1. Business Plan Basics
This is going to be a quick identification of why you want a written plan and its constituent elements.

2. 4 Reasons Businesses Succeed
PLANNING, PLANNING, PLANNING
Sufficient capitalization at start-up
Good cash flow management
Proper pricing and sales strategy
Now let’s discuss the biggest reality in business ownership: 33% of businesses fail within the first 4 years.
There are 4 main reasons why small businesses fail:
Lack of planning
Insufficient capitalization at start-up
Mismanagement of cash flow
Improper pricing
Development of a written plan will help by identifying how much capital is needed to start and sustain your business and what you need to be taking in.
(Source: SBA)

3. Business Plan Importance
DOUBLES chances of business success
YOUR roadmap to success
Required to get a loan
Makes you think through all the details
Communicates owner’s ideas
FREE Templates!
A business plan is required if you intend to seek a loan, and even if you don’t, it’s an essential exercise.
Crafting a business plan causes you think through all the important details that you might not otherwise consider. It also becomes your roadmap for your business and a document that you will revisit and update.
So even if you dread the idea of creating a business plan, understand that this is an important step in helping you establish a foundation for your success as an entrepreneur.
You will never be able to anticipate all events that may hasppen, but being prepared will better allow you to handle the unexpected.

4. What is the Business Model Canvas?
defines the logic of your
business visually on a single
page using 9 (or fewer)
key building blocks
There are lots of templates for developing a business plan. A tool we recommend is the Business Model Canvas.
The BMC is a visual planning tool for designing, or exploring business ideas, or communicating a business model.
It defines the logic of your business visually in a single page.
The process is ITERATIVE.
The Business Model Canvas was developed by Alexander Osterwalder.
Is a planning tool that can be easily used to engage others.
Is NOT a business plan by itself but it contains key elements of a business plan.
Is a visual representation of current or new business models.
The Canvas provides a holistic view of the business as a whole.
It gives people a common language through which they can evaluate traditional processes and bring innovation into their business models.

5. Value Of Visual Thinking
Business Models are:
Definition of how businesses make money
Complex concepts
Composed of various inter-related building blocks
Difficult to understand without seeing the whole
Visual Techniques
Give life to the model
Facilitate discussion and co-creation
Only Simple Tools Needed
Pictures
Sketches
Diagrams
Post-It Notes
Business Models define how companies make money.
They can be comprised of complex concepts.
They can be composed of various inter-related building blocks.
And, they can be difficult to understand.
Visual Techniques give life to the model and facilitate discussion and co-creation.
Only simple tools such as pictures, sketches, diagrams, and Post-It Notes are needed.
Visual Thinking: BMC supports an easy to understand visualization.
Iterate Quickly: Use a pencil and eraser OR even easier, post-its on a whiteboard.
Grasp the relationship between the 9 blocks: It’s easy to see the relationships between segments which allows for a better understanding and makes it easier to see where there may be opportunities for improvements.
Short and Succinct: Keep things simple so they fit on a post-it. I try to keep things to action verb – noun form. Ex. Acquire customers/Curate data.
Easy to circulate: The simplicity and compactness facilitates distribution and comprehension.

6. Business Canvas Components
Positioning Statement
Value Propositions
Customer Segments
Competition
Channels
Revenue Streams
Key Activities
Key Resources
Key Partners
Cost Structure
The Business Model Canvas consists of nine components.
The Positioning Statement is not an official component of the Business Model Canvas but is helpful at establishing your basic premise.
Positioning statement: A positioning statement is an expression of how a given product, service or brand fills a particular consumer need in a way that its competitors don't. Positioning is the process of identifying an appropriate market niche for a product (or service or brand) and getting it established in that area.
The mission and vision of Amazon.com is: "Our vision is to be earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."Apr 15, 2018
To write your positioning statements, follow these steps:
Select the target customer group you want to focus on.
Develop a list of needs your customer group has that you intend to meet (if not already included in your customer profile).
List your product/service’s benefits that uniquely meet these needs.
Use the lists of customer needs and product/service benefits to finish this sentence: When this customer group thinks of my product or service, I want them to think: ____________________.
Evaluate your positioning statement by making sure it’s simple, clear, and consistent.
Get the word out to everyone by consistently communicating your positioning message in everything your company does for this customer group.
Value side Components:
Value Propositions
Customer Segments
Customer Relationships
Channels
Revenue Streams
Operations side Components:
Key Activities
Key Resources
Key Partners
Cost Structure

7. Business Model Canvas Value Propositions Competition Customer Segments
Channels
Revenue Streams
Key
Activities
Key Partners
Resources
Cost Structure
What Problems
Are you solving
or needs are you
meeting ?
Who are your competitors (Direct and Indirect)with your customers?
Who are your
customers?
Are there multiple segments?
Is this a mass or niche market?
How large is the market?
What products or services are you selling ?
How will you connect with and deliver to your customers?
How do you make Money ?
What do you
Do to run
the business?
What partnerships are needed to operate your business?
What Key Activities, Resources, or Channels are provided through partners?
How do
you Support
The business
What does it cost to run the business ?
Start with your value proposition: what will you provide that someone will pay for?
Who are the ones likely to buy: be as precise in defining customers segments as possible.
What do you need in order to make your offering: Who helps, what actions are needed, what resources are input?
How are you going to reach them?
What are the costs associated with creating your offering? How much can you take in? What is the break even point? What is the start-up cost?
What is your competition? They are the other things your customer may spend their money on? How will you react to them?