Building a Business Model (around your invention, service, idea)

By Lisa CalkinsCEO

Amadeus Consulting

Your Invention, Service, Idea

• Why Now– Timing, SBA funding, Competition Weak

• Why Not– Traditional Bank Financing

• Why You– Passion and Vision for the Idea

• No excuses, Own Your Choice

Amadeus Story

• 15 years ago, I had a vision• Today I have Amadeus Consulting• What I did know– How to listen and talk to clients– How to share my vision and convince others of

my ideas– How to manage teams, people, projects

• What I didn’t know– Everything else

Business Plan – Yes and No

• Do you need one only if seeking funding - NO• Strategic & Tactical Components (“1” pagers)

– Overall Vision : What, Why, How– Marketing and Sales Strategy, includes competitive analysis and

relevant market data, patents– 1-3 yr P&L, Balance Sheet Summary (supporting details), Excel is

your best friend– Organization Chart (future roles) – Executive and Leadership Teams– Notice (The “Invention”) is not on this list

• 20 page plan – Maybe, if this is what YOU need

Your VisionWhat, Why, How

• Sell your idea– First have to “See” your vision (mind, eyes), then

“Believe” in your vision (head and heart), then “Share” your vision (words and hands)

– Passion, energy, AND facts– Clear, concise, professional– Must be one page: write, then edit, edit and edit –

then seek outside opinions, write, edit, edit and edit, repeat.

See, Believe, Share

• See your vision – Mind, Eyes– Describe in 1 or 2 sentences your invention,

service, or idea

• Believe in your vision – Head and Heart– Tell me why it will succeed, define success ($,

lifestyle, etc)

• Share your vision – Words and Hands– Show me the invention, service, idea

Marketing and Sales Strategy

• In the end, what really matters is will your invention, service or idea sell

• Most forget there are two equally important factors to the SELL answer both– the HOW : not just build a website and they will come,

• how will you attract your customers, how will you close, how much will they pay, how will they pay, how will you retain, how will you service/support, how will (fill in the blank)

– the WHO : 1 person, a team, wholesalers, reps• Who will lead: if not you, then who and why

Competitive Analysis

• You (almost always) HAVE competitors now and in the future

• You always have obstacles, how will you tackle the ones you know about

• Market: how big, who owns, now and future– iPhones – what happens when Blackberry leads, etc.– No one will believe you will “own” the market out of

the gate– Data, Data, Data : great place to hire an expert and

pay for data BUT first, get your Vision and Framework built

Profit and Loss1 to 3 year “Plans”

• Profit and Loss Projections Summary– Income / Revenue (~ 5 line items)

• Service lines• Product Categories• Subscriptions• Common Mistakes

– Pricing model part of Sales and Marketing Strategy – better be believable otherwise all this work is “unbelievable”

– Expenses (~ 5 line items)• Categories

– Startup Costs– Sales and Marketing– Cost of Goods Sold– Operations– General Business

• Common Mistakes– One time expenses are not one time

» Product built, how will it be maintained, shelf life?– Sales and Marketing reasonable % of revenue, prior to sales, first 6 months, ongoing– Underestimating expenses (Legal, HR, marketing materials)

Case Studies

• Outdoor ProLink• B-cycle• Specpan• CRUDE• Speedbag – iPhone App

Self Reflection

• What are you good and not good at?– Not tasks but behavior• Strategic Thinker, Visionary, Customer Focused,

Detailed, Decision Maker by gut or data, Process• STRONGLY recommend you figure this out – you don’t

change these types of things• With that said…you will learn and do (legal, hr,

accounting)

Everything is Possible

• Amadeus Consulting Guiding Principle• So think of all the ways to make something

happen…and then evaluate ROI– Funding– Partnering– Consultants– Hiring– ROI of not doing it