Wharton Business Plan Competition Article

Tips For Creating The Cover Of Your Business Plan

A common belief is that the first page of your business plan always comes last in the line. It�s simply because it is the complete summary of the whole business plan. Is that all, you might ask? Well actually it is. You tell everything about your business in just one simple summary.

This would basically include the company�s name, or the name of your upcoming company, and the location. Besides the company�s info, you should also put in the executives involved, their contacts and so on.

Going back to your company info, list down every aspect of your business plan, and describe them in short sentences. This would include description of the products and services you�re offering, mission statement, and the management team�s info. Besides that, you may also include plans for determining your customer base, marketing ideas, operational and start up costs, competition in the industry report, financial plans, and many more.

Everything above can be put down very briefly on the first and second pages of your report. You can write in any format you want; outline, bulleted list, paragraph, graphical, and so on. Depending on the purpose and size of the business, determine the formality of the format.

Normally it can be very less formal if it�s just for a small business, or very formally if you�re trying to convince your investors and lenders into your large-scale business. But try not to complicate things. Make it as easily understandable and identifiable. Since it�s the key to your business expansion too, make it as pleasing as possible to those who will read it and take it seriously; generally your investors and lenders. And never leave any minor mistakes such as spelling or grammatical errors, especially on the summary itself.

Some people would like to keep the first page of the business plan clean, so they will keep the page as the cover, and put the summary on the second and third pages. Some others don�t fancy prolonging the report, so they use the front page as the title page as well, like what we�ve been talking about all these while. Also, some people prefer to have their cover page with some colors. It is actually fine to have a bit of it; it makes it interesting at the least. Some others on the other hand don�t like it much. But all we can say is if you do, keep it at a level. And don�t forget your company logo if you have one already.

Doing the front page is not that important, compared the things you�re putting on there. The facts and figures should be accurate and should never mislead. Be honest and straightforward by putting sincere simple statistic summaries, which is what investors like. Just imagine, if you could falsify your information; the investor and lenders can just kick you out of their offices! And do not also to forget the legal consequences if they are already attached to you. In short, just be honest and show your drive towards success. And don�t delay in creating your business plan as soon as possible.

These above tips can help you a lot in writing a crisp clear business plan. But if you think you need more tips or advice, you can always go for other articles such as this one. There are plenty of resources which can assist you in creating one good business plan too. You can either seek for your acquaintances which are very established in writing business plans, or see professionals who advice people on writing business plans. Such people can be really helpful, not only in writing business plan, but also in financial calculations as well. If you can�t find someone like that around you, just simply hire someone with the writing skills to write one good one for you. But no matter what it is, make sure you focus more on the front cover; because it carries everything including the impression on your business of company.