It is my belief that the business plan takes on two purposes. Firstly it is a means for you to truly understand your business. Secondly it is a communication tool between your business and potential investors.
I’ve written business plans for the purpose of approval by the board of directors. I’ve also taken that same business plan and re-written it for the presentation to potential investors. With hindsight it seems quite odd, even to me, that someone will write a business plan for the company only to write a different business plan for investors. The company’s purpose didn’t change between writings so why would somebody write two business plans for the one company? Before you attach blame to me, understand that most companies have mimicked this example. They write a business plan just because they were told they needed to then they go ahead and re-write the plan when they need funding from an investor or commercial lender.
