher Archives - Strategic Planning |
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| HEFCE : Publications : 2000 : 00/24 - Strategic planning in higher ... |
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| www.hefce.ac.uk |
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| The Association for Strategic Planning |
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| www.strategyplus.org |
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| Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A ... |
| Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook: Books: Michael Allison,Jude Kaye by Michael Allison,Jude Kaye. |
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| Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for ... |
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