The  Business  Plan  and  Other  Communica5on  Tools  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Jane  Kearns@janekearns01  

Four Things to Remember…

Communicating is important

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Communicating ^ is important critical

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Jane  Kearns@janekearns01  

So what?

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Business  Planning  Helps  Avoid  Failure  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Tradi5onal  Communica5ons  Tools  

•  Elevator  Pitch  •  Execu@ve  Summary  •  Business  Plan    

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

The  Elevator  Pitch  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

The  Elevator  Pitch  

We  solve  [problem]  by  providing  [advantage],  to  

help  [target]  accomplish  [target’s  goal].    We  make  

money  by  charging  [customers]  to  get  [benefit].                      ~Elliot  Loh,  500  Startups  

Jane  Kearns@janekearns01  

•  hLps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aXIMNZJ2xQ  

Jane  Kearns@janekearns01  

The  Execu5ve  Summary  

•  Most  important  part  of  a  business  plan  •  1  –  2  pages  •  Write  it  last  •  Tell  your  story!  •  Emphasize  the  business  opportunity  •  Capture  investor’s  imagina@on/interest  or  lose  them  forever  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Penny  Blossoms  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Essen@al  Parts  of  the  Business  Plan  

Business  Plan  

Company  Overview  

Market  Analysis  

Customer  Analysis  

Compe55ve  Analysis  

Marke5ng  Plan  

Opera5ons  Plan  

Team  

Financials  &  

Projec5ons  

Execu5ve  Summary  

Company  Overview  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Market  Analysis  

Research  market/Market  

intelligence  

Select  target  market  

Project  Write  market  analysis  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Customer  Analysis  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Compe@@ve  Analysis  

List  of  Compe@tors  

Compe@tor  Product  Summary  

Compe@tor  Strengths  

and  Weaknesses  

Compe@tor  Strategies  

and  Objec@ves  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Marke@ng  Plan  -­‐  The  Four  Ps  

Corporate  Objec@ves  

Marke@ng  Strategy  

Product   Promo@on   Price   Place  

Partnerships  Jane  Kearns  

@janekearns01  

Opera@ons  Plan  

Opera@ng  facili@es  and  equipment  

Produc@on  and  opera@ng  procedures  

Compliance  with  regula@ons  

Supplies,  prices,  terms,  condi@ons,  

alternates  

Inventory  management   Quality  control  

Customer  service   Web  hos@ng   Website  development  

Possible  Components  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

The  Team  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Financials  •  Don’t  ignore  financials  –  they  are  CRITICAL  •  It  isn’t  the  spreadsheet  that  is  important,  it  is  the  thinking  behind  it  

•  You  can’t  possibly  understand  your  business  poten@al  if  you  haven’t  forecasted  

•  Yes,  it’s  hard  to  forecast  for  an  early  stage  company  

•  Yes,  they’re  going  to  be  wrong  •  Show  what  you  have  anyway  •  Be  able  to  explain  EVERY  number  instantaneously  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Jane  Kearns@janekearns01  

If you decide you need to write a business plan, keep these rules in mind…

It’s  NOT  All  About  the  Technology  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

BoKom  up  projec5ons,  NOT  top  down  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Yes,  You  Have  Compe55on  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

You  Need  an  Exit  Strategy  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Realis5c  Valua5on  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Don’t  Ignore  Milestones  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Keep  it  Simple  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

Don’t  ignore  the  holes  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01  

@janekearns01  

The  Business  Plan  and  Other  Communica5on  Tools  

Jane  Kearns  @janekearns01