A business plan is a serious enterprise which requires a solid and long term preparation. In any case there are some basic rules which can help you in writing a plan.
Originality isn’t the main point. Even the greatest idea in the hands of poor managers will fail. If you find good people for your unoriginal enterprise, you will attract investors’ attention to your business plan.
Don’t postpone the writing to the last minute. Make sure you have enough time for collecting facts and researching.
Have your plan based on a solid basis. It may look very good, but if you don't produce facts and researches, you just waste energy.
Avoid empty statements and claims. All your claims should be supported by statistic or fact or quote from a well-informed source.
Rumors are inadmissible, especially, if it concerns the competition. Avoid listing rivals’ weaknesses. Only if you are sure one is going out of business you can slightly drop a hint at this circumstance.
Don’t use superlatives and strong adjectives. You are not writing a poem and such words as incredible, major, amazing, unbelievable, outstanding, great, most, best and so on are irrelevant to a business plan. Apply “unique” only if you can demonstrate with facts that your enterprise is truly only one of its kind.
Keep business plan size within 20 pages. Long documents are usually boring. Certainly you can write additionally whatever you want and keep it at home. If investors ask for details, you’ll be ready.
It is better to underestimate costs. It is routine practice to use two thirds of what you think is necessary. Over estimating on financial projections can harm your competitiveness.
Too optimistic time frames are not welcomed. You can ask around or do research on the Internet. If you think it will take 4 months to get up and running, double it. Usually companies’ development requires 6-12 months. You don’t know yet, but you will face troubles you can't control.
You can use promotional tricks but remember that the serious investors want facts.
Typos and misspelled words produce negative impression. You can use spell checker or hire an editor to get rid of mistakes. At least, you can ask four people to read the document.
If you want to get money, you have to spend some and get an accountant, who’ll do the professional financial projections. After that the financial side of your venture will have a standard business format that business persons expect.
Finally, you’ve got a brilliant business plan. But wonderful plan should have corresponding get-up. Avoid dull formatting. Add tables, charts, bullets, and other graphics. Fanciness in get-up is not very important. It is better to use three-ring or spiral bindings. | 
