Three weeks ago, we first visited the topic of how different
CEO’s and potential investors may choose to focus on separate aspects of a
business plan as a matter of individual style. Having now completed the bulk of a first draft of my own
business plan, I have a better understanding of how, why and under what
circumstances some of these focuses are best applied, and why and under what
conditions investors or analysts will choose to focus on certain areas of a
business plan.
We first looked at ethnographer and motivational speaker
Simon Shinek, who in his book, “Start With Why”, discusses the importance of a
company and a leader being able to identify its core value. The notion is that by defining its core
values, the company can operate from the inside out and thus create loyal
customers.
Having now written a business plan, it is easy to see how
and why the person who leads the company and implements the plan is every bit
as important as the numbers and the strategy behind the plan itself. Even if the numbers add up, even if the
plan seems flawless, it means nothing if the proposed leaders of the plan don’t
have the ability to excite investors to help fund the initiative. It means nothing if the leaders don’t
have the ability to create a company culture that allows people within the
company to complete plans at the granular level. It means nothing if the leaders of the company don’t have
the ability to execute the entire strategy of the company.
As I wrote my plan, I took care to identify and emphasize
the strengths of the two principals, with special attention towards how our two
skill sets work together.
Additionally, I have incorporated our professional values into
descriptions about our various strategies. For example, as we describe our competitive position within
our industry analysis, it is clear that the values and skills of the principals
reflect the core competencies of the company. In short, the leaders’ strengths become the company
strengths. This is outlined at the
beginning, repeated ad infinitum, and thus ingrained into the daily operations
of the company.
My first blog also profiled Paul Ferris, founder and General
Partner of the highly selective technology venture capital fund, Azure
Capital. Azure Capital is focused
far less on the spiritual than the analytical. On the front end, Ferris looks for data and research. On the back end, Ferris wants to fund
companies that acknowledge an exit strategy within the very beginnings of their
business plan.
The above paragraph feels like the kind of philosophy we can
all appreciate on its surface because it makes such simple, logical sense. Obviously, we want some evidence that
the plan is feasible. We want
statistics. We want others in the
industry to back what we believe.
And we want to have some sense of where the business is going to end
up.
That said, one has a much more tactile understanding of this
concept on the other side of finishing a business plan. One can see the gears all mesh
together, and how things one writes in a certain section of the plan get
reinforced in another written section of the plan and then reinforced again
within the financial data.
Three weeks ago, I wrote,”Sinek and Ferris stress different
aspects of business plans, though both are important to the successful
outcome. Writers of business plans
should heed the advice of both, and keep both elements in mind when
self-evaluating their proposals.” Though
I have only written a first complete draft of the business plan, I think I have
at least incorporated some of these values, and I will continue to do so in
future drafts of the plan as I refine it towards something even more
executable.
REFERENCES
1. CAA speakers: Simon Sinek, author of
"Start with Why". (2009). Retrieved from
www.caaspeakers.com/simon-sinek/bio
2. Ferris, P. (2012). Azure capital ::
Paul ferris. Retrieved from
http://www.azurecap.com/team/team-member/Paul_Ferris
3. Lester, C. (2009, July 27). Another
view: A golden age for dcs. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/another-view-a-golden-age-for-venture-capital/
4. Locke, L. (2011, September 29).
Twitter video-sharing service nabs $6.5 million. CNet News, DOI: news.cnet.com
5. Simon Sinek. (2009, September).
[Video Tape Recording]. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action.,
Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html
