Page 54 - Business Plans that Work A Guide for Small Business

Getting Started • 45

Figure 3.1 Taglines

Facebook Giving people the power to share and make the world more open and
connected.
Twitter Discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.
Google Search, ads & apps
Nike Just Do It
Federal Express When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
McDonald's We love to see you smile.
Cisco Systems Empowering the Internet generation.
Microsoft Where do you want to go today?

ponent of the business plan. Rigorous adherence to the tagline facilitates
writing a concise business plan.
The key to the story model is capturing the reader’s attention. The
tagline is the foundation, but in writing the plan, you want to create a
number of visual catch-points. Too many business plans are text laden,
dense manifestos. Only the most diligent reader will wade through all that
text to find the nuggets of value. Help the reader by highlighting different
key points throughout the plan. How do you create these catch-points?
Some effective techniques include extensive use of headings and subhead-
ings, strategically placed bullet point lists, diagrams, charts, and the use
of sidebars. The point is to make the document not only content rich but
1
visually attractive and easy for the reader to identify highlights.
Now, let’s look at the major sections of the plan (Fig. 3.2). Keep in mind
that, although there are some variations, most plans have these compo-
nents. It is important to keep your plan as close to this format as possible
because many stakeholders are used to the format and it facilitates spot
reading. So if you are seeking venture capital for instance, you want to
facilitate quick perusal, because it has been found that venture capitalists
often spend as little as five minutes on a plan before rejecting it or p utting
it aside for further attention. A venture capitalist who becomes frus trated
with an unfamiliar format is more likely to reject it rather than try to
pull out the pertinent information. Although other types of investors,

1 Running sidebar is a visual device that is positioned down the right hand side of the
page that periodically highlights some of the key points in the plan. Don’t overload the
sidebar, but one or two items per page can draw attention to highlights that maintain
reader interest.