Startups and the One-Page Business Plan
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- Published on Thursday, 28 June 2012 17:53
- Written by Jonathan Story
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Sometimes, according to Chris Guillebeau, author of bestseller The $100 Startup, less can be enough when starting a new business. Planning is fine, but it should not impede action. For many successful small startups it was a matter of getting started quickly and then seeing what happens.
For a quick startup, Guillebeau recommends starting with a marketable idea, one that is not based on innovation, as such, but on usefulness. Next, costs should be kept as low as possible to reduce the impact if things don't work out. As a rule, this means investing in "sweat equity" rather than using money where possible. Also important, is to quickly get to the first sale in order to overcome inertia and begin taking the business more seriously. Finally, before investing a lot in a product, first find out whether people are interested in what you are offering.
To create the one-page business plan, provide a short response to the following questions:
- What will you sell?
- Who will buy it?
- How will the business idea help others?
- What will you charge?
- How will you be paid?
- Are there other ways this project will make money for you?
- How will customers learn about the business?
- What can you do to encourage referrals?
- What specific metric (e.g. number of customers, annual income, etc.) must be achieved for the project to be considered a success?
- List two or three specific concerns or unknowns and the proposed solutions,
- By what specific date will the project be launched?