Are you prepared?

Being prepared, or not. This seems to be the lesson of the day. When considering the advice from business experts, and I mean those that have actually had a successful business, my one big takeaway is be prepared. In business plans, having it all of the necessary information is being ready.

I somewhat noticed this from another expert I recently met with. A friend of mine was speaking to a group recently. She is a movie executive and deals with business plans of sort. Her sort of business dealings is when a movie is to be made; all logistics have to be planned. This is what she deals with day in and day out.

During this recent gathering, a future professional inquired about having my friend produce her film. I was startled at the question, but it wasn’t unexpected. What was unexpected was the response. The guest gave the audience member an opening. The reply was “what is your movie about?” The extremely lackluster answer (well, I’m not done with the story yet) was deflating to me.  When presented a potential life changing opportunity, the ill-prepared person could offer nothing in return.

This was my lesson, which coincidentally goes with this assignment. Had this person been ready, the opportunity ship could have sailed with the audience member aboard. This is like the business plan that is not complete. How can you expect a reader to judge your plan if it doesn’t paint the picture? The plan is just that, a plan. If the business owner doesn’t have a clear vision of the business, how can they expect anyone else to get one?

You must have a well-defined plan. This plan manifests itself on paper for people to read. A proper idea fleshing out is requisite for any measure of success.

Best practices of business plan writing

While I prepare write my business plan, I have sought the wisdom of those individuals that have mastered the art. I will share two of these people and what I've found to be good advice from well-versed experts.

First, I have looked at Elizabeth Wasserman. Elizabeth has written for Inc. Magazine and since I'm an avid reader, have seen her material. She is the Editor of Inc.'s technology brand. She lives in Washington (many think tanks there) and has over 17 years of experience writing for various publications and in many mediums.

What I took from Elizabeth was essentially that the business plan is your map. If it's a map for your business, it had better be a correct map. This doesn't mean it error free. What it does mean is that your map needs to have north, south, east and west correct and your direction must be defined. She writes about how it must be committed to memory. Memory doesn't need to have everything, but you need to have the vitals at the forefront of your lobe. Knowing your plan and that it constantly changes is the biggest challenge. Also, when you think you're being conservative with your numbers, reduce them again and don't be too optimistic.

The other expert I looked at is Mark Cuban. Mark is the owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks, an investor on "Shark Tank" the TV show and founder of broadcast.com. Not only does he know computer technology well, he knows a great deal about successful business.

I've read his blog many times over the last handful of years. He is a big proponent of open-source anything. The concept is that many eyes looking at something can only help your business in the long run. With business plans of all types, you must have a clear vision. This vision is only better defined within the plan.

A couple of years ago he invited the public to post their business plans on the Internet via his blog. Then, if you fulfilled certain requirements, he would invest in your company. This is a very scary prospect, but I'm sure it turned out well for some people. Even if he didn't invest, the amount of readers giving feedback on the plans could have proved priceless. Of course, theft of an idea would be the most concerning. All said though, if you think you've got a tight plan, why not go for it? Showing your plan is very well done would be the component needed for investors.

I don't think I would have done the posting, but I certainly admire those that did.