Month 12 - Business Plan Development - "Putting Everything Together"

"The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today."

- Elbert Hubbard

Class Reflection

The Business Plan Development Class was a great class because it taught me how to put a business plan together. We finally were able to put everything we worked hard for in the past year in our plan. As for our leadership project, we had to write a paper in which we examine and summarize what two business experts had to say regarding business plans.

In doing this assignment, I chose to write about Guy Kawasaki and Jim Blansingame because of their knowledge and reputation in the business World. In looking into these two business experts, Guy Kawasaki is a venture capitalist that is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. As a very influential businessperson he is known to be a notable speaker and has written numerous business books such as The Art of the Start, and Selling the Dream. Similarly, Jim Blasingame is another recognized business expert who has extensive knowledge of business. As an expert, Jim Blasingame is one of the world’s foremost experts on small business and entrepreneurship. He was ranked by google as the number one small business expert in the world. In addition to that, James Blasingame is an author, keynote speaker, syndicated columnist and president of the media company, Small Business Network, Inc.

In writing and learning about Jim Blasingame and Guy Kawasaki both men have similar opinions and have provided great insight into writing a good one. One of the similarities they have is that they both value the importance of creating a business plan. Jim Blasingame says that creating a business plan helps bring about an objective mentality that gives a realistic view of a business whether its good or bad. On the other hand, Guy Kawasaki values a business plan because of the fact that it helps solidify objectives, strategies and tactics of a business. Another similarity they have is that both experts believe in creating a strong niche for their company in their business plan for the industry they are going for. In looking at their opinions, Guy Kawasaki believes that business people should make meaning for their business and provide a unique product or service that has a high value to a customer in their plan. On the other hand, Jim Blasingame expound on the idea that the way you deliver a product or service to people can make your business unique and that one should know the business infrastructure you need in order to deliver that service to people in your business plan.

In reading about these experts, I plan to incorporate what I learned from them in my business plan. One of the things that I will incorporate in my business plan is Jim Blansingame’s strong view on creating a strong market research section in a business plan. The reason being is because of the fact that in doing so it can show and illustrate to investors that there is a market for my company in the industry and that I have done my homework and research on my company’s market. Similarly, I also plan to include Guy Kawasaki’s idea in weaving a solid business MAT (Milestone, Assumption, and Tasks). The reason being is because of the fact that having solid milestones, realistic assumptions and objective tasks can help my company succeed. Moreover, I plan to incorporate Guy Kawasaki’s idea of creating a solid niche for my company in my plan by providing a unique service that has high value to target customers. This way, investors can see that my company has a place in the entertainment industry as a film production company.

All in all, this class and leadership assignment taught me a great deal of how Business plans play an important role in starting a business. The reason why business plans are important is because of the fact that they can help you get financing for your business, and in addition to that acts as an outline of whom you are and what the purpose of your business is. Moreover, business plans are created so that it helps explain and illustrate the business idea you have to others and persuade them to help you create that business.