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recognized at first - Poorly done work IS!
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It is extremely important to have your business plan proofread, that is why we have devoted a page to this important topic. Put your business plan through the same proofreading process as you would any print material you send to your customers. Always remember you are dealing with peoples egos. When you develop your business plan USE SIMPLE language. This is not a document to impress an investor or banker with your command of the language. Trying to be impressive can leave the reader in the dust, scratching their head trying to figure out what you mean. You've heard the expression "Keep it Simple" well our advice to you is exactly that: "Keep it Simple". If you do, you will get better results. Your recipient does not want to feel as if they are being made to feel inadequate. You would never allow a corporate document with a typo or misspellings to be read by anyone outside the company. The same is especially true for a print or on-line advertisement for your service or product. When a prospect reads your business plan, what opinion will they have of you or your company if your document has glaring typos? Don't forget, that often your business plan would be forwarded for comment and reference to their colleagues. Consequences of those mistakes may linger longer, and be more far-reaching, than anticipated. When you proofread your business plan be sure to subject it to the same oversight, and error checking as you would your sales documents. Doing so will dramatically reduce typos, poor grammar, spelling, etc. the result being a greater acceptance of your document. Your business plan stands a greater chance of being read and NOT trashed immediately. If you don't have a proofreading department, consider engaging an outside proofreading service. As an alternative, hire freelance proofreader. Albeit, it adds to the costs to develop your business plan, it's a good investment in the long run. Do you really want a potential investor to receive your business plan with the company's name misspelled? (glaring error). Several common errors: you instead of your (frequent error), both will pass a spell check, but not a proofreading. Create a proofreading checklist with "must-have" information. Develop one similar to the provided business plan checklist. A checklist will help avoid missed items required to be proofread. Proofreading will help eliminate simple but deadly mistakes! Simple errors are wrong dates, names and addresses, titles, abbreviations even omitted words or anything else that may cause the reader to question the content or its meaning. If you include your e-mail address then have the proofreader send an e-mail to the one in your business plan as well as calling the included telephone numbers listed. Copy and paste your web address from your business plan into a web browser. After it is proofread, give your plan to an independent person pretending to be an investor prospect. Have them go through your plan questioning it with as much detail as possible. They should actually perform every action asked for in the plan. As an example, call, send an e-mail, fill out any forms included as examples in your plan. As the Maze system employs a familiar word processor USE its spell checker, but don't rely on it. AFTER you spell check, look for common errors such as "your" instead of "you're" and "there" instead of "their." The worst error is when a typo results in correctly spelled, but incorrect words, such as "bath" instead of "both." Read carefully, and get others to look at the copy with fresh eyes. Take your time! Before or after you have your plan proofread, read once for meaning and once for typos. First, read your business plan to ensure it makes sense. You'll catch glaring errors that way. Then, focus on each word, character, and space. You should read through and check your business away from your desk. You will avoid all distractions. DO not take telephone calls or receive visitors, or even try to resolve any problems during this last phase of your business plan development.  |
Know your
business - Work your Plan!
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A well written business plan IS well
received! A poorly written one is usually discarded!