Business Planning

For small businesses 100 page plan documents full of fluff and not a lot of real accountable substance are few and far between.

From what I have seen even a 1 page plan which is actively followed, monitored and updated every 3 - 6 months is very now and worth its weight in gold.

A practical approach I have more recently incorporated is best summarised as follows:

Plan quarterly

Prepare weekly

Act daily.

There are three possibilities: Product and business at the same time; business first and product second or product first, business second.

The best answer is that it is situational. If it's a completely new product and it needs a business to support its development and market progress then they should be developed together. Issues like getting feedback from the market to support product development is a business exercise that will drive the product strategy. By the same token, product enhancements and ongoing investement will often be driven or constrained by business realities and market reception. And so in this case the product and business development will happen in lock-step and have the highest liklyehood of succeeding -  all other things being equal.

In the next case, if an entrepreneur starts a business to address an opportunity or a gap in the market, the product required may not yet be properly defined. The business may start, raise capital and employ people with the right skills to help conceive and develop the product. In this case the business has to start first and its inherent strategy tailored to the product development cycle. This is a common scenario nowadays.

In the third case, as is common with backyard inventors say, often products are developed to quite a level of completion without due regard to the business issues that will ultimately govern its acceptance and success. It is likly in such a scenario, that both fail, as a good product needs a good business for it to succeed intoday's world.

This is a great question. I love it because many small businesses don't even have a strategy or don't consider asking someone to review. Congratulations!

To answer this question, i find it very difficult because it depends on too many aspects. It is like asking how much would a car cost. Do you mean a Mercedes or a Toyota? 

I can give you my own price because I dont want to mislead you. 
For us, it will be cca an hour with myself or my partner, and this would be $497 - and it would be disscussion rather than reading a document. 

Reviewing a document is way more difficult to price because it depends on what the document is and how much research needs to be done outside of the info there. 

We prefer to do an audit combined with the review of the strategy so we better understand the business. This may be cca $3,000. There may be money to be made easily which can come out of that audit and cannot be seen in a strategy that was done without an exterior eye. 

Hope this helps. and if you need further assitance, pls have a look at this video 
https://www.ozanagiusca.com/en/shop/consulting-services
It is about maximising the company's value and you will understand what is missing from what you have already. 

Of course, would love to help you further - just get in touch. 
ozana

Hmm, I shoudl set some. Great reminder Sophie.

We work with lots of startups, and as a starting point, I want to mention that it *is* important to have a business plan in some form or other. 

But as some of the other responses have mentioned, the first step is to think about why you need and/ or want one. Begin with the end in mind, as they say, and you’re much more likely to create a business plan that will effectively serve its purpose. 

Having said that, to answer your question, I do think it’s a combination of both. 

That is, a template can provide a great starting point for a business plan. But it’s unlikely to cover everything you need - this is where you’ll need to customise it. 

I’m a fan of efficiency wherever possible, so if you can (quickly) find a template that serves your needs, it will help you shortcut the process. Writing a business plan can be arduous, so anywhere you can get support and help is worthwhile, in my opinion! 

If you’re writing a business plan that needs to appeal to investors, make sure it includes the relevant info in an easily digestible format. Investors want to know your business will have a good return for them - make that your focus. 

The supporting document should be a financial model. A solid financial plan should capture as much information about the business plan as reasonably possible – the team, the value proposition and technology, the market, milestones and the competition – and translate these into measurable, financial values.