I also look at the track record of the management team. Then we look at the financial projections. After that, I focus on the overall business concept and the numbers. I also focus on the management team including the team of advisers the borrower has retained to assist in preparing and implementing the business plan. Buchanan cites a similar initial review process.
Many business plans suffer from excessive length and detail, according to the lenders.
He suggests including such reports and statistics in an appendix or simply mentioning them as references rather than putting them in a text of a plan. The same goes for financial data. Irrelevant market and demographic data also clutters up many business plans. With all the information available on the Internet, it's easy to get carried away by embellishing your proposal with charts, graphs, and figures that do little to explain the virtues of your business concept. Unrealistic projections and assumptions present another common problem.