| Current Category is: Strategic Planning | Select Another Category | |
|
|
| Home | Search | Categories | Links | About Us | Contact Us |
|
|
 |
19 Questions to Supercharge Your Business Plan
Whether you are seeking capital for your company or are optimizing your business strategy, the most important element - particularly for outside investors - may be your written business plan. You can tune-up and supercharge your plan using this 19-step checklist. When your written plan firmly answers yes to each of these 19 questions, your market/product strategy is in terrific shape plus you increase the odds of attracting investment capital. If you don't already have a written business plan - write one! Your business plan is a blueprint for your whole company. It describes in detail your goals, the financial and technical viability of your goals, and the strategy you will use (or are using) to reach those goals. And your business plan is a working tool - it is a yardstick to measure your progress and a compass to keep you on course. Must a business plan be written? Yes! A plan which is not written usually has not been thought through fully. And despite what you may have read, it is doubtful that any business ever attracted capital on the back of a napkin. Use this checklist as a way to identify where your strategy, as spelled out in your business plan, needs work. Each of the questions below highlights an area considered critical to technology investors. 1. Can the key ideas behind your product or service be stated in one or two sentences? (y/n) 2. Does your company have at least one unique and compelling competitive advantage, which cannot quickly or easily be duplicated? (y/n) Examples are a special feature, a cost advantage, a technical refinement, a new delivery system or a special supplier. 3. Is your competitive advantage proprietary? (y/n) That is, can it be copyrighted, patented, trademarked or otherwise protected? Can you keep it exclusive to you? 4. Is your industry segment growing by 25% or more? (y/n) If not, can your new product dominate its segment? If the answer is no, you probably won't be able to generate the kind of financial returns investors look for. 5. Does your product or service create a new market? (y/n) Although generally positive, this could be a trap - in a brand new market, the potential can be slow to develop. Lotus Notes created a new category but took years to create value for investors. 6. Is your market in "early momentum" - the market growth phase where market revenues have recently taken off? (y/n) Venture investors prefer markets in this stage because the time-to-create-value is shorter and the growth potential still large. 7. Is your target market segment 1) tightly defined over a population sharing common characteristics, 2) large enough to support significant profits, 3) served by communications channels to reach that market - i.e., trade or special interest publications, response mailing lists? (y/n) 8. Is your company filling a gap in the market, or do you have a "gee-whiz" product which you think is so terrific that customers will surely want to buy it? (y/n) 9. The benefit of your product or service to users is 1) significant, 2) quantifiable and 3) cost-justified? (y/n). If you provide a benefit which is important, and you can prove it - there is a much higher probability of generating sales. 10. Is there a demonstrated market for your product? (y/n) If you have an existing product, is your customer base expanding? Investors would rather fund sales and production than product development. 11. Is there wide appeal for your product or service? (y/n) Are there enough potential customers in the target market that you can earn significant profits, for a long time? Are there follow-on products to sustain revenue and profit growth? 12. Does your company have the ability to sell your product? (y/n) Particularly in companies where the founders have technical backgrounds, a question to ask is "Who is going to sell your product or service?" What about outside distributors? 13. Is there an experienced management team? (y/n) Investors would rather fund a solid team instead of one lone genius with a great idea. The team should be highly qualified in marketing, sales, finance, and the product/service area itself. Of course, a demonstrable track record helps. 14. Can you demonstrate a likely return of 5-15 times investors' capital, over a period ranging from three to seven years? (y/n) The actual parameters used by venture investors will vary based on which stage you are in (idea, startup, development, expansion, turnaround). 15. Is there a clear exit strategy for investors? (y/n) The most common strategies for returning investors' capital are 1) going public; 2) acquisition of your company; 3) new investors; 4) founder's buyback or management buyout. 16. Have other investors already put money into the company, particularly the senior management team? (y/n) This reduces the apparent risk, reduces overall exposure, and shows that management "has its money where its mouth is." 17. Have you clearly defined a structure for the investment you seeking? (y/n) The structure should include: who is involved, how much capital is needed, what minimum investment you will accept, how much equity that will buy - and, of course, the projected return on investment. 18. Are your financial projections realistic? (y/n) Have you soundly justified your projected growth rates and other financial assumptions? 19. Have you clearly examined the risks? (y/n) Investors like to know that you have considered the risks. This is key - can you turn your risks into opportunities? Too many no's? Remember, each "no" opens up an area for you to strengthen your business. Even if you aren't seeking capital, each question highlights a critical success factor - which, when mastered, will increase your profits, your performance, and your future success.
© Paul Lemberg. All rights reserved Paul Lemberg's clients call him "the unreasonable business coach" because he insists they pursue goals and take actions far outside their comfort zone to make more money than they previously thought possible. To get business coaching tips, tools and strategies like these, visit http://www.paullemberg.com/Business_Coaching.html.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
10 Critical Facts to Put On the Cover of Your Business Plan... In most business plans, no matter how striking the idea, the covers are critically important. The majority of investors may flip to the executive summary, if they get past the cover, when deciding whether or not they are interested. Could You Be Setting Your Business Plan Up For Failure? David E. Gumpert, author of Burn Your Business Plan, often tells the story about how he and his partner failed to raise money after sending their business plan around to venture capitalists and meeting with several others to make presentations. Why Six Sigma Will Work in Healthcare If ever there were an industry where we want zero defects, it's healthcare. Patients, medical professionals, and healthcare administrators all want mistakes eliminated and quality and efficiency improved. 5 Strategies That Will Boost Your Business Productivity Today! - Part 1 Building a dynamic small business is a constantly evolving, increasingly demanding role.It is very easy to get so caught up in the day to day running of our business that we neglect to take the time to look from the outside in to see what we could do to improve our profitability!Well here are 5 Strategies that could boost your productivity overnight!They are not rocket science?and you may have even heard some of them before, but they are 5 proven principles that you can review today to help you stay on track regarding the real issues to grow your business from here. Writing a Business Plan for Success in Business and for Funding Writing a business plan to help you direct and manage your company is a key part of starting you new company that will help lead you and your company to success. Creating a "living and breathing" business plan makes that success even easier to reach. Top Ten Traits of Strategic Thinkers Want to become more strategic? Add these traits to your collection of skills and watch your success soar!1. Maintain a self-responsible attitude. Getting Started with Succession Planning: Part II Succession planning requires the owner of a small or medium-sized business to plan for what the company will look like and how it will operate after the transition to new owners is complete. Unless the owners have succession goals in mind, they won't achieve them. Home Improvement Construction Project Planning The first task before hiring a contractor for home remodeling is laying out the details on what exactly you want done. This will ultimately save you time and money, as you will be able to choose the perfect contractor for your construction job, and get the job done correctly the first time. Innovators Role at Hard Times One Research Scientist at the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Imaging Systems laboratory said Carly Fiorina was a marketing person put in change of engineers who cared nothing about the art and beauty of technology. She just wanted saleable stock to bring to market. Innovate Today for Great Leaps Forward Tomorrow How often does your company make a quantum leap forward? My guess is that, on a scale from "frequently (10) - to - never (1)" the answer is much closer to "never" because few companies have a process to innovate or think creatively. Very few attempt to formally think through their business model, their relationships with staff, clients, and vendors, and their product / service offerings. Strategy Without Tactics is Futile From time to time there seems to be a flurry of studies and surveys on effective communication in the workplace. As a communication specialist, I'm always eager to read these studies, but am often disappointed with what I see. Elite Positioning Brings Higher Profits Imagine spending the same amount of money on marketing andperforming the same amount of work to deliver your productsor services, but earning more money and keeping more afteryour expenses. That's what happens when you instituteelite positioning for your business. Family and Friends Referrals Make the Best Franchisees As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find and recruit the best franchisees to maintain a strong franchise system. Your current Franchisees are your very best sales people, sometimes without even knowing it. Regroup - How To Do It And Why It Works Regroup?is this a new management trend? Not a chance! Regroup is simply an opportunity to end one month's business cycle, recap the performance of your company and outline a plan of success for the new upcoming month. Why does it work? Because it allows each person on your team to assess their performance from the previous month, and make any necessary adjustments for the new month. ERP Role in Selling Your Mid-size Business - Microsoft Great Plains and CRM Example If you own the mid-size business and actively work in it as executive manager or lead, say marketing, - you probably know exactly what needs to be done on the daily basis to keep it running. However, in many cases this business critical knowledge exists in your head only. 6 Changes You Can Make to Increase Business Profits I read once that something like 30 percent of all drinkable water gets wasted on the way to the consumer by leaky pipes. Likewise, your business may be letting potential revenue drip away, to be lost forever, all over the place. Expanding your business in a franchise system If you are a successful franchise of a large franchise brand or chain, chances are you will wish to expand. The most important thing to do is make sure you are on the most positive terms with your franchisor. Art of Succession Planning Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art and a science. That is to say, there are many proven strategies that can and must be followed so that successful transition can occur. How Good Is a Business Plan To Your Business? You know you need a business plan. You probably realize that it is one of the best ways to get your business up and running. Top Ten Reasons To Create A One Page Business Plan There is a story, about a business owner who wasn't doing very well. She had no business plan, but had heard, quite a bit, how creating one would help.
|
| Home
| Sitemap
| Disclaimer
| Privacy
| Contact
Us © COPYRIGHT 2011 BRAINBELLY.COM |
