The Value of a Business Plan

Here’s a look into some expert views on the value of business plans. Business plans are very important when trying to obtain funding for your new or existing company or even trying to set long term needs for the company. A business plan is very detailed and it will cover all aspects of a business from market to operations and personnel. According to Rhonda Abrams “Successful Business Plan” when investors or readers are evaluating a business plan they usually spend five minutes reading it. In those five minutes they look at these sections 1.Executive Summary, 2.Financials, 3.Management Section, 4.Exit Plan and/or Terms of the Deal.

The first expert is Gedeon, Dr. Steven, he is and expert on business plans writer and reviewer. He is a professor in Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the Ted Roger School of Management. He has founded or led over a dozen private, public, venture capital and non-profit organizations. He has also published over 100 articles, reports and patents, and delivered over 40 public speaking engagements and on-line videos on personal leadership, motivation, entrepreneurship and teaching.  

Mr. Steven believes that the most important part of a business plan is the Executive Summary, the qualifications of the management team and the Financials. The Executive summary is basically where you sum up all that you propose and bring all your thoughts and planning. The financials is also a big part that will either attract or repel investors.

Next expert is Andrea Cockerton; she is an independent pitch expert and advisor in the United Kingdom. She is the founder of Mudhut Consulting, that works with entrepreneurs of start-ups and more established SME’s on pitching for business critical investment or deals. She is also the co-founder of Brick Hnadbag a company that provides self-defense training for women.

Mrs. Cockerton believes that there are three key essentials to a successful business plan. The first is targeting a growing market with a need for your service or product. Second is having a successful team that is talented and able to execute the business plan. Last is making sure your product or service is ground breaking. She feels that having these things will reassure that you receive financing for your business.

Reference

http://www.ryerson.ca/tedrogersschool/bm/faculty_staff/bios/gedeon.html

http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/2012/07/steven-gedeon.html

http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/2012/08/andrea-cockerton-angelo-meneguzzi.html

http://www.thenextwomen.com/2008/12/27/expert-interview-13-questions-on-funding-pitching-part-1

The Music Industry Meets The Digital Side

      

No one can deny that over the past ten years there has been a huge in the way people listen, buy, or illegally download music from their favorite artist or band. With the world switching gears and now doing everything digitally, the music industry is just now adapting to the new change.

With the growing number of consumers searching for the latest music and the record companies not giving them what they want consumers would soon turn to peer-to-peer sharing. In a nutshell illegal downloading is what was and still is putting a hurting on the music industry.

There are many advantages that can come from digital music. Some of them are being able to take your music with you anywhere you go. Also being able to have your music on different devices such as ipods, smart phones, mp3 players, PC’s, Ipads, and Mac’s. Another plus is consumers don’t have to buy the whole album just to listen the only one or two songs they like from that album; they can buy the single instead.

According to the Nielsen and Billboard report digital music sales made 50.3% of music sales in 2011. Showing that physical sales declined by 5% and digital sales increased by 8.4%. Fast forward to 2011 to present the record companies are now starting to grasp their fingers around this beast they called The Digital Landscape.

WMG (Warner Music Group) gets 25% of its recorded music digital revenue from streaming companies such as MOG, Pandora, Spotify, Ticketfly and a few more. The four major labels also started to invest more in radio, ticketing and artist services. In order to make even more money and encourage consumers to buy albums and not singles, record companies started to add bonuses such as booklets with photos, liner notes and videos on iTunes if you purchase the album. Apple also raised the cost of singles and lowered the cost of catalog albums.

As the social media and technology continue to change it is clear that the music industry will be a few steps behind but they will indeed pull through and continue to be a multi-billion dollar industry.