Starting a Business in Berlin

48 49 Starting a Business in Berlin A Beginner’s Guide HOW DO I START WRITING MY BUSINESS PLAN? Put yourself in the shoes of the people reading your business plan; they probably don’t have much time, so will want to get a quick first impression of your document. This often means that by the time they have skimmed through the table of contents and summary, taken a look at your CV and glanced at your figures, their minds are already made up. The moral of the story here? Make sure you create the best possible first impression! Formulate a business plan in your own words. Use short, simple sentences. Demonstrating that you have undertaken thorough research is more important than writing a dazzling text. Similarly, making sure that your projected figures are properly thought out to create a meaningful set of figures is also more important than just having a set of numbers that look nice. Show that you have thought about your idea carefully and tested it out in practice! How your business plan can create a good first impression Find out who is the right person to contact and address the document accordingly. Do not submit an incomplete do- cument. If bank staffs, officials, consultants or others have set conditions, make sure you comply with them. Produce an attractive document: clean, well-organised and with an appropriate layout. Ensure that the executive summary is written to the best of your ability. Video on writing a business plan:  ihk-berlin.de/business-plan Business plan  ihk-berlin.de/business-plan Functions of a business plan ls A planning guide for the entrepreneur ls An aid to persuading potential partners, investors and advisors of the business’s merits ls A beacon that helps the person starting up the business and others involved in the process to keep on track N.B.: Steer well clear of pre-packaged business plans! You can download them from the Internet and they are handed out to new entrepreneurs at seminars, but they are usually unfit for purpose. It is not your own business that is being described, nor does it bear your personal imprint, so it is of no value to you – let alone to people who don’t know you. Your business plan will take up at least two to three 40- hour weeks of your time! If you are unsure about what form your business plan should take, think about who is going to read it (for example, a bank, investor, employment agency or competition jury) and tailor it to suit your audience. In some fast-paced industries and sectors, such as start-ups in the digital industry, a business model canvas is sometimes designed instead of a business plan, which is designed to think through and visualise all aspects of a business model. There’s also something called a “pitch deck” that can be created, which involves presentation slides in the form of a PDF file. If there is anything you’re unsure about, you can often ask your target audience directly what type of business plan they’re looking for. CHAPTER 4