19 Questions to Supercharge Your Business Plan
Whether you are seeking capital for your company or are optimizing your business strategy, the most important element - particularly for outside investors - may be your written business plan. You can tune-up and supercharge your plan using this 19-step checklist. When your written plan firmly answers yes to each of these 19 questions, your market/product strategy is in terrific shape plus you increase the odds of attracting investment capital.
If you don't already have a written business plan - write one! Your business plan is a blueprint for your whole company. It describes in detail your goals, the financial and technical viability of your goals, and the strategy you will use (or are using) to reach those goals. And your business plan is a working tool - it is a yardstick to measure your progress and a compass to keep you on course.
Must a business plan be written?
Yes! A plan which is not written usually has not been thought through fully. And despite what you may have read, it is doubtful that any business ever attracted capital on the back of a napkin.
Use this checklist as a way to identify where your strategy, as spelled out in your business plan, needs work. Each of the questions below highlights an area considered critical to technology investors.
1. Can the key ideas behind your product or service be stated in one or two sentences? (y/n)
2. Does your company have at least one unique and compelling competitive advantage, which cannot quickly or easily be duplicated? (y/n) Examples are a special feature, a cost advantage, a technical refinement, a new delivery system or a special supplier.
3. Is your competitive advantage proprietary? (y/n) That is, can it be copyrighted, patented, trademarked or otherwise protected? Can you keep it exclusive to you?
4. Is your industry segment growing by 25% or more? (y/n) If not, can your new product dominate its segment? If the answer is no, you probably won't be able to generate the kind of financial returns investors look for.
5. Does your product or service create a new market? (y/n) Although generally positive, this could be a trap - in a brand new market, the potential can be slow to develop. Lotus Notes created a new category but took years to create value for investors.
6. Is your market in "early momentum" - the market growth phase where market revenues have recently taken off? (y/n) Venture investors prefer markets in this stage because the time-to-create-value is shorter and the growth potential still large.
7. Is your target market segment 1) tightly defined over a population sharing common characteristics, 2) large enough to support significant profits, 3) served by communications channels to reach that market - i.e., trade or special interest publications, response mailing lists? (y/n)
8. Is your company filling a gap in the market, or do you have a "gee-whiz" product which you think is so terrific that customers will surely want to buy it? (y/n)
9. The benefit of your product or service to users is 1) significant, 2) quantifiable and 3) cost-justified? (y/n). If you provide a benefit which is important, and you can prove it - there is a much higher probability of generating sales.
10. Is there a demonstrated market for your product? (y/n) If you have an existing product, is your customer base expanding? Investors would rather fund sales and production than product development.
11. Is there wide appeal for your product or service? (y/n) Are there enough potential customers in the target market that you can earn significant profits, for a long time? Are there follow-on products to sustain revenue and profit growth?
12. Does your company have the ability to sell your product? (y/n) Particularly in companies where the founders have technical backgrounds, a question to ask is "Who is going to sell your product or service?" What about outside distributors?
13. Is there an experienced management team? (y/n) Investors would rather fund a solid team instead of one lone genius with a great idea. The team should be highly qualified in marketing, sales, finance, and the product/service area itself. Of course, a demonstrable track record helps.
14. Can you demonstrate a likely return of 5-15 times investors' capital, over a period ranging from three to seven years? (y/n) The actual parameters used by venture investors will vary based on which stage you are in (idea, startup, development, expansion, turnaround).
15. Is there a clear exit strategy for investors? (y/n) The most common strategies for returning investors' capital are 1) going public; 2) acquisition of your company; 3) new investors; 4) founder's buyback or management buyout.
16. Have other investors already put money into the company, particularly the senior management team? (y/n) This reduces the apparent risk, reduces overall exposure, and shows that management "has its money where its mouth is."
17. Have you clearly defined a structure for the investment you seeking? (y/n) The structure should include: who is involved, how much capital is needed, what minimum investment you will accept, how much equity that will buy - and, of course, the projected return on investment.
18. Are your financial projections realistic? (y/n) Have you soundly justified your projected growth rates and other financial assumptions?
19. Have you clearly examined the risks? (y/n) Investors like to know that you have considered the risks. This is key - can you turn your risks into opportunities?
Too many no's? Remember, each "no" opens up an area for you to strengthen your business. Even if you aren't seeking capital, each question highlights a critical success factor - which, when mastered, will increase your profits, your performance, and your future success.
In order to help you discover hidden value and opportunities in your existing business, and to make it easier to spot potential problems while you are just starting out, I've created the Discover Hidden Value Business Building Guide. A remarkable aid to accelerating the growth and profitability of your business, this program of insight-provoking questions and checklists enables you to rapidly diagnose, troubleshoot and optimize every part of your business, from marketing to sales, customer service to product development and finance to production.
© Paul Lemberg. All rights reserved
Paul Lemberg's clients call him "the unreasonable business coach" because he insists they pursue goals and take actions far outside their comfort zone to make more money than they previously thought possible. To get business coaching tips, tools and strategies like these, visit http://www.paullemberg.com/Business_Coaching.html.
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exitingMore Strategic Planning Information:
Related Articles
Content Management: Wise Investment for Business Prosperity
The time when a website was just a simple set of HTML pages has gone by. It's true, just five or seven years ago simple websites developed with HTML and JavaScript were usual.
19 Questions to Supercharge Your Business Plan
Whether you are seeking capital for your company or are optimizing your business strategy, the most important element - particularly for outside investors - may be your written business plan. You can tune-up and supercharge your plan using this 19-step checklist.
In Business Planning, Competition is Good
When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies must define competition correctly, select the appropriate competitors to analyze, and explain its competitive advantages.To start, companies must align their definition of competition with investors.
Business Results - Four Critical Success Factors
Scenario OneDuring a recent presentation, a business owner was given the following challenge. If 10 of his 100 employees were asked to name the top 3 organizational goals for the current year as they perceived them to be, would he receive the same 3 goals from everyone or would he receive 5, 10 or even 25 different goals? The business owner shook his head and thoughtfully responded, "No, I am sure that I would receive more than 3 goals.
Why Six Sigma Will Work in Healthcare
If ever there were an industry where we want zero defects, it's healthcare. Patients, medical professionals, and healthcare administrators all want mistakes eliminated and quality and efficiency improved.
Take A Systems View To Ensure Your Business Stays Healthy
How are you feeling today? Good, not so good, great? Let me ask the same question in a different way: How is your gastro-intestinal system functioning today? What about your lymphatic system? How's the old circulatory system flowing along? Are all your bodily systems aligned, in sync, and cranking at peak performance?In order to get everything done perfectly and on time, your body must use many systems that effectively work side by side. Just as it is important to take a systems view when it comes to your body's health and well-being, it is equally important that you have a clear understanding of your business and its organizational systems.
Hunters and Gatherers - Are You Serving Both Their Needs?
The University of Exeter in the United Kingdom recently published research financed by Barclays Bank, which has implications for everyone who is serving the general population.This research shows that consumers shop establishments based on one of the two personal profiles.
Strategic Acquisition Strategies for Small Businesses
Growth through acquisition should not be considered an option reserved solely for large or Public Companies. Small and mid-size businesses that opt to grow by acquiring other companies, rather than growing one new customer at a time, can gain benefits in addition to increased sales and profits.
Microsoft Great Plains in Advertising & Publishing - implementation highlights
Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Dynamics is excellent fit for service oriented business and in this small article we'll give you magazine publisher and advertiser implementation and reporting scenarios. The system we describe is not real, we are putting together industry specifics, based on our consulting practice.
6 Changes You Can Make to Increase Business Profits
I read once that something like 30 percent of all drinkable
water gets wasted on the way to the consumer by leaky pipes.
Likewise, your business may be letting potential revenue
drip away, to be lost forever, all over the place.
Strategic Planning and Total Quality Management
No matter what product or service you provide you will have to face this issue of quality and systems. Whether it is distribution of services or streamlining of processes in manufacturing your product; you will need to address the issues of total quality management.
Business Plan Financial Projections: Stop Worrying About Being Right...
Business plan financial projections seem daunting because
they are so uncertain. This very uncertainty, however, is
what makes preparing them easy because you can't possibly be
right.
Is Plan B Ready?
Business owners and entrepreneurs are, by nature, risk takers and adventurers. If we didn't have that "optimism gene" floating around, not much of any progress would ever get done.
During the election we heard about Ohio's Economy
Much of what we heard in the mass media about Ohio and the down and out economy was the fiction of spin-doctors of politics who wanted to oust the current sitting President. On further review and first hand observation and experience Cincinnati has people moving in and economic expansion.
What Every Service Provider Ought To Know About Writing A Business Plan
It's easy to lose sight of what needs to be communicated to prospective investors when writing the various sections of a business plan. Successful business owners/entrepreneurs use each section of their business plan to work up interest, to present arguments and, most important, to build trust and confidence.
How to Start A Business Plan
A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a current and pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis.
How to Grow Your Business by Clearing the Way to Growth
Is your business growing as fast and effectively as it could, or is it stuck at the same level it has been at for years? Research (Larry Greiner, 1972) has discovered 5 specific stages of business growth. Most business never grow beyond the second level.
Benefiting from Strategic Thinking
I recently took an organizational behavior class where my professor conducted a strategic thinking exercise in which groups of students were to be a part of a scholarship committee. The purpose of our committee was to use strategic thinking on allocating a scholarship budget to reward several incoming freshmen to our university.
How Good Is a Business Plan To Your Business?
You know you need a business plan. You probably realize that it is one of the best ways to get your business up and running.
Strategic Planning Fundamentals
Strategic planning is vital while starting a new business or expansion of an business or planning to boost the performance of an existing business. But it requires detailed strategic planning and controlled deployment activities.
Restaurant Startup - Part 1: Market Research - What are Potential Competitors Doing?
The first step in starting a restaurant is proper planning. One must lay out a plan complete with goals, priorities, and the tasks that he will need to complete in order to achieve these goals.