Time to Get Started

10 of us are signed up and have access to PlanHQ. Signing up for PlanHQ will give you the full experience of the collaborative real-time business plan process. As we all know, business plans now need to be living documents that are an every day part of a companies operations. If you would like to sign up for Plan HQ that will work in conjunction with this blog email Erika. Erika's email address is erika@cameronchell.com. Erika can set you up as a team member with full sucess to the service.
To start I think it important to understand the philosophy under which I have built business and advise my clients as to what to look for in investing in startups or building them. This will give us some context for the process that I employee using Plan HQ. Before I do this however I want to say that this philosophy comes from my experience in working with some amazing people on some amazing deals and from a lot of reading over years. Not much of what I do is really new, most of it is a mash of great thinkers and authors ideas, concepts and teachings. However, what I do think is of unique and of great value is the experience that each one of us can bring to implementing this and other philosophies to this process. Philosophies, most importantly that have been honed by all of our years of education in the school of hard knocks. :-)
Philosophical Business Context: (The 5 must haves in order of importance)

1. Clarity - being very clear on what we want to accomplish as opposed to what we think we want to accomplish. (Huh??)
2. People- We must be able to identify who we need and not what we need.
3. Working Plan - Measurable.
4. Cash - Fuel to establish and grow.
5. Balance - PLWYMPYF (Personally Live Within Your Means, Pay Yourself First).

1. Clarity: Most often the reason we are doing a startup is not the reason we think we are doing a startup. Ultimately this leads to conflicting values, directions and decisions. I imagine we can all identify with the story of a friend or a colleague who came to us and said that he was wanting to start a company or buy a particular business. Then, when asked why he or she wants to do that, the answer becomes, long(ish), justified(ish) and complex in logic. This is the first sign that the person is 1.) Not being honest as to why they want to start the company or buy a particular business 2.) Not clear at all as to why they really want to take on the endeavor in question, or 3.) A combination of 1 and 2. I am adamant on this point when looking at deals or working with clients. "If someone cannot answer why they are starting or buying a particular company and why it makes sense in 10 words or less they are either lying, ignorant or both." -Chell
The best tool I have come across to gain clarity on a project is a series of 6 questions outlined by Patrick Lencioni in his book Obsessions Of An Extraordinary Executive.

The six questions are:

1. Why does the organization exist and what difference does it make in the world?
2. What behavioral values are irreplaceable and fundamental? (I find that three is as many as you can have with out diluting what is important to you. The best way to answer this is to look at the person in your organization or the role model you have in building the start up and ask yourself what are the three most recognizable traits that person has. This will more likely than not will represent the in some form the three top values that are irreplaceable for you and fundamental to your business success.)
3. What business are we in, and against whom do we compete?
4. How Does our Approach differ from that of our competition? (This is also known as your Overt Benefit. Doug Haul, Jump start Your Business Brain).
5. What are your goals this month, this quarter, this year, next year, five years from now? (Thematic goals and Strategic goals. I like to break it up that you have one thematic goal for each time frame above and then three strategic goals that support each of the thematic goals. The strategic goals could also be viewed as the top three objectives required to obtain the thematic goal.)
6. Who has to do what to achieve our goals for this month, this quarter, this year, next year, five years from now?

You will notice that my first posts on this Blog are are posts answering these questions. The most important aspect of a startup is clarity so in everything I do I start with getting clear by answering the above six or very similar questions. FYI, I use this approach not just for building a business plan or investing in a startup. I use this 6 question process for any endeavor I am considering taking on in my life.

Answering these 6 questions will get you clear on why you want to do something and not why you think you want to do something. Quite often after answering these questions if you are honest with yourself you will come to the conclusion that why you are doing what you want to do just is not compelling enough to be successful. Conversely, you may also find that it is more compelling than what you originally thought and for different reasons than you thought. These 6 questions are one of the most powerful business tools available. If you are honest and thorough they are very tough questions and can take a full day or more to answer even for a simple plan or project.

If you are signed up for the PlanHQ process you will see that I have created a GOAL called Corporate Clarity. I have made me responsible for the Goal. I then have created an action called attach/post in the Corporate Clarity Goal the six clarity questions for for people to answer and attach their responses back. I then have given a due date for the questions to be answered back in draft and then another action for a final version of the questions to be posted once I have any feedback from the Business Builders, (you) drafts. All of you should have received an email from PlanHQ alerting you to my updates in PlanHQ.