How to Write a Winning Business Plan

It's obvious that Wall Street has had a good run over the last year: the stock market has done well, venture capital is flowing, and private equity funds have more money than they know what to do with.

I was at a Wharton School of Business Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference last month, where I heard the chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman, speak. He said that pension funds and corporations were beating down his door pleading with him to take $200 million pots of money and invest them.

For many of you who read this column, either you are sick of working for someone else and want to start or buy a business, or you want to raise additional capital for your existing business. Unlike Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Schwarzman, who could write an idea on a piece of toilet paper and it would have more value than the Ten Commandments, you will need to develop a well-thought-out business plan.

There are two types of business plans. One is a plan to raise capital, and the second is a plan to run the business. The former covers information at the 50,000-foot level, and the latter provides detailed information about how you are really going to run the business.