If you are talking with investors or banks about your solar panel business plan, than there are a few things that definitely have to be in every business plan. Otherwise, nobody will ever trust your financial plannings.
In this article, I will give you some important elements of a solar business plan that are really 100% necessary to have a chance of getting an investment for your business. Of course, these are only some examples — a complete analysis including financial modelling will have a lot more.
Talk About Risks In Your Solar Business Plan
One big failure of startups at the beginning is that they are always talking about the chances of the project but never about the risks!
Every investment has risks; and if you do not talk about them, then the investor will think about what could happen by himself. The investor will have a bad feeling about your reliability because you are not aware of potential problems that could appear.
But, if you give a realistic overview of the risks in this renewable energy business, then you will have the following advantages:
- The investor will have a good feeling because he knows that you are not a dreamer and you are aware of all the risks that are involved in this solar energy industry.
- Also, you will have the chance to talk about the risks in this industry and why you think that you can manage these risks.
Of course, you should also talk about the great chances you have! In your solar panel business plan, you should point out that it is more likely that the chances are much better than the risks, and that this business will be successful.
In the end, if you mention a risk that could happen and in the next part you will give a solution for it, you will be able to make an advantage out of this point!
Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is the first thing that a possible investor will get. It is a summary about your project, and it has to give the investor a short but complete picture of your business. After studying it, he will decide if he should pay your business more attention or not.
What is important about your summary:
Make it AFTER you made the complete plan:
Even though it is the first thing the investor or bank will see, it should be the last thing that you prepare. You will need all results of your financial planning to make this short (about 2 pages) overview about your new business.
Do not promise things that will not be proven in your solar business plan:
In your complete business analysis, you only should claim things in the summary that you can prove later.
Creating the summary first can lead to discrepancies later in the plan, as the final results may differ significantly from initial projections.
What has to be inside the Executive Summary:
In the summary, you should talk about:
1. Your product and services (what you are going to produce, what is the benefit for your customers, etc)
2. Your market for renewable energy (why your market is or will be big in the future, etc)
3. Strategy for the success of your solar company (in short words: What is your strategy on how to be a successful solar energy farm owner, etc)
4. Financial analysis (what is the total investment of the company, what will be the ROI or the income from the farm in the next 3-5 years, etc)
5. Company management (who you are, who makes up your team, why you are perfect for the solar energy business, etc)
Information About You
Talk about you and your team!
A very important point in a business are the people behind it. Your investor need to have the feeling that you and your team are the right one for this solar panel business.
In the written part of your business plan: Why are you the right person?
In the point where you are talking about the management of the company, you should also talk about you and your planned role within the company:
- What will be your position in this new solar energy business?
- Why you are the right one for this position?
- Do you already have partners with experience in the solar market and business?
Then talk about them...
In a personal meeting with the investor: Show that you are an expert in the solar panel industry, and that you have known this business for a long time!
If the investor is interested, there will surely will be a lot of discussions between you and him. In these discussions, it is very important that you need to convince him about your expertise!
Even with a perfect business plan—perhaps one created by a professional business plan service—a lack of knowledge about the solar industry or renewable energy businesses will prevent you from making a good impression in a meeting.
So my advice: Better make the complete business plan by your analysis, so that you will be aware of all figures inside and you will learn a lot about the business. This will help in your discussions to answer all questions. Therefore, a guided service like our solar business plan offering is a better approach than hiring a professional company to handle all the planning for you.
What Makes You Special
It is not enough to have a good plan and a good market. Investors want to hear about "something special" about you and your services.
Even if you don't have a "very special thing," you have to think about what could be the reason for customers to buy your products and services.
The easiest thing would be to have special technology (for example DESERT technology, multi wire technology or hethero junction) for customers; but even if you have no TECHNICAL USP, you can create another USP (services, designs, whatever!).
Be creative and point out why your solar product or services will be the best choice for customers in your market. So, there will be a huge number of panel sales when you start the production and marketing of solar energy panels. Also, you need to point out why customers will buy more from your company instead of your competitor's solar energy farm.