I am interested in finding out what you think is the best format for a business plan.

Since many forums only give you 8-12 minutes in front of the audience - the PowerPoint approach is great for "presenting" the highlights of a plan.
But it probably shouldn`t be the plan - since more detail may be necessary.

A 60+ page document is overkill and isn`t concise enough-yet.

So neither of the above.

 

 

• Who`s your target customer and what problem are solving for them?
• What is your business model like or how do you plan to make money?
• Who is your competition?
• How are you different than them?
• How do you plan to "go-to-market?"
• Who`s on your Team?
• Etc...

I`m not trying to attract investors.  But, I still developed a business plan to keep me on track.  One of the simplest plan formats I`ve seen is at the link below.  Don`t let the "4-simple questions" part fool you.  Each question has multiple sections.  By the time you answer each section, you should have a pretty good start on a business plan.  You can then use a power point presentation to supplement your business plan.

http://www.wisebread.com/create-a-business-plan-by-answering-4-simple-questions

Depends upon your audience and their aptitude as to technology.  If it is a bank per se, than the traditional business plan and marketing plan layout will be preferred.  However, if it is a progressive potential investor or company that is driven with technological innovation, then I would provide the business plan in an interactive demo via power point.  If all else fails, you can always provide it in both formats for easy or prepare a traditional form with summary in power point format thereafter.

Neither...or both. It really depends. Your business might be complex enough where it NEEDS 60 pages worth of material. On the other hand, you might not need any business plan if you are doing it just as a formality.

If you are planning on using one, updating it and treating it as a living and breathing document, it should be as long or as short as you need it to be. If you work better off of working with slides, put them in slide format, if you will follow it more closely if it is 60 pages, write 60 pages. The important thing is that you will get USE out of every one of those slides or pages. If you won`t get use out of a single page, don`t even write one.

NDAs are a minefield for Venture Capitalists and Business Angels. If they sign one and don`t invest in the company and then invest in a similar company at a later stage, they could be open to litigation based on the NDA. Has anyone experienced a VC or Business Angel who actually signed an NDA?

Yet to deal with a VC that signs an NDA.  Typically I haven`t either lately.  I`m not in the business of stealing peoples ideas, and I`ve found the more paranoid people are about that happening (to the point of one person insisting we meet in public and still was worried the restaurant was bugged), the less credible the idea and pretty much guarantees its not someone I want to work with.  As well when you get to the point of talking to several people a day about the ideas, it becomes a part time job to manage the receive/print/sign/scan/send back routine.  Time is valuable.

Is it important that new start-ups consider green issues in their strategic plan? There are obvious big picture benefits, but do the day to day benefits justify consideration for a cash strapped start up?

When I see "green", the memories that come to mind are "eyeballs."

Remember during the dot-com boom?

"We need to capture eyeballs".
"This website gets 1million eyeballs a month"
"I don`t know yet how the biz will make money, but we have 4 million eyeballs a month"

Nowadays it`s "green"

If you have a "green" business, you`d be successful today.
Green is the new black.



The only green I like is Kermit the Frog.

I think it comes down to the day to day benefits (if any) for your business. This is hard to work out. It’s difficult to assess any marketing benefits associated with promoting a “green image” versus the costs of say solar panels. I think it depends on your industry and your customers.

"Green" is marketing speak.  Nowadays, everything, including company/product color trends, is leaning towards green, yellow green, sea green, blue green.

For me, it`s to the point of being sickening :)

My own business has been "green" for several years now before all this "Green fad" took off.

But in my line of business, we call it "RoHS".  It`s not only important, it`s REQUIRED (if you want to do business outside the USA).
 
Most ordinary people would not have a clue what I`m talking about.  (Just Google it.) 

I admit, it`s not as sexy as calling it "Green". 

Overhyped if you ask me.  If it`s relevant then sure, but don`t just put it in for the sake of it.  Seems too cliche to me.  I tend to dismiss people who make build their business plans around what people expect to hear and not what`s relevant and meaningful. 

I believe that start-ups must be higher up the "traction ladder" in order to get investment in today`s economic circumstances. As a result, they must get to that level using their personal savings and sweat equity. Only certain types of businesses can operate on this level. Many businesses that require substantial investment at an early stage may not get off the ground right now.

It`s important that entrepreneurs look at their business model to see if it is sustainable without  substantial investment.

I don`t know the best way to vote because yes and no didn`t seem to cover the option I thought most appropriate. I would say yes if the question was "most new entrepreneurs". I know if I voted yes, someone would come in after me and post possible ideas for even the most expensive startup to get started without bootstrapping. I do think that those possibilities are few and far between and not available to the average joe entrepreneur, but they are out there. I imagine your statement applies to almost all entrepreneurs these days. If I voted no, I`d be doing new members a disservice overstating their odds of success. Start small and don`t expect much help. I managed to get my cafe to 2/5 the original starting cost and will bootstrap to the large building idea I originally wanted. But really, I`ll be my own boss and I`ll be damned proud of myself. I don`t mind bootstrapping one bit.