The 'success themes' i have found to work when it comes to pitching your business plan for capital.

1. BY NIGEL ENGELBRECHT
WHY BUSINESS
PLANS FAIL
A Brief synopsis on what makes business plans succeed.

2. Why Business Plans Fail
Sales Performance Review • Heiman Travel Agency
"Business Plans fail not because of the
market but because of the Entrepreneurs
failure to know the market."
Business Plans fail for many different reasons but if we apply a
few fundamentals to the process we can lower the failure rate
even if its by 10%. If starting or growing your business is
important enough to you then the extra effort is worth it.

3. ARGUMENTATION
The ''Success Themes"
A business plan is seen as a document by many
including professional service providers as a generic
template ' one size fits all approach'. This attitude
before, during and after the work is done is reflected in
the argumentation of the business plan

4. NARRATIVE
The ''Success Themes"
When I was starting out a mentor of mine
who's still an investment banker would use
different words than me. I would use
'business plan' and he would use 'business
case'. I would use 'problems' and he would
use 'challenges worth solving'.

5. HEALTH CHECK
The ''Success Themes
Checking facts and assumptions is important as this ties
into the strength of your argument. Someone to
scrutinize the research and numbers isn't easy to find so
I recommend finding a professional willing to offer at
least 1 - 2 hours of mentorship for your business case.
Ask for the tough questions and be willing to make the
required changes.

6. TARGET CAPITAL
The ''Success Themes
Going for Crowdfunding is vastly different than
traditional bank finance. Crowdfunding for example will
look for mainly tech start-ups whereas bank finance
leans more toward the tried and tested businesses.
Again, Angel Investors will lean more toward [in my
experience so far] agriculture and food securities more
than Venture Capitalists.

7. THE DONT'S
Expand domestically
and internationally.
Innovate product
offerings.
Expand online
channels.
Dont Skimp on
accurate
information EVER!
Accurate well thought out
information is a major
depending on target
finance.
Dont ever shorten
the Executive
Summary EVER!
Executive summaries are
designed to provide a solid
intro. Dont shorten them.
Be accurate.
Dont worry if your
financials show a 2
year loss!
Start up business often run
at a loss of roughly 2 years.
Dont worry about this.
Investors now this.

8. THE DO'S
Expand domestically
and internationally.
Innovate product
offerings.
Expand online
channels.
Create a high level
synopsis.
A high level synopsis is
normally requested from
Investment Bankers. Have
one ready!
Do your Research
and have it ready.
Research and more
research. Facts come from
research. Investors trust
facts.
Update your CV
along with your
business plan.
You need to have an
update CV in line with your
business plan.

9. CLOSING
Business plans are too loosely regarded as a 'one size fits all ' approach and this
leads to a lot of disappointment. The time and effort to produce high quality work
makes the difference between winning capital or not.