For the pass four weeks I have been working on my very first business plan and although it’s a lot of work, it took me a lot of time to perfect it. There are still a few more things to add, now that I have reached my very last class here at Full Sail University. However, I have to say that I enjoyed the business plan development course and it has been very beneficial. I will be sure to hold to all the concepts I’ve learned from this course and other experts, and implement them into future business planning. By doing so, this will make the development process much easier. Below I added a list of things that other entrepreneurs, including myself should take into consideration when creating a business plan and starting a business.
1.Make your product or service innovative and unique
2.Know your industry/ do your research
3.Develop, perfect, reconstruct, and modify your business plan
4.Learn how to utilize, determine, and apply the correct numbers to you financial spreadsheets
5.Set objectives for future sales and profits
Being unique and innovative tends to make a business more appealing to investors and this will set a business apart from other competitors in that desired industry. It also is very important to be aware of industry trends, competition, and your target market. By being aware and applying these three key components, this will draw investors and clients. The development process is something that you have to stay consistent with on a continuous basis. Investors will take an in depth look on how you convey the information in your business plan. So to avoid mistakes, always remember to review and revise you business plan before presenting it to investors.
Finally, the financial portion is one of the most important parts of a business plan. In order to make a business work, you have to be able to project and determine your financial needs and wants. By setting objectives for sales and profits, this will show that you have made preparations to generate capital. The business plan development course has been a very helpful guide for me; through this business plan development process. This has also been as traffic experience for me and I’m very excited to learn more in my final class. Professor Burheo, I appreciate all the resource and the knowledge you have shared with me on this journey.
A lot of times I often hear people talking about starting their own businesses, because they no longer want to work for anyone but themselves. However, I also notice that when a business plan is mentioned people tend to think that it is just too much work. So, business ideals tend to be put on hold or they're never started. I must say that, I'm not that type of person and I going to start my own business. In order to do so, I have to create a great business plan in order to get people to invest in business.
I am currently in my second to last class at Full Sail University, which I am very excited about. In this course we will be focusing on how to properly develop our business plans. During our first week of class, I have had the opportunity to read through my instructor Steven Burheo’s blog post. It is very obvious that Mr. Burheo is an expert, when it comes to developing business plans. World wide, he has developed more then 75 business plans for different companies.
After viewing the available list of experts on Mr. Burheo’s, I found two female expects to be very interesting and inspiring. Both Barbara Corcoran and Andrea Cockerton give advice that I am able to apply to my business plan.
During her younger days, Barbara Corcoran did not excel in high school and college. After growing tired of bouncing from job to job in her early twenties, Barbara decided to borrow one thousand dollars from her boyfriend to establish a real estate company called “ The Corcoran Group”. Which had progressed into a five –billion-dollar real estate business. Throughout the years, Barbara has also written plenty of inspiring books. A book entitled "If you don't have big breast, put ribbons on your pigtails" and another book called, " Shark Tales". The book "Shark Tales", explains how Barbara turned " The Corcoran Group", into a billion dollar empire. Which she had eventual sold for about seventy million dollars. Barbara encourages others because she wants them to become a wealthy as she is. When giving advice, she always refers to her six do's and don't when starting a business. One the step suggest that entrepreneurs should create a business plan in order get funding for a business. From this, we learn that investors usually don't read through the whole business plan, they usually make a decision based off of their intuition and the executive summary.
http://thebusinesshub.fm/guests/page/2/
After doing some research on Andrea Cockerton, I discovered that she is the founder of Mudhut and the co –founder of Brick Handbag. She was also a member of VBN, a software .com which is an ancestor to social media outlets such as LinkedIn and Face book. Throughout her businesses, she provides services such as investor and commercial pitches, workshops, self-defense, investment readiness, public speaking, and training. Andrea became the director of an innovative and leading angel network in the UK, after the demise of VBN. According to Burheo(2011), “Andrea Cockerton says that the three most important points to mention in a pitch to potential investors are”
1. The target market that needs your product or service.
2. The team’s credentials and ability to follow through with the business plan.
3. How your product or service is innovative and groundbreaking.
After exploring the views of both Andrea Cockerton and Barbara Corcoran, I must say that I’ am now convinced that an efficient business plan would go along way. I have learned a lot from both experts and plan to apply their lessons to my business plan. A proper business plan keeps your business moving in the right direction, and it also gives investors insight on your particular business. I am glad that I have been able to share the views of experts who write and review business plans. Below I have also attached links, which provide more information on these experts. I have also posted a YouTube video, that tells what an investor my be looking for in a business plan. After viewing this video, i have learned that an investor can determine within three minutes whether they should invest. In this video several key conponients are mention, these are the things investors are looking for in a business plan. They look for these things because they it is easier for investor to determine if they should invest.
