Sunday, November 24, 2013

“Experts Views on the Value of Business Plans”


I intend to create a flexible business plan that has the ability to adapt to the forever-evolving social media market, which is what my business is based on. I will do that by doing reviews monthly and assume what can change.  One specific change that I made to my business plan is rethink my marketing analysis because before it was mediocre and now it goes into full detail on how I plan to market my services.  

The sections of a business plan I consider to be the most important is the executive summary and marketing analysis. The executive summary briefly explains to the reader that your company is about, the company’s current status, where you would like to take it, and most importantly the reason why your business idea will be successful. For those that are seeking financing, the executive summary is your first chance to reel in the attention of a potential investor. It’s a good idea to write the executive summary last because it should spotlight the strengths of your overall plan. Although, it’s the last section that you write, it should appear first in the business plan.

The second most important would be the market analysis because without a concrete plan to increase sales your business is have some setbacks and not perform well. You need a plan for which you’re selling the product or service to, how to introduce it, determine pricing and do research on your competition.






Sunday, November 3, 2013

Tim Berry-Expert Business Planner


The day I got my LLC from Legal Zoom, I knew I would have to do a business plan one day eventually. I received the Palo Alto Software along with it but I haven’t used it yet. Today, I realized that Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palto Alto Software, which is software that helps create business plans. He’s a well-established entrepreneur, business author, co-founder of Borland International and expert in business planning. In the 1970s, he wrote for popular business journals Business Week and financial Times. He has an impressive resume, working as a consultant for Apple and Hewlett-Packard. In 1983, he established Palo Alto Software and then later in 1994 released the first version of Business Plan Pro.

According to Berry, there are eight factors that make a good business plan. 
1.     It fits the business need
2.     It’s realistic. It can be implemented.
3.     It’s specific. You can track results against plan.
4.     It clearly defines responsibilities for implementation
5.     It clearly identifies assumptions
6.     It’s communicated to the people who have to run it
7.     It gets people committed
8.     It’s kept alive by follow up and planning process