(From the 2007 Christian heritage Home Educators of Washington conference)
Speaker bio: Wade Myers has founded and been the CEO of several companies, served on the board of fifteen others, and assisted many entrepreneurs with founding their own companies. His degrees include an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Universoty. He frequently speaks at entrepreneurial conferences and top business schools. He shares his business experiences and failures with the hope that he can offer Godly guidance to Christian men in their quest to becoming independent entrepreneurs. He and his wife Andreanna live near Dallas, Texas where they homeschooled their four children.
Start your Business
Consider:
Resources
experience
spiritual gifts
passion to serve others
fits personal context
Define Business Evaluation Criteria
Industry characteristics
financial characteristics
operational characteristics
product/service
customer
Generate Business Ideas
Identify various unmet needs
Identify various products and service platforms that deliver the necessary products or services to serve those unmet needs.
Idea –>Spriritual Evaluation–>Personal Evaluation–>Business Evaluation–>Go
Launch the Operations
Product and service platform
Select partners/suppliers
Create product or service prototype
Build v. buy-evaluate whether to start up, acquire or spin out (A division of a company that has fallen out of favor.)
Raise children who are not afraid of failure! You will fail. Get through it.
Of every 10 ventures you vest in: 2 will fail, 2 will succees, 6 are a wash
Business Model
A detailed business plan. Make up at least three scenarios (best case, woerst case, most probable)
Market
Define a go-to-market strategy
Establish initial customers as "partners"
Tap subject matter experts
Determine method of launch
Franchises
Positives: Packaged business, leverage lesons learned and best practices, leverage sales and marketing investment, clearly definted path to success
Negatives: You are married to your business, You are typically in the retail business moderl, you have to play by their rules, you give up a significant portion of the value.
Start up v. buying an existing business
concept, product, customer base, operation, revenue, employees, processes in place, culture.
Start up "playing offense" v. existing "Playing defense" (hang on to what you paid for)
Grow
Develop detailed specs and procedures
Business model-detailed financial plans and controls
Market-detailed sales and marketing plan
Harvest the Venture
Develop pipeline of potential acquirers
Develope a relationship with acquirers
Deut. 8:18"But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."
Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."
Good ideas, thanks for sharing your notes.
I love your site. It is so pretty!