How to Present Your Business Plan
Getting all your business ideas, aspirations, and plans on paper is an invaluable exercise. For your effort, you will be a more informed and engaged manager, ready to recognize future opportunities and respond to potential threats. Refer back to the plan at regular intervals to remind you of the priorities and goals that you’ve set. Also, update it as technology, competitive pressures, and customer preferences change. For internal use, store your working business plan in a three-ring binder for easy reference and revision.
Presentation Pointers
For version of the business plan that are shared with external parties (such as investors, partners, and bankers) consider the following pointers:
1. Use high-quality white paper, spiral-bound and covered with a clear plastic sheet so that the plan holds up to handling over time and your business name is visible without opening the plan.
2. Leave sufficient white space on the page by maintaining a 1” margin around your text and using double spaces between single-spaced paragraphs.
3. Use a traditional (and legible) typeface, such as Times New Roman or Garamond, to ensure that the type is easy to read. Limit the number of fonts that you use in your document – perhaps one font for the main text and one other for headlines. Too many fonts might distract the reader from the text itself.
4. the text should be no smaller that 10-points type; 12-point type is preferable. Section headlines may be slightly larger, up to 14-point type.
