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“Why
You, Why Now” - A Critical Component of a
Winning Business Plan
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by:
Dave Lavinsky
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Business plans continue to be an essential
element of the capital-raising process. They must convince investors to
take notice - investors that are shrewder today due to the
ups-and-downs they have experienced over the past few years.
Adding to the financing challenge is the plethora of high-quality
companies, both public and private, in which investors can choose to
invest. In this environment, more and more investors are asking
companies seeking capital the question "Why You, Why Now"?
The question seems simple at first, but has many complexities. The
management team must clearly delineate what it is about the business
opportunity that makes it such a good investment now. Should this
investment have been made a year ago to cement a market leadership
position? Or, is the venture before its time - will slow market
adoption cause slow sales over the next few years, and as such, should
the investment wait. Questions like these, based on investment failures
from the past few years, continue to surface and must be addressed by
the management team in their business plans.
Likewise the team must address what it is that makes them uniquely
qualified to succeed. Does the team have proprietary (and protectable)
technology, management talent and experience that competitors do not,
long-term strategic partners? According to Growthink president, Dave
Lavinsky, "Management teams must prove to investors why they are unique
and why they will succeed. They can't just state how wonderful they are
- they need to prove it through detailing past successes and unique
qualifications."
A business plan that fails to address the "Why You, Why Now" question,
is most likely a business plan that will remain in the stack of "not
now" business plans. Business plans must present a compelling argument
as to why the investor should invest and in our fast-paced world with
unbelievable opportunities and opportunity costs, why investors should
invest now.
About the author:
As President of Growthink
Business Plans, Dave Lavinsky has helped the company become
one of the premier business plan development firms. Since its
inception, Growthink has developed over 200 business plans. Growthink
clients have collectively raised over $750 million in financing,
launched numerous new product and service lines and gained competitive
advantage and market share.
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