• Business Planning mistakes to avoid

Avoid business planning mistakes

Here are a few common pitfalls to avoid:

Trying to please everyone at once

If you have a business plan that tries to be everything at once without solving a specific problem for a specific industry, this could be an indication that you are spreading yourself too thinly without the proper focus that a growing business needs to prosper. 

Whether you are describing sales targets or target demographics, try to highlighted who you are targeting, and why.

Bad presentation and preparation

Although this may seem obvious, the number of business plans out there with spelling and grammar errors is higher than you think. It’s surprisingly easy for even the best-written plans out there to have glaring spelling errors that would leave any presenter mortified. The best way of avoiding this is to ask a friend or colleague to proof read the piece from start to finish.

Even if the writing is perfect, delivering a sloppy, nervous or inconsistent pitch will raise a few eyebrows in the room. If you aren’t confident in the plan, why would they be? 

Little things such as inconsistent formatting, incorrect labelling of graphs, wrong use of terminology or strange structures can all have an negative effect on the overall presentation. 

Forgetting who you are pitching to

Chances are that you have been working on this business plan for a while and may have even presented it to someone else in the past. One of the worst things you can do is forget to change or tweak certain details that are specific to your audience. 

If your audience think for one moment that you are taking your plan from place to place and it’s not relevant to them, your chances for success will take a hit.

Impossible goals and aspirations

Is always good to have goals to aim for with great ambition for success, but going overboard with your aspirations will end up alienating your audience. 

There’s nothing wrong with having high targets but once you start getting carried away with impossible goals or income predictions your credibility will soon take a steep dive.

There’s no actual plan!

The best business plans present a detailed overview of the business in both the short and long terms, but doesn’t just stop there. People need to show how the businesses moves between these stages and what actions will catalyse this movement. 

Simply outlining the business goals and positioning is not enough; there needs to be a coherent and structured narrative.

For more information check out our other resources, including crucial elements of a business plan and sign up for our next workshop where you can get advice from the experts.

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