What Most Startup Tech Company Business Plans Neglect

Business plans are important strategic documents, but can fail if they leave out key elements.

I’ve seen a lot of business plans in my tenure as an entrepreneur and as a consultant. In fact, I’ve taught classes on how to write and structure them. The idea behind a business plan is simple: sketch out your vision for the company you intend to start, and highlight the strengths, weaknesses, and profitability model. It will serve not only as a blueprint for your impending creation, but also as a pitch deck you can use to (hopefully) convince investors, partners, and even employees to join your cause.

The problem is, most business plans end up leaving out certain key elements, and without them, the rest of the document crumbles.

Research

You have numbers for the cost of your products and what you’d like to sell them for, but how much research have you really done? Every point in your business plan should be backed up with both primary and secondary research; in other words, you should have found what other people are already saying about the topic, and conducted a survey or other research method to find some information on your own. Without research, numbers are pointless.

Scale

Most people chart out what a business could look like in the span of a few years, given enough time to really settle into a given process. but what happens beyond those few years? How is your company going to grow? Ideally, you’ll have some vision for how the company develops over 3, 5, and even 10 years. Otherwise, you run the risk of becoming stagnant.

Flexibility

Finally, your business plan should have some kind of flexibility built in. Yes, your plan should be a realistic path of development for your business, but things don’t always go the way you imagine—so what are you going to do if things aren’t working out?

These are just some of the most common features left out of business plans. If you’re looking for help getting your business plan developed, or you’re concerned your startup isn’t getting the traction it needs, contact me today for a free consultation!

About the Author

Jose Vasquez is a serial entrepreneur and tech specialist dedicated to helping startup tech companies grow and succeed. As the founder of Build. Brand. Blast., Jose has worked with dozens of enterprises to find direction, gain momentum, and achieve results.