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Congratulations!  The judges had a very tough task to slim the field down to the finalists.  Though we normally have six finalists, the judges decided to include an extra finalist because the plans were of such high quality and potential. 

 Those not selected as finalists were still very impressive.  Several are already in business and looking to take it to the next level.  Others are just getting underway and have a lot of unknowns.  We expect to see these non-finalists as successful businesses in the next few years.  It was simply a matter that those selected as finalists had more upside potential or less near-term risk than those not selected as finalists. But it was very, very close among all the business plans.  This is good news not only for our entrants but also for the community.  As these new businesses succeed our area will prosper economically.

Once you have identified your target market, how are you going to attract sales from that target market? You probably want a specific strategy for getting sales going. That may take some money. In fact, it may take a lot of the money you need to get started. For example, if you are proposing an e-commerce business, building a quality website and then placing ads on selected websites and social media outlets could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars. Make sure you have included your marketing costs in your financial projections.

Let me illustrate this discussion with Kenny’s All Purpose Seasoning, last year’s IdeaWF winner. Kenny’s main strategy was to sell via grocery and specialty stores. Thus, his first sales would not be so much directly to consumers (though he did do that through word-of-mouth and his website) but rather to the people that decide which products a store will stock. This is a very hard sale because lots of people are fighting to get their new products into grocery stores. Fortunately, Kenny’s folks were persistent and his product was great – he’s done a great job of getting into various food stores. His major entry wedge was with United/Market Street. Once he had product in the store he ran some in-store promotions, where he paid people to get shoppers to try (and buy) the product. But Kenny used other creative marketing techniques as well. He called companies, many of whom he had a connection with but he also did some cold calls, and got them to buy his product and use it as gifts for the companies’ customers. Kenny cut the companies a great deal on his product so he didn’t make a lot on these sales, but he did actually make some money through this part of his marketing effort. That’s one of the amazing things about start-ups – being short on cash can lead to some of the most creative (and cheap) marketing campaigns!

Don’t forget that if you want the SBDC to review your business plan (and I strongly encourage it) the deadline is February 20th, which is just six days away. The final deadline to the Lalani Center is February 7th. Good Luck!!!

As I mentioned in the seminars, the financial projections are often a weakness in business plans.  The SBDC can be of great help as you develop the financials so I encourage you to work with them (before Feb 20) on your financials. 

The trickiest part for many is estimating the revenue, which requires you to estimate how much you’ll sell and at what price.  The marketing portions of the business plan should help you with these topics.  How much will you sell?  It depends (among many other things too) on how large your market is, how you intend to attract customers, and your competitors.  Pick a number for how much you’ll sell and then explain it to others.  If you can convince people that your sales projection is reasonable then you are off to a good start.

The other component is how much you’ll charge.  Pricing, too, can be tricky but if there are established competitors selling the same or similar products, adjusting off of their price points is a logical starting point.  Is yours a premium product, then you should be charging more.  Again, explain how you priced your product to someone else and see what they think.

Having decided on a number for how much you’ll sell (and this is typically done month-by-month for the first 2 years) and at what price computing revenue is straightforward.  Computing revenue is usually harder than projecting costs, so developing the financials moves along quickly after you’ve projected your revenue.

Several teams have not yet picked up their copies of the executive summaries—they are missing out on potentially important feedback from the judges.  Swing by the Lalani Center to pick up those executive summaries.

Good luck going forward!

Hope to see you tonight!

I encourage those selected to submit a full plan to take a few weeks to celebrate their accomplishment and enjoy the holiday season before they turn their full attention to writing the business plan.  We start quickly in 2012, though.  Here is the schedule for the SBDC-led sessions on how to write a business plan:

• Wednesday, Jan 4 11:30 am – 1 pm
• Tuesday, Jan 10^th 7:00 – 8:30 pm
• Thursday, Jan 12^th  5:30 – 7 pm

Those teams not selected to submit a full business plan are also very welcome to attend these sessions.

 All entrants can come by the Lalani Center at their convenience to pick up their executive summaries and see what advice our judges have for them.

 The 15 teams invited to submit a full plan are (with some words deleted when necessary to protect the details of their business idea):

• Six copies of your executive summary
• Completed and signed application forms (you can print them from this website)
• $100 (check made to “Lalani Center” preferred, but we’ll take cash)

Please bring them to the Lalani Center office.  Someone will be there all day to take your package.  The Center is located on the second floor of the Dillard College of Business (room 257).  The office is not located in one of the major hallways so it can be tough to find.  Don’t hesitate to ask for directions once you get into the building (faculty and staff know where it is, students may not).  If you are familiar with the SBDC’s location in the college, the Lalani Center is located directly above the SBDC.  See you tomorrow!