MAIN IDEA
The traditional approach to being an entrepreneur has usually been:
Get an idea and write a business plan
Spend months securing investors
Start making and selling your product
The problem with that approach is markets today evolve so quickly your business plan will likely be out of date before it is finished. You don't want to wait until you've spent all your funds before you start finding out whether or not customers really want what you're making.
A much better approach is to use the "LeanModel Framework" which is based on customer truth – getting feedback from customers – in this way:
"If you want to sell a product, just make it. If you want to sell a service, just deliver it. If you want to create a company, just create one. There has never been a time like the one we are living in right now."
– Bernhard Schroeder
BERNHARD SCHROEDER is a director of San Diego University's Entrepreneurship Center. In addition to teaching entrepreneurship courses at San Diego University, he has worked with hundreds of start-ups as a strategic adviser or mentor. Prior to joining the university, Bernhard Schroeder was a Senior Partner in CKS Partners, a marketing communications agency where he was involved in the initial branding and marketing launches of Yahoo!, Amazon, Corbis, ESPN, Travelocity and others. He has also worked with Apple, Nike, General Motors, American Express, Kellogg's and other Fortune 100 firms. He is a graduate of San Diego University - California State University and Walsh College.
Bernhard Schroeder's website is at: BernieSchroeder.com.
This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book. This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, view points and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.
Too many entrepreneurs think they are in the business of writing a great business plan. A plan is just a learning tool, and an inferior one at that. If you really want to develop something new, get a prototype out in the marketplace and start talking to customers. Rather than spending six months writing a business plan, test something.
Business Plans are great planning documents. A typical plan will be 25 - 40 pages long and have this information:
An executive summary
Company description and mission
Product or service information
Marketplace and competitive analysis
Proposed strategy and implementation
The management team
Financial plan and projections
Background and technical information
It can take months to write a good business plan but historically developing one has been the price of admission to become an entrepreneur. The first question any potential source of funds would ask was: "Well, let's have a look at your business plan."
The advantages of a business plan are:
It brings all your market research together on paper and in one place.
You can detail all the key milestones you've reached.
Banks and investors like to have something on paper to guide their decision making.
You are forced to do budgeting and to forecast your cash flow in developing a business plan.
A business plan can be good for getting new employees up to speed.