How do I direct my business to a target audience?

Is this part needed for a business proposal of an internet project?

• I'm trying to start an internet portal that serves a target group of customer, and is drafting a business proposal for a few interested investors. I already have the following parts: Purpose Background Features and Innovations The strength of my team Advantage Analysis Target Market and Size Required Fundings 3 year plan (budgets, goals, etc...) Conclusion I have a target revenue for a set time period, but I also want to using more convincing sources to obtain a realistic target revenue. Target revenue will depend on the number of users, so how can I convince my audience that I will have a good chance of getting a certain number of users at the end of a time period? I already know the size of POTENTIAL users, and it's huge. My project only need to obtain a tiny percentage of said users to make a profit. But there are hardly any sources that can give a reliable estimate of how many users a site can draw at the end of say, 3 years, especially when it's a new project targeting a specific set of customers. Can I use the results from my competitors? But still, that doesn't automatically mean I will achieve that. Or is a conservative estimate enough? And there are always risks when it comes to this. Does my audience require that I somehow arrive at a figure scientifically as if making a mathematical proof? So many uncertainties and not enough data in a new field.

• Answer:

  Your best option is to use the data of your competitors, highlight your advantages over your competitors and estimate that you will get between 50-75% of the customers your competitors have. Don't ever tell investors that the size of potential users is huge, that is a sign for them to run. Always be conservative and don't overthrow your business and it's capacity to grow. You will very soon learn that even the best plans you've made, may not materialize as quickly as you've hoped. Mathematical proof will definitely score you a bonus. It'll tell your investors that "this guy actually has legitimate estimates and has also factored in the risk factor into achieving set targets" , which means alot more than entrepreneurs are aware of. Too many entrepreneurs pull figures out of their hat and make 1 million customer estimations over a period of 3 months. The mathematical proof, along with your competitors analysis and conservative estimates + factoring in risk factors will give you a reasonable estimation of growth. You can't do a pure mathematical calculation cause there are factors that can't be quantified into value, brand value for example, is something that is a highly subjective estimate (in young businesses) . If you need more assistance, visit my website http://seekvest.com and I will assist you with planning for free.