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EVAN DOUGLAS: Hello,
my name's Evan Douglas.
I've been advising entrepreneurs
on their business plans
for many years now.
This includes teams of MBA
students entering and winning
global business plan competitions,
as well as advising other
entrepreneurs who've been
seeking venture capital
or a place in a business
incubator or a strategic alliance
of some kind.
The business plan should be
designed for a specific purpose
with a specific
target reader in mind.
In the following, you will learn
the fundamentals of a good business
plan and it's design.
So let's get on with it.
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We'll first sort out what
we mean by a business plan,
and go through the arguments for
and against writing a business plan.
There's been a debate about
whether a business plan is
a worthwhile expenditure
of an entrepreneur's time
because it takes a lot of time and
money to write a business plan.
And we really need
to settle the issue
up front, whether it's worth doing.
We'll note that
the business plan is part
of a larger communication process.
And then spend the rest of
the session on the structure
of the business plan, looking
specifically at the contents
of a business plan, what
should be in it, what should not,
what should be in the body of
the business plan, what should
be in the appendices, and so on.
We'll emphasize the need for
a business plan being short, clear,
and looking good, brevity,
clarity, and aesthetics.
And also emphasize that a business
plan must be continually improved
and updated.
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There's widespread difference
of opinion about the benefits
of business planning.
Some business plans are simply
descriptive accounts of what
the managers plan to do, and are
more like a simple roadmap of how
the new venture will travel
from point A to point B.
But a business plan
should be more than that.
It should explore the territory and
determine the best way from A to B.
It starts with the process
of opportunity recognition.
A technology can be used to
produce different new products
or services, which
one should we choose?
Who is our target
audience and why?
Issues like this need to be
derived rather than simply stated.
A business plan is also an effective
viability screening process,
identifying all of
the major risks, and assuring
the target reader
that the new venture
is worthwhile taking forward.
Since there is more than one way
to take the new venture forward,
the business plan should
briefly consider the variety
of different business
models that could
be used and justify
the choice of the business model
that is selected.
And finally, the business
model must identify the rewards
to the entrepreneur
and the investors,
the rewards of engaging
in the new venture.
