Mastery Journal - Business Plan Development (Assigned School Work)

Graphic by Shibam Sarbswa

I began my education at Full Sail University in March of 2013 in the Entertainment Business Master's Degree program. I was told by a friend (who happened to graduate from the same program at the same school) prior to enrolling, that I would need to have a business in mind because the program was geared more towards preparing students to consider becoming entrepreneurs than it was preparing them to join the workforce at an existing company in the entertainment industry. This statement is merely an opinion of my friend's and should be treated as such. I feel that the program does a great job in preparing students to enter the entertainment field, regardless if the student is anticipating embarking on entrepreneurial endeavors or not. 

Having said that, my current course is named Business Plan Development and is the 11th class out of 12 across the Entertainment Business Master's Degree linear class spectrum. In other words, I'm graduating very soon and need to utilize what I've learned in order to apply it to my final assignment; my very own business plan.

I've wrestled with various entrepreneurial ideas along my way at Full Sail. Many of these business ideas filled roles in various markets but weren't trades that I could imagine investing everything into for the foreseeable future. Many more of these ideas were the opposite in that I could imagine investing everything into for the foreseeable future but couldn't fill roles in any markets that are accessible to me.

Graphic by Feisty Ash

I've developed something that I can invest with my spare time while working towards paying off my student loans. This development will help me transition my LLC into my full time investment while saying farewell to my lifetime of working for someone else.

While I'm not at liberty to currently disclose my venture, I will spend some time addressing how valuable my current course is to my future endeavors.

My original goals for this course were to obtain a better understanding of the pieces that makeup the Business Plan puzzle and to develop a better understanding of what it is that I want to create with my education; a future of entrepreneurship or continuing to work for someone else. I find this class extremely valuable as it's surpassed all expectations and is one of the (if not thee) most important courses in this degree. 

I've learned an exuberant amount of information and resources necessary for creating a complete and attractive business plan for the sake of securing potential investors. I've not only learned about business plans in this class, I've learned much more about business itself. I've completed over 50 college courses over the past 10 years, and this class is one of the most important to my future and professional career.

Business Planning (Assigned School Work)

Thurman, Rich. 2013. SmallBusinessCommunity.org

            According to the CPA Corporation, a business plan is, "a formal document which describes the business, details the goals of the business, and describes how those goals will be attained as well as the risk factors that may present problems." Business plans are essential in the world of business. In most cases, the single factor that determines the longevity and success of a particular business depends entirely on its planning. These statements should be clear, concise, and updated regularly. I’ve gathered additional information about this topic that I'd like to present, regarding two individuals who are thought to be experts in this field, Guy Kawasaki and Tim Berry.  

            According to his official website, Guy Kawasaki is the “chief evangelist of Canva, a graphics-design online service, and an executive fellow at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.” His previous employers are Google and Apple. According to Visser (2014), Kawasaki views the “executive summary as the most important part of a business plan. You should spend eighty percent of your effort on writing a great executive summary and twenty percent on the rest of the plan” (¶9). It’s been said that investors typically view the executive summary first. Due to this, it is imperative that businesses capture the attention of the investors with the executive summary in order to lure them into having any remote interest in reviewing the rest of the business plan. Kawasaki has written twelve books, including How to Write a Business Plan, in which Tim Berry was hired to be his business plan expert.

2014. The 3 Bottom Lines.com

            According to entrepreneur.com, Tim Berry is the “chairman of Palo Alto Software, which produces business-planning software. He founded Bplans.com, is co-founder of HavePresence.com, wrote The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan,” and has been regarded by some as the Obi-wan Kenobi of business planning. Berry has found much success in the way that he disseminates his expertise. He is paid to speak at conferences, seminars, schools, and businesses to share his knowledge of business planning. Essentially, he’s created a business plan about business planning (I appreciate the irony and ingenuity in that) that includes what he calls the PRRR cycle (plan-run-review-revise). 

            A business plan is basically a résumé that is handed to potential investors of a business. These two men have extensive knowledge in that field and can assist you in writing you own. Focus on your executive summary and always plan, run, review, and revise. I know I will.

References

CPA Corporation. 2014. How to make a business plan. The 3 Bottom Lines.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2014 from http://www.the3bottomlines.com/how-to-write-a-business-plan/

Guy Kawasaki.com. 2014. About section. Retrieved on October 5, 2014 from http://www.guykawasaki.com/about/

Thurman, Rich. 2013. What is a business plan? Small Business Community.org. Retrieved on October 5, 2014 from http://smallbusinesscommunity.org/tag/business-plan/

Tim Berry.com. 2014. About section. Retrieved on October 5, 2014 from http://timberry.com/business-plan-expert/

Visser, Casandra. 2014. Making a business plan: what 10 experts have to say about creating a winning plan. Entrepreneur Magazine. Retrieved on October 5, 2014 from http://www.entrepreneurmag.co.za/advice/business-plans/business-plan-advice/making-a-business-plan-what-10-experts-have-to-say-about-creating-a-winning-plan/