Deviled Details: Business Planning PLUS Action Planning
The RIGHT Starting Point For Your Business Plan
“If You Think You Need a Business Plan, What You Need FIRST Is Deviled Details!”
You probably already know that an obligatory business plan is supposed to help you and your company succeed. Whether you are a brand-new startup, an emerging company – or a company that needs to pivot or reinvent itself to match the needs of your customers, you already know you need business planning.
But do you know, without arm-waving, what else you almost certainly need in order to “connect all the dots” so that you can REALLY develop a believable and achievable game plan to get your company from Point A to Point B?
I’ve worked with thousands of startup companies during the past THREE DECADES and have seen too many of them screw up their implementation, fundraising and the future of their company – just because they didn’t do things right with their planning, documentation and fundraising strategy BEFORE they started pitching investors.
This is really a shame – especially when so often these problems can be so easily fixed – upfront – with the right kind of detailed planning that goes way beyond the obligatory fill-in-the-blanks business plan.
Helping startup companies avoid these MISSION-CRITICAL problems is the purpose of my Deviled Details Service – solving these problems for my clients and making sure that your business planning – and ESPECIALLY your detailed five-year financial projections – are correctly done with everything genuinely ready for “prime time.”
Do You Think That You Have Your Detailed Five Year Projections Completed?
Do you realize that you have a 98% probability that you have massive flaws in your current five-year projections?
Please turn on your sound and watch and listen to this video from the very beginning to find out if you are in the 2% or the 98%:
Your startup is in major jeopardy – both from not being able to raise your funding but also because you’re going to run out of money and runway much sooner than you think – Making your business plan all but worthless.
All of this was probably caused by you making an early-on MICRODECISION that seemed so right at the time – and now it is JEOPARDIZING everything about the future of both you and your startup company.
The purpose of the above TUTORIAL VIDEO is to teach you what you need to know so that you and your company are taken seriously once you change the driving assumptions for your financial projections so they are both achievable and believable – And acceptable in the eyes of prospective angel investors.
Be sure and watch this entire tutorial to the end because I’m going to cover over TWO DOZEN very specific items that you need to consider changing on your current financial projections before you show any of your documents to prospective investors!
Are You On The Wrong Road?
“What is the use of running when we are on the wrong road?” -(Bavarian proverb.)
One of the big problems for startup companies (and a lot of life) is that there are way too few signs to alert you that you are on the wrong road before you waste enormous time, energy, effort and money – or even make a fatal and unrecoverable mistake.
Make sure you are on the right road with your startup company by taking care of the right “Deviled Details.”
The Deviled Details TM – What We Cover
“How To Develop The Best, Realistic And Genuinely Implementable Strategies and Tactics For YOUR Company’s Business Plan – Including ALL The Deviled Details. TM For Successful Crowdfunding Or Other Financing Needs.”
I’m sure you’ve heard the proverb, “The devil is in the details.”
I call it “The Deviled Details.” These Deviled Details are almost always what keeps folks closer to their Point A than their desired Point B.
This long list of action items, business strategies and tactics are the required “Deviled Details” that are necessary to get you to your desired point B.
Let me ask you six quick questions that you might, just maybe, find useful:
- Have you already developed a detailed, believable business model that explicitly describes exactly how you are going to make money – and describes it so clearly that your mother can understand it?
- Do you know the best, realistic, unified strategies and tactics for the genuine implementation of your business model that will help you accelerate your successful journey to your Point B?
- Do you have a solid, bulletproof sales forecast based on a comprehensive sales and marketing plan – one that fully describes exactly how you’re going to: define your ideal prospective customer, rise above the noise level and get their attention, convince them to buy – and identifies exactly who in your organization is going to close the sale and collect the check?
- Do you have a step-by-step action plan for implementation that identifies every major and semi-major milestone and action item during your first 12 months after funding – an action plan that can convince prospective investors that you know the steps and resources required for you to successfully execute your business plan?
- Do you have detailed, five-year financial projections that are really Ready for Prime Time to show skeptical investors? Are your projections based on realistic, achievable driving assumptions – projections that you can confidently use for making the multitude of right decisions that will be required to get you and your company to Point B?
- Are your five-year financial projections really good enough and believable enough to motivate a prospective investor to stroke a check?
If your answer is “no” to ANY of the above half dozen, absolutely necessary, planning requirements, then you can probably greatly benefit from my Deviled Details Service.
That’s one of my goals: To help you develop your own individualized and comprehensive Deviled Details to get you to your desired Point B as efficiently and effectively as possible.
YOUR Point B
Do you really know what is required to get to your desired Point B?
That’s another one of the goals of my Deviled Details Service: To develop a detailed map that will get you to your Point B.
Having spent the last THREE DECADES working with thousands of entrepreneurs and startup CEOs, I’ve seen way too many times where their arm-waving and generalizations tried to gloss over these dirty details required for realistic and successful implementation. And, most prospective investors these days recognize that it is just arm-waving – which means to them that the quick and cheap business plan they are reading has no substance or validity.
If the prospective investor has no confidence in the strategy, tactics, business model, financial projections or action plan for execution, this almost always means a NO when it comes time for them to write you a check for your investment opportunity.
The Deviled Details Service includes my individually working with you to develop a comprehensive financial model for your new company. Unlike cheap, cookie-cutter plans, the financial model with Deviled Details is based on realistic and implementable strategies, tactics and financial driving assumptions that we work on together.
This financial model will show you YOUR expected startup costs, sales forecast, personnel needs and operating costs for your own company. It will also show you how much capital you need to raise in order to successfully implement your plan – and how much of your company you will probably need to sell in order to motivate prospective investors to invest in your company.
We will work together on each of the above components, along with your underlying strategies and tactics for implementation, to make sure they are both realistic and achievable.
Math and numbers and financial spreadsheets may not be of any interest whatsoever to you in general – but these numbers equate to real dollars into, and out of, YOUR pocket. So you might, just maybe, in this case, want to pay attention.
Your new company’s future WILL depend on it.
“The Only Thing Worse…”
One of my favorite proverbs is, “The only thing worse than going the wrong direction, is going the wrong direction enthusiastically!“
One thing about us entrepreneurs: we love doing things enthusiastically.
The problem, of course, is that if we go charging off in the wrong direction, at some point, we have to stop, turn around and retrace our steps back to Point A and start all over again.
The upshot of starting over again is all the time, energy, effort and money that you just spent going down that dead-end trail is mostly wasted – the time spent going in the wrong direction delays the successful implementation of your vision.
It also means that you need more money, more time, and more effort than you would have otherwise needed if you had done a better job of planning and picking the right direction, to begin with.
That’s really the purpose of my Deviled Details Service.
So, what’s it worth to you?
- How many hours are you willing to invest in order to eliminate as many wrong directions as you possibly can? One? Five? Ten? Hundreds?
- How many hours, months or years are you going to waste, otherwise, cleaning up the mess from not doing it right the first time?
- How many dead-end trails will you take from going the wrong direction?
- How many dead-end trails will critically jeopardize the very future of your new venture? What will THAT cost you?
Even if you just do a little bit of work on your Deviled Details…even if you only generate a couple of dozen action items…even if you only make sweeping approximations for your underlying business model assumptions, you’re probably going to be much better off because you’ve eliminated some of those wrong directions.
The more time you spend on all of those Deviled Details, the more wrong directions get eliminated. The more wrong directions that get eliminated, the much more likely will be your success.
Seeking Crowdfunding, Investors or Venture Capital?
Are you considering the romance and seduction of angel investors or venture capital? Or, do you plan on tapping the new opportunities from the just-signed JOBS Act so you can pursue crowdfunding?
If so, your credibility will be significantly enhanced by completing The Deviled Details Service. Prospective investors will be able to clearly see your game plan – and understand how well thought out your implementation steps are.
This can give you a huge competitive advantage over other, competing investment opportunities where those companies only have arm-waving generalizations in answer to the hard questions prospective investors can ask. This will be especially true with crowdfunding when everyone and his brother will be competing with you for prospective investor attention! With crowdfunding, you will need multiple ways to rise above the noise and convince prospective investors that you are both legitimate and that you offer a realistic risk/reward opportunity.
With Deviled Details, you will be prepared for virtually any question that prospective investors might ask. And, the great thing is: it isn’t just all for show.
You really will be much better prepared to get your new company to your desired Point B – the same Point B that you will be promising prospective investors – all because you were smart enough to see all the benefits of investing in the Deviled Details for your company!
The Deliverables With Your Deviled Details Service
Deliverables included with my Deviled Details Service:
- Up to five hours of one-on-one telephone and email consulting and brainstorming with me about your strategies, tactics, fundraising, action planning, sales and marketing planning, derivative projections, your fundraising – and our discussions and brainstorming of your financial driving assumptions. These five hours of consulting and mentoring can be used to discuss any of your problems, issues, concerns or opportunities. It’s up to you. Our goal is to get you the best set of deliverables possible! (Additional hours are optionally available at my standard rate if you need them. You may need more hours depending on how much you’ve already fully defined regarding the topics.)
– - A detailed five-year financial forecast for your company – including startup capital needs, revenue forecasts, profit and loss, cash flow, break-even analysis, balance sheet, ratio analysis and an analysis of your company’s future valuation – including an investment analysis showing the recommended amount of your company to sell in exchange for the funding your need for your business plan. This includes my proprietary 200-question Sales and Marketing Worksheet to help ensure that our revenue forecast is achievable.Note: These financial projections include a MISSION-CRITICAL, detailed month-by-month breakout for the FIRST 24 MONTHS of the company’s operations after receiving funding, (Five-year financial projections WITHOUT 24 months of the month-to-month breakout are pretty much WORTHLESS for planning and for raising investor capital!)
– - A prioritized Action Plan in Excel format that will specify all the major and semi-major milestones for your company’s next 12 months, listing your W Cubed = Who? Is Doing What? When? – For each line item on your Action Plan. Since this is in Excel format, it is easy to update and enhance as schedules, resources, problems and opportunities change. We start with prioritized Action Items that are typical for the THOUSANDS of startup companies I have worked with during the past THREE DECADES – and expand this Action Plan with your company-specific major and semi-major milestones for the first 12 months after you receive your funding.
– - A FREE digital copy of my five-hour audio course on Funding Foreplay: A four-module audio training course that is designed to teach startup company CEOs like you – how to romance and seduce investors including 14 detailed real-life sample documents you can use as a model for your own investor romancing.
– - BONUS: A FREE Investor-Focused PowerPoint Deck – in both PowerPoint and Acrobat formats. This 15-25 slide presentation will show your company-specific executive summary and financial projections that we develop with Deviled Details. (Note: This FREE PowerPoint deck does not include audio for the slides. This part can be optionally added at my standard hourly rate. Likewise, I can optionally, at my standard hourly rate, produce a video appropriate for your company’s YouTube channel that is a straight conversion from your PowerPoint deck that includes audio.)
How else will you gain this kind of clarity about your company? How else will you realistically develop these mission-critical plans for action in a timely manner – before it is too late for you and your company? How else do you plan on showing prospective investors that your plan is different than all the other plans that will cross their desks this week?
Still, just want a cookie-cutter business plan?
Or, do you want to rise above the noise level and show a fully thought-out plan, with all the Deviled Details, to your prospective investors?
The good news for you is that The Deviled Details Service is affordably priced at only $2,995* for your individualized consulting.
Isn’t your future, and greatly increased chances for the successful completion of your vision of your new company or project, worth a total cost of only $2,995*?
Reserve your spot now for your own individualized Deviled Details.
How Much Is All This Worth to You?
What will it cost you to try and get to YOUR Point B alone?
How many dead-end trails will you take from going the wrong direction, maybe enthusiastically? What will that cost you? How much will your risk increase?
How about you?
How much is the success of your new venture worth to you? What is the value to your future and the future of your new company or project? How much time and money will you waste if you don’t benefit from Deviled Details?
What’s it worth to you to learn the right action steps – from a serial entrepreneur who is a seasoned, international consultant to thousands of startup companies?
Get Started With Your Journey to YOUR Desired Point B
Need individualized, one-on-one mentoring on all the steps described in The Deviled Details Service?
Need an experienced “WHO” to get your “WHAT” done quickly?
Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you sit there.”
Isn’t it time that you get moved to action by using my Deviled Details Service so that we can immediately start identifying the right path for accelerating your success?
The cost for Standard Service is only $2,995* and is subject to availability. Reserve your spot now. Contact me today and start moving from your current Point A to your desired Point B.
Best wishes for stellar success,
Robert Lee Goodman, MBA
CEO & Chief ImpleMentor
* Note: Deviled Details Service is available also on an hourly basis if you need more flexibility, want to combine it with a full-blown business plan narrative or need more, or less, expansive development of strategies, tactics, sales & marketing and/or your business model.
An hourly approach often works better for many of my cash strapped clients who prefer to do some, or a lot, of the “heavy lifting” on many of the action items required to complete the business plan, detailed five-year financial projections and PowerPoint pitch deck, etc.
My time for all of these action items is built into the fixed-price number. It is possible for my clients to reduce the net number with a sufficient amount of “heavy lifting” if the project is hourly instead of the fixed-price. The option is strictly up to my clients and I am perfectly happy to work on your project either way. However, do note that once you decide hourly or fixed, that same approach must be used for the entire project.
PS: Contact me today to discuss how my mentoring and other Chief ImpleMentor Services can help you and your company better succeed.
PPS: Priority Service is available at a 50% premium and Top Priority Service is available at a 100% premium over the Standard Rates listed above. Please click Queue / Priority Service for details.
PPPS:
Note: Deviled Details Service includes all of the above features and benefits but includes no narrative for the business plan since specific requirements vary significantly based on individualized company needs. This can be optionally added on an hourly basis. All prices and terms are subject to change and to Robert’s time availability. If you hire us, you work with Robert – not some inexperienced subordinate who lacks his 4.5 decades of experience. Since there is only one Robert and he limits the number of active clients he works with at any one time, he will not always be available to work with new clients. We strongly recommend signing up for our Chief ImpleMentor Service or our Deviled Details Service at your earliest convenience since Robert may not be available to new clients at a moment’s notice to help you with your company’s critical needs.
Client understands that the Services to be performed by CEO RESOURCE LLC (“CEOR”) are to be performed by CEOR on a “best efforts” basis and are not, in any manner, to be construed as CEOR giving Client either tax, accounting or legal advice; (b) Client warrants that it is not a partner, agent, officer, director or employee of, or investor in, CEOR, by virtue of Client’s purchase of Services. Client acknowledges that any and all private placement and fundraising services are exclusive of any state and federal filings or state blue sky research. Additional hours of Management Consulting shall be billed at the then prevailing rate. There is no assurance, whatsoever, that any private placement, or other offering, services developed for or provided to any company or any and all fundraising services by CEOR will be successful in whole or in part.
CEOR gives neither legal nor tax advice – ONLY business advice and consulting. Preparation of the draft of any Reg D documents and/or private placement memoranda and related documents by CEOR is to ONLY facilitate documents that will cover relevant business points on a “best efforts” basis. Since there is no assurance, whatsoever, that any private placement, or other offering, documents developed for Client or fundraising services provided by CEOR will be fully compliant with either federal or various state regulations, Client agrees to have their own attorney and tax advisors review, and modify, any and all documents completed by CEOR in order to ensure that any and all documents meet all local, state and federal laws PRIOR to using these documents to raise funding. Visit ChiefimpleMentor.com for additional notices and disclaimers.
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