Two Business Plans With Very Different Cover Pages
This is a tale of two business plans with very different cover pages. They both have unique business opportunities and attract investment with high yield potential. Arrive at the post in the morning, each neatly bound plan lands at the same table to potential business investors. Both plan to compete with hundreds of other documents, spreadsheets, phone calls, and articles to the attention of investors. And, they compete in time, because each of them, look for a few seconds, it is good and rarely noticed or passed back by the investors.
The first plan is tightly bound. Have a cover page made from thick paper stock. Cover page resembles the cover page to the paper. Company name in the middle of the page and contact the owner of the information in the lower left corner of the first bit to provide information about the business to investors. Not familiar with the company name or owner, the investor must now open the plan to learn something meaningful about the business.
However, the rigid cover page complicates the simplest task to prevent the document from easily flipping open and laid flat. Exacerbating investors who suddenly had to shift one arm of the business plan that does not want to work together to answer the phone because it rang for attention, leaving the remaining free hand to continue to wrestle with the cover page plan flat.
After wrestling with the business plan, investors are quick-handed get a glimpse of the first page of his plans: a standard confidentiality agreement. So the battle to find some meaningful information continues. This time, after several attempts shrinks, investors arrived on the next page, which … table of contents.
At this point, investors are reminded of the caller on the phone. Not wanting to be rude, investors apologized to the caller and return to challenge the business plan in hand. Investors eventually reach a page titled “Executive Summary.” Investors anxiously scanned page only to see an endless sea of words and “information-less” titles such as “Company”, “Market and Industry,” “Business Model / Strategy” and so forth. Not wanting to be rude to the caller again, investors decided the best to put this document other than …
The second business plan is also tied in neatly. However, this plan covers and binding allows pages to fold open and lie down. In addition, the cover page is divided into two columns.
The left column is about five inches wide. It contains the short title at the top of the column that captures the essence of business. Title followed by an outline of a business plan with a brief one-paragraph that summarizes the company, management team, products / services, the funds required, collateral are available, the use of funds, and possible exit. The column ends with a small table of financial projections.
Right-hand column, about two inches wide, begins by identifying the stage of the business in the primary industry or market. This information is followed by contact information for owners and end up with a list of contents. The layout is not crowded and has lots of white space for easy reading and easy on the eyes.
As investors try to read this business plan, he received another phone. This time, investors do not have to grapple with a business plan to read it. With one hand on the receiver, others just have a plan or take notes.
More importantly, investors never really opened a business plan to find out basic information about the business. Quick scan of this cover page says the business plan if it meets the criteria of investment business in terms of market focus of investors, the stage business, and the size of the deal. With only a few key elements highlighted in the cover page business plan, investors can convey meaningful information to a colleague for further review and follow-up.
But let us say that this business plan does not match the investment criteria of investors. What will happen then? Well, not just a pass and never returned to, this investor, who can quickly put together some good input into the business plan cover pages directly from the plan, now in a position to convey information to other investors who may be looking for any kind opportunities investment.