Growthink Provides Answer to Age Old Question: How Many Graphs or Charts Should I Have in My Business Plan?"

Provides updates on how and when to use graphs and charts in your business plan. Details how graphs and charts can help and hurt your business plan.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 29, 2005 -- According to Dave Lavinsky, President of Growthink, a common question in business plan development is how many graphs or charts should I have in my business plan?" As with most other business planning questions, the answer is it depends."

To begin, the key point to consider in developing your business plan is the time restraints of your audience. If your audience is a retired angel investor, he may have few obligations and can spend an hour reviewing your business plan. However, the more likely scenario is that a venture capitalist, corporate investor or loan officer will review your plan while sitting at a desk topped with fifty other business plans. As such, it is critical that your plan conveys its key points quickly and easily -- this is where graphs or charts come in.

In determining whether to use a graph or chart, consider the old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words." The point here is that the picture should save a thousand words. That is, the graph or chart should supplement the text; it should not be explained ad nauseam in the text, or that defeats its purpose. Likewise, the graph or chart must be relevant and support the text, rather than detract from it.

In addition to respecting the time constraints of the audience, the business plan must respect the audiences energy level. That is, after reading seven business plans, an investor is likely to skip a page with 400 words of straight text. Even if no charts are applicable to support the page, Growthink suggests using appropriate spacing and/or callout boxes (e.g., key text phrases highlighted in boxes) to make the page more readable.

Finally, if the business plan is being presented to one or few investors, the amount of graphs and charts should reflect the wants, needs and sophistication of those few readers. For instance, if the plan is being presented only to strategic investors who understand the market, graphs may be appropriate to convey information for which these investors already have background knowledge. Conversely, always keep in mind that the plan is not a slide presentation, and too many graphs and charts may position the company as one that is too lazy to complete the process of developing a formal business plan.

About Growthink

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. Growthink has become the firm of choice for venture capital firms, angel investors, corporations and entrepreneurs in the know. For more information please visit http://www.growthink.com

Contact Information

Growthink

1800 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Suite B

Los Angeles, CA 90291

Tel: 877-BIZ-PLAN (877-249-7526)

Fax: 310-943-2693

Email: info@growthink.com

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