[NinaM]

Hi everyone! I'm very new here and had a question about writing a business plan. Are graphs necessary when writing one? I still have a the appropriate numbers in there but do I need a visual? In your experience? I'm writing a plan for a vintage clothing boutique/organic cosmetics. Any suggestions would be great, because writing this thing is giving me anxiety. I'm having flashbacks of being in high school, writing a research paper (god I hated citations and statistics!)

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You don't NEED graphs, but if they help convey information more effectively (as they often do), I would recommend using them.

[akula]

Originally Posted by NinaM

Hi everyone! I'm very new here and had a question about writing a business plan. Are graphs necessary when writing one? I still have a the appropriate numbers in there but do I need a visual? In your experience? I'm writing a plan for a vintage clothing boutique/organic cosmetics. Any suggestions would be great, because writing this thing is giving me anxiety. I'm having flashbacks of being in high school, writing a research paper (god I hated citations and statistics!)

Ok good question. When you're writing your plan, write it for a specific person who has requested to receive the bplan from you. This person will tell you what her preference is for the plan format. Some people will want a 60 page report with graphs, others will want 4 paragraph long answers to 4 questions about the opportunity, the team, the marketing and the financials.. So, it depends on the audience. There is no general rule like "a plan should (or not) have graphs" - the only important thing is the preference and the solicitation of the plan recipient.

However...if you're just writing a plan for no one in particular, then, deciding on the format is the least of your problems. In this case, you'd need to reconsider entrepreneurship all together, because writing things for a phantom audience is a sign of insanity.

[radreality]

Originally Posted by akula

However...if you're just writing a plan for no one in particular, then, deciding on the format is the least of your problems. In this case, you'd need to reconsider entrepreneurship all together, because writing things for a phantom audience is a sign of insanity.

not necessarily. Whether or not you are writing a business plan for someone else, you should always be writing it for yourself and your business. You learn a lot about your business when you write a business plan. Its good to review it from time to time to help keep your business on track and to make any updates to it that are needed.

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Originally Posted by radreality

not necessarily. Whether or not you are writing a business plan for someone else, you should always be writing it for yourself and your business. You learn a lot about your business when you write a business plan. Its good to review it from time to time to help keep your business on track and to make any updates to it that are needed.

Good advice. A business plan is a great way to getting your detailed vision down on paper. Then you can use that business plan to create other plans tailored towards your audience, which, as Akula mentioned, is a necessary step.

[MikeAnd]

If you are writing it for yourself, I wouldn't worry too much about making it nicely designed and including graphs.

If you are writing it for investors, vendors, outsiders, partners, etc. I would put a little more effort into including some graphs, designing it, etc.

As far as the graphs go, if you have excel, it shouldn't take too long to throw a few graphs together.

[zoobie]

Not a must but graphs do help.

[rogercbryan]

Nina, who are you writing the plan for? I've always tried to add some visuals to my proposals. A 20 page text proposal can get a little hard to read. Make it exciting and you'll have a better chance of getting your business up and running.