| After years of tending bar and helping a couple of | | | | on. |
| different bar owners make hundreds of thousands of | | | | Fortunately, when I had first decided on writing a |
| dollars, I decided to venture out on my own and open | | | | business plan, I focused on this area and was pretty |
| my own pub. I knew that I would either need an | | | | well-prepared for most of his questions. However, I |
| investor or a loan, as well as a strong business plan. | | | | had not dotted all of the I's or crossed all of the T's, |
| What I soon discovered is that writing a business plan | | | | apparently, and he told me he still had "some |
| requires some serious research. | | | | concerns" regarding where exactly his money would |
| First and foremost, you have to know exactly what | | | | be going. |
| you are trying to market and to whom, and that is not | | | | After about a month, I finally a had a business plan set |
| always easy to articulate. The investor I approached | | | | forth on which we could both agree, and most |
| had all kinds of questions about the location I planned | | | | important, that made him happy. He told me that writing |
| to open my pub, which age group I was trying to draw | | | | a business plan is never easy, and said he liked my |
| in, facts about the community where I was hoping to | | | | idea from the outset, but wanted to make sure that I |
| open up shop, and so on and so forth. | | | | had a very clear concept of what exactly I wanted to |
| I had not really addressed that as well as he was | | | | do. He added that it was just as much for my benefit |
| hoping in my business plan, so I had to re-work that | | | | as it was for his. |
| before he would even look at he rest of my proposal. I | | | | At the time, I was a little annoyed and put off by the |
| knew that writing a business plan had been described | | | | whole situation. I had no idea that writing a business |
| by many of my friends as very challenging, but that | | | | plan would involve so much research and time, but |
| was just the first lesson I was to receive. | | | | looking back, I am glad that I went through it, because it |
| My prospective investor then wanted to know exactly | | | | did make things a lot easier going forward. |
| how much money I needed, and what I planned to use | | | | To make a long story short, I got the investment, |
| it all for, to the penny. He wanted to know if I planned | | | | opened up my pub, and things are going pretty well. |
| on using any of his original investment on salaries, how | | | | Writing a business plan was definitely one of the more |
| much the rent on the building would be, how much my | | | | challenging experiences of my life, but it turned out to |
| inventory would cost, the size of my staff and on and | | | | be among the more rewarding, as well. |