Lessons Learned from Writing a Business Plan

Okay, so I knew writing a business plan would be difficult, but doing it on a timed schedule while finishing school work, working two jobs, attending to your significant other and children, as well as housework and cleaning, can get a bit overwhelming.  (Phew!  That took a lot out of me to write that!)  However, by following experts TimBerry and Rhonda Abrams for the last few weeks, I’ve taken some words of advice from them that will help make the process a bit easier.

First off, Tim Berry discussed data in a few of his blogposts.  He states that it’s important to be able to prove everything you’re talking about.  That could include studies and statistics.   I know when I was working on my business plan, I was in a bit of a hurry, and so I didn’t look for statistics and studies that could’ve helped.  That’s one thing I need to change.  Secondly, on his website, he has a post called, “5 Points on Business Planningand Imminent Change” (timberry.com n.d.).  The title basically speaks for itself but some main points he discussed were to always identify assumptions, change is always imminent, every business plan needs regularly scheduled reviews and planning is better than no planning (timberry.com n.d.).  This is one thing that I did change about my plan.  I knew that I missed a few details so I went back and reviewed what I thought I needed to add, and fixed that.  I thought I would only have three employees because it’s an online-based company, but it turns out I needed to add a few more professional’s to handle the work I DID NOT want to do.

As far as Rhonda Abrams goes, she feels that it’s important to incorporate strong values into running a business so it can also benefit the bottom line (rhondaonline.com n.d.).  I was actually thinking about this when I was watching the video on Zappos, but it didn’t really click until I read that sentence on her site.  It is important to incorporate your strong values.  Bring good work ethic, so when your company does expand, and you need to hire, strong work ethic is something you’re going to look for in an employee.  By doing that, your bottom line will continue to benefit.  Also, I feel it’s important to allow fun in the workplace.  I’m a fun person and I want my employees to have fun.  If they are fun, they will carry that over to the customers.  If a customer is happy, they will most likely use your service again.

One more thing I thought was important that I would like to use with starting my business is Rhonda Abrams “The Successful Business Organizer” (rhondaonline.com n.d.).  Ever since I started this business plan, I’ve kept telling myself I’ll get organized, but that doesn’t happen.  I want that to change and I can possibly do that with this organizer.  It’s basically a take-with-you-everywhere handbook for starting new businesses that is packed with checklists, worksheets, and forms every new business owner could need.  So, yes, organization is a must for me!

After getting all this advice plus everything we've learned from class, I think the idea itself is the most important thing for the investor's to read.  If you don't have a good idea, or if they just don't like your idea, all the other information will be irrelevant.  So it's important to make your business idea clear and use as many details as possible.

After getting back the critiques and changing as I go, I’m confident that my business plan will turn out decent.  Even though I don’t have any desire to start my own virtual event planning business, I can take all that I have learned and carry it over with me for when I decide to start a business I want.


SOURCES:

5 Points on Business Planning and Imminent Change. (n.d.). Planning Startup Stories —. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from http://timberry.bplans.com/2009/02/business-plans-and-change.html

About Rhonda Abrams, keynote speaker and bestselling author. (n.d.).RhondaOnline.com: Starting a Business--advice and tips from business guru Rhonda Abrams. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from http://rhondaonline.com/content/aboutRho

The Blog on Social Media Business Planning. (n.d.). The Blog on Social Media Business Planning. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from http://www.smbplan.com

Tim Berry | Business Planning Expert. (n.d.). Tim Berry | Business Planning Expert. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from http://timberry.com

Writing Successful Business Plans

If you’re going to plan a business and anticipate major success, it’s more than apparent you’re going to have to come up with a good business plan.  Now, I know what you’re thinking...sounds long and boring, right?  Well, don’t think of it that way.  Take the advice from Rhonda Abrams by visioning your business plan into a business-model process.  “With the business-model process, you lay out your broad vision if your company…” …just envision that “a business model is a sketch and a business plan is a blueprint” (Rhondaonline.com n.d.).  That sounds little better, right?  Sketch…?  Vision…?  No…?  Okay, maybe it’s just me.  Well, if you don’t want to take her advice, you can also seek some advice from TimBerry.  Both of these professionals are recognized professionals in the field of writing and/or reviewing business plans.

Rhonda Abrams is a graduate of Harvard University with more than fifteen years of advising, mentoring and counseling entrepreneurs and small business owners (Rhondaonline.com n.d.).  She also takes on the task of being a popular public speaker, best-selling author, and a syndicated columnist.  Her column “Small Business Strategies” is the nation’s most widely-read column about entrepreneurship, reaching 20 million viewers and readers (Rhondaonline.com n.d.).  According to Abrams, her business-model process will lay out a broad vision for your company: how you will make money and how you’ll relate to your customers” (rgj.com n.d.).  Once the broad key components are sketched out, then each component is divided into sections and researched in detail.  She also has an organizer for purchase that keeps everything in order during this planning process.  This woman thinks of everything!

She’s not the only one though!  Tim Berry may be more experienced. Not only does he have two Master degrees and a BA from Notre Dame, but he has written and co-written a few books about business plan planning, as well as being founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software.  He also taught business planning class at the University of Oregon for 11 years (timberry.com n.d.).   In Berry’s blog, he stated that your plan should be realistic and credible.  It should also include cost of sales, projections, profit or loss, balance sheet and cash flow projections.   Berry states that it’s important because “it’s a matter of having dots connected and making reasonable projections, which you can pull apart the track plan vs. actual so that times goes on you have something you can review, revise and manage” (timberry.com n.d.). 

Now, both experts have a lot to say in their blogs and their numerous writings, so it’ll be important to check those out.  It’s obvious writing a business plan will take a lot of work and research, but there are numerous tools as well as tons of information available.  If first starting out, I’d definitely recommend seeing what you can learn from these two individuals first.  They seem to know a little something about the business planning process.

SOURCES:

About Rhonda Abrams, keynote speaker and bestselling author. (n.d.). RhondaOnline.com: Starting a Business--advice and tips from business guru Rhonda Abrams. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://rhondaonline.com/content/aboutRhonda/aboutRhonda.asp

Abrams, R. (n.d.). Small Business Strategies with Rhonda Abrams - USATODAY.com. USA TODAY: Latest World and US News  - USATODAY.com. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/columnist/abrams/index

Abrams, R. (n.d.). Rhonda Abrams: Delve deep, be specific for best business plans. RGJ. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from www.rgj.com/article/20130409/COL0807/304090032/Rhonda-Abrams-Delve-deep-specific-best-business-plans

Business Plan Software and Sales and Marketing Software - Palo Alto Software. (n.d.). Business Plan Software and Sales and Marketing Software - Palo Alto Software. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://www.paloalto.com

Tim Berry | Business Planning Expert. (n.d.). Tim Berry | Business Planning Expert. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from http://timberry.com