1.
Business Plans
and Strategy
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2.
I always travel with my generic growth charts and strategy thought bubbles.
Who is this guy
and why should
I listen to him?

3.
Why this matters?
Strategy, whether it's labeled as: deliberate, emergent, Blue Ocean,
competitive, or business, is currently an uncharted landscape. Sure, you have a
few big names like Porter, Martin and McKinsey leading the way but they play
in economies of scale and scope that most of us won't ever get to experience.
They talk about strategy from the perspective of the "firm" dealing with issues
of "allocative efficiency" and "market wide phenomena".
That's not you.

4.
Why should you care?
Learning how to apply the concepts of strategy, using the right tools, and
creating the right actions will position your business to get the biggest return
out of your resources. It's about using all the "stuff" in your business to create
as much value and capture as much profit as possible. Today I’m going to
share a few of those tools.
Cheesy obligatory ice breaker - Word Association: Business Plan
P.S. - The rest of the slides won’t be nearly as wordy. I promise.

5.
Let’s get uncomfortable.
“No business plan survives first contact with
customers.” - Steve Blank
The only reliable test is a real one.
You can’t plan away your uncertainty.
“What gets measured gets managed” - Peter Drucker

6.
I want you to walk away with these:
By the end of our time my goal is to have you
walk away with:
1. A better way to think about business plans.
2. Better identify and react to your
competitors.
3. Commit to a strategic decision making
framework.

7.
Business plans that aren’t awful.
Business Plan
Framework:
● Your story.
● Your market.
● Your actions.
● Your financials*
*1-2 year financials. Not a wish list with three different scenarios and IRRs. If you’re not a CPA no one
will look at them and you will have successfully shaved years off your life from incurred stress.

8.
Your story.
● Good stories surprise us.
● They have compelling characters.
● They make us think.
● They make us feel.
● They stick in our minds and help
us remember ideas and people.
Most importantly they inspire people to take action.

9.
Mission, Vision and Values
Specifically NOT spending lots of time here.
● Mission = 1 sentence: Who, what, where.
● Vision = 1 - 2 sentences: Why.
● Values = No more than 3: Because’s
You have 5ish minutes to organize your
story.

10.
Your market.
Know Your Market!
● Market size, growth,
segments
● Key purchase drivers
○ Quality, cost, service
● Demographics
● Competitors
● Distribution channels
● Average Profit Margins
● Seasonality, regionality
● Key marketing drivers
Data Sources
● Internet
o Industry
o Competitive
● Public company reports
● Government websites
o census.gov
o bls.gov
● Trade publications
● Be a customer!

11.
Business Analysis
What is business analysis?
● Getting clear in your
business.
● Competitive Landscape
This isn’t your SCORE
mentor’s exercise.
This doesn’t have to be
you!

12.
Market Realities and Company Lessons
Internal (Inside business)
Strengths
● Why do your customers buy from you?
Weaknesses
● Not an interview question so, no fluff! What are
the parts of your business that can get more
efficient or capabilities/capacities you can
improve?
Market/Customer Trends
1.
Competitive Trends
1.
2.
External (Outside of business)
Opportunities
● Opportunities are new chances for your business
to either continue to differentiate or to reinforce
your competitive advantage.
Threats
● Threats are external factors that could negatively
influence your business that you can’t control.

13.
Positioning Your Company
Target: Who is your ideal client or customer? What
does that avatar look like. Be specific.
Competitors: Who are your direct competitors?
Everyone has competitors. Everyone.
Competitive Advantage: Think benefits only you can
deliver.

14.
Just a little more positioning

15.
Your actions.
Feel like this yet?
Here’s what to do with all
that information and all that
analysis.
It’s time to start taking action!

16.
Some ideas not strategy...yet.
Your plan is coming together.
So far we’ve covered:
● Your story.
● Your market.
● Your competitive landscape.
● Time to start strategically thinking.

17.
Thinking strategically.
First let’s get clear on how you will compete.
To outperform your competitors you can (from the Five Forces Model):
● Develop a cost advantage or
● A differentiation advantage
You can look at an industry segment where the five forces are less
severe.
You can try to change the forces:
● Is there anything you can influence to create an advantage for you.

18.
From thinking to action (plan).
Set sales and earnings targets. These could be part of your
goals or objectives for the business within a set time
period. Short list - choose focus.
Describe how you’ll achieve them:
● What to be done?
● By whom?
● By when?
● At what cost?

19.
Key Business Drivers
This is the guts of your business plan. It’s how
you will conquer your action plan and serve the
market your story impassionately said you will.
● Marketing
● Operations
● Management
● Financials
This is just the highlights. Everyone’s
business will be a little different.

20.
Marketing
Yes the “5 P’s” still matter and lenders want to
see them.
1. Positioning - target, competitors, advantage
2. Product/Service
3. Pricing
4. Place - distribution channels/geography
5. Promotion

21.
Operations
How will it all get done:
1. Listed salaries/job descriptions.
2. Production, logistics, inventory and supply
management.
3. Quality control and customer service.
4. Where is business happening?
5. Billing and accounts receivable.

22.
Management
How are you organized?
1. Organization or
ownership structure.
2. Current skill gaps or
needs.
3. Support services:
accounting, legal, etc.

23.
Financials
No crazy projections!
Focus on:
1. Cost and margin management
a. P/L or Income Statement
2. Cash management
a. Statement of Cash Flow
3. Tax planning
4. Monthly reporting.

24.
That’s a fine looking plan you have there.
You made it! Almost. You are now equipped to
create a plan that bankers, stakeholders and future
business partners will want to read. It’s one that
can you adapt as your customer tastes and
expectations change over time.
Now on to your strategy framework. Just one
more slide.

25.
Good Strategy - You’re all set up!
Good strategy is about making choices
systematically. Here’s your system:
1. Identify challenge
a. Crystal clear outcomes
2. Measure it against your guiding policies.
a. That’s all the stuff you worked out about your story
and what makes you unique
3. Take action and track results.

26.
Closing
We laughed. We cried. It’s been an emotional
rollercoaster. But you are walking away with:
1. A better way to think about business plans.
2. Better identify and react to your
competitors.
3. Commit to a strategic decision making
framework.

27.
Thank You!
You can find more of me at
http://www.strategyschool.co
I’d love to share this presentation and more
with you! Be sure to leave me with your
business cards so I can share all my best tips,
tricks and strategy tactics with you!