1. 1) Should we admit our weakness ?
My Take: With business plans, one needs to be real. You can assume that
the people evaluating your plans have met similar people before, perhaps
even been in your shoes at some point. Therefore, if you/ your organization
have/has any weakness, talk about it, but more importantly emphasize on
how you have gone about addressing that issue.
2) Is there a fixed formula for VC’s ?
My Take : Not to my knowledge. Unlike Angel Investors (who are often
entrepreneurs) VC’s are more structured. They would often have a team
of specialists who would evaluate your plan. Most of the time, they comprise
of people with very strong Financial Background and Industry Knowledge.
Having said that, I would also say that once you have gone through 4 to 5
VC firms, you would start getting an idea about what they are looking for.
Most of the time VC firms specialize on certain verticals, it would be worth
the while to do some research and have some knowledge about the firm
before you meet them. Areas like Who are the partners/their background,
What have they funded in the past, what has been the performance of
those companies etc.
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2. 3) How do you calculate your market cap ?
My Take: Business schools would teach you that Market Capitalization
is the multiplication between the number of outstanding shares and current
stock price. But unfortunately that is only for Listed entities. For private
companies, I can suggest 2 options. First, make some strong justified assumptions
about your business look at the corresponding players in the same market and
gauge what percent of the entire market you are dominating, though this will
not give you an exact figure, it would give a sense of where you are vis-a-vis your
business universe. The second option is to compare yourself to a similar listed
company. Look for those who have similar exposure in debt, customer base,
growth prospects, profits etc. You might have to work out the PE ratio for your
company (with some assumptions) to get to an actual valuation.
4) Cash Generation in BCG vs GE Matrix?
My Take : There are two instances in the market where you can generate
cash. First when the industry is attractive even though your competency is
low, i.e. “Easy Cash Business” this is what you would see in GE Matrix. Else
in a situation when your product has a high market share in a slow growing
market, which means that the unit generates far more revenue than what is
needed to sustain it .. i.e. “Milking the Cash Cow” – BCG Matrix !
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4. A Student
Business Executive
Family Business Owner
Entrepreneur
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5. A Student
Assignment for a class ?
Thinking of getting into their own business ?
B-Plan competition ?
Business Executive
Planning growth or expansion of their division ?
Require funding from the management ?
Raising debt/equity from the market ?
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6. Family Business Owner
Diversification of business ?
Professionalizing the business ?
Role of 2nd / 3rd Generation in the Family Business?
Entrepreneur
Put their thoughts on a piece of paper ?
Impress the VC’s / Angel Fund ?
To understand the viability of their thoughts ?
Raise Funds ?
.
.
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Others…
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8. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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9. The Business :
What is it ? What does it do ?
How was it established ? By whom ? Why ?
Has it been successful ? Why ?
Learning from the past (Company Traits)
The Product & Service:
Broadly explain how the product/service works
Any unique features it has ? Any IP ?
How is it supplied/distributed/sold
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10. The Market :
Market structure (Monopoly/Multiple suppliers/Customer
base etc)
Who do you sell to ? Why do they buy ? Why from you ?
What is the distribution network ?
Competitors ?
How did you get there / Why are you doing what you are doing ?
You can either talk about your journey else if you are a start up
you can talk about your involvement in the market, how you
came across the idea of the business etc..
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11. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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12. Overview – briefly outline the market you compete in/ propose to
compete in. Define and explain it. Why will people buy your
products and services ? What benefits does it offer ? How big is
your market ? Who is your customer ? – Describe them.
Market Structure
This section would define the attractiveness of your offering in
the market that you are offering your service. If it’s a
monopolized market how do you plan to sell your product?
Else, if it’s an open market with multiple service providers how
do you differentiate ?
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Porter’s 5 Force Analysis
Porter’s five force analysis sometimes gives a snap shot of the
market which would help you understand how the forces
would impact your business (Forces – Buyers, Suppliers,
Internal competition, Substitute, and new entrants )
13. Romit Dasgupta
The 5 force analysis is typically used to underline the strategy with which you should
enter the industry
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14. PEST /PESTLE Analysis –
A PEST Analysis helps us get a perspective of external factors
and their impact on our business (Political, Economical, Social
and Technological, Legal & Environment)
Political Factors- The degree of government intervention in the economy
(tax, labor laws, trade restrictions etc)
Economic Factors – Economic growth, Interest rates, Inflation rate
Social Factors – cultural aspects, population growth rate, age distribution etc
Technological Factors – Technological change, R&D, Automation
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Legal Factors – Consumer Law, Employment Law, Health & Safety Law
Environment Factors – Climate Change, Environmental Awareness
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15. Market Segmentation
Markets often fall into different segments with their own
characteristics. (Say you are a Car Repair Center vs a Car
Repair Center for only BMW cars); Therefore its always a good
idea to break the market as per the service that you are
offering
SWOT Analysis :
Used as a strategic planning tool to evaluate the Strength,
Weakness, Opportunity and Threats involved in a business.
Another way to use the SWOT is matching & converting.
Strengths +Opportunity = Competitive Advantage (MATCHING)
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Weakness +Threats = Point of Vulnerability (CONVERTING)
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16. STRENGTH WEAKNESS
The traditional format for
SWOT Analysis given on the
Left.
Remember that SWOT
OPPORTUNITY THREATS Changes with time
Other areas :
In addition in this section areas like Distribution,
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Differentiation, Barriers to entry, Pricing of product, New
Technologies should be covered.
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BCG matrix is often used to prioritize which products within company
product mix get more funding and attention
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18. Increase Giving existing
consumption customers more choice
Get into new
Get new Markets and
customers in competitors
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Ansoff Matrix is a growth strategy tool ..
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19. High
Industry Attractiveness
LEADER GROWTH CASH
GENERATION
PHASED
TRY HARDER PROCEED WITH WITHDRAWL
CARE
DOUBLE PHASED WITHDRAWAL
Low Or QUIT WITHDRAWL
High Business Strength Low
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The GE Matrix is an alternative technique for product management to help
a company decide what product(s) to add to its product portfolio, and
which market opportunities are worthy of continued investment.
20. Objective Strategy Tasks Ownership
Highlight the strategy Break the
Write one of the required to achieve strategy to tasks. <Name of
objectives of the the objective – T1 Person/Team>
organization Strategy 1 Break the <Name of
strategy to tasks. Person/Team>
T2
Highlight the strategy Break the <Name of
required to achieve strategy to tasks. Person/Team>
the objective – T1
Strategy 2 Break the <Name of
strategy to tasks. Person/Team>
T2
Highlight the strategy Break the <Name of
required to achieve strategy to tasks. Person/Team>
the objective – T2
Strategy 3
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OST Chart - Is a marketing strategy tool, which would help you to
go from the Objective of the organization to the tasks it needs to undertake
to achieve those objectives
21. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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22. In this section you will have to describe how you effectively run/want to
run your business. Some of the things you could focus on are :
1) Describing Processes- These would include buying process, Stock control,
New Store Development, Store Design, regulatory controls,
Product display & promotion etc..
2) Demonstrate Control – How do you manage inventory ?, How do you
identify slow moving/aging stock, how do you manage staff overtime
3) Highlight Differences – highlight if you are trying to do anything differently
which might lead to less administrative burden/ reduce staff time /
automate etc.
4) Show Experience – Though team experience is covered in detail in the
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management section, in this section you can highlight what specific
team experience would help you achieve the above mentioned points
in operations
23. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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24. This is a very important section, not only for existing businesses, but more
for the Start Ups. You have to SELL YOURSELF and you TEAM here. Some of
The things you can focus on are :
a) What experience that you and your team bring is relevant
to the business ? Give Brief Bio of the Team/ Attach Detail CV
b) What weakness do you have as a team and how you plan to address
them?
c) Can you show some evidence from past experience ?
d) What skills (Technical/Financial/Marketing/HR/Operational) are required
to run your organization. How do you plan to address these ?
e) It is also a good idea to show an Organizational Structure (Typically
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Tree Structure)
25. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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26. This is your SELLING PITCH !
Here you have to clearly explain what you propose(WHAT/HOW/WHERE/WHEN)
Focus on including :
1) Give SMART Objective – Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant,
Time-Bound
2) Explain why you think you will succeed ?
3) Ask for what you want ..
4) What have you invested ? (Money/Time/Effort..)
5) What is in it for the investors ? Why should they invest ?
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6) The Exit for Investors
27. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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28. In this section, you will have to project NUMBERS for the sale of your products/
Services. For start Ups this section would be completely assumption based,
Which is why Sensitivity Analysis needs to be done on the numbers
Actual Forecast
Year 1 2 3 4
Product 1 100 120 130 140
Projection
Product 2 0 0 20 30
Sensitivity Analysis
Pessimistic (60%) Actual (80%) Optimistic (100%)
2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013
Total Capacity 900.00 1600.00 1600.00 900.00 1600.00 1600.00 900.00 1600.00 1600.00
Utilization 540.00 960.00 960.00 720.00 1280.00 1280.00 900.00 1600.00 1600.00
Total Revenue 1512.00 2688.00 2880.00 2016.00 3584.00 3840.00 2520.00 4480.00 4800.00
Operating Cost 1410.00 2375.00 2660.00 1410.00 2375.00 2660.00 1410.00 2375.00 2660.00
PBIDT 102.00 313.00 220.00 606.00 1209.00 1180.00 1110.00 2105.00 2140.00
Interest 150.00 200.00 180.00 150.00 200.00 180.00 150.00 200.00 180.00
Cash Profit (48.00) 113.00 40.00 456.00 1009.00 1000.00 960.00 1905.00 1960.00
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Depreciation 160.00 200.00 210.00 160.00 200.00 210.00 160.00 200.00 210.00
PBT (208.00) (87.00) (170.00) 296.00 809.00 790.00 800.00 1705.00 1750.00
Provision Tax 0.00 0.00 0.00 130.00 200.00 325.00 130.00 200.00 325.00
PAT (208.00) (87.00) (170.00) 166.00 609.00 465.00 670.00 1505.00 1425.00
29. The Business Background
The Market
Operations
The Management
The Proposal
The Sales Forecast
Financial Information
The Summary
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30. The amount of financial information required for B-Plan would depend on
the circumstance, the audience, business complexity, etc. However given
below are a list of documents which should be considered:
1) Profit & Loss Statement (Sum of income – deduct cost)
2) Balance Sheet – a statement of assets and liabilities
3) Cash Forecast – Detailed cash flow statement
4) Funding requirement and flow
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31. CASHFLOW STATEMENT
Most Important for
day to day operations
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32. Must Match !
BALANCE SHEET STATEMENT
Annual
Statement
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33. Profit &Loss Statement
Gives us an idea how
a business performs in
a given period. Also
Called Income Statement
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35. The summary though written at the end of the B-Plan is often a document
which is read first. This is the elevator pitch equivalent for the B-Plan.
You have to assume that the investors that you are targeting are
VERY BUSY AND SELFISH PROPLE !! Therefore your summary MUST be short
and precise and must cover all critical areas of the plan.
The Summary in a nut shell is the “hook” for the investor to be interested in
your B-Plan. Areas that you should cover in the Summary are :
•The Business
•The Team
•The Proposal / Why it will succeed / Rewards
•Any Major Risks
•What you want from the Investor
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36. 1) Make sure that the business plan is presentable
2) Make sure you do proper research before referring / quoting any data
or fact , people reading your B-Plan are often very well informed
3) Try and be to the point and do not write just to fill pages
4) Always Summarize your plan well. Often that is the first piece which is read
5) If you are presenting your business, be smartly dressed, remember the
Investor is investing money on you and not on your business (For Start Ups)
6) Internalize your B-Plan, the investors could ask you questions from any part
Of your plan, and in no particular order
7) Do not sell yourself cheap !
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8) Believe in yourself and your capabilities . That makes all the difference !
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