Planning Business Strategy

This book on Business Plan is a very good reference to both; the entrepreneur, who wants to start a business and for the investors. It helps both the parties; the entrepreneur – how to draft a convincing business plan to convince the investors for funding (if required) and to the investor – what to expect and what to assert on, if they were to fund this venture.

The book is useful for a startup, middle sized company and a large sized company and gives an idea how to organize each section to grow the organization. It describes how the Business Plan can be used every year, even for a growth with calculated risks. It describes how the Risks are highlighted to put the policies and decisions to either avoid, accept or mitigate those risks. The language in the book is very lucid. Some sections may have some extra text which make it a little long reading.

Rating: 4 / 5

I did, so I bought five books. I will review them from worst to best.

“Finding an Angel Investor In a Day,” by The Planning Shop (2007), told me nothing I didn’t know, and I didn’t know anything about business plans or angel investors. The title is ludicrous and the advice is obvious, e.g., “Your business plan should be concise, compelling, and irresistible to investors.” 1 star.

“The ABC’s of Writing Winning Business Plans,” by Garrett Sutton (2005), walks you through writing business plans for a lawn mowing business and buying a pizza restaurant. If your business is more complicated, this is not the book for you. 1 star.

“The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide,” by Brian Ford, Jay Boorstein, and Patrick Pruitt (2007), is a good book but hardly inspiring or insightful. If you follow this book your business plan will be competent but won’t grab investors. 3 stars.

“Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs,” by Susan Preston (2007). This book doesn’t explain how to write a business plan, but it explains how to make a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to investors — a presentation that will grab investors. For example, one question is “How is your product or technology scalable?” I also learned some of the financials that angel investors look for, such as what IRR is expected. This book helped and inspired me to write an excellent presentation, that became the basis for my business plan. 5 stars.

“Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur,” by Dermot Berkery (2008). This is a textbook for a business school course about venture capital. This book is full of insights. Every few pages new ideas would compel me to go to my computer and add stuff or rewrite my business plan, for example, Berkery emphasizes the need for clear milestones. Preston mentioned milestones but didn’t make it clear why they are so important. The financials that were briefly presented in Preston’s book are thoroughly presented in Berkery’s book, for example, what gross margin investors look for (80% or more) and why they need such extremely profitable products or services. Plus you learn the jargon or key phrases of venture capitalists, e.g., “a large but well signaled market,” the importance of “market power” and an effective “route to customers.” I feel that my business plan now speaks to investors in their language, with the numbers they are looking for. 5 stars.
Rating: 3 / 5