Business plans

For those of us not raising Angle or Venture Capital, our business plans should be directly proportional to the size of our business.

 

No revenue = no plan.

(ok – a small mud map that focuses on the very basic business model which will lead to revenue.)

 

<$1 million revenue  = 1 page.

 

The law of diminishing returns sets in at around about 10 pages, regardless of the size of the business. 

Some stuff all web startups should know

I’ve just read the following book. 50 great e-Businesses and the minds behind them. By Emily Ross and Angus Holland. It includes all our favourites over the past 10 years. Put simply it’s insightful.

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I really think you should read it, but if you’re time poor like most entrepreneurs here’s my bullet point summary for you:

  • More than 80% of these businesses were founded and run by non-technical people (web designers / coders etc)
  • Only a handful actually went viral and had overnight success
  • ‘Fun parks’ build traffic & members quicker than ‘real commercial sites’ (see next blog entry)
  • The majority did not have VC funding, fancy offices, or even staff. They bootstrapped.
  • Most took much longer than 2 years to build
  • The most unexpected and common thing that drove success was cold calling & collaboration 
  • The entrepreneurs behind them we’re driven by the idea, belief and excitement – not only the potential for big money.

Worth a read.

The difference between ‘Innovation & Different’

While watching entrepreneurs pitch their business earlier this week at the Pitch Club in Melbourne Australia, and colleague and I were disappointed at what some people believe to be innovation.

   

Shannon from Shannon says and I agreed that what many people call innovation is simply – different.

Here’s a clear delineation of the two which is a startup blog mashup of multiple dictionary definitions.

Different: unlike in form, quality, amount, or nature. Distinct or separate. Unusual or differing from others.

  

Innovation: a creation, new device or process. The result of study and or experimentation which improves the desired outcome / usage of said device, process or creation.

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Sometimes we only need to understand the true meaning of our words to determine if we are ‘on track’.

Quote – Larry Page

larry-page.pnglarry-page.pngLarry Page said:

 

There is a phrase I learned in College called ‘having a healthy disregard for the impossible’. That is a really good phrase. You should try and do things that most people would not.

larry-page.png          ….squint to see Larry….

     

Chances are we’ll still fail to do the impossible most times.

If we don’t try we are certain to fail every time.

Don’t believe what you heard

Cold Calling – is the hardest part of being an entrepreneur. A skill which is game winning.* Don’t believe what you’ve heard, the truth is very few businesses can grow without getting on the phone.

    

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* We’re not talking about selling insurance to unsolicited numbers…no.

We’re talking about contacting people in our world, our place of business, our industry, our corner of technology. Contacting people where a relationship could be valuable to both parties. We’re not selling either, we’re collaborating. But have no doubt, we are still cold calling.