To the Entrepreneurs that have Created business plans

[AAAgent]

To all the entrepreneurs here that have written business plans either single handedly or with a team of people and have received funds or implemented the business plan.

I have a some questions but i'll just ask a few to start off:

how did you conduct research on the actual market, projected sales, and growth?

 

[backbreaker]

we did so but in retrospect it was a pretty crappy job although it was good with what we knew then.

it was very detailed, but we didn't have a clue as far as the actual industry is concerned.

the best way is to start researching public compaines. We sold computers so we started combing though the press releases and the quarterly statements given by the main players. after a month or so we had a good idea who controled who, who was growing who wasn't and all that jazz.

that part we had down to a T. the growth part however was nothing more than pie and the sky wishful thinking

 

[backbreaker]

we did so but in retrospect it was a pretty crappy job although it was good with what we knew then.

it was very detailed, but we didn't have a clue as far as the actual industry is concerned.

the best way is to start researching public compaines. We sold computers so we started combing though the press releases and the quarterly statements given by the main players. after a month or so we had a good idea who controled who, who was growing who wasn't and all that jazz.

that part we had down to a T. the growth part however was nothing more than pie and the sky wishful thinking

 

[AAAgent]

you were actually one of the members i was hoping would respond. Thanks.

My business idea is unique and there is nothing i can say mimics it. It is entertainment based, so i should be looking at companies like Disney, Six Flags, AMC, etc.

Also i'm looking for a few intelligent people that are either skilled, creative, or quick on their feet to bring into the business.

So far my networking in college, i've met a numerous amount of intelligent/skilled people but very few creative. I don't plan on pitching to anyone but close friends until i've finished a rough draft.

How did you go about finding partners or people of the like.

Most the people I know if interested are busy with other things and cannot give full support or are busy with their own interests.

 

[synergy1]

we did what backbreaker did and search public and private holdings doing similar things to us. Many had different spins, but we analyzed the ones we thought would be the most successful and what kind of products they brought to the market. Some spent too much money and went broke. In our case, we have the potential to create marketable products, so we did research on how much those went for on the market. However, we found that the cost of delivering our product was still vastly inferior to the cost per the same unit as regular petrol products, so we decided to combine several services in order to make it more economical/profitable.

unfortunately, our products/ services don't seem to scale well, but a lot will depend on the cost of oil. Much like that of a co-generation plant contractor, external factors including oil costs, and location will be a major player in our industry. maybe a good step would be to perform an economic analysis in order to determine how your firm could be profitable?

I am new at this as well, and only had a hand in the business plan. I am also tired, which is why this was written with the ability of a third grader

 

[backbreaker]

the best advise I could give and something Ii've perfected... learn your strengths and weaknesses. When I first got into business, I tried to become a master of everything. I had to have my hand in everything, and I did everthying on an avg level.


Now.. I would rather bring in someone who can do something better than I can. I don't care about the credit, I want the results I want and more talent will ensure that.

From May of 2002 to About October, we ate, shat and breathed Dell, Gateway, HP, Alienware, even freakinfastcomputers lmao. that was the inside joke between my business partner and I.. how NOT to run a company. We had a detailed profile on every one who sold computers online. Everyone. It gave us an idea of what we could bring to the table that was not at that time brought to the table.

when I left the company we had every bit of 2000 pages of research, compan plans, guildlines, proceedures, if we could think of it we had it on paper. we were as prepared for success as we could have possibly been.


It's why you have to do what you love, beucase if you don't love it you will not put in the time and sacrifice it takes to get that company over the hump. that hump is where most businesses fail.


Get an NDA. a good one.


Creativiy is not my problem in fact I have too much of it. I don't need to bring in anyone to be creative, I got that down pact. I have enough business ideas to keep me busy for 2 lives. But in our case i ran into my busioness partner working at best buy but we went to school together and one thing lead to another.

once we got somewhat rolling, our big thing was funding, we needed it, or better stated, we wanted it. At first compaines actually came looking at us. one flew us down to anaheim for an interview but things didn't work out, 2 comapines scammed us... then I said look if we are going to make it, WE are going to make it.. and sure enough a few months later the right funding company came along and wanted a peice of our company, but at the time we really didn't need the money anymore (But took it anyway... I was already making plans for my exit stage left, when I left the company I simply called them up and offered my share of the business, I knew they didn't want me there anyway, they wanted their own finance guy in place, win win situtation).

I really don't know what to tell you as far as meeting people. I'm working on something with the horse racing industry that should be pretty big, and I've had to make groundroads with people in that industry to get started... one of the reasons I moved to california. Well, my Fiancee worked with alot of people and has alot of connections to things I will or do need. Another one of my Ex's is a manager at the biggest new york stallion farm. so fvck your way to the top

 

[AAAgent]

I'm actually in the same boat that you are. I have no problem being creative and i don't exactly need another person to come up with idea's either. Any major problems i can always find a way to solve it. I have so many idea's that could be potentially successful business's if i wanted to start them.

I've had a vision of a creating a new industry that would revolutionize the entertainment industry as well as many other things. The problem was it was so big, time consuming, and required a ridiculous amount of work that i deemed it was not worth it for me to continue on my own.

I decided to use my other business idea's to generate profit that i could use to gather all the resources i would need to do what i really want to do but after about half of year of starting a pretty successful business i realized that its taking a sh1t load of time and the im also doing all the work because i can't find capable people. The business i recently started has no overhead costs and i've made great progress. But the time it would take me to generate capital would still take a few years and with that same amount of time i could have already pushed through all the bullsh1t with a business plan and possibly receive funds.

I've always been a macro type of guy. I have the vision, i find ways to work out all the kinks. I'm a great strategist and very creative. I pride myself in these traits and i work very hard in these aspects.

As you said backbreaker don't try to do everything but do what you're good at. I always try to find people to compliment my weakness's as well as make myself aware of what my weakness's are which is mostly anything related to advanced math like accounting/finance/financial reporting which makes putting a business plan together VERY tough.

I always got the feeling that if you tried to get funding by yourself alot of time u won't be taken seriously. Did you ever feel people didn't take you seriously.

I will start gathering data and making additions to my business plan.

 

[backbreaker]

the people who flew us to anahiem took us seriously, quite honestly.. I just was not feeling the vibe we got from them, they did not seem that professional, it was not going to be a good fit. Even as a 20 year old at the time, we were not awe struck abnout having a company inject hundreds of thousands of dollars into our company, that had passed. they would have ruined our company.

I decided to use my other business idea's to generate profit that i could use to gather all the resources i would need to do what i really want to do but after about half of year of starting a pretty successful business i realized that its taking a sh1t load of time and the im also doing all the work because i can't find capable people. The business i recently started has no overhead costs and i've made great progress. But the time it would take me to generate capital would still take a few years and with that same amount of time i could have already pushed through all the bullsh1t with a business plan and possibly receive funds.QUOTE]

that's exactly what I'm doing.

without really investing any of my own money, or as little of it as possible, I am using black17media.com to basically fund what my real long term goals are.


It's funny you made this post today, I basically quit my business this morning. I am burned out. When I started this my fiancee said about a year ago " you will burn out within 2 years becuase it's not what you want to do".. I woke up this morning at 10am (instead of 3) and she was sitting there laughing..I didnt' even have to say anything. It's to the point now, that i"m doing alot of stuff for this company, when it's not even my main focus. in a way, it's become too successful at what it is doing and becuase of this, it is taking up too much of my time.

Black17media.com was never supposed to be more than a niche web development firm dealing with horse racing related content, hence the name black 17 media (black seventeen is a NY based sprinter). horse racing webistes suck ass. I want to and will corner the horse racing related web development market. Whenever a new hot shot stud goes to a farm, whenever a stallion farm needs a revision, whenever a new partnership needs a new site, I want in.


Well we had to build a portfolio and basically sink our teeth into the business and I had to learn enough about the innerworkings of the busniess to know what I'm doing. Now we are doing education portals, we are doing ecommerce websites, basically alot of stuff that we never intended to do. Then becuase the company is doing this you have to put more money into it to let it realize it's potential and so on and so forth.

although the growth is great, it's not what i want. I have a very defined set of goals for myself and this company. We never set out to be the next huge web development firm.

although I plan on doing alot of stuff, alot of is if not all of it is horse racing related. I am literatly making money off my passion, besides at the track .

So I am going to basically bring in a person to do what I'm doing and i can free up my time. It's to that point now, this company is, it needs alot of TLC and deciation I'm not willing to give it right now beucase I need to be focused on other things.

 

[AAAgent]

synergy how did u go about finding a business partner?

Backbreaker, i know exactly how you feel about straying from the path you created for yourself. I was talking to one of my best friends about my goal and how i wonder if i'll ever finish it this life time. As well as how long my current company will take to blossom and if it does take 5 or so years, then i'll have 5 less years to work on my dream job. How many business's would i have to start up and sell? How much time would i have to invest to create all these business's and stay with them until they became successful? He then explained why not just go straight at it hard from the start. Get a paying job as well to support yourself, and just take everyday as it comes. Who knows what i can accomplish.

I usually surround myself with great people too bad they are too much involved with their lives that even though they are interested they can't even lend a hand. One is preparing for grad school at MIT as a chemical engineer, my other friend is going through medical school right now, the rest are scattered working in investment banking and other financial sectors. Each has their own idea of creating their own business, they are so sucked into they own personal jobs with their bonuses and what not that i don't know if they'll ever leave and start. I don't plan on having that happen.

I don't mind going at it alone but sometimes having a right hand man for support and encouragement would be nice. It'd be like having a girlfriend that actually understands what you want to do and could help you do it.

 

[AAAgent]

well im participating in my Alma maters business plan competition with another friend from my school. Apparently last years entrepreneur of the year was a freshman at my school last year and is a sophomore now. He's also competing in the same competition. My best friend who won the business concept competition last year is also competing. I'm not discouraged but apparently 4/5 finalist all brought forth some type of idea that implements a new software/technology. My business revolves around a service.