How to make a business plan?

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  Hello World!

  I have ideas for couple of projects I want to implement and maybe turn into my own business. I know how to implement them technically, but the point is i don't know for sure how to plan for it from the business side of view..

  I want some tips on :

  • creating a good business plan
  • raising capital, specially in Egypt
  • How to choose the team
  • Should the team members get salaries at first, or should it be revenue share
  • what are the difficulties involved?

  and other questions, but lets start with these.

  I appreciate your time in advance.

  Tags: Web Startups capital raising Web 20

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  http://work911.com/planningmaster/Writing_A_Business_Plan_For_Startups/ Here's another resource that can help with the actual writing part

  by Scott May, May 20, 2010 1:39pm

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  you may find this useful for the business planning: http://www.startupbusinessschool.com/

  by Ahmad Hammad, Mar 2, 2010 7:29pm

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  first of all I want to say hi to everyone and this is my first contribution in arabcrunch.

  In my own experience it would be much better to a prototype or a proof of concept of you projects and then get some partners who are not in the technical field. you will be needing someone to actually sell your project to people.

  I like to use the top-bottom approach in building my business plans by setting up what are my objectives from technical point of view and revenue point of view, and according to these 2 main point you can start working backward in building you plan.

   

  Regarding choosing the right team, it will never be an easy job and I think that when hiring people the only way to check if the resource is good in his field is by checking up with his previous companies that he worked with or by trying to get from him some reliable recommendation.

   

  sharing revenue or salaries!!! really it depends on how risky is your project. 

  hope that you found my thoughts were useful for your question

  by Haitham Ghazal, Jan 24, 2010 11:02pm

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  All what've been said is great. But you don't have to do that if you're technical. Just identify your market (as accurate as you can, doesn't have to be perfect). Set up your 3 month minimum targets in any term that you find suitable. I suggest that you don't get money involved here, try number of active users, new registered users per week, downloads per week .. etc. And just throw in a prototype for people to try.

  If you are achieving your minimum targets, then look into business planning, hiring a team, investing your own money and creating a business.

  My point is, if you can transform an idea into a prototype before starting a business, then you have a great prevelige of verifying your market without taking any risk. Good Luck!

  by Ammar Mardawi, Dec 28, 2009 1:51pm

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  Hello guys, 

  That's a lot of info out there :)

  @Yasser : That is a very big amount of info, i don't know how to thank you. I will be studying them closely

  @Gaith : Yes, I was kind of searching for colleagues to share the project with me, build a prototype then get an investor involved, but the point is First, I need a tool to measure if it is feasible or not. Second i was looking for some kind of personal experience on how to decide who is qualified and who is not.

  The post is marvelous Gaith, I will be contacting you soon.

  @Dyana: Thanks, that was actually what I was searching for, some personal experience based tips.

  Thanks all of you guys.

  by Mosab Ahmad, Dec 25, 2009 7:46pm

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  Business Plans:

   I employ one or two very simple models on the concept to get the informal thought process on the business rolling.  One I call the "journalist's approach" where the inventor defines the who, what, when, where, why and how of the concept. OK - to be specific, I usually use an excel here  for an opportunity that will appeal to multiple markets. 

  The primary business plan model I use is "Purpose, Process, and Payoff." Sure I change those words into something more mainstream depending on the sector and the environment I for which I am developing the plan. But it is easy for me to think....what is the purpose of this thing?  what are the steps we need to take to fulfill this purpose?  why are we doing this? 

  As you bring your team together, you will engage them in this process too; us innovators get caught up in the moment, the daily production, but is is essential to keep your strategic goals aligns with your daily activities.  Lots of brainstorming and white board erasing comes with the turf of developing a effective business plan yet so many entrepreneurs skip this highly lucrative step.

  This understanding your concept and the value it creates - societal, financial, perhaps environmental - can be repurposed into a 2-page executive summary and the seeming increasingly standard 10-12 ppt presentation. 

   

  I know many people hire business plan writers and certainly that is an option. But I think if you are going to invest your time and energy, I think you need to write your own map. (-: 

  What do you think? 

  GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

   

  by Dyana Pari Nafissi, Dec 25, 2009 5:24pm

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  also look at this startups competition and accelerator list :

  12 ways to help you kick start your business through Early Stage Funds/ Incubators/ Accelerators

   

  by Gaith Saqer, Dec 25, 2009 3:19pm

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  Thank you Mosab for your question, I recommend choosing your team members first, bootstrap and offer them equity, make them as cofounders, develop a prototype and then look for investors. why do not you post a question here asking for cofounders? listing what type of experience you want for each one of them?

   

  by Gaith Saqer, Dec 25, 2009 3:09pm

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  Hello, great question, please see our competition resources:

   

  http://www.tbpc-astf.net/static/download.html

   

  by Yasser Tawfik, Dec 24, 2009 6:24pm

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