Question

Elaborate on various formats in presenting a business plan to prospective investors.

Answer 1

The depth and detail in the business plan depend on the size and scope of the proposed new venture. There is no fixed content for a business plan as it varies according to the entrepreneur's goals and audience (i.e. who are being targeted).

Thus, it is common for especially start-ups to have three or four formats as follows for the same business plan.

1. Elevator pitch: It is a three minute summary of the business plan's executive summary. This is often used as a teaser to awaken the interest of potential funders, customers, or strategic partners.
2. A pitch deck with oral narrative: A hopeful, entertaining slide show and oral narrative that is meant to trigger discussion and interest potential investors in reading the written presentation, i.e. the executive summary and a few key graphs showing financial trends and key decision-making benchmarks.
3. A written presentation for external stakeholders: A detailed, well-written, and pleasingly formatted plan targeted at external stakeholders.
4. An internal operational plan: A detailed plan describing planning details that are needed by management but may not be of interest to external stakeholders.