The best suggestion I can make that will certainly pay off in long run and probably will be most effective strategy at this stage in game would be to start writing things down. Even if thoughts that occur to you seem insignificant at moment, keep your ideas in a simple notebook so that when you're ready to prepare your plan, all your ideas are ready to go and in one place. It is amazing how quickly you can forget something that you thought would stay with you forever, so keep notes on all your ideas. I can't count times I didn't write something down immediately upon thinking of it and later couldn't remember it no matter how hard I tried. Now I make it a point, even if idea occurs in middle of night, to quickly jot a few words down on a paper kept beside my bed. Even if it's just a few brief terms, those few words will jolt your memory and bring idea to forefront when you're ready to address it.

When is a 25-page business plan better than a 200-page business plan. The answer is - always.

Most investors have a mental checklist of half dozen or so specific points that they look for in a business plan. Everything else just gets in way and last thing they want to do is wade through pages and pages of tedious and often extraneous narrative. Long complex paragraphs that fill up half a page are about as welcome as Mike Wallace knocking on your door.

The purpose of your plan is not to impress reader with depth and extent of your knowledge. Your objective is to focus on key elements of plan and make your case as succinct and as straight forward as possible. If you have pages of information that you just can't bear to part with, put them in back of plan under an addendum and reference inform-ation in body of plan. The reader then has option of reviewing this information if they think it's important.

Hiding Weaknesses

One of more difficult aspects of writing a good business plan is effectively dealing with problems or weaknesses - and every business has them. Here are some of more common theories offered by unsuccessful plan writers.

·Why draw unnecessary attention to a negative ·If we ignore weaknesses, they may go away ·Once we get funding, then we can deal with problems ·What investors don't know won't hurt them ·It works for Tony Robins

Clearly you want to put your best foot forward but ignoring or glossing over a negative issue simply because it doesn't help your cause is potentially very damaging and is very often fatal. Like a heat-seeking missile, if there is a weakness in your product, service or strategy, savvy investor will find it and probably within first few minutes. Once this subterfuge is uncovered and it is obvious to everyone that you haven't been completely forthright, next logical question is "what else haven't you told me." When you've lost this element of trust, you've lost opportunity.

The best way and really only way of properly handling problems and weaknesses is to get then out in open and to have a detailed and well thought out action plan that effectively addresses each problem.

Distribution Channels

The portion of your plan that deals with channel strategies is fraught with potential landmines especially if you don't have a thorough understanding of distribution. How your product reaches market is unquestionably one of most important aspects of your business plan and your ability to effectively articulate this strategy is critical. At all costs, resist temptation to cover all bases by listing every imaginable channel possibility.

"We will market our widgets via Internet, catalogs, distributors, value added resellers, infomercials, wholesalers, direct mail, agents, direct field sales, telemarketing, retail outlets and - oh yes smoke signals in selected areas."

What this tells investor is that you don't have a channel strategy.

Competitive Analysis