Sunday, November 24, 2013

Factors that helped me write my business plan


Earlier this month, I introduced 2 business experts that demonstrated extensive knowledge of business planning in the 21st century. These experts, Jim Blasingame and Tim Berry, provided key factors that could help anyone create an effective business plan. As a student that is currently developing a business plan for a nightclub in Louisiana, I thought that it would be a great idea to incorporate these factors into my business plan and share with you what I have done.

Write Down Your Business Plan/Concept
Jim Blasingame, one of the world’s foremost experts in small business and entrepreneurship, suggests that no matter how simple the concept is, writing down the plan for your business concept is the key to developing an effective business plan. He even states that the idea is to “Write your business plan but practice business planning.” Today, successful businesses are constantly creating new or modifying their old business plans to evaluate opportunities and challenges of their businesses. With this in mind, I wrote down my simple business concept with the idea that later on, I would be able to narrow down my business concept until it becomes a competent business plan.

Connect Business Solutions to the Problems of the People
I believe that this idea is the key factor that would help my investors understand the advantages of my business. Since I would like to own a nightclub business in the future, I would have to discover ways to differentiate my business from my competitors. One idea that was shared by Tim Berry was to understand how your business provides a solution to the problems of the people. Once this is understood, only then can one elaborate on a business’s distinctions in a business plan.

In order for me to do this, I had to do research on other nightclubs in Louisiana and understand what makes them different. Once I had a good idea about my competitors’ unique differences, I was able to add my own innovative idea to my business plan. This new idea is what will make my business stand out amongst my competitors.

Develop a Good Finance Section
Tim Berry states, “As an investor…I want to see maturity inthe relationship between the numbers…If they are different, I want to see theentrepreneurs know about differences and can explain them.” Like many aspiring business owners, seeing profit is what makes owning a business rewarding. However, if the numbers do not match with the business plan, investors would question on the validity of the business concept.

Unfortunately, this was the case for me, as my business mentor questioned me about the reasoning behind the net profit increases that would occur each year in my finance section. If my numbers are identical each year, how could I prove that factors within my business are the cause of my financial gain? Of course, my finance section required some modifications. I plan to demonstrate my business’s efforts to generate more income by increasing the company's projected product pricing and marketing expenses each year.


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