Tag Archives: Business Plan Writer

Business Plan Writer vs. Business Plan Strategic Consultant

Business Plan Writer vs. Business Plan Strategic Consultant

People often ask me, “What are my options for writing a business plan?”

At the highest level, there are two options, writing it yourself or hiring someone else to do it for you.

The benefits of writing the business plan yourself are that you will save money and you will learn a lot about your business by going through the research and financial modeling processes.

However, this can be a risky option if you haven’t written a business plan before and/or if you haven’t raised capital before.

It is important to have a solid understanding of the way investors see value in a company as well as the milestones they care about if you are going to be successful writing the business plan yourself.

Furthermore, even if you have a good grasp on the investors’ perspective, you often miss out on objective, third-party pushback that can elevate your business plan to the next level. Lastly, as a time-strapped entrepreneur, spending several hundred hours writing your plan probably isn’t the best use of your time as you should be focusing on developing your product, expanding your team, and establishing
awareness with your customers.

While hiring someone to write your business plan for you will save you a lot of time, the capital outlay may or may not be worth the time savings – who you hire to write your business plan will make all the difference.

Hiring a Business Plan Strategic Consultant that can elevate your plan and strategy to help increase your chance of nailing the first impression with investors is money well spent. However, hiring a Business Plan Writer that merely saves you time but doesn’t add value to your pitch is a waste.

Below we’ve provided the differences between a Business Plan Writer and a Business Plan Strategic Consultant.

Business Plan Writer

A Business Plan Writer can be half the cost, or more, of a Business Plan Strategic Consultant. Typically, these savings come at the expense of the quality of the final product (you get what you pay for type of thing).

A Business Plan Writer typically completes a business plan in far less time simply because they can only put a limited amount of time into the plan in order for their business model to be profitable.

The problem with this model is that a business plan isn’t complete once a certain amount of time has passed; a business plan is complete once all red flags and issues have been identified, addressed, and overcome.

At the end of the day, a Business Plan Writer will require you to present the content, solutions, and answers that they will plug into a cookie-cutter template. While a Business Plan Writer can certainly save you time, the plan will ultimately only be as good as the information and strategies you provide them.

Business Plan Strategic Consultant

Hiring a Business Plan Strategic Consultant is certainly more expensive than hiring a Business Plan Writer or writing the plan yourself. However, the result will pay off in the long run when it comes to providing yourself with the best chance possible of successfully raising capital.

First a foremost, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant brings specific experience and education in the startup sector beyond expertise in broad business writing.

Second, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant understands what it takes to attract capital. They have an intimate knowledge of the capitalization timeline, who invests at the various stages, and what investors need to see at each stage. They will be able to coach you on the milestones and accomplishments you should be focusing on while crafting the investment story.

Third, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant takes a holistic approach to assessing your business including monetization strategies and business models, target markets and competitive differentiation, management team and personnel plan, sales and marketing communication strategies, and more.

Fourth, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant identifies red flags and gaps in your model by asking tough questions and challenging your assumptions in a way that is constructive and educational.

Finally, a Business Plan Strategic Consultant will compile all of this information in investor friendly documentation (business plan, executive summary, pitch deck, financial projections, one-page business plan, etc) based on your specific needs and audience.

The Startup Garage is a recognized Business Plan Strategic Consultancy that helps founders raise capital and get out of the garage through proven business plan writing and startup strategy consulting services. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Why A Business Plan Is Essential When Crowdfunding Your Startup

Business Plans and Crowdfunding

Why A Business Plan Is Essential When Crowdfunding Your Startup

Letting the crowd fund your startup doesn’t mean allowing your business plan to go unwritten.

In the business world, approximately 543,000 new businesses get started each month and funding those businesses comes from a variety of sources.

Most recently, startups are beginning to utilize crowdfunding sites to promote their ventures and raise the capital they need through online platforms.

Similar to the popular TV show Shark Tank, startups have the opportunity to present their business to a number of “backers” who can potentially finance their business. Such crowdfunding websites are making it easier for new business owners to spread the word of their company and search for possible investors.

On the flipside websites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Fundable are allowing for investors to check out a multitude of emerging businesses for possible fruitful endeavors, which leads us to….


5 Reasons Why A Business Plan Is Essential When Crowdfunding Your Startup

1) A business plan will be used as a blueprint for your crowdfunding campaign.

It will help define the purpose of your business/project, how it will operate, specify the exact amount of capital needed, and it how it will reward/benefit those that invest. These details are the key ingredients necessary for a successfully funded campaign.

2) A business plan is a SYSTEM (S)aves (Y)ou (S)tress
(T)ime (E)nergy and (M)oney
when building and launching your business, both on and offline. Going through the process ahead of time, can prevent and even correct mistakes that might have otherwise gone overlooked.

3) A business plan is one of the most compelling marketing tools available to enroll others in your mission. After all, a crowdfunding campaign is only as successful as it’s amount of supporters.

4) A business plan will be used as an internal tool for you business as well, guiding your company through the first 3-5 years. Following this document with in your business will provide structure and stability, even during the most uncertain of times.

5) Eventually crowdfunding capital runs dry, and you need to look for your next funding source. Most likely that would be an angel investor, an individual who typically invest between $25,000- $100,000 of their own money. Angel investors want to see facts and figures. They want a well thought out business plan, one that demonstrates you have taken the time to do research, plan and organize your startup business. Exemplifying less risk and more return on investment.

2015 will be a revolutionary year for crowdfunding; with current trends stating an average of 325 new crowdfunding campaigns launching everyday.

This means investment opportunities and competition for funding are expanding at a rapid pace. Are you ready to #GetFunded?

Don’t let your business plan remain unwritten.

If you have a question about your Startup or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

What’s the Biggest Challenge For New Entrepreneurs?

What's the Biggest Challenge For New Entrepreneurs? from The Startup Garage

What’s the Biggest Challenge For New Entrepreneurs?

Welcome to video Fridays
from The Start Up Garage


A place where Tyler Jensen, The Startup Garage’s founder, answers questions directly from viewers

Key Take Aways From Video:

1. The biggest obstacle that new entrepreneurs tend to face is really overcoming their personal limitations.

2. As a new entrepreneur you need to be coachable, which means you need to be able to listen to other peoples viewpoints and opinions and consider them seriously.

3. Be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses.

4. Surround yourself with people who compliment your weaknesses.

Complete Transcript below:

Question= “What’s the biggest obstacle that new entrepreneurs tend to face?”

Tyler Jensen: The biggest obstacle that new entrepreneurs tend to face is really overcoming their personal limitations. In order to be successful new entrepreneurs really need to learn a whole bunch of new knowledge, they have to learn new leadership skills, and communication skills.

Nicole Morris: So what would you say are some kind of tips for overcoming these?

Tyler Jensen: I would recommend number one is that you really need to be coachable, which means you need to be able to listen to other peoples viewpoints and opinions and consider them seriously. You also need to be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses. You don’t want to overestimate or underestimate your abilities. I see this all the time — you just need to get real about it. And thirdly which compliments this with, you need to surround yourself with people who compliment your weaknesses. Don’t be afraid to not know everything and not be able to do everything. No one person is good at all the parts of running a successful startup.

Whether you have a question about your business plan or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Exclusive Q&A With The Founder Of The Startup Garage

Q&A with The Startup Garage Founder from The Startup Garage

Exclusive Q&A With The Founder Of The Startup Garage

Tyler the founder of The Startup Garage and previous founder of Vavi Sports and Social Club spoke exclusively with George Meszaros of Success Harbor.

Success Harbor is a podcast, “where it’s all about making success happen for you.”

To listen to the complete audio with additional entrepreneurial insights please vist:
Tyler Jensen Success Harbor Podcast

12 Key Take Aways from Serial Enterpreneur Tyler Jensen:

Question1 What was one of the greatest challenges you were faced with during the first year of business?

Tyler Jensen: I think that most of the challenges entrepreneurs face are personal challenges.
I didn’t really put into place a `pay my bills plan’ before we started. I just thought the company would start making money really quickly, and I could pay myself a salary. The reality was that that wasn’t true, and isn’t true for most start-ups, so I struggled for a while just trying to figure out how to pay my bills, while still having time to get the business started.

Question2 Not only were you starting a business, but you were starting something that hasn’t really been done here locally. How did you approach marketing your business?

Tyler Jensen: We had $2,000 and so our marketing plan was to print out some flyers, go out to the beach and hand out flyers one-on-one, and have conversations with people that we thought would be in our target market.

Once we got the first couple hundred people interested (which was the hardest) and in specifically in having those conversations, I really got to learn how to present the brand in a way that would really resonate with potential customers.

Now, whenever I start a new business, I always go out and talk to a whole bunch of customers about it. I pitch to people one-on-one to really learn about the brand, and getting the message out in the right way.

Question3 Now, why did you sell VAVi? What was the reason for selling it? It sounds like it was going really well.

Tyler Jensen: You know, it was more personal than business related. I had read online a whole bunch of places where there was something about the 6th or 7th mark for entrepreneurs where they get burnt out and that was…I felt `oh well, people are different’ but looking back (like) that’s about the time when I really got burnt out. I just wasn’t as excited and motivated anymore to continue to build the company

Question4 Do you think it’s possible, or do you think it would have been possible to build VAVi without burning yourself out or you think it’s just part of the territory when you build a business?

Tyler Jensen: No, I absolutely think that it’s possible and that’s what I am doing now. I have a consulting company and I advise other entrepreneurs on how to go through the start-up process. One of the big pieces of our business really is around writing business plans and helping start-ups raise capital.

One of the things that is motivating for me is to help coach them through the personal process of it and how do you make sure that you plan the right way so that you are not in crisis mode all the time and how do you make sure that you have enough capital to do what you need to do.

Question5 So when did you start that business and why did you start it?

Tyler Jensen: The Startup Garage started around 2009 when we picked up our first client. I had learned so much through the process of starting and running and eventually selling VAVi and if I had known what I knew at the end, at the beginning then I would have done it very, very differently.

I wish I had somebody like me at the beginning to teach me what I teach other entrepreneurs now. That has been my real motivation and so for the last five years I’ve helped over a hundred different companies get started all over the world.

Question6 What were the biggest mistakes that you made with VAVi, maybe in the beginning or maybe later on in the business that were a good learning experience?

Tyler Jensen:The under-capitalization problem that was a big issue. I was personally not set up so I didn’t have a good `pay the bills plan’ and so I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills each month.

I was making business decisions that would lead to being able to pay my bills when they weren’t the best business decisions.

Question7 If you had to start VAVi over again what would be the biggest change that you would make? Would it be the capitalization part? What would you do differently?

Tyler Jensen: I had a lack of planning, I didn’t plan ahead, I didn’t understand the financial part of the business.

I really had a huge passion for the product, but I really didn’t understand the financials and that includes more than just capitalization.

I didn’t understand how I was going to make money, what were the expenses that it was going to take to actually do it the right way.

I didn’t put the financial projections together the right way and I didn’t put a business plan together beforehand, which would have saved me a lot of headache, heartache and a lot of mistakes if I had done that before I started the business.

Question8Early on in business what do you think is the biggest time waster for entrepreneurs? Stuff they shouldn’t spend their time on but they insist on spending all their time on it?

Tyler Jensen: Well, I can answer this a couple of different ways. The first thing that pops into my mind is that entrepreneurs end up falling in love with their product or service.

In the big picture of things the product and service is really only about 5% of building a company and so I find that you can spend so much time just diving in, doing product development…product development and reiterating it…reiterating it which is important, but they ignore all the other parts of the business as well.

Question9 ”What advice do you have for others to deal with the roller coaster ride of being an entrepreneur?

Tyler Jensen: What works for me is having a really good personal practice, focussing on making health my number 1 priority. That includes not only physical health but mental and spiritual and emotional health as well.

I would put a daily practice into place, like I have now, where I get up and either run or walk in the morning and then I do about 30 minutes of meditation and prayer.

I also make sure that I have a very clear plan, and I take breaks to make sure that I’m not getting off track, this really helps me stay efficient and focused.

Question10 Today you working with entrepreneurs and start ups consulting with them, what do you think are areas that they need help with?

Tyler Jensen: There are two types of entrepreneurs that I generally work with: one is the brand new entrepreneur and one is the serial entrepreneur and they have different needs.

For the beginning entrepreneur they generally come to me and say `I’ve got this great idea for product and service and to be really honest I don’t know how to make this into a business.’

So, it’s really just learning how the whole process works. There is a step by step process that really makes sense when you are starting a business and a lot of times just understanding what to focus on when changes the whole game for entrepreneurs.

They start doing things that really don’t need to be done for 12 months or 18 months and ignore things that are really important earlier on in the process. For the first-time entrepreneurs I think the biggest thing is just understanding what to focus on.

For the serial entrepreneurs when they come to us they generally have gone through the process and they know how it works and everything and they just need help, they just don’t have the bandwidth to do the work that we do,
Business Planning and the financial model.

They just need a great service provider to provide objective opinion and really poke holes in their plans before they go to investors.

It’s already been picked apart and put back together so that investors don’t have to pick it apart as much.

Question11 What do you think serial entrepreneurs successful over and over?

Tyler Jensen: You know, this is my opinion and I’m certain many people will disagree with me, but having worked with so many people,

I really think it has little to do with the business and more with their personal practices.

Their personal beliefs of who they are and really ultimately their spiritual grounding. I find that the ones who are most successful have something that grounds them in life.

No one knows all the things in business.
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses as entrepreneurs.

Question12 If a first-time entrepreneur came to you, what would you teach that person about becoming an entrepreneur?

Tyler Jensen: The first thing I would say is `don’t quit your job’.
You want to hang on to your job for as long as you can because that takes care of the bills.

The place that I tell them to start is the research. So, specifically, industry research, market research and competitor research. Generally they have a new idea and sometimes they are going into an industry, that they are not that familiar with, they don’t know all the different types of competitors and they don’t know who their target market is.

Whether you have a question about your business plan or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Is a Business Plan Necessary?

Is a business plan necessary? From The Startup Garage

Is a Business Plan Necessary?

Welcome to video Fridays from The Start Up Garage


A place where Tyler Jensen, The Startup Garage’s founder, answers questions directly from our viewers.

Key Take Aways From Video:

1. When starting a business you will almost always want a business plan.

2. Even if you do not need investors or a business partner, a business plan will help you answer critical questions.

3. Investors want and require documentation.

Complete Transcript below:

Question:

I’ve read that you really don’t need a business plan. Is this true?

Well, my short answer is no — it’s not true.

If you’re starting a company, there are a couple of main reasons why you’re almost always going to need a business plan.

The first one is that even if you don’t actually need the document of a business plan for an investor or business partner, going through that process of answering all the questions that a business plan will require you to answer is so critical early on. If you don’t do it early on it’s going to cost you a lot of time and money later on.

The second reason is that if you are raising money from anyone other than a close friend or family member, almost any serious investor is going to require that you have gone through the process of writing a business plan and they’re going to want to see that document.

Remember, “the worst business plan is one you never bother to write.”

Whether you have a question about your business plan or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

What Do Investors Want in A Professional Business Plan?

What do investors want to see in a business plan? from The StartupGarage

What Do Investors Want in A Professional Business Plan?

Welcome to video Fridays from The Start Up Garage


A place where Tyler Jensen, The Startup Garage’s founder, answers questions directly from our viewers.

Key Take Aways From Video:

1. Investors want to see a clean, professional looking, honest, and reasonable assessment of the business.

2. Investor wantwell-sourced research sections, which include the market, industry, and competitive analysis.

3. Investors want an exceptional product description that explains all the features and benefits of the product or service you’re going to be selling.

4. Investors want a reasonable sales, marketing, and operational plan and budget.

5. Investors want 5-year financial projections.

Overall, investors are sophisticated and smart, this isn’t a traditional sales document.

Complete transcript below:

“What do investors want to see in a professional business plan?”

Great question Jen, overall investors really just want to see a clean, professional looking, honest, and reasonable assessment of the business. They want clear, well-sourced research sections. So this includes the market, industry, and competitive analysis. These really need to be cited with trusted sources, so add footnotes in there as well.

The next thing you want is a really good product description that explains why all the features and benefits of the product or service you’re going to be selling. Then they’re going to want a reasonable sales, marketing, and operational plan and budget — so you just need to be reasonable in these expectations of what you’re really going to be able to achieve in terms of growth.

And then they’re going to want to see a well thought out 5-year financial projections. These include balance sheet, cash flow, and profit/loss along with all the assumptions that go into making those up.

So overall investors are sophisticated and smart. So this isn’t a traditional sales document — you don’t want to make it too “salesy”. They want to see something that is just reasonable and honest — and I think you’re going to get a lot further with investors than something that is hyperbolic and exaggerated

Whether you have a question about your business plan or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Watch Out For Snake Oil! How to Hire the Right Business Plan Writer

Watch Out for Snake Oil from The Startup Garage

Watch Out For Snake Oil! How to Hire the Right Business Plan Writer

Snake oil refers to any product with questionable or unverifiable quality or benefit. By extension, a snake oil salesman is someone who knowingly sells fraudulent goods or who is himself or herself a fraud, quack, charlatan, and the like [via Wikipedia]

Indulge me. Query “Hire a Business Plan Writer” into your favorite search engine. As a first-time entrepreneur, do the ads for most business plan services sound like this:

Business Plan Snake Oil Ad 1

 

 

 

 

As a seasoned entrepreneur, inundated with service provider and consultant guarantees of success, perhaps these ads sound more like this:

Business Plan Snake Oil Ad 2

 

Ok, alright…So, I took some liberties with those examples (and the character limits for an AdWords ad).

Whether you are about to begin your first business or starting another, understand the purpose of a business plan and establish criteria to hire a business plan writer.

The Purpose of the Business Plan

The first thing to know about hiring the right business plan writer and consultant is to understand the purpose of the business plan itself.  The business plan is not a single-use document or a hurdle that you overcome and never look back.  The business plan is not a glossy, collated presentation solely designed to attract investment.  The business plan is a tool that helps you through the business planning process.  It is a living document that needs to be updated regularly for as long as you are still in business.  The business plan will help reveal the major milestones that you need to accomplish.  It will provide your strategy for achieving these milestones and will act like a roadmap.  It will also include the key outcomes when these milestones are achieved including sales projections, expenses and cash flow.

Criteria to Hire a Business Plan Writer

Now that we understand the purpose of the business plan, we can begin discussing how to hire the right business plan writer and consultant.

  1. It is important that your business plan writer understands your goals and the resources that you have available to you.  If the professional does not attempt to take a holistic approach by enrolling in the professional and personal side of the equation then he/she is likely not the right individual.
  2. It is important that your business plan writer has the experience and expertise to take you through the business planning process.  Hiring someone, or a machine, to simply write a document for you will not end in a good result.  Hiring someone that has been through the startup process, that understands what works and what doesn’t, and has raised capital in the past will be vital to the success of your business and business plan.
  3. Be wary of consultants that claim to bring on investors.  While the business plan is an important tool in the capital raising process, investors are ultimately making their investment decision based on the team, the product, the market opportunity, the competition, etc. thereby making it difficult for any third-party to make such a claim.
  4. Do your due diligence to steer clear from the quacks, frauds, and charlatans. Ask to see sample work and testimonials.  Ask the consultant how many companies they have worked with and how much capital they have helped raise.  If you still are not fully convinced, ask to speak with past clients.

How The Startup Garage Can Help

Whether you have a question about writing a business plan or you would like to discuss our business plan writing services and previous client work, do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation.

Wait…I lied!

The only snake oil I recommend is sold by Steve Earle and can be purchased on iTunes

 

 

How to Write a Business Plan

How to Write a Business Plan from The Startup Garage

How to Write a Business Plan

A business idea is not enough to build a successful business. Ideas are everywhere, but successful businesses are not. The difference lies in having a solid business model and business strategies around your great idea. The best way to do this is to complete a professional business plan.

The business planning process provides structure and guidance, determines resources you need to succeed, establishes a direction for your business, provides a way to measure results and provides a way to gain financing. In a sentence, a business plan takes your idea for a product or service and creates a business around it.  In this blog post, we will show you just how to write a business plan.

A typical business plan contains 10 sections and takes anywhere from 180 – 400 hours to complete, as outlined below:

How to write a Business Plan: Executive Summary 2 hours

The executive summary is a 1-4 page description of the entire business.  Though this is the first section that your readers will see, acting as a sales pitch to introduce the rest of the plan, it will actually be the last section that you write.  When you have completed the rest of the business plan, you will want to return to the executive summary, highlighting the key takeaways of each of the other sections.

How to write a Business Plan: Mission and Vision 5 hours

This mission and vision section outlines your mission statement, overarching vision and values for the company and often presents your company’s value proposition to your clients.

How to write a Business Plan: Product and Service Description 5-25 hours

The product and service description gives a detailed breakdown of all aspects of your product or service.  This section typically includes a general overview of the current problems in the market and your solution to these problems, your product/service advantages, your proprietary features, any liabilities associated with your product and service and your plan for overcoming these liabilities.

How to write a Business Plan: Market Analysis 20-30 hours

This is the first research section of the business plan.  It defines your company’s target market segments, or the groups of people that you will sell your products or services too.  You will want to narrow down your key market segments, the lowest hanging fruits, as muss as possible and then provide information about this target segment such as market size, break down of demographics and important market trends.

How to write a Business Plan: Industry Analysis 20-30 hours

The second research section of your business plan should provide an analysis of the industry in which your business will operate.  You should provide your reader with an overall understanding of the size and trends of the industry as well as any other important factors that will affect how companies in the industry do business.

How to write a Business Plan: Competitive Analysis 20-30 hours

The third and final research section in the plan provides readers with a breakdown of your direct and indirect competitors.  You will want to narrow down the definitions of your direct and indirect competitors as much as possible.  You will then want to provide a layout of the competitive environment, evaluating your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, ultimately communicating your competitive advantages, differentiating factors and why your company will succeed in spite of the competition.

How to write a Business Plan: Sales and Marketing Plan 20-30 hours

This section outlines your sales goals, distribution strategies, marketing strategies, SWOT analysis (your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), branding strategies and customer service plan.  After determining who your target market is in the market analysis, this is your time to determine how you will target them given your competitive advantages and the strengths/weaknesses of your competitors.

How to write a Business Plan: Operations Plan 10-40 hours

Your operations plan explains all of the internal systems, procedures and equipment necessary to produce and deliver the product to the customer.  Relevant sections that may apply to you and your business include location, equipment, purchasing policies, manufacturing process, personnel and organizational chart.

How to write a Business Plan: Management Team 20 hours

This section introduces the reader to the entrepreneurs and executives who will run the business, as well as the board of directors and/or advisors that will play a crucial role.  The goal of this section is to assemble a team that is capable of successfully caring out the funding necessary to succeed as outlined throughout the business plan.  You’ll want to provide a succinct biography for each member of the management team in this section as well as a complete resume in the appendix of the plan.

How to write a Business Plan: Financial Plan 35 hours

The financial plan breaks down the financial projections of the company in detail, compiling all revenues, expenses and profits into conventional accounting sheets (a balance sheet, cash flow statement and profit & loss statement).  The goal of this section is to show how the strategy outlined in the plan is sound from a financial standpoint, presenting a realistic business and investment opportunity.  This section also communicates the need for any outside investment and the uses of these funds.

The business plan writing phase is when your idea will grow and change the most. Don’t be surprised if your business plan looks nothing like your original idea. It almost never does! Stick to it — after lots of creative planning, researching, and strategy development, you will have a complete, well-integrated strategy for your new business.

Now you know how to write a business plan, right?  Well, as you can see, writing a business plan can be a daunting process.  If it doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, contact us for a free consultation regarding our business plan writing and start up consulting services!

The Structures of Social Enterprise

The Structures of Social Enterprise from The Startup Garage

The Structures of Social Enterprise

We are beginning to see more and more companies begin to blend their traditional corporate structures with a more modern obligation to philanthropy and social awareness. Social Entrepreneurism is on the rise and suddenly profit isn’t the only driving force behind big business. Across the nation, various legislations have passed to establish new corporate structures that aid the social entrepreneur in improving environmental, educational, social, and economic conditions.

 

The Benefit Corporation

Legal state entities that mandate corporations focus on public benefits alongside their for-profit enterprise. Shifts mainstream thought away from maximizing shareholder value towards maximizing stakeholder value by placing an emphasis on social issues. Required annual reports provide transparency to the public and accountability toward the company. These reports are not required to be assessed by third-parties; however, this will change under California law in January 2012. (Read more about the difference between Benefit and B-Corporations in the blog below)

Available in: Maryland, Vermont, Virginia, New Jersey, Hawaii, California

The L3C

Formally known as a Low Profit Limited Liability Company, L3Cs are legal forms of business corporations that blend non-profit and for-profit investment efforts with a socially beneficial structure. With reduced regulations granted from the IRS, an L3C is classified organization that sets to attain social goals first, with profit second.

Available in: Vermont, Michigan, Wyoming, Utah, Illinois, North Carolina, Louisiana, Maine, Rhode Island

Flexible-Purpose Corporation

A Flexible-Purpose Corporation is a socially conscious enterprise that allows for extreme flexibility in their structure and processes. These corporations specify a “special purpose”, either with a social cause or charitable activity, in addition to their pursuit of seeking profit. While most business corporations focus mostly on maximizing shareholder value, the goal of Flexible-Purpose Corps is to have a structured legal organization where profit is pursued alongside social aims.

Available in: California

Main Differences:

  • Company profit is still an expressed purpose of a Flexible-Purpose and Benefit Corporation, with neither profit nor social issue outweighing the other. With an L3C, the public benefit comes first, profit second.
  • Flexible-Purpose and Benefit Corporations both produce annual reports on their purposes and objectives. Only in California, do Benefit Corporations require third-party assessment on the reports.
  • On a scale from a fully functioning Business Corporation to a Non-Profit, Flexible-Purpose Corps would tilt towards Business Corporations, while Benefit Corporations tilted towards Non-Profits. L3Cs would be the mark directly before a full Non-Profit.

 

Whether you have a question about Starting a Social Enterprise or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!

Beaches to Business Plans: A Market Pulse Interview with CEO Tyler Jensen

Tyler Jensen from The Startup Garage

Beaches to Business Plans: A Market Pulse Interview with CEO Tyler Jensen

Serial Entrepreneur and CEO of The Startup Garage Tyler Jensen speaks with Market Pulse on ESPN 1700 in San Diego. Tyler was invited to talk with Market Pulse for their weekly “Words of the Wise” segment. In this hour long interview Tyler talks about his first business, his journey in the launch, growth and sale of VaVi Sports and Social club, and how to avoid the mistakes he made as a first time entrepreneur.

Highlights include:

  • How he went from having nothing in his bank account to selling his first company for 125 times the initial investment.
  • How, after having sold VaVi, a year spent on the beaches of San Diego led to the realization that helping other entrepreneurs was his passion.
  • Why many people have great business ideas but going from the idea to a successful business is the challenge.
  •  The importance of matching the lifestyle you want to live with the company you want to start.
  • Why having a business plan writer write from a place of personal experience is paramount.

Tyler also answers listeners’ questions on what it takes to write a business plan, the process of creating a business plan and how they’re priced.

 

Whether you have a question about Interviews with Tyler Jensen or you’d like to discuss our business plan writing services, feel free to contact us for a free consultation!