How to handle ‘Please prepare and present your business plan’ in an interview

There may come a time in your job search when you’re asked by a firm to present your business plan as part of the recruiting process. On the one hand, you don’t want to give away your best ideas, and yet you do want to be credible. How do you handle this delicate situation?

If you find yourself in this scenario, there are a few key things to consider:

Recognise it’s a valid request

It’s not unreasonable for the hiring firm to want to really understand what you’re proposing. Perhaps, this is especially true if you’re suggesting that you want to set up an entirely new business for them, which will introduce a new and substantial revenue stream.

Do your research

If you’re asked to present a business plan, view it as a great opportunity to showcase diligence and understanding of their business. Research the business thoroughly - the firm itself, the industry, market trends, competitors, etc. Competent interviewees put time into knowing the business they’re interviewing with inside and out. Where possible, tailor this to the specific interests and concerns of who will be interviewing you.

Get the numbers right

A lesson that anyone watching Dragon’s Den will have gathered is to ensure that your numbers are clear and that you can substantiate how you’ve arrived at them. An additional consideration is to present them as being conservative, so that your audience can see that you’re being cautious and managing expectations well.

Barriers to entry

A concern about presenting your business plan maybe that they can just take your plan and replicate it without having to hire you. One way to steer them away from that option is to point out the barriers to entry. This might be your unique leadership skills, technical skills, and experience of having built a similar business in the past - if that’s the case. Other points to make might be the client relationships that you have and the respect and trust that they hold in you. Also, as you build the team out, you know who to recruit for the various roles. You know these people and their capabilities already, and can attract them to this new initiative, avoiding the monetary and time cost of using recruiters. Ideally, you want to tie the plan to your own skills and attributes.

Don’t give away the kitchen sink

You can find the line between giving enough information to be convincing without necessarily giving all the information away for free. For example, they’ll rightly want to do due diligence so it’s reasonable to get some references from one or two of your clients. You don’t have to give the whole list away.

Address issues and concerns head-on

Look at it from the perspective of the interviewer(s) and address the obvious concerns that they might have upfront. For example, they may want to recruit their own people into this new enterprise. That might be a great idea, whilst acknowledging that you might want to have some sort of influence about who joins the new team.

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If you’re asked to present a business plan as part of an interview progress, perspective is important. View it as a brilliant opportunity to showcase your skills and attributes, and your genuine interest in this firm and its business. Make it compelling with enough detail to be credible. At the same time you, for obvious reasons, don’t want to give everything away: you don’t want to present a plug and play business without having to hire you to lead it.

If you’re preparing for an interview and would benefit from some Interview Coaching, let’s talk. Schedule a call here to find out more about how we help Financial Services professionals excel in interviews.