Business Plan Success


Hello there world!

It’s me again, Grace-C!

In my last post I highlighted two very successful business people, and shared the advice that they have given on the importance of a well-developed business plan. Dave Lavinsky, and Oprah Winfrey both have an extensive business background, and one would be almost foolish to not heed their advice on the matter.

When writing my business plan I have absolutely taken some of the professional advice that I’ve discovered, to make sure that I develop the best business plan that I possibly can. Both Ms. Oprah Winfrey and Mr. Dave Lavinsky’s advice has been implemented into my personal business plan writing process.

The Oprah Winfrey given advice when it comes to creating a business plan was to make sure that you cover every single detail. She adamantly stresses the NO DETAIL SPARED method. Even the things that people may not think to include in an ordinary business plan, then include it. You can never go wrong for being too thorough when it comes to business planning. Every cost, every product, every employee, ect. needs to be thought about and planned accordingly for.

So in drafting my business plan for Grace Note Talent Development I make sure to try and think about every possible situation that may be in relation to my business venture. What types of situations may I face? How much money will it realistically cost to do certain things? What type of team do I need to develop to pull a project like this off? All of these thoughts should circulate when conjuring up a business idea and drafting the plan for it.

The advice given by Dave Lavinsky basically stated that there should be 4 components included in EVERY business plan model, and if included you will have a successfully developed plan. Those 4 pieces are: 1) A one-line summary of what your company does, 2) A Financial Model, 3) Risk Mitigation Milestones, and 4) Your unique qualifications for success (Lavinsky, 2011).
 
I have applied Mr. Lavinsky’s advice to my business plan writing process by making sure that my plan contains all of these components.  I have not yet included the Risk Mitigation Milestones but that is definitely something that I will make sure is included in my completed and final draft of the business plan.

For more information on successful business plan writing check out:
http://www.angelscorner.com/articles/plan_tips.htm

Thank you for reading! Until another post!
HUGS, LUVS AND BLESSINGS FROM ABOVE!!

Sources:
http://bgnentrepreneur.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/business-plan.jpg


http://www.writeforhr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Business-Planning-for-Business-Success.jpg

Posted by GraceCMac 0 comments
 
 

The Business Plan



Hello World! It’s me, Grace-C again!

In this weeks blog posting I wanted to discuss the importance of a well-developed business plan. If you do not know, I am currently a graduate student working on my Master of Science degree in Entertainment Business at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. Since day one of my studies here at Full Sail University one of the main focuses of our intense degree program was our final business plan project. Every student that matriculates through this Entertainment Business Master of Science program, (or at Full Sail University better referenced as EBMS) upon graduation must develop, research, complete and pitch an entire business plan.

So in this post I wanted to dig deeper, research and find what some pros have to say. I want to highlight what they would advise when it comes to constructing or reading a business plan. The two industry experts in this field that I chose to cover are Dave Lavinsky and Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is by far one of the world’s most successful businesspersons. Born in Mississippi and later moving to Tennessee, Winfrey began to pursue her interest in radio and television broadcast throughout her college experience at Tennessee State University. She soon went on to host her self-titled show, The Oprah Winfrey show, which has been the number one rated talk show for almost two decades. She is the first female, African-American billionaire and is very accomplished in many various avenues (Allen, 2011).

Her outlook on constructing a business plan is that “It forces you to consider the what-ifs and tiny costs you might overlook…and it will force you to see what you need to change to finally start making money with you business “(Brewster, 2007). This is a very critical point, because as you start you business you don’t want to just make a business plan to have one; but you actually need to utilize and monitor all of your progress. The business plan will become your road map throughout your entire business.

Dave Lavinsky
The next industry expert that I decided to highlight is Dave Lavinsky. Lavinsky is the founder and CEO of Growthink, which is a business planning and consulting organization devoted to helping the entrepreneurs of the world succeed (Growthink.com, 2011). He is a world-renowned expert in the business planning; venture development, and capital raising realms. He has developed hundreds of business plans, and has lectured at top universities around the nation sharing his advice and expertise. He has also written many numerous articles on the matters of business planning for the entrepreneur. He is the president at Growthink University, and resides now in New York with his wife and their two children (youngentrepreneur.com, 2011).

 His idea of creating a successful business plan is captured in an article that he wrote called Key Components of a Business Plan. In the article he goes on to discuss how there are four often overlooked components that could make of break the idea business plan. Those components are: 1) A one-line summary of what your company does, 2) A Financial Model, 3) Risk Mitigation Milestones, and 4) Your unique qualifications for success (Lavinsky, 2011). By making sure that these four sections are implemented, it will certainly allow for you business to thrive and optimize, and it will allow for investors to have a sense of reassurance for success toward your business plan.

If you are interested in learning more about how to write a successful business plan, there are some very helping resources online. Thank you for reading!
HUGS, LUVS and BLESSINGS from ABOVE!!!




Sources:



http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/famousentrepreneurs/p/oprahwinfrey.htm

http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/

http://www.growthink.com/team/dave-lavinsky

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/about-the-experts/

Posted by GraceCMac 0 comments