what is a business plan

How to Create a Killer Business Plan- Martha Stewart Perspective

Good counsel on creating a ‘killer’ business plan from Martha Stewart who many may not know offers excellent resources for entrepreneurs.

Note the recommendations to “… be concise, compelling, complete” – the “3 C’s”. While good points here, the article missed one critical point- the need to emphasize and show a winning management team. I shared the following comments:

Good counsel here and I like the ” 3 C’s ” recommendations. Article emphasizes business plan essentials but we know investors often invest in management more than plans. Reinforcing the depth of management experience in the venture; creating a strong Management Advisory Board; structuring a Product Advisory Council- these are low cost, smart steps that add great value to business plans based on my experience .

Check out article at

 http://www.marthastewart.com/266952/how-to-create-a-killer-business-plan

Paul B Silverman

 

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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Buy Health Monitoring Devices Off The Clothing Rack?

In my recent  book, I talked about how technology is reshaping traditional markets and strategies. Given new directions in integrating health care monitors into clothing, I suggested we may be buying health care monitors in Lands End, and discussed how this will impact traditional retailer strategies. Sales staff questions may move from “What size and color jacket would you like to see?” to “Can I show you our blood pressure-only monitoring jacket or our top of the line full featured model tracking glucose, oxygenation and includes a USB port?”

And what about health care coverage. Expect to see some interesting issues emerge here- are you buying a jacket or a medical device; where do you draw the line?

The recently announced MisFit Wearables, with an investment by John Sculley MisFit Wearables Health Care Startup , I expect is moving in this direction joining other players and more are coming. The proliferation of sensor data from a wide range of devices (some you wear as clothes, some you attach to your body, some are like  band-aids, you use and dispose), and the need to track, securely manage, share, analyze and communicate  this data is spawning a new sector.

What is really exciting is moving from collection of basic vital sign data and using advanced analytics to analyze vital sign data, understand the real time impact of medications (both pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals) and empower users and clinicians with new tools that can, I believe make a real contribution to improve our personal health and wellness, a market sector I am pursuing with a talented team. Lots of exciting developments here. Stay tuned.

 

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How To Be A Startup CEO – Bing Gordon Kleiner Perkins Video

Excellent video I highly recommend by Bing Gordon, partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (http://tinyurl.com/6vc5hy8). I also posted comments on video site and will be using some of these ideas in upcoming entrepreneurship course am teaching at GWU;

My posted comments as follows:

Excellent insightful presentation. I contribute teaching entrepreneurship in the George Washington University School of Business CFEE (“Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence”) and also serve as CEO of Sante Corp, a new venture with proprietary technology developing a new web-based personal health management system. My recently published book Worm on a Chopstick : Understanding Today’s Entrepreneurial Age: Directions, Strategies, Management Perspectives shared perspectives and tips on what entrepreneurial company managers need to know to move to beyond a start-up to create a high growth company.

Many excellent management tips and messages in Bing Gordon’s video I am sharing with both students and colleagues. There are 3 messages in particular I am emphasizing:

  • The Need to Balance Management and Entrepreneurial Responsibilities Entrepreneurship is messy and often frenetic, pursuing innovative technologies, new product launches and building an organization with minimal capital. CEO must nuture and balance entrepreneurial culture with clear focus on tightly managing results. I find many entrepreneurs lack the ‘traditional’ management skills and have a ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy- these new management skills can and must be learned. Bing Gordon’s presentation clearly reinforces this point.
  • Quantifying Objectives with Trackable Milestones Gordon describes Intel’s ‘OKR’ or ‘Objectives and Key Results’ management approach – managers set objectives and identify and track 2 to 3 results, and managers expected to achieve 70 percent of results. Very important discipline which helps companies grow and send messages to Boards and investors. I have used KPI’s (‘Key Performance Indicators’) for years in many global businesses, discussed KPIs in my recent book, and counseled many CEO’s to adopt and use these tools . Also proposed a similar approach to track large numbers of new inner-city entrepreneurial companies in a new “Entrepreneurial Empowerment Program (EEP)” I am proposing to the administration. Excellent discipline and should be more widely promoted.
  • CEO’s Need to Implement Scalable Processes CEO’s need to think and plan long term- that means understanding that scalable processes must be established early, what are the objectives of these processes, when are they needed, what cost-effective solutions can we implement now to serve as ‘building-blocks’ as business scales. This message is often missed by entrepreneurial managers struggling with day-to-day challenges with limited resources.

Thanks for sharing an excellent, insightful presentation.

Paul B. Silverman

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A Creative Visualization Tool Application: How 5 companies started small and grew big

Interesting high level review of 5 very successful companies- check out http://holykaw.alltop.com/how-5-companies-started-small-and-grew-big-in

Note the use of a visualization tools and ‘infographics’ here to tightly convey information and tell a story. I am looking at using similar visualization techniques to present business plans for new ventures – you have not yet seen much related to new venture infographics but this is coming

Visualization tools help us move away from traditional powerpoint show to more creative ways to quickly and tightly describe a new venture- my experience to date suggests this forces tighter, more focused thinking–I see lots of opportunity here.

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