An entrepreneur’s business plan is generally created to be reviewed by external funders. However, this should not be the first time that the plan is given a detailed review by a professional. Consultants and specialists are widely available and can offer valuable feedback which can save you from making embarrassing mistakes in full view of funders.

Specialists

Lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors can offer specific feedback on your business plan, as it pertains to their area of expertise. Make sure you seek specialists with experience working with startup businesses if you take this route. The upside of working with specialists to review the legal, financial, and tax aspects of your business plan is that they should have deep expertise on their topic. The downside is that you will need to speak to multiple specialists to cover all the bases and you will not have the benefit of one consultant who can give you an overall review of the strength of your current plan.

SCORE and SBDCs

SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) and SBDCs (Small Business Development Centers) are non-profit coaching and consultation services offering free services to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Both can give some initial advice and mentorship, but will not be able to devote a great deal of time to your plan as their mission is to offer basic consultations to many separate clients.

Business Plan Consultants

A business plan consultant can offer that overall review. This type of consultant specializes in creating business plans and helping entrepreneurs to develop their own. They have a very good idea of what funders want to see, and a general sense of the legal, tax, and financial issues that lawyers and accountants look at. A business plan consultant can offer an initial review and then refer you to a specialist with specific questions that are beyond their expertise. This can get you the best of both worlds in a sense – general advice on your strategy as well as deep expertise when you need it.