How To Communicate A Business Plan
Most entrepreneurs have a fantastic idea and want to start their business immediately. Often, they forget to complete a business plan fully. A business plan is an essential document every owner should have. Even if your business is already up and running, you will want to have a plan for yourself, your employees, and potential investors.
According to Go Business Plans, those who finished their business plans were twice as likely to succeed than those who had no plans.
You need a business plan. And you need to know how to communicate this plan effectively. Below are three strategies we believe will help you communicate your business plan effectively.
1. Clear Communication
If you want to communicate your business plan effectively, you need clear communication skills. Clear communication helps the audience receive your message the way you intended.
Consider the following:
- Tone And Body Language – Your tone and body language can significantly impact how the audience receives your message. When communicating a business plan, you want to ensure your message intent matches the impact. For example, when speaking to a group of investors, you will want your tone to show excitement. If you aren’t excited about your business, they won’t be either. You also want to showcase your excitement with confident body language. This means standing or sitting up straight with your head held high. Make eye contact with everyone in the group. Your tone and body language will communicate how you feel about what you are saying to your audience.
- Clarity – You want to make sure you are communicating with clarity. This means being direct and straightforward. Avoid using analogies or stories that don’t make sense or don’t relate to your message. For example, be as concise as possible when communicating your business plan. Stick to the essential points. When talking about your story, practice saying it ahead of time. You can record yourself and listen for any filler words or tangents. You may only get one chance to pitch yourself; make sure you are prepared.
- Confidence – When you are confident, you are much more likely to speak clearly. When communicating a business plan, you want to make sure you are confident in what you are saying and how you are saying it. For example, you can showcase confidence by focusing on your pace. When you are confident, you don’t rush your words. If you speak too quickly, you may appear nervous. When you speak with confidence, your audience will trust what you say.
Clear communication skills will help you communicate your business plan to investors, employees, and the public.
2. Define Your Audience
Your business plan is an overview and description of your business. When communicating your plan, you first want to define your audience. Each audience will need to know different aspects of your business plan.
Consider the following:
- Potential Investors – Communicating your business plan to investors will help you gain vital capital. Potential investors will be interested in the financials of your business plan. For example, when communicating your plan, you will want to include as much data as possible. You can use charts to show your current growth and projected growth.
- Employees – Yes, your employees should know part of your business plan. This is because your business plan includes how you plan to grow your business and your overall business mission. However, your employees don’t necessarily need to know all of your financials. For example, one way you can communicate your business plan to new hires, is to give them an overview of your company and the purpose behind the business. The Walt Disney Company does this really well. They dedicate an afternoon to going over the company’s values, and its vision with every new hire.
- Public – Consumers are becoming more and more interested in who is running a company and why the company is in business. Part of your business plan should include why you started the business. In other words, what is your story? If you want to capture the public’s attention, you will need to be able to communicate this part of your business plan. For example, you can create a newsletter on LinkedIn. Our CEO Jessica does an excellent job communicating with her followers via her weekly LinkedIn newsletter. The more you can communicate your vision, the more the public will trust you and your company.
Your audience will determine which parts of your business plan you use and what you communicate. Your employees, potential investors, and the public will all be interested in different aspects of your plan.
3. Communication Channels
How you communicate your business plan will vary depending on which communication channel you choose to use. Sometimes you will be presenting to investors in person; other times, you will be using social media. Creating a plan for each channel will help you determine how you will communicate your business plan.
Consider the following:
- In-Person – When you are communicating in person, you can see everyone in the room. You can look everyone in the eye and feed off of their energy. When communicating your business plan, take advantage of this opportunity. For example, lean into your body language and tone of voice. You can use your body language and tone of voice to build excitement. Pay attention to how the other people in the room react. If you sense a strong reaction to a particular part of your business plan, speak more about it. You can also use visual aids to help you convey your message. You can bring handouts or charts. Being in-person allows you to use many communication skills all at once.
- Virtual – Virtual or video communication is similar to in-person but can also create some challenges. You will want to be mindful of the technical side of your communication. For example, make sure everyone can hear and see you. This means having a strong internet connection, and being in a quiet space. You can still use visual aids to help you communicate your business plan. You can create a presentation and share your screen. Even though you aren’t physically in the room, you need to keep your energy high to keep your audience’s attention.
- Written – You may be communicating your company’s vision through social media, such as a LinkedIn newsletter. When communicating your business plan in this way, you want to make sure you are still capturing your tone and energy. For example, one way to showcase your tone and energy is to use a graphic or image to accompany your written communications. If you are really excited about reaching a goal from your business plan, your graphic may show you jumping in the air surrounded by confetti. When you do this, you give context to your words, and your audience will clearly understand your message.
Each communication channel has a different function. Learning how to be comfortable communicating in different ways will help you clearly communicate your business plan in any situation.
Your business plan explains your business strategy, goals, and purpose. Confidently communicating your business plan will help you gain new investors, inspire your employees, and gain the public’s trust.
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Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:
- Discover your communications style so you know where to start. Over 4,000 people have found theirs here.
- Attend our monthly communication workshop to build communications confidence (new topics: public speaking, advocating for yourself, building credibility, etc) here.
- Get your brand in front of 43k+ people by sponsoring our newsletter or Soulcast Media | LIVE LinkedIn events [contact: hello@soulcastmedia.com]
