Introduction to Entrepreneurship - Business Plan

GEST-S547 Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Session 7 – Business Plan Olivier Witmeur November 2012

Desired outcomes of the session

• Understand what a business plan is.

• Agenda

– Room for deserts

– Why a business plan

– The content of a business plan

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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Case #2: Room for desserts

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THE BUSINESS PLAN

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Main targets of a business plan • Prove the quality of the opportunity

• Explain the business strategy

• Define realistic and measurable targets

• Convince potential partners

• Create a benchmark for the management team in charge of implementing the plan

• …and prove the quality of the entrepreneur who drew the plan

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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The big questions

• Who is in the management team?

• What do you sell? Why is it unique? To what needs do you answer?

• Who are the customers?

• What are your goals (the strategy)?

• What are the main risks?

• What are the development stages of the venture? What need to be done (the action plan)?

• How do you sell?

• How and when go you make profits (the financial plan)?

• What is missing before you start?

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Typical business plan structure

Management Team

Vision Strategy

Business Model

Production & Supply Chain

Sales & Marketing

Research & Development

Organization & Administration

Financial Plan Financial Plan

Opportunity Market & Industry

Financing scheme

Sensibility analysis

Milestones Stages

Risk analysis Plan B

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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MANAGEMENT • The people

– The management team

• Bio (CVs as appendixes)

• Individual targets and motivations

– Boards

• Board of Directors

• Advisory Board

• The story

– Where does the project and the people come from?

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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STRATEGY

1. Long term vision: BE AMBITIOUS

2. Positioning: BE UNIQUE

3. Core business: FOCUS

4. Market niche: FOCUS

+ The Business Model: 9 blocks of the business model generation canvas

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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SALES AND MARKETING

• Marketing mix

– Product

– Price

– Place

– Promotion

• Sales target

List your first 10 customers

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PRODUCTION

• Scheme, cycles, organization and methodologies

• Internal resources & partners

– Owned production facilities versus subcontracting

– Production capacity and bottlenecks

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

• Project planning

– Deliverables

– Risks & potential solutions

• Intellectual property

• Team and partners involved in the project

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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ADMINISTRATION • Governance

• Future organization chart

• Human Resource management

– Corporate culture

– Wage and benefit policy

– Recruitment, appraisal…

• Finances and legal

– Who’s in charge

– The tools

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RISK SECTION

• Risk types:

Management

Customer

Competition

Technology

Finance

Environment

Legal

…

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The perfect business plan? • A dream team: capable, experienced, committed, adaptable and trustworthy

• A unique offering with a proof of concept

• An in-depth market research section (i.e. incl. demand, industry and competition)

• Focus on one niche market and a strong Sales & Marketing plan

• Focus on the core business

• Ambition and realism

• Clear milestones

• Ready for execution

• Strong governance

• Risks analysis and Plan B included

• Financial plan based on a limited set of benchmarked assumptions

• Keep it simple

VC will add:

• Fast and scalable business model

• Clear exit strategy

GEST-S547 - 2012-2013 © Olivier Witmeur

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Content of a Financial Plan • Profit & Loss statement

– Sales

– Cost of goods sold or Cost of sales Gross Margin

– Fixed cost structure : S&M, R&D, G&A

– EBIT

– Net earnings

• Balance sheet: Assets & Liabilities

• Cash-flow statements

+ Benchmarking and sensibility analysis Help to define the security margins

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To be continued

• Entrepreneurial growth strategies

• More on financings

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olivier.witmeur@ulb.ac.be

Office: J1-107 (Janson Building)

If urgent & important: Tel +32.2.650.41.61 - Mob. +32.475.68.62.50

NEVER STOP

ASKING

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