When Is Your Business Ready For Prime Time?

By Diana Zelikman, Fueled 

New business owners often get overly excited and ready to share their plans before making sure that everything is ready to go. Although it may seem like you have all of your ducks in a row, it's important to ensure that everything in your product is ready for action. So how do we know when our business plan is ready for prime time?

The Devil is in the Details

Knowing all of the nitty gritty details about your product and all of its components is extremely important. There should be no unanswered questions regarding anything about your product or your plan by the time you're finished with it. If your business or product is ready for the big time, it may feel like a broken record in your head! Having your target audience defined and being able to explain how your business is useful is a key point when getting ready to launch. People need to know how your service or product is going to be beneficial to them, regardless of whether it's an investor or just a regular customer.

Knowing the Specifics

The bigger picture is just as important as the details. It may seem obvious to have a team ready and described, but don't forget the importance of having every team member outlined for investors. All members of your team should be assigned, whether it is management, designers or administration - a place for everything, everything in its place. Along with knowing your own team, knowing your competitors should be on your checklist as well. Being able to openly compare prices, how they promote their service or product if it's similar, and what kind of 'packaging' it's in will be crucial to your plan of action. Many successful businesses and products have copycats, so knowing how you are going to compete with them is another step in having a successful business plan.

Plan of Action

So there are no errors or mistakes, practice ahead on how you plan to present your business. Using a PowerPoint presentation, a printed booklet, or just a verbal explanation are good ways to achieve this. How you present the project may make or break the idea as a whole, so be sure to focus on your method of presentation before taking the dive. When you do present the plan, be sure to remain specific without using vague phrases, buzzwords or confusing details. Investors want to know how they are going to make money, why your business or product is important, and what they are actually getting out of it. When presenting business plans, you certainly don't want to hear what needs to be changed or edited in your product or business plan - you want to hear a 'yes!' and 'we will invest!'

When writing a business plan, you should know what kind of things you want to address, and who you want to help and what kind of path you want to take. You know you only want to release a product or have your name on a business that is of the highest standard, so taking your time to get through every step should be a requirement. It may take a bit longer to go through all of the details in your business plan, but in the long run, it will be more beneficial to you and your customers or investors. 

Diana Zelikman is an editor at Fueled, the leading iPhone app builder in New York City, renowned for its award winning mobile design and strategy.