Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

Who would have forecast that entrepreneur Gary Ross Dahl would make millions by starting a “ pet rock ” business way back in 1975? Startup presents a plan to expand and lead the market. Plan includes a business model with good margins. Founding team has business and domain experience.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Steve Blank

AUGUST 23, 2010

We’re Not Here for a Sales Call. Disabusing the audience of the notion that the visit is a sales call is vital to the customer discovery mission. Short-circuiting that process is a major “foul” that often leads to premature business models and suboptimal sales results.).

Customer Development 235

Customer Development Developer Customer South America 235

Up and Running

JUNE 25, 2020

And while generating new business and growing your customer base is necessary to succeed, it doesn’t happen overnight. If your sales have recently hit a plateau, check out these 10 proven methods to continue growing your business. Growing your customer base and growing your sales typically means growing your team.

Small Business 180

Small Business Hosting Social Media Community 180

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 19, 2019

Presenting a business plan. While teaching at Alliance Manchester Business School, I ran an informal experiment by presenting two business plans: a good investment opportunity that was badly-presented, versus a bad plan that was well-presented.

Business Plan 93

Business Plan Technical Review Initial Public Offering Due Diligence 93

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 31, 2017

Managing innovation can be seen as a type of forecasting. SMS, video conferencing, and file sharing on the cloud can keep different locations or traveling sales and management in sync in essentially real time. Cloud-based services provide better services like virtual bookkeeping that put smaller businesses on par with large ones.

Small Business 100

Small Business SMS Bandwidth Cloud 100

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

They collected information that justified their assumptions about the problem, opportunity, market size, their solution and competitors and the their team, They rolled up a 5-year sales forecast with assumptions about their revenue model, pricing, sales, marketing, customer acquisition cost, etc. It’s static.

Business Model 328

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 328

David Teten

AUGUST 6, 2015

Michael also observes, “One other comment I think would be worth mentioning, even though it seems ridiculously obvious, is the importance of speaking with model users about what is and isn’t important to them when analyzing a model….So 10) Create an area for assumptions and main drivers at the beginning (top or left) of the model.

Balance Sheet 60

Balance Sheet Software Review Forecast Acquisition 60

Up and Running

AUGUST 28, 2018

You should go into this thinking about your business plan as a living document, not something you do once and then file away forever. Revisit and update it regularly by comparing your forecasts to your actuals and adjusting as necessary. Components of this section include: Your marketing and sales plan. Marketing and sales plan.

Business Plan 72

Business Plan Technical Review Exit Strategy Oregon 72

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 18, 2022

My new business idea came from my current business. In 2020 I started a presentation design agency & scaled it globally. There will always be a need for new features, products, and services for your firm because businesses and procedures change every day. 11- Online handyman business. Photo Credit: Robert Gate.

Affiliate 62

Affiliate United States Entrepreneur Software Review 62

Tim Keane

JUNE 21, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan. First develop a business model.   Think about having the same discussion in a different way - by preparing your sales forecast by making your assumptions explicit. Sales to segment A will be $500 per customer.

Forecast 68

Forecast Business Plan Sales Wisconsin 68

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. That’s the sales forecast, the spending forecast and the cash flow. That’s a lean business plan. It is not a document.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Having a business plan shows that you’ve done the homework of thinking through how your business will work and what goals you’re trying to achieve. A business plan provides the structure for thinking through these things and documents your answers so you’re prepared for the inevitable questions investors will ask about your business.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Outline your business model. Your business model tells an investor how your idea will (or does) convert into being economically viable. The best way to show you how to communicate your business model is to show you an example of a good one. Your business model should answer the questions: What do you sell?

Sweat Equity 122

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Elevator Pitch Forecast 122

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? last week presenting at the ARPA-E conference.

Search 320

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 320

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

Any dispassionate observer would recognize that on Day One, a start-up has no customers, and unless the founder is a true domain expert, he or she can only guess about the customer, problem, and business model. Traditionally, engineering, sales, and marketing have all focused on the immovable launch date.

Balance Sheet 335

Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Up and Running

OCTOBER 30, 2017

This article is part of our “ Business Startup Guide ”—a curated list of our articles that will get you up and running in no time! People often ask us for a list of steps they can use to start their own business. From business type to business model to physical location, there are so many variables! Target Market.

Venture Capital 166

Venture Capital Business Plan Limited Liability Company Finance 166

YoungUpstarts

MAY 26, 2017

Use a Bottom-Up Model. A common mistake is using a top-down model to forecast financials. This model tends to be way too optimistic, and ultimately unrealistic. Using the bottom-down model, you use your current situation and capabilities to see where you can reasonably go from there. Slide 6: Marketing & Sales.

Cofounder 185

Cofounder Silicon Valley Forecast Business Plan 185

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

How does your business model make money? Good causes such as feeding the world’s hungry may help your marketing but may not sustain a business. The business model has to clearly define who is your customer, market penetration expected, how much customers pay versus total costs and the investment required to sustain cash flow.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Business schools teach aspiring executives a variety of courses around the execution of known business models, (accounting, organizational behavior, managerial skills, marketing, operations, etc.). In contrast, startups search for a business model. (Or to optimize this search. to optimize this search.

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

Up and Running

JANUARY 24, 2014

Outline your business model. Your business model tells an investor how your idea will (or does) convert into being economically viable. The best way to show you how to communicate your business model is to show you an example of a good one. Your business model should answer the questions: What do you sell?

Sweat Equity 138

Sweat Equity Churn Rate Forecast Business Model 138

Up and Running

JULY 22, 2014

But whether you’re thinking of starting a business, expanding your current business, or just want to understand your current business better, there are a few key financial items that you should definitely include: Profit and loss statement. Sales forecast. Sales forecast. Cash flow statement.

Balance Sheet 148

Balance Sheet Forecast Equity .Net 148

Up and Running

APRIL 28, 2015

I’m leveraging the knowledge I’ve gained having listened to hundreds—if not thousands—of pitch presentations, and seen all different kinds of pitch decks and presentation styles. I’ve also built my own pitch decks and presented to major Silicon Valley VC firms over the years and have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.

Forecast 60

Forecast Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Intellectual Property 60

NZ Entrepreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2019

Early stage business investors such as angel investors or venture capital companies are generally only interested in companies with great potential for success and a high return on investment. Be aware that if pitching to these types of investors that your business model needs to be scalable and needs to address a promising market size.

Business Plan 51

Business Plan Forecast Venture Capital Angel Investor 51

Up and Running

MAY 1, 2014

If there are multiple market segments for your business, this is where you flesh out the details. Marketing and Sales Plan. What marketing and sales tactics will you be using? If you’ve accomplished some key milestones in the process of building your business, detail them here. If your business model (i.e., “how

Business Plan 163

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Distribution 163

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

These numbers are critical and must be part of any good pitch presentation. Competition - Every business has competition. Financial Summary - For a great pitch, you don’t necessarily have to show a detailed 5-year forecast. What’s more important is that you understand your business model.

Elevator Pitch 166

Elevator Pitch Forecast Oregon Differentiation 166

Tim Keane

JANUARY 12, 2010

  Investors sometimes “present” the terms they’d like and expect the entrepreneurs to react. Now that I’m more often on the other side of the term-sheet, I’ve tried to present term-sheets to entrepreneurs accompanied by a philosophical explanation of what I’m proposing, and why. Let’s start at the end.

Term Sheet 68

Term Sheet Valuation Dividend Liquidation Preference 68

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when).

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Up and Running

MAY 16, 2016

To supplement this guide, I interviewed an expert in the home health care field: Carol Byrne is the National Sales Director for 21st Century Health Care Consultants, a consulting firm which serves home health care agencies throughout the United States. See Also: 30 Small Business Ideas (for When You Don’t Know What Business to Start).

North America 95

North America United States Technical Review America 95

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Lean Planning is a set of tools for discovering a business model that works, building an action plan to test your assumptions, creating financial models and a plan for a viable business, and tracking your performance so you can adjust your plan on the fly, quickly and easily. Do startups have a manual?

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

The company has just missed its quarterly revenue forecast. So we know from this that the problem is not the quality of those sales people. They also know precisely how much additional traffic will need to be generated to reach the growth targets, and how many sales people are needed at a given productivity level, etc.

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

So I’m doing a series on Referral Generation where I’m presenting what I’m calling the seven grades of referral fuel. Success story features Q and a sessions with successful business leaders, keynote presentations, conversations on sales marketing. It’s not something that you do one time or one way.

Affiliate 96

Affiliate Advisory Board Networking Programming 96

Up and Running

APRIL 29, 2019

Goals should include things such as how often your brand is presented to consumers and ideas for how you’d like others to see your business. Branding goals are a little different—think more about the top of your sales funnel. You’re also looking to increase their positive associations with your business.

Marketing 142

Marketing Social Media Lean Campaign 142

Up and Running

OCTOBER 14, 2015

While many startups have stated an intention to “someday” expand their business overseas, without going through the process before it can seem like an incredibly daunting task. New markets, unfamiliar cultures, administrative procedures, visas, sales, and potential language barriers are enough to deter any Magellan-esque ambition.

Global 60

Global Intellectual Property IP Cyprus 60

Up and Running

OCTOBER 3, 2018

Whichever type of plan you choose, remember that a business plan is a living document. Set a specific time each month to review it , comparing forecasts to actuals and revising as necessary. Assumptions change based on experience, and your business plan should change along with these assumptions. Marketing and sales plan.

El Paso 61

El Paso Business Plan Technical Review Forecast 61

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

It could be a combination of small issues that can be resolved or a rethink on how you are presenting your product. Managing your cash position when forecasted sales aren’t being achieved is tough, and if you are spending more than you are generating and cash piles are dwindling, now is the time to address your financial position.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Architecture Revenue Channel 157

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 3, 2012

Facebook and Google would be obvious choices for this, but so much has been written about each of them and they represent such special business models, I worried that it would be both hard for entrepreneurs to relate and hard for me to develop new insights. Akamai: The Present. The first one I’ll focus on is Akamai.

Distribution 49

Distribution Lean Massachusetts Cofounder 49

Up and Running

OCTOBER 22, 2014

So, you’ve been asked to write a business plan. It’s likely that your mind is filling with images of long documents, bad memories of writing term papers, and worries about doing market research and creating financial forecasts. Focusing on “everyone” is not a sound business strategy. Take a deep breath. Are you selling online?

Business Plan 130

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Forecast Partner 130