The One–Hour Business Plan: The Simple and Practical Way to Start Anything New

Praise for The One–Hour Business Plan "This inspirational book is a must read for anyone aspiring to be someone and especially those people who are looking for angel funding. This is a book that is tough to put down." —Richard Levin, Chairman, Private Investors Forum (angel investors) "What I enjoy most is that his business planning approach gets rid of all the clutter and gets to the heart of your business. I can′t wait until this book comes out so I can start referring people to it." —Lloyd Cambridge, Director, NYC Business Solutions "This book is all about what to do to get your company somewhere FAST, which is all too essential in this fast–paced world of startups." —Valerie S. Gaydos, founder, Angel Venture Forum "John′s The One–Hour Business Plan is an essential and easy read. I found the five essential business plan cornerstones to be spot on." —Jan W. Zupnick, President, The Entrepreneurship Institute "John McAdam′s The One–Hour Business Plan was exactly what I needed. Providing me with a systematic approach, I was able to put my thoughts in a clear, concise format that inspired the attention I wanted." —Chris Brown, Entrepreneur, Utah "As a SCORE mentor, I come across many budding entrepreneurs trying to aggregate their vision into a business plan . . . Mr. McAdam provides a quick and concise recipe to help them put their vision to paper to effectively accomplish that goal." —David Cantera, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) Counselor " The One–Hour Business Plan helped me take a complex new concept, describe my service, and explain why my customer needs it, all very effectively. I was able to land six new clients for my new service!" —Dan Macfarlan, Bucks County Lock & Key

Setting the Tone ix Introduction xi Why These Cornerstones Build the Best Foundation for Any Business Plan xvi Module 1 What Are You Offering? 1 Create a Value Proposition That Makes a Stronger Business Model The Need 5 The Solution 8 Features versus Benefits 10 Advantages 14 Written Exercise:Write Your Value Proposition 19 Value Proposition Exercise #1—The Value Proposition Building Blocks 20 Value Proposition Exercise #2—‘‘What Do You Do?’’ 22 Value Proposition Exercise #3—‘‘What Do You Want?’’ 24 Module 2 Who Are You Offering To? The Customer Target Market 27 The Only Sustainable Source of Business Funding for the Long Term Customer Target Market Introduction 29 Market Size: The Addressable Market 31 Customer Demographics and Demographic Profiles 33 Customer Categories 34 Second–Phase Customers 35 The Customer Target Market Funnel 35 Public Relations 38 Advertising 41 Marketing 44 Sales 47 Written Exercise Preparation 51 Customer Target Market Exercise: Methods and Lists 52 Module 3 Who Are Your Competitors? Competitive Positioning 55 Viewing Your Offering Through Your Customers’ Eyes Competitive Positioning Table Exercise 64 Module 4 What’s Next? Next Steps 69 What Milestones and Action Plans Do for Your Business Milestone Introduction 72 Business Milestone Definition 76 Essential Elements of a Business Milestone 78 Examples of Business Milestones 79 Milestones in Practice: Sandbagging, Overstatement, and Balance 81 Action Plan and Goals Defined 84 Milestone Quality Control Check: ‘‘Stiflegoal’’ and ‘‘Stiflestone’’ 86 Milestone and Action Planning Worksheets 89 Module 5 How Much Money Will You Make? The New Offering to Cash Mini–Budget 93 A Simple Way to Predict How Much Money You Will Likely Make How Much Money Will Your Business Model Make? 96 Selling Price 102 Average Sales Cycle Time/Customer Acquisition Time 105 Unit Sales Forecast 107 The New Offering to Cash Mini–Budget Worksheet Exercise 112 Conclusion: Pulling It All Together 117 Using Your One–Hour Business Plan to Earn Customers Today I Love Beta Users of Innovations and You Should, Too 127 CEOs and Entrepreneurs Have a Lot in Common 130 Other Applications of the One–Hour Business Plan 132 On the One–Hour Business Plan Concept— Is It a Gimmick? 137 Get Feedback on Your Plan Foundation from Advisors, Colleagues, and Mentors with Successful Exits 139 Benefits of Sending Us Your Worksheets 142 Help Us Get the Word Out—ThisWorks! 143 Final Thoughts 147 Acknowledgments 153 Index 159

JOHN McADAM has decades of business experience as a hired CEO, serial entrepreneur, and instructor. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and has taught strategic business planning at the Wharton Small Business Development Center for years. Quoted in business publications such as Inc. , Success , Crain′s New York Business , Business News Daily , and Wharton Alumni Magazine , John McAdam also speaks for organizations, having been a frequent radio guest and guest speaker on NBC10 Philadelphia Small Business Week and Money Matters TV. To book John McAdam, visit http://planfoundations.com.