When people create a strategic business plan there needs to be substance behind this in order for it to be credible and a chance to be successful. Anyone can create a pie in the sky plan that is full of ideas and unrealistic targets and outcomes. If you are looking for funding to support your business plan then the credibility of it will be challenged therefore the more detail you have in order to satisfy any potential funding requests – the better.
Financial Support
One of the first things that are challenged on a business plan is how much money is initially required in order to implement the project – this could be zero but highly unlikely. If you are then looking for funds this plan needs to detail exactly how much you are looking for and what every penny is going to be used for. You then clearly need to articulate what is the desired outcome of this and what the business benefits of this would be (at least recovering the initial offset in spending). Where you then get this money from raises another question. If you have a business bank account then you could approach the bank that you have already established a working relationship with. This is probably one of the most common and successful methods to get funding as the bank will have the history on your cash flow status and some credibility around your payments. Generally they will go beyond this and look for not only the detailed project plan but may look at your credit history and footprint. Other options may be to get an extended overdraft for a period of time which your business bank could support you with.
Stakeholders
Generally a business plan involves more than just you and will include others that are key to its success. It is important that when developing the project business plan that you have the correct engagement of these people or departments before execution to ensure they are aligned and in agreement. If you don’t engage others correctly, effectively your business plan is just words that may not get to a successful outcome. Ensuring that other stakeholders also commit to the time scales that you are looking for needs also to be aligned beforehand as this actually may required additional resource or help that the departments or people do not have.
Success
Your business plan needs to demonstrate success. If people are going to invest in the plan they expect to see a good return at the end of it. It does not need to be financial but it could be cost avoidance, quality improvements etc. Whatever your individual reason for having the plan in the first place just needs to properly articulate the desired outcome in a data mindset. If you then get funding for this project plan and it does not achieve the desired results, this clearly then affects your credibility if you were to go back to investors or people for additional funds.