Writing your business plan is a vital part of the process of starting a business and arms you with information you need to know to set out on the right track.  A business plan serves many purposes and should be tailored each time for your specific audience.  Before you start it's important to know who you will be presenting the business plan to, as this will dedicate the length and focus of the business plan. 

Here are my top tips when planning and writing your business plan:

• Be realistic about financial estimates and projections: I cannot stress this enough, when presenting your business plan ensure that your estimates and projections are achievable and feasible.  Good tip is not to over project profits, keep it real!

• The process and blueprint: Your business plan should reflect your ideas and insights about your business and its future. The process of writing a business plan will focus you to consider the viability of your business before you commit to a course of action. 

• Qualify your assumptions: Follow up your projections and assertions with statistics, facts or quotes from a knowledgeable source to lend your plan credibility.

• Presentation is key: Format your business plan to keep the attention of the reader.  Avoid long, text-heavy document which are hard on the eyes.  The ideal business plan should include short text paragraphs with charts and graphs.  A typical business plan is 10 to 20 pages, however its length depends on a variety of factors.