Cheap Business Plans for Sale in Nigeria: Is 7,000 or 10,000 Naira worth it?

When you are searching online for business plans in Nigeria, it is not uncommon to come across some very questionable business plan adverts being priced ridiculously at 10,000 or less by quacks with very poor business writing skills.

The most obvious reason for the large number of these fake business plans is the desperate need by some people to make a quick buck. The vast majority of these people when you make contact with them cannot even express themselves properly in English and sound like people with low formal education.

The modus operandi of this ilk is to present a sample business plan with an outline and a claim to presenting a complete one once you make payment to an account number which is attached to the blog post/article. Usually, the prices of these business plans go for N10,000 but there are some that will even offer it for as low as N7,000. I will strongly advise you against buying such business plans and here are my reasons;

5 reasons you should not buy a ‘cheap’ business plan in Nigeria

If you don’t have enough money to hire a professional business plan writer, then you should at least put in the effort to write the business plan yourself because most of these so called N10,000 business plans are nothing to write home about. The authors are quacks and copycats and are only interested in duping unsuspecting business plan clients with low quality business plans and I will give you 5 reasons to not waste your time on such business plans;

#1 The Business Plans are usually Poorly written

The most noticeable flaw in these types of business plans is how poorly written they are. The authors don’t do any proper research, they write with very shallow depth as the clear absence of data and credible facts are absent. Just speculation with copy and paste material copied from other sources without due reference.

#2 The Business Plans are clearly unreliable

How credible is the research and the business model proposed in the business plan? A close look at these writeups often reveals the absence of actionable advice, projections or statements that will point the reader in a certain direction. It is like writing a policy document with no clear recommendations or an academic research that doesn’t reach any findings and recommendations. What is the real strength of the writeup besides filling space?

#3 The Business Plans are usually one size fits all

The so called business plan writer tells you the business plan can be submitted anywhere. Really? It can be submitted to a venture capitalists or commercial banks that have very thorough business plan assessments? You mean a poorly written business plan can be submitted to an international development agency when there are no proper financial projections or strategic outlook for how to implement the plan? If at all the business plan can be submitted anywhere are all business opportunities the same that a single business plan can be used for all kinds regardless of location and business concepts?

#4 The Business Plan is not written for you

If a poultry business plan is written and the author offers it for sale at 10,000 naira chances are that he/she wrote a general business plan for poultry business but things are not so simple. If your poultry business is meant to operate in Akure and you have a unique touch to running it different from other poultry businesses, that 10,000 naira business plan isn’t going to capture it for you. In other words, you and all the other people who bought that business plan will have the same document even when it is not tailored to your business needs.

#5 The Business Plans are usually outdated

When you check out most of these business plans they are not written with the current realities in mind. Every 5 to 10 years, the business environment in countries change. Consumer behaviours change, market demands change, inflation takes its toll on the business climate among other factors. So if a business plan was written in 2012, how useful will it be in 2020? That is one of the problems you will face with these knids of business plans.

Final Notes

Business plan writing should be customized to your business needs, capture current business realities and be professionally written but you can only get that from experts who know what they are doing and not quacks pretending to know their work.

To hire an expert business plan writer with a proven track record that will give your business plan the professional touch it deserves, send an email to: paulonwueme@gmail.com or call 0803 206 4106 for enquiries.

Business Plan Software, Sample Business Plan or Professional Business Plan Writer?

 If you need a business plan to present to investors to raise capital or loans to fund your business which of these three options should you go for? 

Many times people looking for business plans especially here in Nigeria have a tendency to go online to download a sample business plan format to guide them in writing a business plan. Along the line they discover two problems namely; that those online business plans are written for businesses in other countries and do not have realistic or comparable factors which would make them viable in Nigeria. The other problem is that a sample business plan may still have to be edited or discarded off entirely when it doesn’t seem to make sense at least in the Nigerian context and/or suit the particular business opportunity you have in mind. On the other hand, one may be tempted to buy business plan software which would provide one with fill in the blank options or one that is already written as part of a collection of business plans for sale.

Really the choice of which option you should go for would depend on your situation and what is at stake for you when preparing the business plan and I’ll explain this shortly.

Buying a do it yourself business plan software

You can actually order for a ready-made business plan online at various places but I’ll recommend live plan to anyone looking for a business plan software from a reputable business plan writing company. There are many other places to order for a ready-made business plan but I won’t be mentioning them in this post.

Advantages of buying a ready-made business plan

• It’s cheaper than hiring a professional business plan writer as it usually comes at a fraction of the professional’s fee sometimes as low as $10
• It is faster because you can have it prepared in less than 48 hours which is almost impossible if you contact a professional business plan writer to prepare one for you.
• You are directly involved in its preparation because you’ll do the editing, presentation etc yourself

Disadvantages of buying and using a ready-made business plan

• The format may not be suitable for your intended/targeted lender or investor. The bank or investor who looks at your business plan may have specific things he’s interested in e.g working capital turnover or payback plan which your ready-made business plan may not have answers to
• The scope of the business plan may be limited and may not reflect the current situation of your business, the market analysis may need to change because market trends are not constant but change with time. It’s like buying a Nokia 3310 and still expecting it to function like iphone 6. The sample business plan can be likened to the Nokia phone in terms of being outdated or not complete for present day mobile phone usage.

Download and Edit a free sample business plan or business Plan format/template

There are many sample business plan formats available for download online. Some of these business plans have formats that are not suitable for use in certain countries because they are designed to fit into the overall economic situations of their respective countries. For instance a business plan sample on supermarket business from bplans.com will specify locations in the US, target markets specifically showing how potential customers shop (which is a lifestyle issue) and costing in US dollar whereas someone living in say Nigeria in search of a business plan sample sees this business plan, downloads it and edits it removing anything suggesting US without considering the difficulty in adapting realistic assumptions that fits the Nigerian business climate into the downloaded business plan. In other words you have picked up a Toyota vehicle, removed its engine and replaced it with that of a Volkswagen and expect the car to function optimally without any awkward hitches.

Advantages of downloading a business plan sample

• It saves you time because you don’t have to do hard time consuming research
• You have a standard template to work with which would improve your business plan presentation
• It is inexpensive compared to either hiring a business plan writer or buying a ready-made business plan because you get it absolutely free of charge

Disadvantages of downloading a business plan sample 

• Since business plans are not a one size fits all document it follows that a downloaded and edited business plan sample will not provide ample details on the particular business opportunity you’re presenting the business plan for
• They are not sufficiently suitable for your business venture and the opportunity it stands for

Hire a Business Plan Expert to write you a New Business Plan from Scratch

This is the least preferred option by most people because it entails entrusting your business idea to another person who you are not sure won’t go into the business you are about venturing into or possibly sell your idea to another person - although there are ways to overcome this when you come in contact with the right business plan writer. Secondly you have to pay a hefty fee and the chances of you getting exactly what you want can only be guaranteed by the professional’s proven competence which will either be based on a referral or by the claims made by the business plan writer. Thirdly this option is suitable for people who don’t have time to write the business plan themselves, can’t write it even if they had enough time and/or prefer to have a professional write the business plan especially if you are going to present it to a distinguished panel of investors or a bank with very strict standards.

Advantages of hiring a business plan writer

• The business plan will be customized to your own particular business needs as the business plan writer will seek your input either by oral or written interview and your responses will guide his/her write up
• The business plan will be more professionally written than downloading and editing a sample and is more likely also to be better than a ready-made business plan purchased online
• A professionally written business plan usually has greater impact than a copy and paste business plan sample simply because the uniqueness, viability and the growth potentials of the business opportunity will speak out through the business plan
• A professionally written business plan is usually more realistic than other options because business plan writers work with realistic assumptions and calculations when forecasting and projecting financial details
• It is less Stressful to you because all you do is pay for a service and make needed input by way of feedback you don’t write anything or have to stress yourself doing research and calculations.

Disadvantages of hiring a business plan writer

• It will cost you more money because you have to spend higher than the other two options but then it often proves to be worthwhile – when you hire the right business plan writer.
• The business plan takes longer time to complete: because the business plan writer has to research the business opportunity and do detailed write-ups, rewriting the draft, making the business plan presentations and several other tasks which takes longer time from between 5 to 14 days to complete
• You are only indirectly involved in terms of only making inputs whereas the actual writing and business plan development is not in your hands until after you receive the final draft

Final Thoughts on which business plan option you should opt for

The ball is in the court of the prospective business plan seeker your choice of which option to go for should be based on what you want to achieve with the business and how important that achievement would be to you – if you are highly motivated you are not likely to gamble with your options. Another thing to consider is your budget for the business plan, the higher the cost compared to your budget the more likely you are to pursue less expensive options. However you should be guided by whether you want to succeed or not and which option will best ensure that you succeed.

You can reach an experienced, professional business plan writer in Nigeria either by email: paulonwueme@gmail.com or call: 08032064106