A key point in your journey to starting your business is creating a business plan. Many sites will sell or give away business plan templates, intended to make it easier for you to write the tome you need. But, the question is, who is your audience?

“My view is that most templates are designed to be ‘general,’” said Stacy Robin, Founder of The Degania Group and a faculty member teaching entrepreneurs at NYU and at the Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.

“Unfortunately most businesses need different plans for different purposes. If they use a template that doesn’t work for their business, they are following the wrong guidance and they’re going in the wrong direction. Your plan needs to focus on the areas that are critical to your business, so it needs to be crafted for the correct purpose.”

For example, if you’re creating a plan to get funding, different kinds of funding require different elements and explanations in your plan. “Depending on investor type, you need to focus on different things. If you’re going for a loan, you need to understand what they will look to finance with that loan,” said Robin. “VCs and most Angel investors aren’t interested in a long version of your plan until you talked with them and they’ve expressed interest in an initial pitch. But, if you don’t know the answers that will go in your full pitch, you probably shouldn’t be making the initial pitch to the investors.”

Of course, no matter who you talk with you’ll always get different advice. Some investors demand a full plan just to get a meeting. Also note that some people tend to create plans to put off starting their businesses, according to Robin. “By going out there, doing some experiments, prototyping and experimenting, you’ll gain a lot more than being locked in a room with your computer writing your plan.”

Some people write plans as a guide for themselves. “They may be envisioning their market testing or setting milestones, or writing the plan to get feedback from advisors. They also may wish to share their own vision with their staff in the company. Finally, reports Robin, people often ask for help with the financials. That’s fine, but don’t just get a model from someone without knowing how to understand it. “Part of what you pay for should be a model with equations, and you should know the levers and how the various parts of your business affect the model. If you have problematic financials or you can’t explain them, it is not likely you’ll get the funding you want.”

So, as you start the business planning process:

1. Know the audience for your plan (yourself, investors, collaborators)
2. Know how much of a plan you need (basic or more extensive)
3. Understand the elements of your own plan – including the financials
4. Make sure you’re using a plan template or framework that is applicable to your specific business and industry

And remember, we’re here in the Wicked Start community to help you get going!