Report: Business
Plan the work... then work the plan
Although some companies prefer to hire professionals to conduct marketing surveys and actually write the business plan, most research can (and probably should) be done in house. The process will help entrepreneurs to learn more about their ventures, and will enable them to make structural changes, if warranted. It will also enable business owners to speak with more authority to financiers, business partners and others.
"The entrepreneur needs to do some legwork on his or her own," emphasized Charles Epstein, owner of BackBone, Inc., a Florida-based company that writes business plans for a variety of corporate clients. "It allows you to think through every aspect of your business."
It also helps focus scientists on business-minded matters, like producing useful and in-demand products, balancing out their natural fascination with pure-science research processes.
"An engineer or somebody who uses that side of the brain can become enamored, bordering on obsession, with the technology and innovation," said Epstein, of BackBone Inc. "They become lost in the process of an invention, and may lose sight of the real-world applications."
A tangential benefit of developing a business plan: It forces company managers to take an objective look at their own company. Some management teams accomplish this by hiring a consulting firm as an objective third party.
"(With) any endeavor anyone embarks upon ... you risk losing your objectivity," Epstein noted. "At some point, they are well-served engaging someone from the outside, to give them a reality check."
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