Business Plan Process Analysis
Background and Knowledge Accumulation
Development of a business plan is an essential process for the success of any business and especially for the start-ups. New entrepreneurs are faced with the difficult task of developing a successful idea that will see them through in growing and developing a successful business. There are various steps involved in the process of developing a successful business plan. The process of developing a business plan starts with the development of the idea, which will form the basis of the business creation. The idea is then moved in the incubation process, where the entrepreneur consciously and subconsciously accumulates information that will facilitate implementation of the idea. The next stage involves the idea experience, where the entrepreneur involves a creative process of developing innovative ideas that will facilitate implementation of the business idea (Pinson 2008). The last step involves the process of evaluation and implementation of the idea.
This process analysis analyses the idea of coming up with “New born Kids Services Company”. It provides an analysis of the process, which contributed to the evolution of the idea of coming up with services for new born children. The process will analyze the idea into the four phases of generating and actualizing a business idea, which include the experience, which contributed to the development of the idea. The analysis will also include the incubation process of the idea, generation, evaluation and the implementation of the idea and the business plan. However, there were other ideas from different members of our group, but the idea of this company was taken into consideration.
There are various sources of business ideas that entrepreneurs generate business ideas from. For example, entrepreneurs generate business ideas from reading journals, newspapers, brainstorming, traveling into new places, professional discussions and individual experiences. The idea behind Newborn Kids Services Company is a personal experience of a friend, whose wife had conceived. However, on the day she was released from the hospital my friend was urgently recalled on an urgent matter in his place of work. Therefore, he could not have been able to take his wife from the hospital, and as his best friend I had to organize how her wife could be taken home. After the incidence, when we were chatting with my friend I joked about establishing a business that could provide services for new born children and their parents. The joke generated an informative discussion, where various other comrades joined and presented their ideas and views about the idea.
For example, there were a view that in the most important days of an individual’s live such as wedding and during death; there are specialized vans and services for hire for such services. Birth was also viewed as an imperative date in a person’s live. In addition, the transport would include a customized van, which could accommodate the parents and two more persons. The people fantasized about the whole idea providing various funny ideas, some of which were important. I also presented the idea to a group of fellow students in the university, where we were supposed to develop a business plan (Brockhoff & Verweij 2006). In the beginning, the whole idea was perceived like a joke, but the idea was presented with enthusiasm and a well developed plan for its implementation.
Step 2: The Incubation Process
After the incidence, I kept thinking about the idea of developing a firm that could provide services to newborn babies. There were various vague ideas that could crop up when conceptualizing the whole idea of the organization through daily activities. For example, the idea of developing a whole package of taking the newborn babies from the hospital to home and providing follow up procedures for clinics. For example, when I was driving home I could fantasize on transforming my personal car into a van that could start off the business.
Since the idea of developing a business plan based on the idea of developing a Newborn Kids Services Company was adopted in our group at school, I was supposed to develop a well developed outline to the group that could facilitate the development of a business plan. Therefore, I dedicated time, in which I could think of the idea and gather as many ideas as possible of making the idea a business success. Before sleeping, I could take time and think about the idea and write the ideas in mind on a piece of paper.
In gathering information and data, I went to the general hospital in our neighborhood to take the statistics of the number of deliveries for the last five years. As I went through the statistics, I was overwhelmed on seeing the number of people that could have benefitted from the idea. Since there are many hospitals in the country, and basing my study on the statistics I had collected, there was an unexploited business opportunity. The data and information gathered also included information on the cost involved in starting of the business. However, there was a need for the development of a design of services and what they could entail to develop a proper costing system. These ideas could run in mind randomly in various experiences and discussions.
Step 3: The Idea Experience and Generation
In this phase of idea generation, the specific tools and techniques used in the development of the idea practicality are discussed. There are various tools that have been used in developing an actualization plan that can facilitate successful implementation of the idea. Various tools and techniques are used in generating and gathering information and ideas on how an idea can be actualized and implemented. For example, there were many incidences when the idea would be generally presented to friends and group members, where we could engage in a brainstorming sessions and develop diverse ideas of how the plan could be actualized. There were many incidences when the group members engaged in lateral thinking, and people could present their ideas. Some of the group members could also present provocative statements and random word stimulation (Leach & Melicher 2011). This led to the development of new ideas and presentation of different perspectives and practicality of different ideas presented in the group.
In this stage, various ideas were refined, and their practicality evaluated, which led to the determination of the idea, that could be presented for the business plan. The process also led to the development of new insights on different ideas presented in the group. The tools and techniques used in this process tapped into the ideas of the group members, where diverse ideas were presented.
Challenges Faced In Step 1, 2 And 3
There were various challenges experienced in the first stage second stage and the third stage of in the process analysis of developing a business idea. For example, in the first step there are various challenges experienced such as conceptualization of business idea. Development of a unique business idea that could be presented was a difficult task, as the majority of the ideas presented involved existing business. However, there was a need of developing a unique product or service that could form the basis of the business idea.
In the initial stages, the ideas presented seemed vague and few people could conceive them as potential business opportunities. There were various risks involved since there were probabilities that the presented ideas could be dropped easily. During the incubation process, there are many tendencies to drift away from the main idea. In many instances, there are probabilities that an individual can despise an idea in this stage since it involves a well thought out plan (Brockhoff & Verweij 2006). The conscious and subconscious processes about the idea involved in the incubation process require commitment. In the third stage, the challenge mainly involves making a choice of the most appropriate idea to be presented. There were many tendencies of people enforcing their ideas into group rather than engaging in a discussion that could tap into different ideas of the people. This is due to the fact that, it would lead to manipulation of the people preventing free flow of ideas.
Step 4: Implementation and Evaluation
This step presents the most challenging stage of the creative endeavor of the process analysis of the business plan. This stage requires perseverance, self discipline and a great deal of courage. The implementation of a new idea such as the introduction of newborn kids’ services presented numerous challenges. This stage involves the development of workable ideas that can facilitate implementation of the idea. After the development of the idea, there is a need of developing a business plan involving executive summary on vision, mission and objectives of the organization (Brockhoff & Verweij 2006). The business plan also involves the procedures of developing an operation strategy, marketing and the financial plan for the idea. In this case, for the starting off operations of the company, it would involve the purchase of a new van and registration of the business in compliance with the legal requirements. The whole budget for the start of the business involves $ 50,000, where a new van will be purchased and customized into the developed design.
List of references
Brockhoff, G. C., & Verweij, B. 2006. New Business Planning: Turning Compelling Ideas into Sustainable Value. London: Kluwer.
Leach, J. C., & Melicher, R. W. 2011. Entrepreneurial Finance. New York: Cengage Learning.
Pinson, L. 2008. Anatomy of a Business Plan: The Step-by-step Guide to Building Your Business and Securing Your Company's Future. New York: aka associates.
