Three Common Business Plan Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Today, let us consider three common mistakes committed by entrepreneurs in writing business plans, and some practical suggestions on how to avoid them.

1. Exaggerated sales or revenue projections. See to it that the financial projections in your business proposal are realistic. Avoid using exaggerated forecasts of profit or sales just so you can convince creditors and investors to give you the funds you need. Instead, consult a business expert or a certified public accountant and review the projections you have included in your business plan. This way, you can make the necessary adjustments to the financial aspect of your business before you appear for your meeting with a prospective lender or investor.
2. Use of generalized statements. Your business plan should use assumptions and statements that are specific to the business you wish to build. Avoid recycling ideas from sample business proposals that you have stumbled upon online. Instead, make sure that the discussion of the different aspects of your business venture is appropriate to the product or service you wish to offer, to your target market segment, to the prevailing economic conditions in the market, and to the type of organization you wish to manage.
3. Complex terminologies. You should always remember that the target readers of your business plan are investors and creditors. So, you need to make sure that the document you will write will be easily understood by these individuals. To achieve this, you should avoid using complex terminologies, technical jargon and high-flowing ideas in your business plan. Keep it as simple as possible, and if you need to use highly-technical phrases, then see to it that you come up with footnotes which will describe or explain the idea or term further.