Second Stage Consulting can help get your business off on the right foot. Starting a new business is a daunting challenge. But there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Advice and guidance from someone who has started and built small businesses will pay off immediately in lower startup costs, reduced time to market, and less stress and wasted effort. Working with Second Stage, you are in control of how much support you need. We'll help you find the right balance between do-it-yourself and collaboration.
Business Plans
Writing a business plan can seem like a huge mountain to climb. And too many startups, particularly self-funded startups, are tempted to skip this step. That is always a mistake. You may not need a 100 page, exhaustively detailed plan, but a well-developed and grounded plan is essential for managing your business with the greatest chance of success.
Every business is different, and needs to be structured according to the circumstances of the proposed business and the needs of business owner. However, a typical business plan includes the following:
Executive Summary
Description of Proposed Business
Industry Description and Analysis
Analysis of the Market Opportunity
Competitive Analysis
The Business Model and Proposed Startegy
Marketing Strategy and Plan
Description of Operations
Management and Staffing
Risk Analysis
Startup Requirements
Financial Analysis and Projections
Step 1: Feasibility
The first step happens even before tackling the business plan. We work with you to refine the business idea, determine its feasibility, and advise you on the personal implications of starting a business. Once you're confident that your idea for a business is feasible and you've decided to move ahead, we can begin working on the business plan itself.
Step 2: Delegation
Second Stage can help with some or all of the business plan compenents. Ultimately, the business plan needs to be yours, so we collaborate with you every step of the way. In particular, we can help with the plan components that are the most challenging for founders of new businesses:
Quantitative market research
Financial modeling and projections
Strategy development
Risk Analysis
Writing and editing
Step 3: Integration
Once the individual components have been developed, the business plan needs to be brought together as an integrated, organic whole. The plan needs to be both complete and economical.
The best business plans are structured around a single, powerful narrative that unfolds from the first page to the last, every element moving the narrative forward and bringing the reader to the compelling conclusion: this will be a great business!
Bringing the plan to this point requires an ability to hold the individual elements in mind while seeing the whole picture, and having the right intuitions about what is missing -- and what can be cut out.
Second Stage Consulting is experienced in written narratives, and can provide the emotional energy that turns an otherwise dry recitation of numbers into an inspiring and persuasive story.
Step 4: Presentation
Writing a great business isn't enough, however. If you are seeking funding or the participation of strategic partners, you'll need to meet with those funders and partners to sell your business idea. That means condensing your business plan into a PowerPoint presentation that you can speak from.
Investors and partners aren't signing up for a document, after all, or even an idea. They are signing up with you. So you need to make the sale to them. You as a person and how you talk about your business, rather than the analyses in the plan, is what will persuade them.
Second Stage can help you prepare that presentation, and prepare yourself, to make the best case for your idea and close the deal.
