If you're starting a new business, one of the first steps is to create a strong business plan. This strategic document not only requires extensive research and financial modeling, but it also needs to convince investors or lenders that your venture will be successful.
With the high stakes involved, many entrepreneurs face a critical question: Who writes a business plan? Should I write my business plan or hire an expert business plan writer to put together a professional strategic plan? Here's an in-depth look at the major pros and cons of each approach.
Writing your own business plan allows you to deeply understand every aspect of your proposed business. You personally handle the market opportunity research, drilling into target demographics and growth trends in your industry. You also identify potential competitive advantages, whether it’s a disruptive product, lean operational model, or blue ocean market opening.
Writing your own plan also gives you full creative control. You can take the strategy in any direction you believe has the highest likelihood of success. It also saves on the monetary costs of hiring someone. If funds are extremely tight for your start-up venture, creating the plan yourself may be the right fiscal move.
If I write my business plan on my own doesn't necessarily mean I should be doing the same. Doing so requires an immense investment of time - likely around 60-80 hours or more. As the founder, your time is extremely precious, so investing dozens of hours writing a business plan means taking that time away from validating your business model, networking with potential partners, and acquiring customers.
You also need full expertise in all aspects of strategic business planning - from market analysis, competitive evaluation, legal structures, taxes, formatting, and financial statements. Without this expertise, you may overlook key assumptions or create models based more on optimism rather than market realities. An uninformed or unrealistic plan is one of the fastest ways to get rejected by investors.
For crafting an attractive business plan which is likely to be accepted by the investors, it is very important to know who writes a business plan. Partnering with a professional business plan writer allows you to leverage strategic experts who build world-class plans day in and day out. They have the expertise to distill your vision into a compelling and executable strategy that truly resonates with investors.
You provide a high-level vision, goals, product details, and background for your company. They then structure that information into a document that aligns to proven best practices for your industry.
Experts also bring objectivity into projecting company growth and funding requirements. Every founder thinks their idea will be massively successful, but experienced writers ground projections in market research rather than optimism to calculate funding needs. This elevates credibility.
Additionally, investing in a professionally written plan also frees up a founder's bandwidth to do what they do best - sell the vision to partners and early customers. Without getting bogged down writing the plan, you can focus on making progress to validate market demand.
The tradeoffs usually come down to time/cost savings vs the benefits of expertise. Hiring a writer costs money, while doing it in-house saves capital. But writing the plan yourself costs precious time that may be better spent on other launch activities.
If you determine your venture could benefit from a professionally written business plan, make sure the engagement gets off on the right foot by considering these tips:
1. Clearly communicate your goals, vision, target markets, and what makes your venture unique. Provide necessary background documents to help educate the writer on your industry and company.Deciding whether to write your own business plan or hire an expert depends greatly on your specific situation. If funds are extremely scarce and you have sufficient expertise in strategic planning to create a quality plan, doing it yourself may be worth the effort.
However, for most founders, hiring a pro to handle the planning allows you to instead focus your time on execution and real-world customer validation. The costs also offer a strong ROI if it results in securing the funding needed to build a thriving company.
As you explore your options, the business plan experts at PlanWriters are always available for a free consultation. Learn more about our custom business planning process crafted specifically for early-stage startups ready to make their big idea into reality. With in-depth expertise across every industry, we can set your venture's best strategic vision up for long-term success. Bring your vision to life and launch your business with confidence. Contact the business planning strategists at https://planwriters.com/ and craft the perfect plan. Let's talk about your future!