Why Your Business Idea Should Sell Itself

With all the challenges that entrepreneurs face, why complicate things by making your business idea hard to explain?

I saw a wonderful example of this principle on Monday when five teams of my "Foundations of Entrepreneurial Management" students at Babson College tried to convince their skeptical classmates to buy from their businesses.

Before getting into the details of which idea virtually sold itself and the one that seemed to be a near-impossible proposition, I'll point out that an easy-to-sell business idea runs the risk of also being easy to copy -- which could be a problem.

Anybody beginning or extending a venture that will consume significant resources of money, energy or time and that's expected to return a profit should take the time to draft some kind of business plan.

But there are many reasons to write a business plan, including the following five:

1. You want to start a business.

The classic business plan writer is an entrepreneur seeking funds to help start a new venture. Many great companies had their starts in the form of a plan that was used to convince investors to put up the capital necessary to get them under way.