Michigan 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.

Michigan Investors

United States > Michigan

Salutations, I am an individual investor who is also a part of an investment group. My experience involves consulting, investment in the markets (stock, option, commodities, and currencies). Trained in Import/Export trading, global/macro economics, business consulting, quantitative analysis of the stock market, and community/urban development/planning analysis. 80:20 ratio of silent to hands-on/advisory.

$250 to $15,000

United States > Michigan

Married, carrier engineer with 30+ years experience in the field. Also real estate investor/builder with 10+ years experience. Interested in participating in the michigan marijuana industry.

$25,000 to $100,000

United States > Michigan

CPA with 5 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry now working in Finance and Accounting for one of the United States largest Cannabis Cultivation and Processing Companies. Interested in investing in the Cannabis Industry.

$10,000 to $200,000

United States > Michigan

Family man. Work in Robot tech. Masters degree. Some/little investment experience. Somewhat hands on, like to learn new processes, or silent. Individual investor.

$1,000 to $100,000

United States > Michigan

We offer emerging growth companies or small and medium size enterprises (“SME’s”) proprietary capitalization advisory services in the form of a License Agreement which provides SME’s a turn-key solution to proactively and successfully complete a private placement of securities and acquire investors for their own enterprise. The license allows those SME’s to offer their investors a principal protected unit with flexible liquidity options that mitigate their downside risk. We also acquire controlling interest in public companies with the objective of restructuring them to merge with private companies who are seeking to go public. We also acquire controlling interests in private companies with the intent of expanding them with blue chip management teams and synergistic rollup acquisitions.

$10,000 to $1,000,000

United States > Michigan

I was born in Idaho, but raised in Montana on a cattle ranch. While I was in college, the family ranch was sold and I moved toward a career in business. After business graduate school, I worked 10 years in Corporate America for a Fortune 500 Company involved in acquisitions and supervision of companies once acquired. Working closely with the owners of the acquired companies that had built their businesses from start-up sparked the desire to start my own company. For the next 25 years three businesses were started, developed and sold to larger companies or investment groups. The last few years have been spent in using financial contacts, assets available and the experience gained to help fund or invest in other promising companies, operations or projects. EDUCATION Washington University - St. Louis, Missouri - MBA degree BYU - Provo, Utah - Degree in Accounting

$1,000,000 to $99,000,000

United States > Michigan

Work in automotive industry. Looking to be an investor and partner.

$100,000 to $250,000

United States > Michigan

I'm a 27 year old, single man living currently in Detroit, MI. I am a mechanical engineer with a master's degree and also an MBA in finance and data analytics. I have 5 years experience in B2B operations and logistics. I previously co-founded a startup outside the US that ran successfully before I sold it, specializing in manufacturing of packaging and distribution for food and beverage products. I'm looking for a hands-on investment opportunity to take part in the day-to-day operations and scaling of an existing business with growth potential. I'm currently an individual investor but with connections to deep-pocketed investor groups. Investments made do not have to be long-term, they can be joint ventures for a specified number of years as well.

$25,000 to $100,000