A business plan could fail for one of many reasons ranging from lack of information such as not conducting or including any primary research, the executive summary is unclear, or being heavily dependent on intellectual property as the only means to retain customers. Also a business plan should not be too long (over 25 pages) and must be able to keep the investors interested. Most importantly, the business plan should show that you have a full understanding of the market you are about to enter. Your market analysis section of the business plan must show research based on primary and secondary sources. In a article published by John Boitnott, “Brutal Lessons From 4 Failed Startups”, he gives a list of companies that had great potential for profit, but ended up failing. One of those companies were “Pay By Touch” whose goal was accomplish exactly as the name stated and to me that seemed like a really great idea. Unfortunately the founder did not conduct a thorough market investigation. Pay by touch was something that people could live without due to the fact that they were already used to credit/debit cards. There was no need for pay by touch and the founder ended up creating a “solution to a non-existent problem”. Without proper planning and information on the target market, your business plan will surely fail before ever taking off.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235028

1. WHAT DEFINITION OF BUSINESS MODEL DO YOU FIND MOST USEFUL AND WHY?

I actually find both versions of the business model very useful. The first model gives you the steps needed to make sure your product/ service will survive in the market. It allows you to identify the competition so you can create a business strategy that will hopefully give you a competitive edge. The second model is just as useful in a sense that it’s asking questions that make you think deeply about what your business will be about before it even starts. Making sure you have a good sense of what your targets and goals are before you jump right into it.

2. WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO TOOLS FOR DESIGNING BUSINESS MODELS?

Some similarities are that they both require the owner to really think about what their goals are for the business. They ask you questions regarding the competition making sure you come in to the fight with a plan.

The differences I noticed were that the first model was more broad whereas the second model asked very personal and in depth questions. Business model 2 really wanted you to know your business and what it’s going to be about, meaning it wanted you to know your goals and what’s special to your business.

3. WHY WAS GREIF PACKAGING, DESCRIBED IN CHAPTER 2, ABLE TO CAPTURE MORE OF THE VALUE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN? WHERE DID THE EXRA VALUE COME FROM, AND WERE THERE OTHERS WHO LOST THE VALUE THEY WERE SELLING?

They were able to capture more of the supply chain and bring in extra value because they adhered to their customers points of pain. The customers didn’t want to go through the struggle of buying the drums and then having to dispose of the chemicals themselves, Grief Packaging recognized this problem and came up with a solution to fix it, giving them a competitive edge over the competition.

6. NAME THREE SIMILARITIES AND THREE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A FRANCHISE AND A LICENSE.

Similarities: (a) Both are required to be very specific (b) The licensors and franchisor receive an income generated from the franchisee/licensee (c) Both can issue intellectual property right

Differences: (a) The licensee has more freedom when compared to the franchisee, they have less limitation placed on them (b) A licensee costs much less than a franchisee start up (c) A franchisee must continue to pay royalties to the franchisor as long as that business is running.

1. Why is innovation important and how is it changing?

The book states that “competition is becoming brutal” and “the internet has changed the rules of business”. I agree with these statements because if you lack the ability to see into the future then your business will perish. Technology is constantly evolving and being adapted into different businesses making the means of adhering to a customers need much more convenient.  Take Netflix for example, they were able to incorporate the convenience of the internet with DVD rentals making it so the customer wouldn’t have to worry about making multiple trips to the DVD store just to rent a movie. They were innovative and responded to customer needs.

9. Why do you think Dell was successful when other companies trying the same model failed?

Dell succeeded where everyone else failed because it was the “way” these products were sold and manufactured that set them apart from the competition. Dell used a Made-to-Order approach meaning that they specifically built the computer to the customers demands. It was ideally made by the customer, for the customer.

I believe that being an entrepreneur and owning a small business is literally one in the same. The business that youre running doesn’t have to be a big corporation or a firm in order for you to be labeled as an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is all about being innovative and taking risks and that’s exactly what youre doing when you open a small business. You are providing a new service to the community with your small business and taking many risks along the way. All small businesses have the potential to grow exponentially throughout their run. Whether it stays small or turns into a giant corporation, youre still going to be the entrepreneur who brought it to life.