Business Planning and Lean Start up - Squarespace · Business Planning –Where does it go wrong? Have one - just haven't read it Too expensive Not sure what it would give me Don't

Business Planning and Lean Start up

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Once upon a time

Business Planning – Where does it go wrong?Have one - just haven't read it

Too expensive

Not sure what it would give me

Don't have the skills

Doesn't add value

Too much time

Not sure where to start.

Too Hard!

What we need is a plan which is:

Strategy

Simple to create

Easy to share,

engage with and refer to

Robust & creative

Shines a light on our blind spots

Matthew Dunstan 24/10/2014 Copyright 2014 Rising Tide Ventures www.risingtideventures.com.au ‹#›


1. You’ve cast off without a destination:Where are you headed - and why do you care?

How can you have a plan if you don’t know where you’re trying to get to?

When the going gets tough you need to know why you’re doing it.


2. You’ve set sail without a passage plan: How are you going to get there?

Do you know the business milestones and their sequence?

You and the team need to know what you’re working on now, next and how it fits into the overall plan.


3. You haven’t checked the conditions

Does your plan take into account what’s happening in the market?

Does it address the weaknesses & threats to your business?


4. No one understands it – including you!

Is there so much detail in your plan that you’ve lost sight of how the pieces fit together?

Can you pick it up and explain it to people?

5. You’ve missed the weather window:While you were planning, everyone else has left.

Do you spend to long planning?

The plan should at least be an expression of what you already know and do and the top level shouldn’t change.


6. Your charts are the wrong scale:The plan isn’t actionable.

For each milestone you should set SMART goals

that tell the team exactly what needs to be done.

Specific | Measurable Actionable | Realistic

Time bound


7. You don‘t have enough fuel or wind to get there: The financial plan.

Does your financial plan make sense or will you be becalmed?

You need the financial reserves, profits and revenue to reach your destination.


How do I write a business plan?

Cost Structure

Key partnersKey Activities

Required

Key Resources Required

Revenue Streams

Customer Relationships

Channels to Customer

Value Proposition

Customer Segments

Business Model Canvas


Business Model Canvas


Business Plan Checklist

o Aligned to where you’re headed and why you’re doing it.

o You’ve analysed the market, competition, SWOT BEFORE you set a strategy.

o Contains a spark of inspiration & creativity (a strategy, not just a plan).

o Is summarised as a roadmap with milestones (your passage plan).

o Is integrated with the financial plan of the business.

o Contains concrete actions, accountabilities and time frames.

o Is an extension of what you’re already doing. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

o Is shared, revisited and referred to. If you can’t use it to regularly guide your business decisions, it’s at the wrong level.


3 things you can do this week:


1. Check that your plan is leading where you want to go.• Answer this question:

• Why do I care? Why is what we’re doing important?

• Complete this phrase:• I see a future where……

• You have to choose a destination before casting off.


2. Find your blind spots and fill the gaps

• Check the forecast before you lift the anchor.• Spend 30min revisiting your SWOT

• Have the team play Post-It note with the Business Model Canvas over morning tea.


3. Make your plan actionable – DRAW IT!

• If you can’t represent it in a picture, flow chart or summarise it on a post card, it’s too complex and you won’t use it.


In Summary


Tonight’s resources…

• If you’d like a copy of tonight’s presentation, leave your card and we’ll email it to you.


To continue the conversation….

• Strategy clinic over coffee• When: Next Thursday 8am

• Where: CBA Café downstairs

• RSVP: Limited to 6 people


Connect with me


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Business Planning and Lean Start up - Squarespace · Business Planning –Where does it go wrong? Have one - just haven't read it Too expensive Not sure what it would give me Don't