Faith & Prosperity Nexus Blog
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What Goes Into a Business Plan?
A business plan is important for you not just if you’re looking for investors. Having a plan committed to paper is even more valuable for company internal reasons. I don’t think there is one fixed way to write a business plan. I would start with the following five sections and see where that leads you: Executive summary: this is a single-page summary of your entire business plan. It helps busy executives scan for pertinent details in les than a minute, and it forces you to boil down your vision into a comprehensive, concrete format. Company profile: a potential backer should be able to read this section and understand why you’re in business Market analysis: no one operates in a vacuum. This section should demonstrate your knowledge of the market in general, your unique position within it and information about your customers and competitors. Marketing plan: this should detail your sales strategy, promotion plans, potential partnerships and strategic alliances. Financial plan: you may need to consult with a financial advisor to depict accurately your company’s start-up costs, income curves and potential for profitability Appendices: appendices can be used to better describe your business, products, marketing plans or other details that aren’t… Read more
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Why We Need New Companies
I read some years ago in the Financial Times an interesting article which explained that companies live on the average a little longer than 12 years. The biggest companies, the pillars of their economies, lasted only 40 years. Sumitomo of Japan which was founded 400 years ago, is the oldest. Companies should not measure success by short-term returns to shareholders but by how long they survive in the face of constant change. If on January 1. 1926 you had invested $1 in a general stock market fund and reinvested all your dividends, your money would have grown to $415 by December 31 1990. A dollar invested in a fund of the 18 less admired companies would have generated $955. but $1 invested in their most admired companies would have grown to $6,356 – 15 times the performance of the general market. The most successful companies have a purpose beyond making a profit. They sometimes act in ways that damage their short-term profits because they believe that to do otherwise would be to go against their business philosophy. But by living by strong guiding ethics they generate higher shareholder returns in the long run. Nor have the most admired companies always… Read more
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10 Characteristics of Faith Based Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
What sets a faith based enterprise solutions to poverty project apart from others? Here’s my list: Initiative is lead by an organized faith community Applies enterprise solutions at the appropriate time (i.e. not when relief is called for) Faith and business are objectively reconciled (non-contradicting practices) For profit business solution Resulting business is “scalable.” i.e. the business model allows for high growth in terms of revenues and employment Ownership of and investment in the company goes across socio-economic classes. This mindset is reflected in Steve Mariotti’s quote: “Opening up the world of ownership to people who historically have been left out is something that we can do and will do, and by doing that, I think we will have a better society.” Employs an anthropology that sees humans as creators rather than consumers. This mindset is reflected in Carnegie’s famous quote: “Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory.” Has a COW-F equilibrium mindset (COW-F was conceived of by Michael Fairbanks. It is the idea that there are four stakeholders to any economic… Read more
