Unfold Your dream by
THE VISUAL BUSINESS PLAN
Marina Hjørdie
Visual Business Plan Concept and text developed by Marina Hjørdie Published by Dramarina ApS Binding and Graphic Treatment by Annabir Translation by Vanaheim www.visualbusinessplan.dk Print 1. Print, 1. Edition 2014 ISBN 978-8-996679-0-1
© DRAMARINA According to Danish copyright law, no part of the material presented in this book may be reproduced by any means, nor transmitted, nor translated into a machine language, without written permission from © DRAMARINA ApS
Page
Welcome to the unfolding of your dream!
The Visual Business Plan is an inviting workbook, where you will be given the opportunity to unfold your dream. In the book, you can work over your business idea using key words, post-it-notes, make collages and drawings – even your financials will be worked with in an untraditional way. The purpose of the workbook is to provide you with an interactive tool to turn your business planning process into something personal, fun and engaging. The design of the workbook will take you through a process of working with the business idea in a creative yet structured way, so that you by the completion of this workbook will end up with just as comprehensive a business plan as a conventional one. To do this, I have transformed the conventional business-planning layout into a set of visual templates, which will allow you to explore your business idea from a more dynamic and visual perspective. These templates will guide you through the process of exploring and considering the many different aspects of starting up your own business. You are approaching the realization of your dream! – to do so, your planning process need to be pleasurable and exciting as well as provide you with some real insight into your business. The size and format of the book, along with the opportunities to work with ones hands through the making of collages and drawings, are entirely intentional as it will activate the creative right side of your brain and provide the possibility for a wider perspective on your business. Have fun realizing your dream! – I wish you all the best of luck!
Marina Hjørdie
3
Page
Table of Contents
1. The Business Idea .......................................................................................
s.
6-7
2. Target Market Analysis ............................................................................
s.
8-9
3. Competitor Analysis .................................................................................
s. 10-11
4. Marketing Plan ............................................................................................
s. 12-13
5. Business Imagine and Design ..............................................................
s. 14-15
6. Sales and Pricing ..........................................................................................
s. 16-17
7. Your Strengths ..............................................................................................
s. 18-19
8. Your Network ...............................................................................................
s. 20-21
9. “Emotional� SWOT ....................................................................................
s. 22-23
10. Organizing Your Time ...............................................................................
s. 24-25
11. The Ideal Day .................................................................................................
s. 26-27
12. The Dream ......................................................................................................
s. 28-29
13. Start-up Cost ...............................................................................................
s. 30-31
14. Operational Budget ..................................................................................
s. 32-33
15. Break-even and Financing ........................................................................ s. 34-35 16. Action Plan .....................................................................................................
s. 36-37
4
Page
5
How to work with this book
It needs to be a fun and engaging journey to explore the dream of starting ones own business. Remember to be thorough, but also to have a good time with the book – it is your first step to realize your dream! Choose a time and space where you can work uninterrupted. Consider listening to some relaxing music.
You will need: Pencil, pens, crayons and markers in different colors. Post-it-Flags or Post-it-Notes.
I hope you will enjoy the process and keep your enthusiasm high – enthusiasm is one of the driving forces towards success in business.
Magazines, news papers, brochures (for instance from competitors), trade journals, etc. for collages.
Have fun!
Glue stick.
The process •
It’s a good idea to brainstorm ideas before filling in the templates. During the brainstorm you can fill out the templates with a pencil, use post-it-notes (which makes it easier to move the text) or print out draft templates.
•
When filling out the workbook, you can use different colored pens or crayons for different themes and subjects. It gives a better overview when reading through the final plan.
•
You can also draw, write notes or find pictures, words, photos etc. from magazines and the like to make collages with.
•
Remember, you can always return to sections and add ideas, make changes and adjustments as you work your way through the workbook.
•
Working your way through the workbook you will find a series of individually numbered boxes, where you will be asked financial questions. Write in the answers in the boxes as you go along. In the end, when you will be working with the final budgets, you simply flip back through the book and transfer the numbers from the previous sections into the corresponding numbered fields in the budget. Viola! – Almost all of the figures needed for the final budget have been calculated.
Page
6
1. The Business Idea
You have a dream of starting your own business, which you are about to explore. You will need to give your self plenty of space and time to do this. Write down keynotes and ideas, describe with pictures, drawings, images cut from magazines, quotes and put it all together in a collage. The questions in the following template will guide you through a process of considering all the various aspects of the product or service you are looking to offer through your business. Perhaps new ideas will surface as you go along – write them down while you remember them. Even though you may not be able to use some of these ideas in the end they may produce new thoughts and lead to other ideas and it’s a good discipline to write them down as you go along. Describe in detail you idea. What do you want to sell? Your idea may be a physical product, your knowledge, a sort of service, a trade, an idea, some kind of concept, a business or something completely different. If you are planning on selling multiple products try to narrow it down by describing only the most important product or category of products.
Reflect on the questions and write down key words in the template, preferably in different colors to help organize your ideas.
What kind of customer needs does your product or service meet? Describe the kind of benefit that your product/service will provide to your costumer. Explain how your product differs from other products on the market – e.g. is it better quality, cooler design, simpler, more beautiful, more exclusive, more accessible, shorter delivery time, a newer trend or something else. Does your product or service provide your costumer with some sort of particular value, or special experience or does it target an emotional need? What makes your product/service special? Do you possess some particular skills, do you have a new innovative solution to something, are you combining your product/service in some new innovative way or are you meeting an unfulfilled need in the market place? How will you make your money? How do you imagine generating your main source of income?
Can you generate value-added services or products? Think about how you might be able to add special services or value added products in order to gain a closer connection to your costumers/business clients and perhaps gain a more stable income with. What are you passionate about? You want to realize your business idea, so think about why you feel passionate about starting your own business – what gets you fired up? Passion generates enthusiasm and enthusiasm is one of the most important driving forces in starting you own business. Enthusiasm is a key-entrepreneurial trait and provides you with the fuel to push through challenges and obstacles on your way, as well as give you the added weight when selling your product. Should you not feel quite enthusiastic yet, it will be worthwhile your time to work on identifying what you
feel passionate about. People have multiple reasons for feeling passionate about their business, such as: • • • • • • • • • •
Creating the ultimate product Turning an existing hobby into a livelihood Making lots of money Experiencing greater professional and personal development Being in charge of ones own life Obtaining a greater quality of life Creating something big Breathing new life into empty buildings Helping others Having a sense of purpose
Whatever your reason, it is the right reason! - there is no right or wrong here….you simply need to feel enthusiastic
Page
1. What do you want to sell?
Describe your idea
7
How will you make your money?
Can you combine any value added services or products?
Which needs are being met by your product/service? What are you passionate about?
What makes your product special/different?
Page
8
2. Target Market Analysis
Describe your customer On this template you’ll need to describe your costumers as detailed as possible. If you have more than one kind of customer consider filling out a sheet on each of them. The more precise you can be in your description of who your customers are, the easier it will be for you to reach them with the right marketing and sales strategy. This will also help you to know how to best communicate with your target group through your website, social media or industry and trade magazines. So become clear about the kind of person or business you think will want to buy your product. Your costumers can either be individuals, businesses, non-for-profit or religious organizations, academia or the public sector. Spend time learning about your target group – gather information on the internet, through news papers, magazines, trade and industry journals, from friends, family and colleagues.
Think about your costumer and write down some keywords on the template – make use of multiple colors if you wish. You can find me ... Do your customers tend to be located in a particular geographical area? Do they congregate in particular areas in their spare-time or workplace? Is it more likely to find them in some places over others? For example, it’s quite common that the majority of people who buy organic food live in urban areas. And if your customers are young, you might look for them at educational institutions or cafes ... etc. I’m interested in ... What are the kind of behaviors or interests of your customer? Are they interested in the environment and sustainability? Are they tech-freaks, jogs, sophisticated or main stream?
I like the product because ... Describe what it is that the customer likes about your product. Is there a story to it that makes it something special? For example, is it organic, a natural product, ergonomic design or something nostalgic? Does it have the capacity to make the costumer feel special, or does the product help the customer in some way, or save them time or money? You can recognize me on ... What are your images and ideas about your typical customer? Think for instance along the lines of open, brave, embraces change, cautious, afraid, extraverted, introverted, demanding, creative, uncompromising, spiritually inclined, thrifty etc...
I have a particular need for ... What kind of need does your product fulfill with the customer? Once you have answered these questions you will be able to find a lot of information about your customers in statistical with your local and federal government data bases, online search engines and buyers bureaus for free. Here you will be able to find information about population numbers, age groups, gender and income levels among many other kinds of information. Ask the Customer! When bringing a new product or service to the market it is always a good idea to ask your potential costumers what they think about your product. It is not uncommon to become so excited about your business idea that you become sort of blind to its potential weaknesses. It is therefor important to ask for feedback on your business idea from people that are not too close to you. You need to seek out people with other perspectives people who may be your potential customers. If they do not seem interested, REALLY take it seriously! Otherwise it may end up costing you a lot of unnecessary time, energy and money.
Page
2. Who is my Customer? I am interested in ... You can find me ...
How many are there?
Age?
I like the product because ...
Gender?
I have a particular need for ...
What is your customer’s opinion?
You can recognize me by ...
Is you customer an individual or business?
9
Page
10
3. Competitor Analysis
By studying your competitors closely, you can learn a lot about your market and identify possible areas and ways in which to improve an existing product/service. In order to develop a solid business model you need to know who your competitors are and examine what they are doing well, where they may have weaknesses, who are the most popular and why, who are the most innovative etc. You need to find as much information about them as possible. You can for instance search the internet for articles and general information about the business, look up brochures, financial statements and general public information as well as contact their distributor, agents or the business itself for more information. Learn from your Competitors Once you have gathered as much information about your competitor as possible you can transfer the information to the worksheet on the next page.
Product + and – Think closely about the strengths and the weaknesses of your competitor’s product and write down some keywords in the template. Market Share (1-100%) How big a market share does your competitor have? If you are lucky, you might be able to find an industry analysis covering your particular product or service. Otherwise, you will have to collect your own data to the best of your abilities by taking stock of what you see in the stores or where-else your products is being sold. Take a look around in relevant stores. Take notice of which products take up the most shelf-space, ask which products are more popular and which products are appreciated the most by the customers. You can gain a lot of information simply by being courteous and by asking nicely. Make note of the approximate market share, ranging from 1 – 100%.
Think about the competitor and write down important keywords in the template on the next page – make use of multiple colors if you like.
Popularity (1-10) How popular do you approximate the competitor’s business to be in the marketplace? Look up the company on the internet, is it trusted by its customers? Is it a solid and thriving business or does it suffer from a poor reputation?
Market Analysis
Unique (1-10) How unique do you judge the competitor’s product/service to be? Approximate on a scale from 1 – 10.
The market for your products represents the total picture of your target group, your buyers, distributors and your competitors. From this body of information you will be able to conclude if the market is big enough for your product and how to sell it.
Price What is the price of the competitor’s product/service? Some products and services you can make a straightforward comparison of. However, for combined services you will have to look more closely and take into consideration possible hidden price structures by investigating variables such as numbers of hours, volume, frequency etc. of the combined product/service and compare it with its direct use. Your Business In the end, go through the same process for your own business (e.g. Product, Market Share, Popularity, Uniqueness, Price) and fill in your findings (column saying “Your Business”) using keywords and notes. You can also compare the visual profile of the competitor by cutting out logos, packaging or pictures of the products and insert it into the template. The Competitor seen in a new light Competitors do not always need to be seen as a threat. Rather, you may find a lot of inspiration by studying a competitor, such as the competitor’s competencies and ways of doing business. You could also consider the possibility of a competitor becoming a potential partner, or you becoming a potential distributor or sub contractor to a larger business.
Reflections How do you strengthen your market position? Think about ways in which you can use your strengths and ways in which you can meet and overcome your own weaknesses? Is there anything you can do to strengthen your position? Do you for instance need more knowledge, more capital, partners, a stronger network or something else? Can you become “unique”? Look to see if you can identify any gaps in the market where perhaps your competitors are weak or too traditional and consider if there is anything you can do to create a more unique product? It is always an advantage to find or create your own niche in the industry and hereby be less vulnerable to competition.
Write down your reflections in note form at the bottom of the template.
Page
3. Competitors - What do they do?
11
Your Business Competitor Product
+ รท
Product
Market Share (1-100%)
Popularity (1-100%)
Uniqueness (1 -100%)
1%
100%
1%
100%
1%
100%
1%
100%
1
10
1
10
1
10
1
10
1
10
1
10
1
10
1
10
Price
What can I learn?
Considerat
ions
How do you continue to strengthen your position?
Page
12
4. Marketing Plan
Use this template as a tool for inspiration and to gain an overview of the different ways to market your product. The filled out template is meant to give you give you an overview of the costs associated with your chosen marketing initiatives, so that you can chose the ones that gives you the best value for your money. Look at your target market template (chapter 2) and think about how you can best make contact with and attract your customers.
seasonal cycles? If your marketing funds are limited, you may have to postpone certain market initiatives.
Brainstorm all the different ways in which you can market your product and assess which ones will be relevant to your type of business. For instance, think about whether it will make the most sense to reach your target market through personal canvassing, social media, industry convention or trades fairs. Then you’ll need to answer each of the listed questions below for each of the chosen ways you choose to reach your customers.
Price? Approximate your marketing cost by researching and comparing the prices of your chosen approaches and channels with the relevant providers, or consult your network.
How often? How often will you need to engage your particular marketing initiatives? For instance, are you planning on advertising in the local newspaper on a monthly basis? Or are you looking at one-time expense of setting up a website?
To whom? Who are you targeting with this particular channel or marketing approach?
Personal canvassing Personal canvassing, such as cold calls and promotional letters to potential customers can seem like a cheap way to market yourself. However, make sure you treat your personal hours as an actual marketing cost. Also, make sure that your marketing approach falls within the law.
Where? Do you need to think about your approach or campaign in terms of a geographical reach? Or are you looking at a different focus? For instance, are you trying to reach a suburban audience in a particular region? Or urban dwellers in a particular city? Or reaching your target group through participating in a regional trade fair?
Customer Visits Following your canvassing, the next step will often be to set up a meeting with your potential customers. Include your hours and transportation cost as a marketing cost. Some products and services only sell through making personal contact with your potential customers, as they may require a high level of personal service and trust.
When? When are you planning to carry out this particular campaign or approach? Do you need to take into account any
Advertisement You can choose to advertise in your local or national paper, in trade magazines, business journals or through
relevant internet portals that reach your target market. Make sure to include the costs associated with advertising through these channels along with what cost associated with the design and set-up of your ads. Print and signage Perhaps you need to put money towards developing printed materials such as brochures, product magazines, catalogues or signage on your car or building. Remember to include, not only the costs associated with the design, set-up and print, but also the cost associated with getting the material to your customer. For instance, is the product something you are going to make available on your website for downloading and printing? Or are you planning on distributing it to a larger audience or in a limited geographical area? Social media You can choose to market yourself through social media by having a business profile on Facebook, Twitter, having a blog, posting YouTube videos or profiling yourself through relevant online forums and sites. Choose the channels that are frequented by your target market. Website You will need a website. Think about the functions of your website – what do you want it to be capable of? Make sure to invest time and money in making your website visible to internet search engines (search engine optimization, SEO), so that you internet customers can find you, or buy adds on search engines such as on Google Adworks or others.
PR (Public Relations) You can choose to market yourself by creating publicity for your product or service through a focused PR strategy. This can include media events, press releases, creating a blog or something similar, that will provide free publicity in your chosen media. Professional networking Invest time and money in different kinds of professional network events and activities where you expect to find your potential customers. Develop solid and trusting network relations, in particular if you are engaged in selling services, rather than an actual physical product. However, remember that the purpose of your network is to provide you with referrals to potential customers through your trusted relations and is not to provide you with a forum for direct sales – this would feel exploitative and undermine your goodwill within the network. Business conventions and exhibitions Some products are best sold by being seen, heard, demonstrated etc. In this case it can be a good investment to participate in business conventions, trade fairs and exhibitions. Expert status via books, articles and lectures You can also choose a long term, but very effective marketing strategy of building up an expert status for yourself. This is done by writing articles, books and chapter submission, or for instance by giving lectures or workshops in your area of expertise. Radio & TV Radio and TV can be a choice if your product needs to be seen and mentioned with more volume in the media.
Page
4. How will your product get known?
Marketing
Customer meetings
Canvas
Advertisement
Print and signage
$
$
Social media
13
Website
Who? Where? When? How often?
Price
Marketing
$
PR and media
$
Professional networking
Conventions/fairs
Who? Where? When? How often?
Price
$
$
$
Articles, blogs, books, lectures
$
Other
Radio, TV
$
$
$.
$
Conclusion My marketing Strategy Total Price
1
$
Page
14
5. Business Imagine and Design
When developing your business it is often necessary to bring in a graphic- or productdesigner to help you create a professional look and design. By finding and demonstrating style and design examples it will be easier for you to explain the kind of image you want for your own business – this is a sure way to save a lot of money!... less hours will be billed when your creative person can receive some concrete visual directions, rather than having to do too much guessing themselves. On this template you will create a collage, which will describe your chosen image and design. Cut out images from magazines, describe or draw the style you are aiming for. Find some examples of something you really like, if you can’t really verbalize the style you want yourself – look for a particular style, image, a name or something else - something that signals what you want to express. This process will help you guide the creative person to better nail your unique expression.
Reflect on ... Design, style, font, logo and materials that will support what you are wanting to signal. This can be for the use of logos, brochures, signage, website, furnishing, external design, product design and packaging etc. •
•
•
•
If you want to sell a physical product, then insert pictures of the product along with keywords and pictures of the style, that you wish your product to portrait. If you want to produce a physical product, then you can draw or cut out pictures of items of a similar style or design to the style you are aiming for. If you want to open up a store/clinic/restaurant etc. draw and cut out pictures of cool places you have seen, that somehow represents or looks like the style you are aiming for. You can use color chips, create small blue prints or sketches of the interior design. If you want to sell you expertise or knowledge, then think about the style of your marketing material, your website etc. and what you want it to signal.
Catchwords Jot down some keywords of what you want to communicate such as security, creativity, quality, happiness, confidentiality etc. This will all be very helpful for your design people in helping you pinpoint your style.
Colors Insert your colors into the template on the next page. Keep to as few as possible. Too many colors easily create a sense of confusion. Think about what different colors signal and represent.
Company, domain and product name It is important to research the availability of the company or product name you wish to secure for your business as soon as possible. It is a terrible disappointment to spend a lot of resources on your graphical design, only to discover that your name has already been registered and copyrighted by someone else. You need to also research the availability of your domain name for your website, before making a final decision about the name of your business.
• • •
• • • •
For example, many people associate the colors dark blue, white and green with seriousness. Cream, dark red, dark green and yellow sometimes signal exclusiveness and splendor. Strong colors, such as blue, turquoise, red, orange and yellow colors can signal something more sporty, energetic and driven. Black/white can portrait a simple graphical environment or modern expression. Pastels express a more caring or playful environment. Nature nuances, for example dusty green, sandy, earth colored can signal health, nature and ecology. Additionally, you can play around with creating interesting contrasts in order to highlight a certain “feel” or message.
Page
5. The visual representation of my business
Catchword/phrase Collage
Logo
Design samples
Is the domain name available?
Cut and draw
Style
Font Rights
Sample material
Business Name
Product Name
Color samples
15