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.