business plans Archives - Steve Sammartino

What business plans are for

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Steve Sammartino

A business plan is not a user manual. It’s not a map of a defined territory and it’s not a even a vision of the future. At best it is a contention of how we may be able to get things done. Because of this, we need realise it can and should be revised as soon as it is unproven. Yes, we should give it a chance, execute against the contention, but remember it is only as valuable as the results it generates. We can throw it away, draft a new one if needed.

While important, a plan must serve us. We ought not serve it.

When we get big

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

There are many things we’ll implement when we get big enough. When our footprint is big enough to deserve the investment of the bigger, game changing idea. When we achieve X, we’ll implement Y.

Maybe we ought implement Y now and skip X altogether?

The multi tasking hoax

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

Multi-tasking is a hoax. In fact it’s one of the worst developments associated with the personal computer revolution. It robs us of time, reduces focus, and has a negative impact on reaching deadlines adn getting stuff done. So here is my top 10 list of ways to avoid the multi-tasking hoax:

Only have one computer application open at a time
Only check your emails at 2 designated times of the day (say 9am and 3pm)
Don’t write long to do lists (guilty). Instead write down the answer to this question: ‘The one thing I must finish today’
Close your eyes while taking phone calls to ensure you listen to the other party.
Learn to say ‘no’. Tell the other person why, you can’t do it, or offer for them to pick something to drop off.
Meditate daily. Think about long term goals
Focus on depth of activities, not number of activities completed. Do less things, better.
Never tell anyone you are busy. We are all busy. It leads to pin balling around stuff instead of finishing.
have defined goals for the year. Ask yourself each morning how your are moving towards them.
Add your item for number 10 in the comments.

Startup Blog says: Multitasking is your enemy. Avoid it.

How hard you worked is irrelevant

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

It’s what we create for the people who care. The truth is we never know how hard it was to deliver the right product, at the right place at the right time. We only care that it was.

What we (the entrepreneurs, producers, marketers) had to go through is not part of the consideration set. It isn’t charity, it’s about them. So if we nail it and deliver the project quickly, we needn’t feel guilty or less deserving. Likewise, if it took us 5 years of hard working weekends and nights, that’s also no reason to feel a level of entitlement. We need to feel what they feel – underwhelmed or overwhelmed with what we deliver, how we got there is far less important.

Startups and Standups

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

Listening to an interview with Jerry Seinfeld he said something which sounded like good advice for Startup Entrepreneurs.

Here is what he said verbatim:

“Your write and you write, and you don’t know if it is any good. You have to get up in front of an audience to find out if this is any good. You always have to try things, and the audience kind of writes the act for you in a way. They say, keep this, get rid of that. And you use them as a judge. They are the judge.”

It seems success in most enterprising professions are about being guided by your audience or customers. Testing, refining and constantly iterating.

Startup blog says: Real market feedback, is the only way to test any written plan. It beats research every time.

Strategy review

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

In the new year we have new business goals and objectives. We plan to do better than last year. We plan to do more….. we must review our strategy…. But before we do we must ask this important question:

Did we execute the current strategy to its full potential?

Or did it just get a bit too hard and boring, and we decided it wasn’t easy enough?

Usually the strategy is fine, and we just haven’t worked hard enough to get through the dip.

Quirky Fact & Business models

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Steve Sammartino

It costs the soft drink Industry over $100 million a year for thefts committed involving vending machines.

Actual Coke vending machine robots!

*actual Coke vending robots!

Yet vending machines still exist for one simple reason. This is still a profitable business regardless of the theft.

So often in startup land we here people pointing out the gaps and potential issues in any business model we propose. The fact is no business model is perfect. Every business has gaps and potential issues which will impact profitability. There is always leakage, there is always some evaporation. What we need to focus on is the net result and understand if we can still make a profit regardless of the model imperfections.