The One-Hour Business Plan E-Book

John McAdam

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 155

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

A guide to writing a successful business plan--in just one hour A strong business plan greatly increases a business chance of success, especially in an economic environment in which more than 50 percent of businesses fail within three years. Your business plan can serve as a foundation for your successful business. The One-Hour Business Plan, written by seasoned entrepreneur and business instructor John McAdam, helps you lay that foundation. With the help of this book, aspiring entrepreneurs can write a viable business plan in just one hour. * Offers step-by-step guidance on the process of writing a business plan, with field-tested instructional techniques that are simple, strong, and easy to implement * Written by John McAdam, a "been there, done that" hired CEO and serial entrepreneur with decades of real-world experience, who helps ordinary people become entrepreneurs and helps entrepreneurs become successful The One-Hour Business Plan outlines a process and a framework for creating a business plan that sets you up for success. Give your business the best odds for success, in just one hour of your time.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Setting the Tone

Introduction

Why These Cornerstones Build the Best Foundation for Any Business Plan

Module 1: What Are You Offering?: Create a Value Proposition That Makes a Stronger Business Model

The Need

The Solution

Features versus Benefits

Advantages

Written Exercise: Write Your Value Proposition

Value Proposition Exercise #1—The Value Proposition Building Blocks

Value Proposition Exercise #2—“What Do You Do?”

Value Proposition Exercise #3—“What Do You Want?”

Module 2: Who Are You Offering To? The Customer Target Market: The Only Sustainable Source of Business Funding for the Long Term

Customer Target Market Introduction

Market Size: The Addressable Market

Customer Demographics and Demographic Profiles

Customer Categories

Second-Phase Customers

The Customer Target Market Funnel

Public Relations

Advertising

Marketing

Sales

Written Exercise Preparation

Customer Target Market Exercise: Methods and Lists

Module 3: Who Are Your Competitors? Competitive Positioning: Viewing Your Offering Through Your Customers' Eyes

Competitive Positioning Table Exercise

Module 4: What's Next? Next Steps: What Milestones and Action Plans Do for Your Business

Milestone Introduction

Business Milestone Definition

Essential Elements of a Business Milestone

Examples of Business Milestones

Milestones in Practice: Sandbagging, Overstatement, and Balance

Action Plan and Goals Defined

Milestone Quality Control Check: “Stiflegoal” and “Stiflestone”

Milestone and Action Planning Worksheets

Module 5: How Much Money Will You Make? The New Offering to Cash Mini-Budget: A Simple Way to Predict How Much Money You Will Likely Make

How Much Money Will Your Business Model Make?

Selling Price

Average Sales Cycle Time/Customer Acquisition Time

Unit Sales Forecast

The New Offering to Cash Mini-Budget Worksheet Exercise

Conclusion: Pulling It All Together: Using Your One-Hour Business Plan to Earn Customers Today

I Love Beta Users of Innovations and You Should, Too

CEOs and Entrepreneurs Have a Lot in Common

Other Applications of the One-Hour Business Plan

On the One-Hour Business Plan Concept—Is It a Gimmick?

Get Feedback on Your Plan Foundation from Advisors, Colleagues, and Mentors with Successful Exits

Benefits of Sending Us Your Worksheets

Help Us Get the Word Out—This Works!

Final Thoughts

Acknowledgments

Index

Cover design: Wiley

Copyright © 2013 by Pioneer Business Ventures, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

McAdam, John J.

The one-hour business plan : the simple and practical way to start anything new / John McAdam.

pages cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-72622-8 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-74715-5 (ebk)

ISBN 978-1-118-74714-8 (ebk)

1. New business enterprises-Planning. I. Title.

HD62.5.M3863 2013

658.1'1— dc23

2013019138

Setting the Tone

In this writing, I want to have a conversation with you as if we are meeting at a coffee shop, pub, or airport. This is not another BS business book where the author dumps from head to paper without facts or replicable tools for the reader. This work was strategically planned after years of experience and observations of more than 1,000 business plans and their results. What are the patterns and most essential elements of any business plan foundation? I write to share some answers with you here. I give you everything I have to date to support you with a foundation for your innovative journey. I've been educating innovators long enough to know that most of you will not write anything for myriad reasons, and I respect that. For those of you who do plan something in writing, welcome to the power of business planning and the benefits therein. At the end, if you share your written plan with us, we can collaborate on your journey and possibly make it safer and more enriching for you. The collective mind of our community is smarter and more experienced than I ever can or will be. Now, about our conversation…

Introduction

A One-Hour Business Plan foundation? Are you kidding me? Who can possibly write a business plan in one hour? It's impossible!

The “are you kidding me” I agree with. The “impossible,” I simply do not—because it is the wrong answer. No, you cannot write a complete business plan in one hour. In fact, you should not, particularly if you are innovating something. After you take your innovation to market, and get feedback from your early customers, you will have to rewrite your business plan anyway, and who wants to do that? I love strategic business planning and I sure don't! My hope is to enable you to write a business plan foundation in an hour of writing (not thinking) time. Then you can write a more complete business plan after your customers have substantiated the value of your innovative offering, which will manifest via customer payments. Does this make sense yet?