STRUCTURE AND KEY ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS PLAN

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KEY QUESTIONS: Product or service• What end customers will you address?• What are the customers’ needs?• What customer value does your product/service provide?• What is the nature of your innovation? What is the current status of technicaldevelopment?• What partnerships are necessary to achieve full customer value?• What competitor products already exist or are under development?• Is your product/service permitted by law?• What are the prerequisites for development and manufacturing?• What stage of development has your product or service reached?• Do you have patents or licenses?• What further development steps do you plan to take? What milestones mustbe reached?• What versions of your products/services are designed for what customergroups and applications?• What patents/licenses do the competitors have?• Do you need to obtain licenses and, if so, from whom and at what cost?• What kind of service/maintenance will you offer?• What product or service guarantees will you grant?• Compare the strengths and weaknesses of comparable products/serviceswith yours in an overview!• What resources (time, personnel, materials) do you require for eachsubsequent development?• What share of sales do you expect from your various products/services (ifapplicable)? Why?• What income from royalties/sales do you estimate from possibly marketingthe property rights? Who would be your licensees/buyers?6.3. Management team"I invest in people, not ideas."Eugene Kleiner, Venture CapitalistThe management section is often the first part of the plan that venture capitalists turn to afterreading the executive summary. They want to know whether the management team is capableof running a promising business. Entrepreneurs frequently underestimate the significance ofthis question and make the mistake of skimping on content and making do with meaninglessphrases.Take the time to describe your management team well. When discussing management'squalifications, be sure to emphasize those that are particularly important for implementing yourspecific plans. Professional experience and past success carry more weight than academicdegrees. If key positions are to be given to inexperienced staff members, explain this decision indetail.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A POWERFUL MANAGEMENT TEAM• Common vision: Everybody wants to succeed• Complementary attributes and strengths• At least three, but usually no more than six, people• Committed to staying together through thick and thin• Staying power, even when there are setbacks - regroups and makes asecond or even third attempt to clear the hurdleAlso explain how the responsibilities in the company are to be delegated and indicate whichpositions still require reinforcements. It is particularly helpful to compare the assignments to befilled with the skill profiles of current team members. Do not hesitate to name your mostinfluential advisors. No one will have all the qualifications and experience necessary to found acompany. Considerable involvement on the part of advisors such as experiencedentrepreneurs, accountants, PR firms, or management consultants is a sign of professionalismand will reassure the venture capitalist that you have all the contacts you may need.WHAT PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS LOOK FOR• Has the team already worked together?• Do team members have relevant experience?• Do the founders know their weaknesses and are they willing to make up forthem?• Have the founders agreed on their future roles? Are ownership issuessettled?• Has the management team agreed on a common goal, or are thereunderlying differences of opinion?• Do the individual team members fully back the project?Finally, begin looking for suitable partners as soon as possible. Bringing together just the rightpeople to form a "dream team," so to speak, is immensely important for later business successand, therefore, requires a great deal of time and care.
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STRUCTURE AND KEY ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS PLAN

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