Identifying Target Audiences and Key Messages

Your business plan is the blueprint for how you plan to build a successful
enterprise. It’s a comprehensive document that covers a lot of territory and
addresses all sorts of issues. To help focus your efforts, consider which groups of people will have the greatest impact on your success. Those
groups will be the primary audiences for your business plan.

For example, if you need capital investment, investors will be your primary
audience. If you need to build strategic alliances, you want to address potential
business partners. You and your team are another key audience for the
plan, of course, because it will serve as your guide. Be sure to keep that fact
in mind as you fine-tune the messages you want to convey.

After you know who you want to reach with your business plan, you can
focus on what those readers will want to know and what message you want
them to receive. This section helps you define your audience and your message
before you begin to assemble your plan.

Your audience
All the people who have an interest in your business venture — from investors
and lenders to your employees, customers, and suppliers — represent
different audiences for your business plan. Depending on the situation you
face and what you want your company to achieve through its plan, certain
audiences will be more important than others:

✓ If your company seeks investment capital, your all-important target audience
is likely to be filled with potential investors.
✓ If your plan includes the introduction of stock options (possibly in lieu
of high salaries), your current and prospective employees will be a primary
target audience.
✓ If you’re launching a business that needs clients, not cash, to get up and
running — the sooner the better — potential customers will comprise
your plan’s primary audience.
✓ If you’re a self-employed freelancer, your plan may be for you and you
alone to focus your efforts, chart your course, and anticipate problems
before they arise.

Your message
After you target the audiences for your plan, the next step is to focus on the
key messages you want each group to receive. People with different stakes
in your business will read your business plan with different interests and
values. For example: 

✓ A person who owns shares in a company wants to read about growth
plans.
✓ A banker considering a loan request wants to see proof of strong revenue
and profit prospects.
✓ Employee groups want to see how they’ll benefit from the company’s
growth and profits.
✓ Regulators focus on operational and financial issues.