Business Plans

In this post I want to take a look at business plans. For every athlete I represent, we essentially have a business plan to make him or her successful. That being said, there is much to learn from experts in all areas of business. Being that this is a sports blog, the first business expert I want to look at is Mark Cuban.

Mark Cuban is the billionaire owner of he NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, who are currently in the NBA Finals. Cuban has made his money through business investments, and in addition to the Mavericks he owns Landmark Theaters, Magnolia Pictures, and is the chairman of the HDTV cable network (Wikipedia).

Over the past few years, Cuban has worked with other business tycoons on the TV show Shark Tank, on which they listen to business proposals from entrepreneurs and decide whether or not to invest in them.

Cuban seems to be a go getter, and looks for business plans that are sharp, thorough, and show a quick return. At least that is what he was looking for a few years ago with his Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan, in which he was personally listening to and investing in business plans (2009). In his blogs, he points out a few items that are important for business plans:

-Demonstrate in the plan that your product sells for more than it costs you to produce it (2009)
-It needs to be something people need, show that in your business plan (2009)
-If people say “no,” ask for feedback about the plan (good business people learn and grow) (2011)

The other expert I want to talk about briefly is Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software. Tim offers what I think is great advice about not getting caught up in the formality of a business plan. Tim says a business plan format does not have to be “set in stone....It better have good market analysis, good focus, good cash flow, and it better have concrete dates, deadlines, budgets, and assigned responsibilities.” I think what Tim is saying is that a good business plan has everything it needs, but don’t “get lost in the document.” Be creative in the structure! (2007)

Tim Berry (2007) - http://timberry.bplans.com/2007/06/use_a_wordpress.html
Mark Cuban (2011)- http://blogmaverick.com/2011/03/30/taking-no-for-an-answer-and-other-business-mistakes/
Mark Cuban (2009) - http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan-open-source-funding/
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Cuban