Presentation Week!

OK everyone, we have arrived at the time everyone has been waiting for - Business Plan Presentation Week!  In case you were wondering, here’s the order for this week:

1. BAM Tech
2. DARPAL
3. Burger McKing
4. Agua Sensations
5. Jeezy's
6. ***Next week, Posture and ChromaKey will be presenting***

That's right, we're only doing one presentation team per day, which means we'll have a lot of time for questions and critiques.  In fact, I'm going to have each business present TWICE so that the higher of the two scores carries over to the grade book.  I expect that everyone is prepared and will demonstrate Viking Excellence!

For each business, fill out a critique form and use your feedback for your investor questions.  Please look at this form and be mindful that it asks specific questions about the business (What need in the market does it fill? How well do you think the business will serve its target market? etc.).  Once finished, we can provide feedback and proceed with a new business plan.

I’m looking forward to all your presentations.  See you all on Monday!

Resume Preparation and Finalizing our Business Plan Written and Spoken Presentations

After reviewing most of your business plans, it seems as if everyone is on track to complete their business plans.  Unfortunately, each plan requires a little extra attention before it's ready to submit.  That said, we're going to take next week to make the finishing touches before presentations.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we're going to be in the library working on drafting/revising/perfecting our resumes for Mock Interview Competition.  I will distribute the job posting you will apply for in the library and you can use the KSAs from that posting to refine what you already have in your resume.  On Thursday and Friday, you'll utilize the Business Plan Written Rubric and the Business Plan Oral Rubric to organize and finalize your written plans and oral presentations.  When we return to class on 2/27, we will begin our presentations.

That's all I have for this week.  Enjoy your extended weekend!  See you Tuesday in the library!

Finishing Up Before Presentations

By now, most of you have completed all of your business plan tasks to date.  You've followed the instructions extremely well and have done a great job staying on top of things.  Collectively, my 2016-17 class (you guys) has taken to this project better than any of my four previous VE sections.  Thank you for your hard work and effort.  This week's entry is going to encompass two big portions of our project.  You will need to work diligently in order to get everything done, so please remain focused.

This week will be dedicated to completing the Executive Summary, arguably the most important aspect of the business plan, organizing the plan, a simple task as long as you follow the rubric, and creation of the electronic presentation that you will use when presenting to your investors.  Here’s the week’s breakdown:

Monday and Tuesday: Executive Summary

As stated earlier, the Executive Summary is arguably the most important aspect of a business plan.  Since it is the first section of your business plan, the executive summary serves two purposes.  Your Executive Summary serves as your first impression on any potential investor, since it’s the first thing they’ll read in your plan.  What you say, how you say it, and how it is presented can be a make or break for your venture.  If an investor doesn’t like what he/she sees in this section, chances are no further pages will be turned in your plan.  Think about it.  If you begin reading a book or an article online and the first few pages/paragraphs don’t exactly catch your eye, will you continue to read on?  Likely not.  Similarly, if an investor has numerous business plans on the table, will he/she really want to read through an entire 20/30/40/50+ pages if the beginning doesn’t sound so hot?  I doubt it.  Additionally, your Executive summary will allow you to highlight facts and statistics that will stand out in the rest of your plan.  Essentially, it will serve as a sneak preview for the reader. 

First, read through this article about how to write an executive summary and what to include.  Take notes on the 7 elements of the executive summary and jot down what you wish to include as you read.  Next, read page 1 of this live business plan for a bakery for an excellent model of a well-constructed executive summary.  Now, I understand that reading these two links is likely to occupy an entire class period if you put your mind to it.  This means there is no tolerance for talking during class.  That’s how it goes if you’re going to get this work done. 

Once you’ve finished your reading, it’s time to take what you’ve learned and put it into writing.  You’ll need to write a rough draft of at least 1 page and make adjustments throughout the week.  Remember, this section of the project is extremely important.  I’d assume you may begin writing this at the end of class on Monday, on your off day Tuesday (I won't hold my breath on that one), or at the beginning of class Wednesday.

Wednesday through Friday: Presentation Preparation

I have already dropped the 2012 VE business plan presentation in my Public_Faculty folder, and have included the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 plans in our Google Drive.  Please feel free to use these as models for your presentation.  The best aspects of these presentations are the graphics, transitions, and animations.  Think about it.  Would you really like to see a wall of text on every slide in a presentation?  Neither do investors!  Make it stand out.  Sell yourself.  Sell your business.  And, most importantly, stand out.  That’s the best way for you to make an impact and turn your vision into a reality.  It would be too easy if we all had startup capital in our bank accounts.  Fortunately for you, your plan will make that a reality.

After this, during the week of 2/21 (day after Presidents Day) we will begin our presentations.  

Let’s have a great week and finish our plans Viking Strong!

Show Them You're Profitable!

In layman’s terms, efficiency means getting stuff done in a timely manner.  This week we have to do a lot of work in a short 5-day time frame.  The focus will be on completing a comprehensive financial plan for our business.  I realize you may not be aware of all the startup costs associated with your businesses, so I've included some questions for you to focus on when conducting your research.  Again, when answering these questions in your Google Doc, please link me to your sources so I can see you're not pulling them out of thin air and so you can cite them at the end of your final written plan.  Here's a look at this week's work:

Monday/Tuesday: Expenses (Fixed/Variable) and Blog

The time has come to begin looking for real numbers for our business.  How much money does it actually cost to run your business?  Many of you have already done at least some research about renting a facility, paying employees, advertising expenses, etc.  For Monday, the plan is to first list as many costs as you can for your business.  Consider these questions:

·        Will you have a facility?
·        How much is the rent for the amount of square footage you need?
·        Will you hire employees?
·        What will their approximate salary cost you? Multiply hourly wage by approximate hours per week by 52 (weeks in a year) or add up all annual salaries if you will not
How much will a business license (yes, you have to get one of those) cost you?
·        Will you advertise?
·        Approximately how much does the utility bill cost for a facility you plan to run?
·        Do you sell merchandise?  What is the cost to make or procure the merchandise?
·        What other consumable assets will you use on a monthly basis? (landscaping companies use fuel on a regular basis)

The list can go on and on.  My suggestion is that you find as many fixed and variable expenses as possible for your plan.  A simple web search can greatly help you.

Once you’ve sufficiently completed these tasks (or if we only have about 20 minutes left in class Tuesday), it’s time to blog about your progress.  Feel free to tell me:

What have you learned about being prepared for anything? 

How did you react to having to deal with the possibility that your original assumptions may have been wrong?

What did you learn about our economy? Has your opinion changed about anything?

How will the economy impact your business?

Were you aware of all the expenses your business would have to pay?  Which expenses stood out during your research?

Wednesday: Breakeven Analysis

Below is a photo of what a typical breakeven analysis might look like for a business plan.

Worry not.  I don’t expect you to go into such great detail for this project if you are not a member of the finance department at Pick-it Sweets & Treats.  What I would like you to do today is simple. 

·      First, add up your total fixed and the average of each variable expense you calculated last week. 

·      Next, take a look at how you generate revenue.  Do you sell merchandise?  Services?  Determine the average revenue generated per unit. 

For example, if you sell ice cream, I’m sure the menu items vary in size and price (maybe from $1.50 up to $6.50).  If you feel as if you’ll sell more of the $1.50 small cones, instead of having an average revenue per unit of $4.00, perhaps you will estimate it at $3.00 or $2.75.  Ultimately, what I’m looking for is proof that you understand approximate expenses and can determine how much merchandise (or services) you’ll have to sell to at least break even.

From the rubric:

Provide break-even amounts in total dollars or number of sales. Provide details about assumptions you used to perform analysis including the profit margin percentage. (Assume that all costs are fixed except for cost of goods sold.)

Once you have determined a break-even for your business, access the Excel Spreadsheet titled "Breakeven Analysis" from my Public folder and create your own chart.

Thursday: Projected Sales

Nobody goes into business with the hope of just breaking even.  Though this may be the outcome at first, I’m certain you wish to eventually turn a profit.  Take today to project a realistic number for your sales over the next 12 months.  Be honest, and understand that in your first few months in business, customers may not be responsive to the new guy in town.  Perhaps it may take a while before you start gaining ground on your competitors.  Determine a fair estimate for how much you believe you will sell during your first year and record the numbers in your notes.  I will provide you with yet another Excel spreadsheet that will make your projections stand out.

Friday: Financial Write-up and Blog Entry

Now that you have some concrete numbers drawn up for your business, it’s time to make those spreadsheets, graphs, and charts make sense.  Write a 250-word description of your break-even analysis and sales projections. 

A good way to frame this would be to write one paragraph describing how you determined your expenses, and another one detailing how you came up with sales projections.  I know that many of you have decided to purchase land and building, and have calculated monthly mortgage payments with taxes and insurance, while others have looked up average rent per square foot for commercial property.  Tell me about that, along with how you found other expenses.  Then write about how you determined how your sales will (hopefully) increase over time.  Do you believe it may take a few months for a certain advertising campaign to start bringing in the money?  Will word of mouth help bring in new business after your first few months?  Will you even turn a profit in your first year (many businesses don’t) or will it take more time?  Tell me about your road to breakeven.

Copy and paste your write-up into a blog entry and title it "(Insert Company Name)'s Financial Write-up" when finished.  Next week, we will create an Executive Summary, organize our plan, and prepare for the Shark Tank.