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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BMo" data-source="post: 5470422" data-attributes="member: 90536">I was told by a friend of mine to come here and give advice. Take it or leave it, but you can see, I don't have a lot of history on EN World. I'm into business much more than games, by far. I've helped a business owner start a small company and move into the top 20% of their industry within one year. I've had a particular idea featured in Fast Company. I've been interviewed by Havard Business School's Newspaper- Harbus and I started a kiosk cell phone business in a mall with less than a thousand dollars- including owning the kiosk. I've been where you are. Those are my some of my credentials, believe them or don't, but regardless, here's the advice:DON'T FOCUS ON A BUSINESS PLAN.Here's why.Firstly, a business plan is a piece of paper (or hopefully, several pieces of paper) that puts a whole bunch of dreams and guesses down with very little substance to back them up. Not only that, they're never, I repeat NEVER accurate. You show me someone who didn't deviate from their business plan within their first month and they'll be the absolute exception instead of the rule. They would have to get their income, costs, customer turnover, and incidental expenses correct to even have a shot and it doesn't happen. Many decide to change the focus of their business almost immediately after the first week when customers don't flock to the things they thought would sell. It's the reality and it's ok. That's what business is all about.Secondly, people are talking about taking 3-6 months to prepare them. That's 3-6 months where you could be doing something worthwhile, like selling. Yes, you'll learn a ton by writing a business plan, but about the wrong parts of your theoretical business. There's a much better way to learn: go out, sell your product hard every day, and get your teeth kicked in a bit. It's ok, we all do it and there's no better way to learn what to do.Thirdly, think about it this way. The absolute best people in the world offering money (angel investors) don't want a business plan. They want to be pitched and they want to be pitched in less than thirty seconds. They're going to do research after the fact but, realistically, they're making a decision to support your business after 30 seconds. A business plan that took 3-6 months to build will not be discussed in 30 seconds.Fourth, (I think I've made my point about business plans) don't do this because you're a fan of gaming. Do this because it will make money. Period. There's no other reason to be in business than money. Yeah yeah yeah, everyone wants to talk about warm and fuzzy things like potential philanthropy, how they'll give great customer service, etc etc. None of that happens without cash in hand. That may sound cynical and people won't like me saying it, but it's the raw truth and you'll come to that conclusion sooner or later. Everything else is just a hobby. You absolutely must make sure you understand the exact amount of profit you're potentially making on any given product or line and how many sales of that product will be required to live on. Cut costs in the beginning as far as you can then find ways to cut them further. Sell what makes you money and re-invest every available penny. Your goal is to make it to the 5 year mark. That number (5 years) is thrown around haphazardly, and I believe it's a bit inaccurate but it's fine for our purposes. Understand that when I'm talking about you making it for 5 years, it isn't some magic number that lets you succeed. Most people don't realize it, but at around the 5 year mark you're considered a cornerstone of your industry, at minimum, locally. People will forget how long you've been open. As far as they can tell, you'll be around forever since you've been around forever in their short memory span. Everything should get a bit easier at the 5 year mark or before. If it hasn't, you're doing something wrong because you should already have systems in place and you'll have new problems with growth and your approach to it. In essence, to start, you're striving to make it to 5 years by creating as much profit as possible leading up to it. That will buoy you throughout the rest of your business's life.Fifth: Think small. It's great to dream big, but think small. Think about it this way, many food trucks make around 100k annually, obviously some make more, and many make less but the reality is they've minimized their expenses and only sell profitable products. They work when people are buying and close shop when they aren't. Many parlay them into full-fledged restaurants, it's a natural evolution, but many choose to stay in the truck business because of the reasons stated above and they're content with what they're doing. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ades" target="_blank">This guy</a> ([ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGOjFhKeLiU"]here's a video of him[/ame]) worked with almost zero overhead and was living in a penthouse in NYC while rubbing elbows with celebrities in the nicest restaurants in town. The lesson from them is not to start a gaming truck, but to identify the products you want to sell and cut costs until you can make money just doing what you're doing and be content with being the best at it. Everything else you want will come eventually. Also, be innovative in how you're going to sell product.Sixth and probably most important: Set goals, but don't freak out if you can't achieve them. Adjust and re-engage. You'll either find a new path to that goal or you'll set different goals that are probably more important to you. Many people think that business plans are goals, and they are to a certain degree, but they're awful tools to set goals with. Also, after you spend all that time writing the plan you have a huge incentive to stick to it, even if it's wrong. You can be just as effective on a napkin. Realistically, you're probably going to be closer to not setting goals than you will be to writing a business plan- mostly because you need the flexibility.Disclaimer: Business plans will be required to get a loan from a bank or to apply for a grant. They aren't looking at your plan, they're looking at your ability to pay if everything goes wrong. That really doesn't have anything to do with your business plan. Think about it, you don't even understand your industry well enough to create a business plan at this point. How would a random banker be able to understand it? With that being the case, if you need one, don't spend 3 months on it. Write something good, adopted from a book or reputable site, but look at it from the bank's perspective and give them reasons to be reassured you'll be able to succeed with imaginary sales figures that look pretty and grow accordingly. Be sure to display your knowledge of the industry and how you'll deal with the challenges presented in that industry (anyone can use Google to see that most gaming businesses don't make it and why).Obviously, I'm kind of against the idea of getting a loan. I think I'd rather see you selling Monster Manuals door-to-door than see you pick up a loan for a few hundred k to get started into something where you won't know where to spend the money in the beginning anyway. If you sell enough before needing the loan, you won't need to worry about imaginary numbers on a business plan, you'll have real ones and banks would like nothing more than lending to an expanding business.Oh, one more thing- <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110201/how-great-entrepreneurs-think.html" target="_blank">I'm not the only one who feels this way.</a></blockquote>

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