3,000+ posts on entrepreneurship and startups
With 2023 almost here, I was thinking about advice for entrepreneurs in the new year. It’s a tough time right now as the economy and most companies are in a defensive posture — many negative economic factors are still pulsing through the system. No matter the situation, I keep coming back to the most important … Continue reading Simple Strategic Plan for 2023
With the end of the year upon us, it’s a great time to put together a 2020 Simplified One Page Strategic Plan. I’ve written about it many times before and I’ll write about it many more times. After being an entrepreneur for 20+ years, I truly believe it’s one of the best exercises an entrepreneur … Continue reading Start 2020 With a Simple Strategic Plan
When meeting with entrepreneurs I like to ask to see their strategic plan. Many times, I require seeing a simple strategic plan as a prerequisite before meeting so as to have a more informed conversation. Only, the vast majority of the time, no strategic plan exists, simple or otherwise. Then, when a strategic plan is … Continue reading Why the Lack of a Strategic Plan?
Back in college I spent 100+ hours working on a full 50-page business plan for the Duke Startup Challenge. Everything was meticulously spelled out in painstaking detail with projections out to two decimal places. After submitting the plan I waited, and waited, only to hear back that I didn’t make it past the first round. … Continue reading Planning vs Doing as an Entrepreneur
Yesterday’s post Write Your Equivalent of The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan drove home a really important point: deliver a simple message. The master plan is all of 35 words, in plain English, with no jargon. How many entrepreneurs deliver plans like that? Very few. Simple messages don’t mean incomplete messages. Take the Simplified One Page Strategic … Continue reading Deliver a Simple Message
Once a startup has product/market fit, one of the best things they can do is a Simplified One Page Strategic Plan and update it on a quarterly basis. The concept is easy: put the most important high-level things about the business on one side of one sheet of paper and ensure everyone in the organization … Continue reading Quarterly Simplified One Page Strategic Plan
Continuing with yesterday’s post Time for 2017 Budgets, it’s also time to get the 2017 Simplified One Page Strategic Plan ready. The goal with the plan is to align everyone in the company around a simple, straightforward document that outlines the most important things in a concise manner. Too often, the entrepreneur runs around with a … Continue reading 2017 Simplified One Page Strategic Plan
While the Simplified One Page Strategic Plan is great for the entire company, it’s also a tremendous leadership tool for departments and teams. In fact, every team should have one. The strategic plan has purpose, values, goals, metrics, and projects — everything you’d expect from a team that’s aligned and high functioning. Here are a few thoughts … Continue reading Simplified One Page Strategic Plan for Every Team
While the Simplified One Page Strategic Plan is my favorite planning document for startups, it’s a worksheet for the core elements of the business and certain near-term projects and metrics. After revisiting it at least quarterly to align everyone in the company, there still exists a need to do long-term planning. That’s where a three year vision … Continue reading Build a Three Year Vision Plan
Allen Nance put up a post this afternoon on the 8 Dimensions of Leadership. In it, he identifies himself as “Pioneering” whereby two of his top weaknesses are as follows: Lack of attention to planning (e.g. he’ll brainstorm with a group, say make it so, and be done) Lack of accountability (e.g. when someone says … Continue reading Leadership Weaknesses: Lack of Planning and Accountability
David Cummings on Startups 