Background of your business launch: “I like” or “I can”

Hello. This is Irino, a strategy consultant.

I am going to explain about the background of your business launch today.

The positioning in your business plan document

Executive summary
Background
Management team
Company overview
Management and business principles
Product/service overview
How your profits are made
Analysis of the market and the competitors
Marketing and sales strategies
Operation plans
Personnel strategies
Start-up strategies
Growth strategies
Exit strategies
Financial plans :
– Sales forecast
– Cost plans
– Financing forecast
– Capital policies
Risk management
Project management

This section is about explaining the background of how you came up with your business plan and why you decided to pursue it. You can integrate this into “management team” section as a personal story of the executive team.

Do’s & Don’ts for Beginners

■　Don’t say “Someday…”

I know that many people who want to start their own businesses go to seminars and business schools and check out entrepreneur sites. However, when I ask them when they would like to found their companies, most of them reply by saying “Someday…”. You can complete your corporation’s registry just in 5 business days, but in reality, many people don’t take any action. Those who actually do start their companies usually have set dates or specific triggers such as “May 17th of my 30th birthday” or “when I have saved up 7,770,000 yen as my set up capital”. They don’t have any rational reasons for starting their companies.

Starting a company can mean a risk of destroying your life, so I think a society which all members decide to be entrepreneurs is rather unhealthy. However, there are many people who attend seminars and schools enthusiastically and they find it really difficult to take the crucial steps to start their companies. Perhaps people need some triggers or plans for their first step.

Do’s & Don’ts for Intermediate Entrepreneurs

■　Find the right people at first

When people are asked, “Which is the most important element for starting a company? Money, things, the right people or know-how?”, many of them probably would say “money”. However, as long as you have the human network and fellow entrepreneurs around, money and know-how will be available as bonuses later on. What you want to be aware and concentrate on when you’re taking preparatory steps or right after launching your company is how to get the right people.

Do’s & Don’ts for the Master Class Entrepreneurs

■　Choose something you really love over something you can do

Here is a matrix often used when trying to figure out “what kind of business to start”.
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The best is a business manager who starts a business he is good at and really loves. As I’ve pointed out before, only 3 out of 1000 companies make it and the overwhelming majority fails. Business managers who start businesses that they like and are good at have high success probability and they can enjoy the processes more than the results even if they face failure and setbacks. But such fortunate people are very few in number. In reality, a number of people are distressed by having to choose between “Something I can do, but not like so much” and “Not so good at it, but really love it!”.

I have a feeling that those who have succeeded are the ones who chose “Not so good at it, but really love it” by far. The reason is because if you really love it, then “You think about it all the time” and sooner or later you become good at it. There are always people who are better than you and the level of those who claim they “don’t like it, but are good at it” are usually not that great in reality as well.

Starting a business is like playing “scavenger hunt” game because you have to get the help of those who are more competent than yourself. If a venture company is low on capital, they can show people the passion and love they have for their businesses. Passion is the one thing you just can’t borrow from others. When you contemplate on what kind of business you would like to start, it’s important to be subjective and think about whether you really love the business from the bottom of your heart or not. This has to be done before you start objectively analyzing its feasibility as a business.

Editor’s note: The skills of a cameraman

I had an opportunity to receive an interview the other day. As I answered a writer’s questions, a cameraman was taking my photos. Usually, I can’t help but be conscious of the camera and would think of looking right or do gestures that would look good on photos. However, this cameraman was so good at taking photos and I barely noticed he was actually taking them. I was quite impressed with his skills to create the right atmosphere.

Irino

Counterarguments, questions and consultations are totally welcome! Please send an mail to irino@linzylinzy.com.

Yasutaka Irino, Linzy Consulting CEO