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10 Critical Facts to Put On the Cover of Your Business Plan...
In most business plans, no matter how striking the idea, the covers are critically important. The majority of investors may flip to the executive summary, if they get past the cover, when deciding whether or not they are interested. Exactly like the front page of a daily newspaper, a business plan cover puts the important highlights of the proposal upfront for potential investors to read. The success of an entire business plan campaign may stand or fall on what is said on the cover of the business plan. In his book, the Venture Capital Handbook, David Gladstone wrote that of the one-hundred proposals a week an investor receives, maybe ten are read. So, providing critical information on your cover is about the most important thing for sparking the interest of prospective investors. In fact, your cover page competes with hundreds of other documents, worksheets, phone calls, articles, and other information for the attention of prospective investors. And, based on Gladstone's figures, it competes in time, because, seen for a few seconds, it is heeded, or passed up, and seldom returned to by readers. Here are the ten critical pieces of information to include on the cover page of your business plan.
If you're struggling with how to fit all this information onto your cover page, go here to see an example of a cover page layout: http://www.business-plan-secrets-revealed.com/business-plan-cover-page.html Mike Elia is a chief financial officer and an advisor to venture capitalists and leverage buyout specialists. For more information about business plans and raising capital for your business or to review his business plan manual or free business plan guide, visit Business Plan Secrets Revealed.
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