See page 101
■ Choose your project. Some classes or competitions may limit the kinds of businesses you can select as a project, but more often you have a universe of options from which to choose. You’ll probably start your selection process with a brainstorming session of team members, to come up with a list of possibilities. In fact, some professors require you to submit a number of potential business plan projects. Refer back to Chapter 2 to help you focus your selection process.
■ Identify key issues. Once you’ve decided which business you’re going to plan, you need to identify the key issues you’ll have to address in developing that plan. Go over the “Basic Business Concept” worksheet on page 40. Be critical: Don’t be afraid to tear your business idea apart. Ask yourself all the tough questions that a reader—whether a professor, judge, or potential funder—will inevitably ask.
■ Assign tasks. When apportioning tasks, you can choose to either divide up tasks based on functional areas or share all tasks among team members. Because it’s generally helpful to have one key person act as the focal point for reporting in, setting meetings, and so on, you’ll also need to choose a group leader. The group can then decide the nature and extent of the leader’s responsibilities.
■ Reevaluate assumptions. Toward the end of the planning process, before putting the written plan and presentation together, reassemble the group to reevaluate your original assumptions and readjust your business concept or strategy. As a result of your research and data into the industry, market, and competition, you’ll have a much better idea of what might actually succeed. Take the time to do this step, and be willing to change as well.
■ Integrate the work. Even after each member of the team has completed their section of the plan, you’re far from finished when they turn their sections in. You’ll likely find that you have a very uneven document: some sections more thorough than others, some more clearly written than others. Put one team member, or at most two, in charge of completing the written plan. It’s difficult to write an excellent document by committee.
■ Prepare and present the plan. Finally, decide who’ll give the presentation of the plan, if an oral presentation is required or is an option (take it!), and then practice that presentation. You don’t want to be caught fumbling at the last minute, figuring out who’s going to stand up.
REAL-WORLD RECAP
The team process
The following key steps will help you manage your competition process:
■ Choose your team
■ Make decisions
■ Choose your project
■ Identify key issues
■ Assign tasks
■ Reevaluate assumptions
■ Integrate the work
■ Prepare and present the plan
Tricks for improving your chances in business plan competitions
Although each business plan competition has its own rules and requirements, you can improve your odds at winning by adopting these strategies.
■ Understand the nature of the competition. A competition sponsored by M.I.T. will have a different emphasis than one sponsored by a business association that helps launch small businesses.
■ Find team members with complementary backgrounds and skills. Judges often look at your depth of expertise. If your background is in marketing, balance your team with team members skilled in other functions, such as technology, operations, or finance.
■ If possible, talk to past winners or entrants for insights. If the competition sponsor shares examples of previous years’ winning plans, look at a number of entries—not just at the first-prize winner; you’ll get a better feel for how they distinguish among entries.
■ Research the judges. What areas of interest and expertise do they have? If they’re investors themselves, what types of businesses do they invest in? Such information gives you a sense of the level of industry and technology knowledge they’ll bring to their judging.
■ For university competitions, call on alumni members for advice or information. In fact, this may be the perfect opportunity to get a personal meeting with a potential funder (or employer) who happens to be an alumnus or alumna of your school.
■ Be real. Unless the competition specifically seeks plans for visionary businesses and groundbreaking concepts, an idea with a good chance of succeeding in the real world will much more likely impress judges.
Special considerations for classes
Generally, the issues for preparing a successful business plan for a class—and getting a good grade—are the same for preparing any business plan. Still, professors and teachers will particularly look for:
■ Well-integrated plan sections
■ Well-documented sources of information
■ An accurate assessment of the real-world situation
■ A clear statement of assumptions
■ An adequate assessment of risks
■ Clear writing and presentation
In a class, you’ll also likely be judged by how well the team has worked together, so pay particular attention to your group dynamics.
ENTREPRENEUR’S WORKSHEET
Who’s on Your Team?
challenge
Identify the opportunities and challenges when launching a new business
solution
Develop a business plan to help navigate the new company on the sometimes bumpy road to success
REAL-WORLD CASE
Honest Advice on Business Planning
Two thirsty guys walk into a supermarket. No, that’s not the beginning of a joke. It was the beginning of Honest Tea, a groundbreaking maker of bottled, low-sugar organic tea. What began on a kitchen counter with a guy mixing up some drink concoctions today is a company selling bottled beverages in approximately 100,000 stores across the U.S.
Like many great start-up stories, Honest Tea began when the founders faced a problem. Seth Goldman was an active, health-oriented guy who couldn’t find bottled beverages that met his needs. He wanted something healthy and refreshing. He preferred something organic. Most of all, he didn’t want all the sugar that was in super-sweet store-bought beverages, like soft drinks.
Goldman shared his