Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Business Plan Lesson from expert William A. Cohen
Business Plan Lesson from expert Willam A. Cohen
My class this month is Business Plan Development and for my blog this week, I will concentrate on building the best business plan. The video I want to focus on is from VideoJug.com, with expert William A. Cohen breaking down the business plan and the major key components of the plan. I can admit that the term "business plan" initially can be intimidating. What I am starting to see is that its just liking learning how to do anything else, it takes practice. Writing your business plan is just like writing an amazing book biography of your business, it takes research and dedication. This is a map to your business vision, so it has to be clear, exciting and really demonstrates why your business is the best choice to invest in. These are some of the helpful tips I am learning along my journey of building “the best business plan”.
#1 Just Get Started
Most of the issues with not having a business plan is that you never start it. You can read the blogs and buy the books that teach you how to build your plan but until you actually start doing it, you’re just wasting your time.
#2 Allow Yourself Mistakes
The great thing about creating your business plan is that you get a chance to see your issues on paper before you get the business up and going. It’s better to loose $20,000 on the planning paper than doing operating hours.
#3 Research and Draft, Research and Draft
The more you know about the industry you’re trying to building a business within, the better off your company will be. Once you compile your research, draft this information into your plan to the pros and cons before venturing into that business. You can never have too much research. You can never have too many planning drafts. Create as many as it takes, until you are certain all areas of concern have been covered.
#4 Give it some time
Great business plans are not created overnight. It will take time to research the competition and even more time to study the habits of the industry itself. Creating a quick plan, can lead to costly mistakes and even cause you to loose out on potential investors. Taking your time will pay off in the end, because you will have a plan that you really believe it.
One key point that I took away from William A. Cohen is the most important part of the business plan is the executive summary. I understand this concept more now after formulating the draft for my business plan this week. The executive summary is the first page potential investors will see so this has to be the place where creativity, facts and sales pitch put on a good show. I’m starting to see the big picture and by the end of this class, I will have one of the best business plan investors have ever seen. Good luck to you as well.
Video Jug. (2011). Business Plans with William A. Cohen. Retrieved August 7, 2011, from http://www.videojug.com/interview/business-plans
~Gigi
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