There are many resources available to help you write a business plan, including books, templates, and online services. However, if you don’t have the time or knowledge to write a business plan yourself, you can hire a professional service to do it for you.
A professional business plan writer will have years of experience writing business plans and usually across many different sectors. The benefit of this is that they know exactly what needs to go into a business plan and how to present this to the intended audience, whether that is investors or potential business partners.
The Purpose of a Business Plan
Before starting your business plan, you’ll need to understand its purpose. Often, this will be different for each business, but the primary aim is to put across your business as a viable and profitable business. There are a variety of different purposes that you may need a business plan for, such as:
- To raise investment
- For banks or other financial institutions to lend money
- As a roadmap for the business
- To attract potential partners
- To lease business premises
This means that not all business plans will look the same. Your intended audience may need to see different things and with differing levels of detail. For example, a potential investor would be very interested to see how their investment will make a significant return. On the other hand, a landlord may simply need to see that you can afford to cover the rent.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Writing a Business Plan Yourself
Advantages
The main thing about writing a business plan yourself is that you will have a better understanding of your business and everything that goes into it. This can be crucial as you may have essential points you need to add to your plan that an external business plan writer may not include as standard.
Another important issue if you are a startup and strapped for cash is that you will save money instead of hiring someone to write it for you.
Asking someone else to write your business plan for you means that you must share sensitive details about your business, and this may not be a comfortable task for everyone. There may also be some specialist information that someone could steal. There are, however, ways to avoid it, and a lot comes down to who you choose to hire.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage to writing a business plan yourself is that it can be very time-consuming, particularly if you are unsure of what is required within the document. Knowing where to start is important, and that is why we put together the 8 key elements of a successful business plan.
Another disadvantage is that the quality of the document may not be high enough for the intended purpose. For example, if you are looking for investment, you will need to ensure you have the correct details within the business plan so that you can answer any questions that come your way. You do not want to be embarrassed at that meeting!
Advantages and Disadvantages of Hiring Someone to Write Your Business Plan
Advantages
Primarily, when hiring someone to write a business plan, their experience will mean that you will get a quality document. However, this does mean that you need to consider who you hire to do the business plan and ensure they have the experience and knowledge to create the best plan for you.
A professional business plan writer knows exactly what elements are needed within a business plan, and they know how to present the information. At Square Plan, we make sure that we have all the information we need to create a quality business plan; if anything doesn’t look right, we work with you to see where changes can be made.
A business plan can generally be created a lot quicker by a professional as they know what is needed and have experience putting plans together for different sectors. Provided they have all the information they need, they can put together a plan in a shorter amount of time than you may be able to yourself. You can use this time saved to work on other essential aspects of your business.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of hiring someone to write your business plan is that it will cost money, and this will vary depending on the level of details and the intended audience.
The other significant disadvantage is that the external writer will not have a complete understanding of your business or industry. This may be important for some businesses to get across in their business plan.
The importance of Detailed Financials
Whether you write the business plan yourself or hire someone to write it for you, the financial part of your business plan needs to be well thought out. It’s no longer the case that you can get a business loan by writing down a few quick profit and loss calculations.
Good financials means good research and detailed risk analysis. The research element will provide you with more accurate numbers to create detailed cash flow and capital requirements.
A good risk analysis will determine what would happen if income drops or costs rise. This is very important as it shows how your business can cope in different scenarios. A good business plan writer will make the financial section an essential aspect of your business plan.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire Someone to Write a Business Plan?
Hiring someone to write a business plan for you will involve costs, and how much you pay often depends on the type of business and the level of detail required.
Businesses can charge from £500 and often up to £10000 for a detailed business plan.
At Square Plan, our prices start at £299 for a simple business plan.