Week 3 -- Business Planning

Pillars:  Patterns of history.  In Pillars, David and our QLP Entrepreneurs explored the broad patterns and cycles of history across U.S. history.  We set a foundation of four general phases of empires: the Age of Faith, Age of Myth, Age of Reason, and Age of Machines.  We also built a conceptual framework of four generational archetypes:  the Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist.  Our Entrepreneurs recognize that understanding the patterns of history will help them prepare for the future, set a course for their own Hero's Journey and life missions, and develop business plans that anticipate future trends and social movements.  

Skills:  Business plans.  

“Plans are worthless.  Planning is essential.”  Dwight D. Eisenhower.  

“Everyone has a plan . . . until they get punched in the face!”  Mike Tyson.  

Mere ideas do NOT = $$

We studied the primary elements of a business plan and helped each other with the planning process.  Two videos helped us understand basic planning, one from Startupdaddy.com and the other from the SBA.

We dove deep into the key elements of a basic plan:  

• Executive Summary
• Company Overview
• Product or Service Offering
• Market Research
• Sales & Marketing Plan
• Financials

As a group we practiced creating a simple cash-flow spreadsheet to get our Entrepreneurs started on their own pro forma cash-flow statements.  (100 points to Chandra for pointing out that we must always include our own time and labor as a line item! Many entrepreneurs forget this vital calculation.)

Running Partners.  Our Entrepreneurs created an covenant around what they expect from each other as running partners: 

• Bring your strengths and talents to the partnership.
• Don't be a jerk.
• Push and encourage your partners by asking, "Is that your best work?" (100 points to Dan for discovering the key peer-accountability question!)
• Give honest feedback, and receive that feedback without taking offense.
• Care about your partner(s), and be interested in their business.
• Keep your commitments (this is galactically huge in any relationship).

Our Entrepreneurs then formed these running partnerships: 

• Charles / Dan / Bekah
• Will / Joe Bob
• Jackson / Kiki
• Jin / Austin / Chandra
• Thomas / Ted

Guest:  Kirk Feller, BGZ Brands / BodyGuardz

BGZ Brands has created a family of brand offerings of mobile-device protection cases and related products.  The most widely known BGZ brand is BodyGuardz, a line famous for its "stealthy," thin-but-tough, device protection.  BodyGuardz has been very successful in recent years, ranking an industry second in vendor sales at AT&T stores, hitting Inc.'s Fastest 500 list, and growing at an astonishing 1,076% over the last two years.  

Kirk and his wife, April Feller, started BodyGuardz in 2002 by stamping out vinyl screen protectors in their basement.  Kirk described how he and his family struggled to make ends meet during the first three years of their venture.  He told our Entrpreneuers, "you have to be willing to fails many times and sacrifice everything to pursue your dream."  This, he explained, "requires, first and foremost, real passion about what you do."  Kirk told how he and April dedicated their 401K fund, a second mortgage, and then had their home up for sale during ramp-up. 

Kirk's mission is to provide an excellent work culture and great pay to the people he cares about.  In Kirk's paradigm, family comes first, above all else.  He encouraged our Entrepreneurs to develop their own moral compass to check their choices against.  

Kirk relies on "reverse mentoring."  He is likes to surround himself with (in his own words) "people smarter than me."  He also takes opportunities to learn marketing techniques from the younger generation, "having kids teach me because the know Instagram and other social media."  

Kirk taught our Entrepreneurs to create powerful sales stories for their businesses.  He pulled out a CIA-style metal briefcase holding a sample of BodyGuardz latest high-tech product, created with Unequal Technologies' military-grade composite padding, which is used to prevent impact damage.  The case also contained a billy club and a glove holding Unequal padding.  Kirk put the glove on his hand and then proceeded to beat his gloved hand with the club.  We were stunned.  "No pain," Kirk claimed.  This effective sales demo, tied with the compelling story about Unequal and its fascinating applications, sold us all on BodyGuardz's newest phone case.  

Challenge:  Our Entrepreneurs accepted this week's challenge to develop a business plan (edited by running partners) that includes a cash-flow spreadsheet. Goal date: this coming Monday.

Next Week:  Next week we will focus on gathering resources needed to launch our businesses.

News / Call-outs:  

Published!!  Congratulations to Rebekah (our first QLP Entrepreneur, aka "guinea pig," from the 2014-15 school year).  Her project on journalism and study of worker misclassification in Utah culminated in submitting an article, "On the Payroll," for publication.  Utah Business Magazine picked it up (and paid her for it too!).  Find it here.  --Who needs a grade from a teacher when the world is judging your work? 

First Town Hall Meeting:  Jackson led our Entrepreneurs in a discussion about what is working well in QLP and what we can improve.  Positive feedback:  our Entrepreneurs enjoy the class environment and culture; they love the highly involved learning-by-doing structure; they get a lot out of guest-speaker visits.  Improve:  they asked us for more one-on-one consulting time, mid-class breaks, field-trips, booth time (chairs are uncomfortable), and instruction on entity formation.  

Soapbox:  To the parents of our wonderful Entrepreneurs:  We encourage you to watch Cameron Herold's TEDx talk, "Let's Raise Kids to Be Entrepreneurs," and consider what you are doing with your kids to exemplify and encourage creativity, independent thinking, and entrepreneurship in the home.