A lot of entrepreneurs have mixed feelings about business plans. Some see them as useless. Others see them as vital. I was on the fence a few years ago but am now firmly positioned in the opinion that they are vital when talking about a true entrepreneur with a real business. It may be fine for an enthusiast with a small-time business concept to not create a detailed business plan in writing. However, if one regards themselves a professional entrepreneur, as I do, and is taking on a serious venture meant to grow big, then not producing a quality business plan is almost always a sin in my opinion.

Now, I know that creating a professional business plan can be a tough and grueling process for many people. I fall into this boat as well. For me, writing in general is a grueling process. I am easily able to strategically think about all of the details of a business venture. However, thinking about how to translate my thoughts into well sounding sentences is the part that I don’t like. But regardless of why one may find creating a quality business plan tough, it is necessary. Here is why…

A professional entrepreneur taking on a serious venture is going almost always be involving other people at some point who will have a meaningful stake in the venture’s performance. Unless one is so credible or so suave that a business plan doesn’t matter, then having a business plan to backup other people’s investment of resources in your company is going to help you seal the deal. This may be the case with all types of people & organizations that you are dealing with, including banks, investors, suppliers, customers, employees, partners, advisors, etc. If you go to these people and verbally tell them about what you want to do, especially if it is starting up a new business, then you probably won’t get too far without having something more concrete to back it up than your verbal words. If the business isn’t off the ground yet, then at least having a quality business plan in place that shows you have researched, fully understand, and committed to the venture is key.

Another reason for creating a quality business plan is to aid the operation of your business. You may create many other types of documents to describe & aid operation other than a business plan, as companies do as they mature. However, the business plan can be a good document for guiding a company too. If you have nothing else, then you should at least be using your business plan in this way. It doesn’t have to detail everything down to the microscopic level. It just has to cover the vital parts of how the business is supposed to run. Utilizing this creates a structured environment of execution. It is usually much easier to optimize an organization that has consistently followed a plan compared to flying by the seat of its pants. If something changes, then just update the business plan and adapt your business accordingly.

It is true that the more business plans you write, the easier they get the next time. Also, depending on who you are showing your business plan to and for what purpose, you may want to create different versions for each audience. Some information might not be relevant to some and therefore reduce the effectiveness of the document. One thing that I believe in is super long and in-depth business plans. Creating a business plan that is like 200+ pages long is something that I recommend for a serious venture. This really helps communicate to others that you truly know the business and are indeed committed to it. Well worth the pain of writing such an extensive business plan. Now, not everyone is going to want to read such a long business plan. Therefore, creating another short version outside or inside of the long document is a good idea. Make sure to highlight the fact that you created the entire document within your plan, otherwise some people will assume that you hired someone else to do it for you.

There are many suggested formats to business plans. Some follow a paragraph form. Some, a bullet point form … etc. I recommend using it all in a synergistic way. Long paragraphed copy, bullet points, lists, graphs, images, everything. Heck, even video could help. They can all add value to the business plan. So use them all in a way that works and maximizes the impact of the document. There are many ways to categorize different sections of a business plan. For example, the marketing section, the management section, etc. You want to think about your audience with this. You certainly want to cover everything important. However, some things can overlap and choosing how to categorize them is important and should be view through the eyes of your audience.

When creating a killer business plan aimed to convert potential into results, you really want to dig deep down and create something world class. Then once you have, be proud to let as many targeted people know about it as you can. I am currently creating a couple world class business plans like this for business ventures of mine. They do take a long time to create. It is well worth it in my opinion though. These are world class business ventures of mine and they are intended to produce world class results. Nothing less than world class will do at every step of the way.