The story of Steve Jobs’ journey as one of Apple’s founders can help us see how we can model our own ideas with the same importance as ground-breaking innovations by Apple.
We can get inspiration from the biopic Jobs. It offers a perspective on what is and isn’t required for a startup business plan that works.
What’s Your Appeal?
Although few products will change the world the way the Apple computer did, your products have the opportunity to change your industry, possibly in ways unknown to you. Knowing how to tell a compelling story will help you present your business as viable, so you must write your objective carefully. Excellent-quality illustrations and photos add more credibility to your storytelling.
While a business plan is about your business, not primarily about a product, the idea is about using your products or prototypes to demonstrate that your brand is on its way up. An investor needs to tell whether they want to read any further at a glance, which makes your objective very important. Don’t be afraid to spur interest with a well-placed chart that requires further reading for more information.
What Are You Trying to Accomplish With Your Products?
One of the things you need to do is show investors why your business stands out from the crowd. Think of the type of excitement that we see in Jobs whenever Apple was about to roll out a new product. Your company might not reach as many people, but you can build up the excitement that catches an investor’s eye just the same.
Use illustrations showing the level of happiness your company will bring with its products. Include a story-based narrative describing what life will be like after using your company’s products. You’ll need to find the right balance between being comprehensive and concise.
For example, investors need to know what products and services you offer. Part of this narrative should include why these products and services fulfill a need. However, you won’t go into the same depth as you customarily would on your corporate website or white papers to describe these offerings. Investors should know why to take you seriously but also be hungry for the finished product or service.
Feeling Out the Market and Drafting Your Plan
Finding your company’s market is one of the most crucial parts of drafting your business plan. Once you’ve started preparing a plan, you’ve likely already discovered how customer needs could easily mesh with the product or service that you have devised.
Knowing your competition makes a substantial difference. As unique as your product or service may seem among the other options, there will be some competition you need to think about. Knowing your closest competitors will help you refine your niche even further.
Once you have this crucial information, you can craft your narrative to address how good an investment your company will be in the long run. Getting access to the product or service out to your likely customer base will allow you to test its viability. Including testimonials from pleased test customers or clients will give your brand more overall viability.
How Will The Whole Thing Be Structured?
Your business structure is more important than you may realize. Although every state has some variations in formal structures, most states recognize Sole Proprietorships, Partners, and Corporations.
Sole Proprietorships involve a single owner, while Partnerships have two or more owners. Many smaller businesses initially start up as Sole Proprietorships or Partnerships. The good news for expansion-minded companies is that they can opt to become Corporations after starting with a different structure.
In Jobs, although not delving deeply into the legal aspects, this movie’s treatment of Apple’s founding highlights how a company can start small and grow. Apple became a corporation when an investor bought the partnership.
Corporations may be either privately owned or publicly traded. There are a lot of legal and regulatory considerations for companies that opt for being publicly traded. Most companies will probably opt for Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, or privately-held corporations in the form of Limited Liability Companies or Limited Liability Partnerships.
Regardless of your chosen structure, your plan must highlight how many people you think you might require to run the business effectively. In this case, you want to err on the side of planning for expansion. If you can make this case effectively, you will have a better chance of convincing investors that you are growth-minded, not limitation-minded.
What Financial Resources Do You Need for Success?
To illustrate this part of your plan most effectively, you need to ensure you have a good knowledge of cash flows, which may be tricky if you’re not versed in bookkeeping or accounting. Things are sometimes tricky when you provide this information based on projections.
Think about the costs you expect to run up, from inventory to services you need to pay for. Next, you’ll need to project when your company will break even. If you have any problems making these projections, there are finance experts who specialize in coming up with this data you can hire to assist with this task.
Summary
If you want to know more about Steve Jobs, you can stream Jobs on FuboTV.
A well-crafted business plan will be the most valuable tool that you have at your disposal to make sure that you give investors the right impression. The greater the detail you go into, the better your chances of convincing an investor to provide you with an opportunity.
