Illinois Investment Network

Business Plan Tips

What Investors Are Looking For In A Plan

Investors, whether angels or VC's, are looking for the same things when reading a business plan. They want to know how big the opportunity is, whether this is the right team to exploit the opportunity, who the competition is, what the risks are, and why they can expect this team to implement successfully. Your job in writing the business plan is to address these questions convincingly and clearly.

Emphasize Your Real Strengths

Highlight what your team brings to the table. If your business hinges on a particular competency (for example, understanding the procurement process), your plan will be more persuasive if one of your team members knows something about it and that is brought out in your plan. Rather than including generic resumes of team members, tailor the resumes to draw out the experience each member has that will make him or her a valuable contributor.

Get To The Point And Make It Clear And Comprehensive

Investors see many business plans. A 20-page plan which clearly lays out your business is far more likely to be read than a 100 page plan. Today, some entrepreneurs are using a 15 slide Powerpoint presentation. If your text is short and punchy, you won't need to repeat yourself, because the reader won't be bogged down keeping ten chapters in their head. Reading the same thing over and over, even if it's in different words, can get really tiring. The more you use brevity and give each concept a single home in your document, the more people will want to read it.

Write In Plain English

If you can't explain your idea in English, either you don't understand what you're talking about (What is a transaction enabled atomic journaling database server, anyway?) or you haven't simplified the idea enough. Think, revise, and try again.

Get Rid Of The Hype

Yes, we know you will be the "premier insert product category here of the Internet, achieving 99% market penetration with 60% customer retention in 3 months". Your product will reach "new heights in customer experience through the use of personalization and one-to-one profiling and customization". It will be "user friendly" because you will be creating a truly "ecstatic customer experience". It is a "quantum leap forward" in the marketplace for product category here. Um, yeah. Believe me, we've read it before. About a dozen times today, in fact. (And by the way, the phrase "quantum leap" really doesn't mean anything.) Stick to a tight, simple explanation of your idea. Convince your reader you'll be the best because your idea is the best, not because you can string a dozen buzzwords together.

Use Quantifiable Information

In each section, back up your assertions with solid facts. Even if you are a new venture and cannot give specific figures on the performance of your business, quote figures for the industry or your competitors. These real figures carry more weight than your assumed projections and give more reality to your plan.

Choose A Huge Market

Especially in the internet world, investors are looking more at the market than at the detailed specifics of your financials. Choose a market that is big enough to be an obvious good opportunity. A business which targets teenage girls who listen to music and has a reasonable chance of capturing 90% of the girls that are online is a huge opportunity. A business which targets net-savvy SAAB mechanics who need prosthetic limbs is not.

Illinois Investors

United States > Illinois

Owner of successful tech company in Chicago, looking to invest in early stage companies in the technology space.

$20,000 to $750,000

United States > Illinois

Accredited investor seeking business and investment opportunities in the Chicagoland area or Midwest.

$25,000 to $1,000,000

United States > Illinois

I and my wife have a lots of experience in the Thai, Chinese, and Japanese Restaurant business. My wife is a head chef at a Thai Japanese restaurant for the last 10 years. I work in the area of logistics & electronics and am a graduate of the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.

$100,000 to $500,000

United States > Illinois

Investing on behalf of both large institutional investors and small private equity firms including debt, mezz and equity investments 18+ years in commercial real estate development and investment Group investor with access to $70Bln in funds

$5,000,000 to $1,000,000,000

United States > Illinois

Individual Investor looking to expand my investment/business portfolio. Masters in applied mathematics with experience in risk management and data science.

$0 to $200,000

United States > Illinois

Live in the Chicagoland area. Seeking to invest in a business in need of an advisor or hands-on partner. Broad range of experience with businesses ranging from $100,000 to $120 million in revenue. Strengths include sales, inventory management, profitability and process improvement.

$10,000 to $500,000

United States > Illinois

I'm a young business man looking to invest some of my hard earned money, into some profitable business. I'm looking to expand my revenue and business relationships. I have very little investment experience, but I have owned a company of my own for the past year. I own a call center, and we promote heart checks and timeshares

$10,000 to $500,000

United States > Illinois

we provides financing and management assistance primarily to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through factoring in california and internationally. The company offers various factoring services, including international factoring, recourse factoring, non-recourse factoring, maturity factoring, indirect factoring, and full factoring, as well as financing for SMEs. It also involves in various leasing activities comprising nautical leasing, property leasing, equipment leasing, and vehicle leasing. In addition, the company provides Rendimax, an online savings account. It also serves large enterprises, business people, and private individuals.

$200,000 to $5,000,000