Building A Plan To Success

In my previous post, I did a review on two business plan experts and shared some of the highlights from each expert on how to create a successful business plan. As I come to the end of my current class, business plan development, I am amazed at how much I didn’t know and how much I’ve learned in the past four weeks. In preparing to launch a new business, I have been able to incorporate some key factors to better develop my business plan.

The first key factor incorporated into my business plan was a conscious, clear, and detailed company description. After reading the ‘Successful Business Plan’ section on the company description, I realized the importance of having a detail understanding of your business, and know how to convey the description to potential investors and customers. To quote Rhonda Abrams, ‘the reason most businesses fail is that they don’t understand the business they are in’. One of the key components Rhonda points out, is even if your business is a start-up company, and you don’t know all the details, state what you intend to do and where you intend to go. The best way for you and others to know where your business is going is to have a mission statement.

The second key factor incorporated into my business plan was a detailed operations breakdown. Business plan expert, Tim Berry, teaches the importance of knowing how to insert projections in the business plan, even if the projections could be wrong. The most recent update to my business plan was to detail the operations for my business. Although my business is not yet up and running, I used projections based on research to get a gage on how much the cost to operate would be. An old biblical proverb, states ‘what man builds a house, without counting the cost’. I’ve learned not counting the cost of what it takes to operate your business could be unwise and prove detrimental to the success of your business. Understanding what it takes to operate and how much it will cost to do so will save time and future headache.

As I come to the end of my program and look to the immediate future, I am confident I will be able to go out and see my dream of entrepreneurship come to pass, as I carry with me the blueprint for success.

Resources:

Abrams, R. Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies, 5^th edition. 2010. Chapter 5.

http://www.inc.com/author/rhonda-abrams

http://blog.timberry.com/

Thanks for reading,

LaKesha, xo

Business Plan Experts Review

          For any person wanting to start his or her own business, the first place any entrepreneur will tell you to start is with a business plan. Yes, there is much controversy on whether a business plan is truly needed to start a business, but the consensus surrounding this matter is a successful business is built on a plan. The following is a review of two entrepreneurial experts revered in the industry for their knowledge on writing a successful business plan.

            Rhonda Abrams is a renowned best-selling author, syndicated columnist, popular public speaker, who has over 15years experience in advising, mentoring, and consulting small business owners and entrepreneurs. Rhonda Abrams has written three books, with her first book ‘The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies’ recognized and acclaimed by Forbes magazine as one of two best books for small businesses. As well, Abrams is a well-known columnist reaching over 20 million readers in 130 newspapers through her weekly newspaper “Small Business Strategies” (RhondaOnline, 2009).

The key concepts Rhonda focuses on for finding an “angel investor” are:

• Developing a winning pitch
• Create a key presentation
• Develop the best valuation of your company
• Understanding negotiation techniques
• How to locate the “right” angel investor

            Rhonda helps small business and entrepreneurs develop and execute the right business plan to fit their company needs, and find investors by following the above concepts (ThePlanningShop.com, 2013).

            Tim Berry is founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software, and co-founder of Borland International, an entrepreneur, and a published author. Tim Berry has solidified himself, as an expert in the business planning industry, having developed relationships with companies such as Williamette Angel Conference and Apple Computer (Timberry.com, 2013). Berry has been a frequent judge for several business plan competitions, worked as a teacher at University of Oregon for over 10years, and presented seminars on business planning in 13 countries (entrepreneur.com, 2014).

            Tim Berry’s main focus of the business plan is forecasting and projections. Although, Berry believes its important to realize projections will be wrong, as in business planning its not about guessing right, but having dots connected to make reasonable assumptions (blog.timberry.com, 2013).

            In starting a business, it all can be a guessing game, as no one knows for sure whether their business will or will not be succeed. However, taking the time to put together a comprehensive business plan can help take some of the guessing out of the equation, and be the blueprint to building a successful business.

Resources

http://blog.timberry.com

http://timberry.com

http://www.entrepreneur.com/author/tim-berry

http://www.planningshop.com/products/angel.asp

http://rhondaonline.com/content/aboutRhonda/aboutRhonda.asp

http://www.inc.com/author/rhonda-abrams

Thanks for reading,

LaKesha, xo