“Entrepreneurship is the management discipline that deals with situations of high uncertainty.” – Eric Ries
Here’s a short video (9 minutes) of the introduction for the financial management component of the mini-MBA course I was fortunate enough to teach last month. Keep in mind that the program is structured for entrepreneurs who have gained market traction and are on the cusp of the growth phase, thus its purpose is to help then craft a responsive operational blueprint (business plan).
What I’ve always found interesting is that often few who engage in a business planning process understand the entire framework for the exercise. I talk about the seven planing elements, that if kept in mind during the process will allow you to have a more valuable outcome. And, by outcome I mean a better plan, deeper understanding of what’s important for your business, and a stronger ability to adjust as the world validates your assumptions… or not.
P.S. The 7 elements of a business plan are:
- Tell a complete story
- Be forward-looking
- Be a balanced document
- Be clear, concise, and organized
- Be understandable
- Provide realistic data to support its claims
- Provide historical and projected financial statements
