The Unapologetic Capitalist

No matter what stage your business is in, the understanding of what your venture is worth will always be important. A venture is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. However, the market isn't always there to set the price, and CEO's and founders rarely listen to what the marketplace is telling them their company is worth. This episode demystifies valuation, discusses the different methods used to justify valuation, and gives tools and frameworks so you can be more prepared to demonstrate the value of your venture.

Does having a Business Plan really matter?  The truth is that you can still get lucky without one, and many are teaching and advising entrepreneurs to just get out there. But it is dangerous and costly to throw a whole bunch of stuff at the wall just to see what sticks if anything sticks at all. It might get you into a market place faster, but it may very well be the wrong one, and all you’ve done is to pave the way for someone else to step over your carcass and garner the value of your opportunity.  Building an excellent business plan isn’t just to convince others that this is an opportunity worthy of investment and pursuit, but it is to convince YOU that it is worth your blood, sweat and tears along with the monumental opportunity cost to build this venture.  An excellent business plan is a dynamic blue print for building and running your company to ensure that you have established the very best plan to achieve the goals that you’ve set forth to set you up to achieve your desired outcomes.

004: Show Notes – Why Having An Excellent Business Plan is So Important

* Why “The Unapologetic Capitalist?”

* Brief recap of why listen to this show & who am I

* Brief recap of where we’ve come so far

* Reminder that this show is contiguous

* Topic of today’s show…Why a business plan?

* Build a business plan as a devil’s advocate & tops down/bottoms up

* Components of a business plan

* An executive summary

* Building from the top down…the strategic portion of the business plan

* Product

* Company

* Market

* Competitors & Substitutes

* Building back up to business potential…the tactics that implement the strategy

* Marketing & Sales

* Operations

* Technology

* Revenue Model

* Future Growth

* Appendix

* What to expect for the next show: Funding…once you’ve built your business plan, how do you achieve the resources to implement your plan?

It is important to set a tangible goal. If you don’t set this stake in the ground, how do you know you are going in the right direction?  Don’t worry, the stake can be moved as your opportunity evolves.  However, there is an important distinction between a “goal” and a “desired outcome.”  A well conceived goal that is appropriately ambitious yet potentially attainable will give you your most likely chance at achieving your desired outcome.  Setting up a goal that depends largely on ‘luck’ will most likely set you up for failure.  Achieving success requires an alignment of many incentives.  You will need the support of other people and you will need to check your ego at the door.  Hubris should not be confused with confidence. You will need to rely on a supportive network along the way.  Are you building a supportive network or just creating large databases?

Ideas don't matter, but opportunities do! Ideas don't make money. It takes a genuine opportunity to earn significant long term value. Is your idea is a worthy opportunity?

The Unapologetic Capitalist is for anyone who has been intrigued, in anyway, by building something of potentially extraordinary long term value. This is for anyone who wants to seriously bolster their current business, has thought about leaping off the precipice to start their own venture, is already a serial entrepreneur, or perhaps just wants to live the entrepreneurship life vicariously.  The Unapologetic Capitalist has no definitive right or wrong answers to offer…only more or less prepared and a lot of varying perspectives so you can be a better thinker for yourself.  There is no room for ‘red’ or ‘blue’ in this show…only green. So check your ego and politics at the door and engage in meaningful and useful business discussion. I don’t believe in ‘blue’ or ‘red’…I believe in opportunity that builds substantial long term value.