The idea of creating an insightful and impactful business plan can be nerve-racking, even for serial entrepreneurs. There is so much written on what constitutes an ideal business plan by management gurus, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, academia, journalists, etc. that it’s overwhelming for most people. As we all know, the only constant in the real world is “change.” So why would we waste enormous amounts of time and energy trying to perfect something that is going to change anyway?
The only way to address this insanity is to approach your business plan from an MVP (minimal viable product) viewpoint. What if I told you that you can reduce the essence of your business plan to a single paragraph (i.e., five lines)? The whole idea is to write your summary business plan on a 5 x 8 index card that you can regularly review with your key stakeholders and pivot as necessary. Easier said than done, right? Here’s my recommendation of what should be included within a five-line business plan.
It should demonstrate that you have:
- Deep insights and an understanding of your customer’s big problem ‒ How many real customers have you approached, and how many would agree with this?
- A practical solution for solving customers’ problems ‒ How many customers are willing to pay you if you can build the solution that addresses their big problems?
- Good market traction ‒ How many paying customers are actively using your solution and at what rate and profit are you signing up the new customers?
- Real value creation ‒ How many paying customers have benefited from your solution, and what is the size of your value creation or business impact to them?
- Unique value proposition ‒ What are your differentiable capabilities and how do you plan to create and sustain your unfair competitive advantage?
If you can substantiate each point above with concrete proof and validation (or how you are working toward it), you have mastered your business plan.
I extend my best wishes for your entrepreneurship pursuit!
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