...How to Write a Great Business Plan by William A. Sahlman Harvard Business Review Reprint 97409 Which information belongs – and which doesn’t – may surprise you. How to Write a Great by William A. Sahlman Few areas of business attract as much attention as new ventures, and few aspects of new-venture creation attract as much attention as the business plan. Countless books and articles in the popular press dissect the topic. A growing number of annual business-plan contests are springing up across the United States and, increasingly, in other countries. Both graduate and undergraduate schools devote entire courses to the subject. Indeed, judging by all the hoopla surrounding business plans, you would think that the only things standing between a would-be entrepreneur and spectacular success are glossy five-color charts, a bundle of meticulouslooking spreadsheets, and a decade of month-bymonth financial projections. William A. Sahlman is Dimitri V. d’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been closely connected with more than 50 entrepreneurial ventures as an adviser, investor, or director. He teaches a secondyear course at the Harvard Business School called “Entrepreneurial Finance,” for which he has developed more than 100 cases and notes. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my experience with hundreds of entrepreneurial startups, business plans rank no higher than 2–on a scale from...
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...Entrepreneurship is a gamble; a risk and it can be very expensive. It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to planning, creating, and launching one’s own business. It is easy to sit at your desk, at your mundane job, where you receive a steady paycheck and daydream of your own business. Dream of how one day you’re going to tell your boss that you have had enough and start something that is yours. You start to take that dream and turn it into a reality. All dreams are not successful unfortunately, all ideas do not turn into business opportunities that create a fountain of income or just enough income to pay the bills. You see every day where small business and large business go out of business. All the hard work, money and dreams going down with the business. However, it is not all gloom! I believe that if you do the research, plan accordingly, market properly and take the risk at the right time you can be successful. I think at that time the potential benefits will outweigh the costs....
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...Keys to Business Success There are ten critical areas where your ability to think largely determines the success or failure of your business. The greater clarity you have in each of these areas, the better decisions you will make and better results you will achieve. Key Purpose What is the purpose of a business? Many people think that the purpose of a business is to earn a profit, but they are wrong. The true purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. Fully 50 percent of your time, efforts, and expenses should be focused on creating and keeping customers in some way. Key Measure The key measure of business success is customer satisfaction. Your ability to satisfy your customers to such a degree that they buy from you rather than from someone else, that they buy again, and that they bring their friends is the key determinant of growth and profitability. Key Requirement The key requirement for wealth building and business success is for you to add value in some way. All wealth comes from adding value. All business growth and profitability come from adding value. Every day, you must be looking for ways to add more and more value to the customer experience. Key Focus The most important person in the business is the customer. You must focus on the customer at all times. Customers are fickle, disloyal, changeable, impatient, and demanding--just like you. Nonetheless, the customer must be the central focus of everything you do in business. Key...
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...BUSINESS CONCEPT SUMMARY (A) Your business summary should be completed last, be no longer than a page and should focus on why your business is going to be successful. Your answers below should briefly summarise your more detailed answers provided throughout the main body of your business plan. The business Under the business summary section enter your: * Business name If you haven't registered your business name, add your proposed business name. * Business structure Enter whether you're a sole trader, partnership, trust or company. * If you're a business and have registered enter your business registration number * Main business location Enter your main business location such as your city/town. Briefly describe the location and space occupied/required. * Date the business was established This is the date you started trading. Whether it was the date you opened your doors or the date your purchased business opened its doors. * List of business owners List the names of all business owners. * Relevant owner experience Briefly outline your experience and/or years in the industry and any major achievements/awards. * Products/services Briefly list the products/services you're selling and the anticipated demand for your products/services. These answers should briefly summarise your answers under the main products/services section. The future Under the future summary section enter your: * Vision and mission statements Your...
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...Every business needs a way to identify their business weakness and shortcomings, and also a way to develop a successful company. This is where the strategic audit comes into place, it is a review of a company’s business plan and strategies; it helps identify the weakness and allows a successful development within the company and management. Strategy audit secures that all the required information for the development of a successful company are in included in a company’s business plan and that management agrees with the business plan as well. Within the strategic company there are four questions that should be covered: (questions were attained from Strategic Management Institute) * Does it cover the key areas and issues for the company’s future success? * Does it clarify and verify your business model? * Does it provide a guide for every day operations and activities? * Does it agree with the management team’s opinion and priorities? A strategy audit is also a great tool to go to the CEO of the company and discuss the crucial areas of the company. There are three crucial areas to the strategy audit: (acquired from strategic management institute) 1. It makes sure that the present business plan is complete and it includes all information needed for the company to develop in the future. 2. It displays if the management team is in the same page and shares the same commitment as the company vision. 3. It secures business logic of the business plan, it...
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...another period of a current venture. Commonly a plausibility study is performed or a business case made. These are thought to be a piece of the undertaking starting procedure bunch since they are made before the begin of a venture. The most discriminating piece of the start procedure is the undertaking contract. The venture contract formally approves a task, and once it's marked the undertaking can then advance to the arranging procedure. Start for the most part includes characterizing an undertaking and increasing regard to start working; for our situation some of this had officially happened. We drew nearer the issue painstakingly and had officially decided it was best to hold our meeting in a focal area with simple access. 2. The Project Planning: The Project Planning Process further elucidates the venture's targets and plans the greater part of the exercises vital with a specific end goal to meet the venture's destinations and degree. Each of these task arranging layouts furnishes you with record designing, direction on composing every segment, standard substance where it can be institutionalized alongside test content. 3. The Project Execution The Project Executing Process incorporates the procedures to perform the work on the undertaking as per the Project Management Plan. This incorporates overseeing individuals and assets to perform the exercises characterized in the Project Plan. 4. The Project Monitoring and Controlling: The Project Monitoring and Controlling...
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...Business Structure Advice Leroy Washington FIN 571 February 22, 2016 University of Phoenix Instructor – Hillman Lo The purpose of this paper is to provide prospective business owner, John Owner, with as much information as possible in his quest to start a new business. This paper is being written in response to Mr. John Owner’s email as shown below: Dear Consultant, I am currently starting a business and developing my business plan. I am in need of some advice on how to start forming my business. I am uncertain exactly how it will be financed and whether or not I want to take on partners. I am interested and willing to learn the intricacies of my options to determine how to best proceed with my plan. Please advise me regarding what my options are, the advantages and disadvantages of each option, and possible tax consequences for each scenario? Respectfully, John Owner Elements of a Business Plan 1. Executive Summary. The Executive Summary provides a succinct synopsis of the business plan, and highlights the key points raised within. The Executive Summary must communicate to the prospective investor the size and scope of the market opportunity, the venture's business and profitability model, and how the resources/skills/strategic positioning of the Company's management team make it uniquely qualified to execute the plan. The Executive Summary must be compelling, easy-to-read, and no longer than 2-4 pages. 2. Company Analysis. This section provides...
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...or organization. These codes will embody the ethical commitments of the company and tell everyone what you stand for and also what they can expect when they conduct business with the company. The code of ethics will address how the company will do business and how its employees will conduct themselves while doing business with the companies customers. These are essential, so customers know that they are doing business with a company that values ethical business practices. These standards will address how the company conducts business on an everyday basis, these standards need to be followed on an everyday basis, and otherwise they are worthless. Company Background Happy at Home – Home Health Care is a family run business that cares for its patients like they are part of their family. Every patient and their families are vital to the company and its employees. The company is run by family members and takes extraordinary efforts to only hire and retain employees to share the same values and standards of the owners of the company. The owners know that their employees represent them on an everyday basis, and they are the face of their company. Since this is a small family run business, every patient is valuable to them. Losing or having problems with just one patient can cause problems for such a small business. The goal is to conduct themselves in an ethic manner at all times with all customers both internally and externally. This company provides home health and rehabilitation...
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...strong delivery skills with a solid base of discovery skills. This combination proves valuable in that you use your discovery skills often enough to get innovative ideas that frequently improve the efficiency of your organization. Your Assessment Averages 5.2 C ourage To Innovate Detail 5.3 Discovery Skills Detail 5.6 Delivery Skills Detail Discovery Skills E+i Discovery-Delivery Skills Matrix Your Profile Delivery Skills *All scores calculated out of 7.0 *All scores calculated out of 7.0 1 / 12 atkins06@nsuok.edu Your Courage To Innovate 5.0 5.7 5.0 + Challenging The Status Quo Risk Taking + Creative Confidence Your Courage To Innovate 5.2 6.2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Why do innovators question, observe, network, and experiment more than other individuals? Successful innovators consistently show the C ourage to Innovate, which means they: 1) challenge the status quo 2) take smart risks to make change happen 3) feel confident in their creative capacity Each component of Courage t o Innovat e mat t ers. Each plays a key role in building t he mot ivat ional f orce t o make change happen. Your Average Score Successful Innovators *All scores calculated out of 7.0 2 / 12 atkins06@nsuok.edu Your Discovery Skills 4.8 5.5 5.5 5.8 5.0 + Questioning Observing + Networking + Experimenting + Associating Your Discovery Skills Discovery Skills refer to the set of skills that contribute to one’s ability...
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.............. Business Background ……………………………….......................... Needs Assessment ………………………………................................. Organizational………………. Task…………………………. Person……………………….. Observations ……………………………….......................... Interviews……………………………….................... Conclusion……………………………….................. Executive Summary Target is one of the largest retailers in the United States. Target wants to be able to give guests better quality products for a cheaper price. They also want to be the one stop shop. Target relies on their team members to keep the guests happy so they always come back again and again. Target mission and vision statement say it all when tailoring a message of how they want their team members to accomplish their business goals. Target wants to have all of their team members want to make a career out of working there and not just be a job. Target does not lay off any team members, but the team members are informed when they are hired that 40 hours is never guaranteed. DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING PROGRAM The status for the needs assessment is to come up with developing a comprehensive training and development program to ensure a less of a turnover rate. To do this I had to look at Targets business strategy, which is a plan that integrates their goals, plans, and actions. Their goals are their mission statement, their plans are the vision statement, and their plans are how they are...
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...Business Operation: An operational plan is an essential component to a business plan because it tells the reviewer how you plan to get your product/service out to market. All businesses need plans of operation with definitive time lines to accomplish goals and deadlines for reaching those goals. It should involve tracking the progress of sales, the development of employees and profits. It must be flexible. You create a business operational plan by defining several major goals that should be met within the next three years. Write a list of short-term goals needed to support each long-term goal, and then break the plan of action for each large goal into daily, weekly and monthly tasks. Assign these tasks to specific employees and document all the obstacles impeding the process of reaching long-term business goals. Designate time frames for every short-term and long-term goal. Notice what is working and what is not working. Then write an accountability system into the operational plan. Finally Review all business activities and profits you expect for every quarter. Describing your Business In order to prevent your executive summary from being too long, and to give readers more detail on what your business actually does, you'll want to include a business description section in your business plan. You probably spend most of your waking hours (and some of your sleeping hours) thinking about your business. You understand what you do, how you do it and why you do it better than...
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... |Unit number, Code and Title | |Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma Business |Unit 34, R/505/8181, Operations Management in | | |Business | |Module Leader: |Lecturers: | | |Hakeem Kazeem | |Distribution date |Submission deadline | |W/C – 22/09/14 |7th December 2014 | | | | |Assignment title |Operations Management in Business | |Learning Outcome | |Assessment Criteria |In...
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...com/shop/ifsm-300-weeks-quizzes-1-8/ IFSM 300 Quiz 1 Question 1 1 / 1 point Which of the following is defined as the ability of customers to drive down the price of goods and services? A) supplier power B) buyer power or the bargaining power of customers C) rivalry among competitors D) threat of price reduction Question 2 1 / 1 point Are there any direct variables that have no effect on a business' competitive position? A) yes B) No Question 3 1 / 1 point Which of the following are components of an information system? (select all that apply) A) data B) hardware C) people D) process E) software View Feedback Question 4 1 / 1 point According to the Five Forces Model developed by Harvard Business professor Michael Porter, all of the following are major factors that determine a company’s standing in an industry, except for which one? A) Threat of entry of new competitors B) Political and/or economic factors C) Bargaining power of suppliers D) Threat of substitute products/services View Feedback Question 5 1 / 1 point True or false: Early research could not draw any connections between IT and profitability, but later research has shown that the impact can be positive. True False View Feedback Question 6 1 / 1 point Web 2.0 is exemplified...
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...NAME : SIEW SEE HOW STUDENT ID : 051140021 H/P NUMBER : 016-5455959 EMAIL : webbiesiew@gmail.com CLASS CODE : 5ENT1 TUTOR NAME : MR. PUVANABALAN VEERASAMY Question 1 a) Discuss the ways an entrepreneur can improve communication and hold effective meetings. In general, communication is a process which means of connecting people. Communication happens anywhere for various reasons such as exchange information, ideas, express feelings and emotions. As for entrepreneurs, communication is important to them to communicate with their stakeholders or employee as well as their customers so a good communication skill is important for them. Thus, entrepreneurs need to improve their communication skill in order to communicate effectively with others. One of the many ways to improve communication skill is by having confidence when communicate with others. Confidence comes from feelings of well-being, skills and experience as well as from a positive mind. It’s a key component of being an effective communicator. For instance, John had just invented a new vacuum cleaner technology and he is looking for investor to invest to mass produce his creation. In order to gain his potential investor confidence over his product, John needs to prepare himself well with all possible questions from them. A good preparation will help John increase his confidence level when communicating with them. Beside self-confidence, sending a clear message is also important when communicating...
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...Small Business Administration, there were 27.2 million small businesses in the United States in 2007. Small business can be defined in different ways. The U.S. Government agency that helps people start businesses is the Small Business Administration or SBA. It categorizes a business in the United States as small if it has fewer than 500 employees. The international community uses the term small and medium enterprise or SME, instead of small business. Among SMEs, small enterprises have 1 to 50 people, while medium enterprises have 51 to 500 people. Whereas on owner-managed small businesses of 1–50 people and places greater emphasis on the lower end of the range. Independent and owner-managed small business means that the business is owned by an individual or small group rather than existing as part of a larger enterprise or a business whose stock can be bought on an exchange. Owner-management refers to constant or at least daily management of a business by its owner. It is possible to become an absentee owner, who profits from a business but is not involved in its day-to-day operations. This, however, is a different type of business with different problems from those of firms run by an owner manager. Small businesses are imitative in nature, with most small firms doing what other firms do, with only slight variations. But when we think about the people who start firms for the first time, the situations they face are situations of novelty. The purpose of a small business is to create...
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