Hey TYE class,
Hope you all got a feel for the ‘numbers game’ yesterday – the significance of financials in business!. The session should have given you an idea of
1. Business Financials – how a business financial plan needs to be written, and how the financials need to be managed – revenues, gross profit and income, cash flow etc.
2. Financing – determining if you need financing, how much, how do you go about seeking funding and how do you value your business.
Thanks to Dilip, Roman, Dayakar and Sid for their respective perspectives!.. Slides from the session are here – TYE Dallas-2012-2013-Finance-Sep 23
I also sincerely hope you are now able to tie the various pieces together – the idea generation process, sales/marketing, operations and finance into your thought processes as you gear up for what is ahead. The demos we did of the various methods of ‘pitching’ your idea – the long version, the 3-4 minute version and the elevator version should help you in your preparation as well.
The next class is going to be about – Administrative aspects of launching and running a business – incorporation, filings, terms and agreements etc; as well as ethics and values in business – very important concepts that you need to factor in early on in your entrepreneurial journey and something I am deeply passionate about.
Here are the steps to follow in preparation for the workshops and the business plan competition on Nov 4th.
1) Form your teams (we will help form the teams in the next class if you have not already formed them)
2) Tabulate your ideas and pick one to focus on
3) Work within your teams (each team will be assigned a coach to work with)
4) Research, and develop your ideas into a concrete plan to be pitched in a 15- 20 minutes session to a panel of judges on Nov 4th. Your presentation should have considered and address all the elements that we have discussed in our classes – problem, solution, market opportunity, competition, sales/marketing approach, operating plan, team, risks, financial plan and funding desired if any ; and summarized in
- A Slidedeck – 10-15 slides, with an executive summary
- A supporting spreadsheet with a financial model
- Prototype/demo if appropriate
Finally, with regard to the upcoming TiECON, please mark the date in your calendars (Oct 6th) and confirm your participation next week when we meet, and bring along $10 (discounted registration fee for TYE students) for your participation.
See you next Sunday.
Regards.
Ram
ram@nathanresearch.com
214-507-0015