To define a sustainable business plan and demonstrate its value To describe the benefits of a business plan To set forth the viewpoints of those who read a business plan To understand the mind-set of your five-minute reader To see a complete outline of an effective business plan To present some helpful hints for writing an effective business plan To highlight points to remember in the presentation of a business plan To underline some of the contrarian viewpoints on the importance of a business plan

1. Contrarian views on
business planning

3. Chapter 16
Developing a sustainable
business plan

4. Objectives
1. To define a sustainable business plan and demonstrate its value
2. To describe the benefits of a business plan
3. To set forth the viewpoints of those who read a business plan
4. To understand the mind-set of your five-minute reader
5. To see a complete outline of an effective business plan
6. To present some helpful hints for writing an effective business plan
7. To highlight points to remember in the presentation of a business plan
8. To underline some of the contrarian viewpoints on the importance of a
business plan

5. A business plan is a work of art
• You can’t raise money without a business
plan… a business plan is a work of art in its
own right. It’s the document that personifies
and expresses your company. Each plan,
like every snowflake, must be different.
Each is a separate piece of art. Each must
be reflective of the individuality of the
entrepreneur.
– Joseph R. Mancuso, How to Write a Winning Business
Plan
BP for Involution Studios
“Magical Software for
Personalized Medicine”

6. But first
Why can’t you just start a business
on the back of a napkin?
Who reads a business plan
anyway?
What would a ‘sustainable’
business plan include?
?

7. • Traditional definition
– surviving or maintaining a business’ viability
against its competitors.
• New definition
– real commitment to the environment and climate
change mitigation/adaptation as well as a
revamping of the entire business model to its core.
– providing products and services without
jeopardizing the environment
Why do we say
'sustainable' BP?
Review slides
from Chapter 3

8. The need for a sustainable business plan
8
• Remember this slide from Chapter 1?
– Famous roller coaster entrepreneur Carl Miler’s brilliant
innovation swept away by global warming.
• Usually it’s about finance, marketing and personnel . . .
• But today more and more investors are demanding
that BPs focus on People, Profits, and Planet.
• You must write for both definitions of sustainability.
• BPs have to take into account . . .
– Volatile weather, economic instability, interruptions to
transport, energy and water, availability of raw materials,
food supply glitches, and regulatory changes

9. •What do you expect
people to do with your
product when they have
finished using it?
•Take electronic waste
as an example
•The entire life cycle of
the product must be
considered
The need for a sustainable business plan

10. Ecology of entrepreneurial
business planning
• A business is not separate from the
biosphere.
• Industrial ecology sees business
as a series of interlocking
ecosystems
• The biosphere surrounds the
socioeconomic and regulatory
systems in which the firm operates.
• The goal is to pick the least
burdensome environmental and
social outputs when designing
products and services.

11. Contrarian views on business planning
• ‘Business plans are the
equivalent of “intellectual
push-ups”. Nice exercise,
but not necessarily
relevant to anything in the
real world’.

12. Lean canvas
business planning
• Instead of writing a long and in-depth
business plan, Lean Canvas Planners
advocate a simpler approach,
essentially on a single sheet of paper.
• Osterwalder’s Business Model
Canvas puts all the complicated
strategies of your business in one
simple diagram.
• Each box details your company’s
strategy.

13. Lean canvas
business planning
• Lean canvas may be useful for high-
growth, technology gazelles
• But some entrepreneurs must first
thoroughly research the customer.
• Lean Canvas doesn’t help
entrepreneurs determine if their
company is truly financially viable
without rigorous financial planning.
• You are going to get nowhere with
banks and private investors without
a plan.

14. A short ‘pitch deck’ may be enough
• What is the opportunity?
• What gives you special advantages in
solving the problem?
• What makes you think that your people are
especially qualified to grow this business?
• What is the business model?
• What makes it scalable?
• How do you know you’ll have customers?
• How do you connect to customers?
• What is the secret of your expected sales
success?
• What have you learned from the
competition?
• What are the risk factors?
• How will you make money?
• How will you use the funds you raise?
Original pitch deck for Josef Schumpeter Entrepreneurship University

16. Business model
competitions
Accelerator
competitions
Start-up weekends
and hackathons
Demo days and
pitch events
Prize
challenges
Reasons for
competition
Foster student
success and
ultimately to
demonstrate
credibility..
Evaluating the best
ideas to enter
‘acceleration’ for
eventual
investment.
Entrepreneurs
encouraging
collaboration among
themselves.
Showcasing
entrepreneurs
and viable
ventures to VCs
and angel
investors.
Solving big
problems or
addressing specific
markets.
Judging
Faculty, local
mentors,
entrepreneurs,
some investors
Seed-stage angel
investors,
successful
entrepreneurs
Local entrepreneurs,
local business
leaders
Seed angel
investors, VCs,
successful
entrepreneurs.
Professional full
time or volunteer
committee.
Sometimes judged
by ‘the crowd’.
Structure
Business plans
submitted and
reviewed. Live
evaluation of
finalists.
Submit basic
application. Live
pitch/demo at an
event.
Collaborate with
peers over long
weekend. Demo and
pitch in front of
judges.
Successive rapid
pitches in front
of judges and
audience.
Varies. Often
successive
judging/pitch
competitions.
Entrance
criteria Business plan. Application, team,
pitch/demo.
Hands-on
development skills.
Pitch, basic
product demo.
Innovative
prototype/product.
Ideal
outcomes
Cash prize,
recognition.
Seed-capital,
participation in a
program. Startup
development.
Team formation.
Prototype. Idea
validation. Cash
prize/services.
VC/angel
investment.
Visibility and
traction.
Cash prize.
Customer validation
/adoption. Visibility.

17. In business planning, never
forget your ‘north star goal’
• Achieved in a reasonable timeframe
• Can be acted on by your team
• Connects to the core of the business
• Drives excitement and passion
• Serves a higher purpose than business
profitability
• Solves a great human challenge and
• Leverages your organisation’s strengths.

18. Benefits of the business plan
• Stakeholders get a lot out of a business plan.
• Provides the financial details
• Helps identify risks
• Provides a useful guide for
assessing the entrepreneur’s
planning and managerial ability.
• May help you avoid a project
doomed to failure!

19. Benefits for the entrepreneur
• Forced to view the venture objectively.
• Scrutinises your assumptions
• Lets you develop operating strategies
• Quantifies your objectives, providing
measurable benchmarks
• Gives you communication tool for outside
financial sources

20. Benefits for the funder
• Gives them the details of the market potential
• Show the venture’s ability to service debt or
provide an adequate return on equity.
• Identifies critical risks, crucial events and
contingency plans
• Gives them a thorough business and
financial evaluation.
• Give them a guide to assess you planning
and managerial ability.

21. Who reads the plan?
• Obviously venture capitalists,
bankers, angel investors,
potential large customers,
lawyers, consultants and
suppliers
• You need to understand three
main viewpoints when
preparing the plan
• ‘Five-minute reading’
1. Characteristics of the industry.
2. Financial structure
3. Balance sheet
4. Quality of entrepreneurs
5. Establish the unique feature
6. Read over the entire plan
lightly

22. How to structure a
business plan
• Eight to 12 sections (depending
on the idea, the industry and
the technical details)
• Length of a plan is 25 pages
• See complete outline in book
Table 16.2.
?
Yahoo’s original BP

23. How to structure a
business plan
See complete BP outline in book Table 16.2.
?
Yahoo’s original BP

24. Business plan segments
• Write this after the rest of the business plan
• A clever snapshot of the complete plan
Executive
summary
• Business name and industry background
• Thoroughly describe the venture
Business
description
• Define sustainability relevant to the businessSustainability
• Includes marketing vision, market trends,
competitor analysis, remarkable differenceMarketing
• Prototypes, lab tests, blueprints, sketches,
developmental budget.R&D
• Location, labour availability, wage rate, suppliers,
customers, taxes and zoning, plant and equipmentOperations
Howtostructurea
businessplan

25. Business plan segments
• Key personnel, advisers, consultants, board
• Structure of payment and ownershipManagement
• Demonstrate the viability of the undertaking
• Pro forma reportingFinancial
• Unfavourable trends, difficulties
• Cover the what-ifsCritical risks
• Orderly transition
• Management succession and exit strategiesHarvest strategy
• Provide a timetable for the various activities
• Timeframes
Milestone
schedule
• Additional documentation
Appendix
bibliography
Howtostructurea
businessplan

26. Use the
business plan
assessment
tool in the
book.

27. Updating the business plan
• Update in the event:
– of financial changes
– of additional financing
– of changes in the market
– of launch of a new product or service
– of new management team
– to reflect the new reality.

28. A practical example
See Appendix 1 for
an example business
plan – ‘Cocoa Samoa
Ltd’

29. The pitch
• Now it is written, how can you
(verbally) present your plan to an
audience??

30. The pitch
• Presenting the plan to stakeholders –
especially funding providers
– Either individually or in groups
• Also known as ‘the elevator pitch’
• Be organised, well-prepared, interesting
and flexible

31. The pitch
• Know the outline thoroughly
• Use keywords that help recall examples,
visual aids or other details
• Rehearse the presentation
• Be familiar with any equipment
• The day before, practice it in full

32. The pitch
• Focus on the consumer pain
• Demonstrate a reachable market
• Explain the business model
• Tout the management team
• Explain your metrics
• Motivate the audience
• Answer: ‘Why you?’ and ‘why now?’

33. The pitch
• Focus on the consumer pain
• Demonstrate a reachable market
• Explain the business model
• Tout the management team
• Explain your metrics
• Motivate the audience
• Answer: ‘Why you?’ and ‘why now?’

34. Whattodoiftheyturn
yourdown

35. Key concepts
(close your books)
1. What is a business plan and
what does it describe?
2. What are the main segments in
a business plan?
?

36. Key concepts
A business plan is a written document that
describes:
– current status
– expected needs
– projected results of the new business.