Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I often receive business plans with requests to review and advise. In fact, if I wanted to work for free, I could be cranking around the clock with start-ups. Now, I love entrepreneurs and crazy ideas. And, I applaud people who believe no mountain is too high. But - and this is a big but - you should be properly equipped before you begin climbing. People don’t just pack a brown-bag lunch, pull on a windbreaker, amble to the base of Mt. Everest and start up.

Most recently, I reviewed an executive summary of a plan which had been produced with the help of UNM MBA students. The entrepreneur has been showing it to potential investors and wanted my input. It’s good that he actually has a plan (many start-ups never have one), but does it fit his need? He needs to get VCs to open their checkbook, and they’re a very tough crowd. They’ve seen hundreds, even thousands, of dog and pony shows.

The first show stopper was that the two MBA students were listed as part of the management team, complete with quotes about how excited they were about the product’s potential. They’re probably good guys and smart students…but VCs invest in the people as much, if not more so, as they do the idea or product. Listing neophytes, no matter how well-intentioned or enthusiastic, isn’t going to help. I’d bet most VCs stop reading when they get to this paragraph.

The second show stopper was the “strategic activities” for marketing in which an e-commerce web site, mailings, ads, and nationwide marketing promotions were listed…with a total budget of about $500K. Ouch. This tells me (and the VCs) the people writing the plan have no real-world marketing experience. They pulled the list straight from textbooks.

Your Sanity Checkpoint: The executive summary is the most important part of the plan - if you don’t hook ‘em then, they’ll never read the rest. Free help from MBA students (and economic development groups, web sites, and seminars) is a terrific place to start. But, it’s just that - a start. An effective, successful plan takes more work, some real-world perspective, and - here’s the good/bad news - it’s never really “done.”

(For those of you thinking about starting a business, check out my one-page PDF download, The One Hour Biz Plan, a quick exercise to help you focus, before writing your “real” plan. And, I’m always happy to chat for a few minutes, no charge.)

Related Posts:
Start-Up Suicide: Mine is Bigger than Yours.
Getting the investor checkbook open.
Business is Hard. (Duh)
Three Ways to Waste Your Marketing Budget
Advertising does nothing for your brand.
Small is a state of mind.

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Tags: business plans, business planning, business development, marketing, entrepreneur sanity check