The simple truth of business plan writing is that less than 1/2 of 1% of all business plans written ever receive any kind of funding. That's a pretty abysmal rate! There are a multitude of reasons why the funding rate is so low.
For starters, most people don't understand what it takes to put a credible business plan package together. The ability to research the market (past, present, and future) to understand the competition, and to gain insights into your potential customer base is critical. Not only do you have to pull together this vast amount of information, but then you'll need to synthesize and focus that information into the most relevant, hard-hitting facts.
A great deal of knowledge of finance and accounting is required to put together an intelligent, credible set of assumptions that drive a full set of proforma financial statements including balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, a valuation, a funding analysis, and more. Pulling numbers out of thin air is not acceptable, and astute investors will quickly realize this is what you've done with only a cursory probing of your forecast. This is where the great majority of business plan software packages fall on their faces. One size fits all rarely fits your business's specific needs.
Next, is the need to develop your marketing, operations, human resources, and financial plans - the nuts and bolts of how your company will operate, find customers, make sales, and staff up.
And of course, we shouldn't forget the need to write up all of this information in an organized, intelligible fashion with the audience in mind. Many people with industry expertise make the mistake of using a lot of insider jargon that they think makes them sound intelligent, but ultimately loses the intended audience.
And lastly, once all this work is done, building an investor pitch deck that hits only the most salient points that investors will use to quickly decide if they want to pursue further or move on.
Still, even getting this far is only half the battle. You have to find and build relationships with investors who are active in your industry and/or geography. So many entrepreneurs waste their time and that of investors, by failing to research the investors' portfolios and needs.
So that brings us back to the question at hand - how do we achieve a 65% funding rate. By doing all of the above! We hand craft each business plan package to the exact needs of each client with the end audience in mind, then we match those clients up with the investors who are most likely to fund them - be it friends & family, angel investors, VCs, Private Equity firms, crowdfunding, debt financing, or some other avenue.
The benefits of hiring a professional business plan writer should never be underestimated. Not only will it save you a tremendous amount of your valuable time, it will ultimately help you reach your goals many times faster!