Founded in 1998, the Global Entrepreneurship Institute (GEI) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 educational organization with the specific mission of advising and educating entrepreneurs around the world. Working as a global business incubator GEI facilitates introductions to investors, professional service providers, and other entrepreneurs. Using our exclusive Roadmap to Entrepreneurial Success we have helped entrepreneurs raise over $100 million.
Are you thinking about starting a new business?
- Do you dream of starting your own business?
- Do you need help finding investors for your business?
- Do you need help with your business plan?
- Do you need help preparing a global business strategy?
- Do you have an idea for a new invention and don’t know where to start?
Creating Your Business Plan
The business plan is perhaps the most important written document you can ever create. It describes all critical internal and external elements and strategies for guiding the direction of your venture’s first several years as well as giving potential investors an idea of the venture’s structure, objectives, and future plans.
As a road map, it communicates important entrepreneurial management practices, such as how your venture will mitigate risk, and how your venture will manage uncertainty. Most importantly, new business venturing is now about focusing on creating sustainable value.
But which elements of your venture are capable of creating value?
And which elements, if not properly managed, are capable of destroying value?
As the pace of business competition accelerates, seat-of-the-pants management becomes ever more dangerous. In order to survive, entrepreneurs operating their ventures in uncertain environments need a focused “path-to-profitability” and create a roadmap to success for their business ventures.
Our Roadmap To Success aims at creating knowledge, skills, and awareness in the critical aspects of funding, launching, and growing a new business venture and then leading it to a successful harvest. Each lesson plan presents key concepts and practical insights on an important management topic.
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Introduction: Roadmap To Entrepreneurial Success
The greatest challenge a new business venture faces is getting the right things done in the right order. Knowing what to do, and in what sequence, is critical, especially since the entrepreneur has very limited time and resources. Starting companies is much like launching a rocket: If at launch you’re just a fraction of a degree off, you could end up a thousand miles off course downrange.
>>Creating Your Start-Up Strategy
- We discuss how entrepreneurship has changed since the global economic crisis and Internet Bubble
- We describe entrepreneurial management practices
- We introduce the entrepreneurial lifecycle
- We discuss the business plan, its importance and uses
- We review the business planning process and the writing of the business plan
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Part I: Charting a Course in New Business Venturing Today
This section opens with a discussion on how the rules of entrepreneurship have changed, and it introduces entrepreneurial management practices and how the business plan guides you through uncertainty. It provides a historical background on entrepreneurship along with discussions of the high-tech revolution we experienced in the late 1990s, and it closes with a discussion on the risk capital industry.
>>Discussions of Entrepreneurship
- We review entrepreneurship from a historical perspective
- We discuss entrepreneurship in America
- We define the types of entrepreneurs
- We explain what motivates entrepreneurs
- We introduce distinct entrepreneurial risks and discuss how to manage them
>>Discussions of the High-Tech Revolution
- We explain the long-waves of modern technology and their influence on businesses
- We cover the introduction of management science into American business practices
- We explain how the seeds of the “new-economy” were planted years ago
- We review the commoditization of disruptive information technologies
- We explain what caused the NASDAQ “tech-wreck” during the Internet Bubble in 1990′s
>>Discussions of the High-Tech Revolution: Getting to the Future First and Winning
- We review how entrepreneurship, risk, and uncertainty are related
- We cover the importance of getting to the future first
- We provides examples where experts guessed wrong about the future
- We explain how to set your point of view above the horizon line of today
- We introduce the next layer of innovations in the high-tech revolution
>>Discussions of Risk Capital
- We discuss the evolution of the risk capital industry from France to Silicon Valley
- We explain the economic impact of venture capitalists and their investments in America
- We define venture capital, venture capitalists, and angel investors
- We explore how the venture capital industry functions
- We define the stages in the “food-chain”–from seed-stage financing to acquisition financing
- We cover the types of securities venture capitalists use and review their selection process
- We review venture capital investments in the last decade
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Part II: Creating and Engineering Your Vision
This section focuses on opportunity analysis, industry analysis, and crafting a winning business strategy based on a sustainable competitive advantage. It also presents guidelines on assembling a winning venture team and the importance of critical capital resources.
>>New Business Venture Opportunity and Analysis
- We discuss the importance of opportunity recognition and opportunity formation
- We introduce the practice of preparing a “problem statement”
- We introduce concepts of industry dynamics and performing industry risk analysis
- We cover the importance of identifying and working with “lead-users”
- We describe how to analyze lead user insights and create a winning product
>>Crafting a Winning Business Strategy and Sustainable Competitive Advantage
- We define strategic planning and tactical planning
- We explain the importance and benefits of strategic planning for entrepreneurs
- We define core competencies, strategic vision, and strategy intent
- We discuss the importance of creating a sustainable competitive advantage
- We introduce six competitive advantages that successful entrepreneurs use
- We cover business modeling and the elements of a successful business model
- We define intellectual property and explain how to profit from it
>>Starting with the Right People and Organization
- We discuss what it takes to be the lead entrepreneur
- We define venture team and cover how they get assembled and function
- We describe venture team management and cover how to lead in tough times
- We review legal issues in new business venturing, corporate structuring, and financing
- We cover how to build a board of advisors, board of directors, and work with consultants
>>Gathering and Allocating Critical Capital Resources
- We identify the critical capital resources entrepreneurs need to succeed
- We explain important product development issues
- We cover how to integrate business strategy with technology strategy
- We explain how to determine the start up costs
- We discuss the importance of setting and focusing on product development milestones
- We detail how to prepare a cash budget table and allocate resources
- We identify bootstrapping strategies for covering gaps in financing needs
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Part III: Launching and Getting Traction
This section presents market entry strategies, focuses on creating viable marketing and sales strategies, and introduces concepts on managing a rapidly growing venture. It closes with discussions on creating and managing the networked enterprise and going global.
>>Creating Your Market Entry Strategy
- We explain and define the value chain concept
- We explain how to untangle the value web in your industry
- We introduce five market entry strategies that successful entrepreneurs use
- We introduce the concept of the value map
- We explain how to use your value map to find traction in changing marketplaces
>>Creating Your Marketing and Sales Strategies
- We explain the importance of setting marketing and sales objectives
- We introduce three types of marketing objectives
- We explain how successful entrepreneurs begin with a salesforce of one
- We introduce the catalysis sales approach and its critical elements
- We cover how to map your selling process and focus on the revenue event
>>Managing the Rapidly Growing Venture
- We cover how successful entrepreneurs focus on growth
- We define growth expansion strategies
- We explain the transition from entrepreneurial management to professional management
- We cover how to build organizational change capabilities
- We describe why companies run into the growth wall
- We cover how successful entrepreneurs grow around the growth wall
- We discuss how to manage in high growth environments
>>Creating and Managing the Networked Enterprise
- We define networked enterprise
- We introduce the concept of creating a womb-to-tomb service and support strategy
- We cover the benefits of a networked enterprise and getting customer lock-on
- We provide examples how companies manage their networked enterprise
- We identify how to develop and manage your network
>>Creating the Global Business Strategy
- We define global mindset and global entrepreneurship
- We describe globalization and the benefits of going global
- We explain how to create a global business strategy
- We introduce issues in multinational financial management
- We discuss issues and challenges entrepreneurs face to managing a global enterprise
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Part IV: Reaching Escape Velocity
This section reviews winning strategies for financing the emerging growth venture, issues with valuation, and the financials required for investors. It provides the groundwork for creating an exit strategy.
>>Financing the Emerging Growth Venture
- We define financing strategy and explain its importance in successful venture building
- We discuss the importance of putting together the right financials
- We cover valuation methods and practices used by venture capitalists and angel investors
- We discuss factors that affect capital structuring of a new business venture
- We provide an overview of venture capital investments between 1995-2001
- We explain what makes a great venture capitalist and how to value what they bring
- We cover alternative sources of funding available to entrepreneurs
>>Creating Your Exit Strategy and Exit Goals
- We define exit strategy and identify types of exit strategies
- We discuss initial public offerings and cover venture-backed IPOs from 1991-2001
- We discuss mergers and acquisitions and cover venture-backed deals from 1991-2001
- We provide a briefing on getting acquired, and how to get on the radar of potential acquirers
- We explain the importance of setting exit goals and provide examples that trigger an exit
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Part V: Getting Your Venture into Orbit
This section addresses how all the elements of the business are put together in a business plan. It also discusses presenting before investors and negotiating the best deal. The section closes with a discussion of deal killers and other practices used by entrepreneurs to sabotage an otherwise winning business plan.
>>Putting It All Together and Getting Financed
- We review the venture drill process: packaging, placing and presenting your deal
- We introduce the quiver of arrows and how to effectively communicate your deal to investors
- We detail how business plans get placed and how to place yours with the best investors
- We discuss how to present before investors and what to expect at the first meeting
- We explain how to negotiate with investors and how to manage the deal process
- We describe sand traps, land mines and deal killers
- We explain the importance of delivering the value your promised beyond the closing
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Toolkit For Your Journey!
>>Start Your Business Plan! Follow Business Plan Outline!
>>Creating Your PowerPoint Slides For Investors
>>Creating Your Advisory Board
>>Preparing Your Fast Pitch For Investors
>>Preparing Your Supporting Documents For Investors
>>Free Guide: Creating Your Business Plan
>>Free Guide: Raising Venture Capital
>>Free Business Plan Review Service
>>Join Our Online Incubator Program
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