I‘ve been helping entrepreneurs and business owners like you for more than 40 years — mostly from within our Business Power Tools software apps and templates, and thru my blogs and book, "Business Black Belt." My “Hero’s Journey” started In the early ’80s, I was the electronics buyer and a copywriter for the Sharper Image catalog. Later, I also sold some really cool word-processors in Silicon Valley. After Macs and PCs became popular, I started my own business creating sales literature for tech companies. A friend had a deal going to sell his engineering software to Apple. They wanted to see his business plan to be sure his company would stay in business to provide future upgrades and support. At the time, I viewed a business plan as an elaborate brochure that sold his concept to people at all levels, and responsibilities with various perceptions, biases, and interests. (I learned that from selling word-processors.) We Got the Deal. Over the next year, people came to me with some brilliant ideas, but their plans weren’t getting funded. I helped them fill in the missing parts to succeed. Along the way, I saw that business plans have a fundamentally universal structure. Hmmm… What if I took all the content I’d developed, redacted everything proprietary, but filled in the blanks with a variety of customizable multiple-choice options, and offered it as a software template that many people could use? This became BizPlanBuilder, the first of its kind, and my new company took off! Inspired to help others build businesses that would make our world a better place, we became our own Guinea pigs seeking to remove as many common mistakes and as much unnecessary BS as possible, and crafted tools for others building businesses to make our world a better place. We followed-up with MarketingBuilder, which picked-up where BizPlanBuilder left off, then we went even further with PRBuilder which included sample press release templates… In another direction, we added EmployeeManualBuilder and SafetyPlanBuilder full of actual policies and procedures. Altogether, we had 10 products in about 3,500 retail stores and built a $12 million company with 30 employees… (All that to say, I've been down the road you're on. I didn't just make this stuff up!) Today, all of our products have been integrated into a streamlined and unified online toolbox/dashboard. And we’re the leader in business development software templates that help you build your business. I also like dogs, kick-boxing, flying airplanes, writing, walking on the beach at sunset, candlelight dinners, and red wine... :-)

How a venture capitalist approaches an investment in your start-up

Angel Investors, Investor Presentation, Raising Capital, Venture Capital

Investing in seed rounds is different than other stages of start-up investment. Unlike Series A, B, C, etc… there is little to no history of customers, milestones, numbers, references, etc. to evidence to support an intelligent investment decision. Read this article to learn more about how a venture capitalist approaches an investment in your start-up.…

Intrapreneurship

Business Plan, Enterprise, Management, Personal Development, Raising Capital, Startups

Excerpted from the book on mindful business management, Business Black Belt. You never know what you can deal with until you have to. ~ DeAnna Sodoma, champion wheelchair racer You may not need to venture out on your own when you could do the equivalent just as easily within your present job. Should you jump…

Finding the Right Investor

Angel Investors, Entrepreneurship, Financing, Investor Presentation, Raising Capital, Venture Capital

Excerpted from the book on mindful business management, Business Black Belt. “It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever, the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.” ~ Football Coach, Vince Lombardi I’ve written much on business plans, business planning, business plan software (of course),…

Don’t Read This! The Trouble with Negatives

Biz Therapy, Burke Franklin, Investor Presentation, Marketing, Personal Development, Sales

Excerpted from the book on mindful business management, Business Black Belt. When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice, and motivated by pride and vanity. ~ Dale Carnegie, author & teacher Sometimes negatives work to grab attention, but their literal meanings…

Video – Writing your business plan — the Financial Plan

Angel Investors, Bank Loans, Business Plan, Entrepreneurship, Financial Projections, Financing, Investor Presentation, Raising Capital, Venture Capital

What to think about as you edit the “Financial Plan” section of your business plan and what investors and lenders (crowdfund, angel, venture capital, SBA) look for as they consider funding your start up or growing company.