Start2Finish: Fueling Discipline, Focus and the right mindset

Proceed to IDEA TESTING, dont waste time on a BUSINESS PLAN execute the PLAN.

• Kuda Munemo

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Dive into a transformative discussion about the value of action over perfect planning in the entrepreneurial journey. Often, aspiring business owners get trapped in a cycle of crafting detailed business plans, believing that perfection is essential for success. However, we emphasize that taking action and learning through testing your ideas can provide crucial insights that far surpass traditional planning methods. By embracing a more hands-on approach, you will not only understand your market better but also adapt your offering based on real-world feedback.

In our engaging conversation, we highlight the importance of refining your business plan based on experiences gathered during execution instead of relying solely on theoretical frameworks. As you test your ideas and engage with your target market, you begin to craft a clearer, more actionable business strategy. This newfound clarity allows you to present a credible vision to potential investors and stakeholders, shifting perspectives from preparation to practical execution.

Join us as we explore how to navigate this landscape, offering practical advice on turning your business visions into reality through effective action. Don't let the fear of imperfection hold you back; start engaging with your ideas today! Feel inspired? Subscribe, leave us a review, and share your thoughts on how action has shaped your entrepreneurial path!

• Embracing action leads to real insights and growth
• Testing your ideas shows what works in the market
• A business plan should be built from lived experiences


Fueling Discipline , focus and the right mindset!

Speaker 1:

Don't waste your time writing the perfect business plan. You already know what you have to do. You already have a plan. Just make it short and simple and move towards testing. I think the most important thing about setting up a business or a passion or something that interests you, I think it's in doing. They say the pudding is in the eating, so you better start getting your hands dirty rather than spending months in and out and going on AI trying to perfect a business plan. I've realized one thing over the years. You know I've written so many business plans. I had business plans coaches. By the time I'm done, I've already forgotten what I've written. The information that I'll be writing in that plan are not relevant in that particular situation that I'm experiencing.

Speaker 1:

I'm still starting out and I think at that point you know, when you still have the energy, when the idea is still burning in your mind, you would rather execute on that idea and follow through with it for as long as you can, because you already know the business. You already have an understanding of where you want to get to. Just don't make it too complicated. So get started and start testing. Start seeing whether your idea works. You know it's proven all over the world that to do something, you just have to start Start executing and there is no bank that will be ready to invest in you. And I remember back then we were thinking you know, I need to raise funding, I need to look for investors on an idea. It's rare to get an investment on an idea. It has to be a proven business concept, something that is already working, something that is foundation, something that is already working, something that is foundation, something that now you know when you're already in there and doing the work and executing, and when you transfer it on paper, it then begins to make sense. Then you walk into a bank. You're able to explain the idea because you are now living the idea Instead of wanting to write the business plan first, wanting to make it look good. It will be a waste of your energy and time. Get to work. There's no need for a 30-page document. There's need for you to work, begin to understand your idea, begin to understand how it works and you continue developing it.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes you can write a vision from the onset. You know what I want to be a big conglomerate in the next 10 years. But it takes you most probably two years to get started, which means you're already way behind on the rest. You'd rather start executing to see where the idea is taking you. You're studying with the work. You're studying with understanding the market. Just write a short enough process to follow through with.

Speaker 1:

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying don't have a plan. The plan is needed, obviously, to execute. But just don't waste too much time trying to perfect a business plan. You'd rather put more energy on doing the actual work.

Speaker 1:

Imagine having to execute and have something that is more practical. You see this thing working. Now you have a couple of employees and you want them now to understand the vision of the business and where you're going. That's when I think you need this beautifully laid out business plan for that particular reason. Beautifully laid out business plan for that particular reason. Or maybe when you want to seek funding or you want to bring in investors and things like that. But in most cases it doesn't happen at ideation. At ideation, you just need to do whatever it takes to make sure you prove your idea, you prove your concept, that it works. Then you move on to setting up the business plan. So the key things that I would recommend would be understand the product.

Speaker 1:

What product do you want to sell in the market? Clearly, have an idea. Focus on the core features and benefits of your product. Then who is the market? Who is it that you're targeting to supply this product to? In most cases, you're not going to target the entire market. You've got a specific group of people that you think, oh, if I start selling here, my thing would grow, this could be a passion, this could be a product, this could be a service. Then begin to focus on that market. Then, from there, you need projections. What am I expecting? As I start? Obviously, after doing it, a couple of months or a year or so, you begin to know the expectations from the business.

Speaker 1:

So when we started this transport business, which was last year, I wrote down, I think, a two page document. We just clearly highlighted what I'm talking about the product, the market. And we had to agree on the market. We had one market that we were targeting and I had to come in with another market, say, guys, let's look at this option. Does it work? Let's prove the concept. And as we do the work, we discovered, okay, there is an, there's a gold mine here, and we start pushing on it. We set a target to say, okay, by the close of this year we should have achieved X amount results, but by the close of last year we had not achieved the set goal.

Speaker 1:

Now we are at a place where we understand how things really work in the real world and it makes it easier now to come up with a business plan that is realistic, financial projections that are realistic. Business plan that is realistic, financial projections that are realistic. Otherwise, when you start by doing it and you, you, you see things not working. You will get disappointed. But when you have a proof of concept and how long is going to take you for that concept to come to life, then you are now in a position to make something that works. So in this whole spectrum, you also understand okay, we've got these big competitors. I'm not worried about that because I'm only targeting this small niche right here.

Speaker 1:

So the focus at that particular moment, I think, is to perfect the product, perfect the service the best way. You know how, and just zero in on that target group that you're targeting. And as things begin to happen, you begin to build into other platforms, you begin to advertise on socials. You just begin to make your presence felt in the market when you begin to do that whole process of testing. Then you start looking at the business plan itself. As you test your products or service in the market, the plan will get clear and that is the point you have made some money. In most cases, when the plan begins to get clear, you say, okay, there's a goldmine here. That's then the time now consultant who will help you come up with a streamlined business plan which is easy to execute, because when you do the work long enough, the plan is already there.

Speaker 1:

So let's focus on developing the plan. Put your business plan in your drawer, you know, begin to understand how things operate. Then, as you do so, then you're reverse engineering. Then you go back and write down the notes of your discoveries and then perfect that thing. Because if you want to work from a theoretical thing that hasn't been proven, it's very difficult and it's discouraging. But if you're working from proven information that you have learned and understood to say this works, this doesn't work. This is how we're going to do this. You know, I'm realizing even into this year.

Speaker 1:

Now we are perfecting our business plan. Last year it was entry point, we were doing the work, now we are perfecting it. Okay year it was entry point, we were doing the work. Now we are perfecting it. Okay, fine, this is what we want to do. This is what we want to achieve. Now. We know how to handle cars. Okay, a vehicle need to be handled this way. Uh, these are the things that we need to do if you want, you know, to continue providing service to our customers, because we also experienced some downtime on our vehicles One had an accident and the other one had some issues. So now, when you're purchasing vehicles, you know what to do, and all that information becomes information you add into your business plan because you have understood how it works, the type of vehicles that you can purchase which last you for a long time, what clients are expecting from you when you're providing the service. So it's a lot of discoveries that you go through when you go through the process of testing the product.

Speaker 1:

Rather than going towards writing a business plan from the onset, because sometimes you may want to write a mission statement that is unachievable, but when you have done the work, then you know, okay, what is possible and what is not possible. So, if you want to make the impossible possible, how much resource and commitment do we need? Now it's clear, and then you put it on paper so that those who follow may also appreciate where you want to go. Then ambition kicks in. Then you approach a bank and say, look, we've been doing this for this couple of years and we know this thing works because of A, b, c, d, it'll be easier for you to explain your business plan at that level. But if you start by doing it because you want to raise money, that's the wrong way. In most cases you start a business not by the money from the bank. You do with the resources that you have. But at some point, as this thing is taking shape, is going up, then you need to look for resources. Then kick in that business plan.

Speaker 1:

Here are some of the components for your business plan as you consider to set it up. So you need your executive summary. Be clear and succinct on what you want your business plan as you consider to set it up. So you need your executive summary. Be clear and succinct on what you want your business to achieve Understand the product, understand the market, understand the competition. And it has to be part of that executive summary. You need to have a mission and a vision statement. Simplify according to the way you understand it. Don't write you know Googled mission statement or vision statement. Write the vision statement for where you are and what you want to achieve. If your goal is to reach 20 people by the end of the year, that's your mission, that's your vision. Because when you achieve that, then you begin to change that mission and that vision to suit where you are going or what you are expecting or endeavor to achieve into the future.

Speaker 1:

Company description Now we have a description of who you are. You have a description of what you want to achieve and you are clear on the products and you are now knowledgeable because you have gone through the process of testing. Then you do your marketing analysis. You know as you grow, as you build muscle. Then you need now to understand the market. How is it built, how is it working, the SWOT analysis and all these other dynamics that will help to grow your business.

Speaker 1:

Product summary you go into that full, in-depth of your product, competition, market planning, marketing plan and sales plan. This is how are you going to sell the product and distribute it in the market? Who are you going? Who are you targeting to market it to? Operations plan now, because you have developed your team most rapidly 10 or more. Then you need to have an operational plan. You need to have a, an organogram. How does you know? How is the business structured? When the time is right, you need to put these structures in place. Then you have a clear financial plan. It could be a one-year, two-year, five-year projection plan, because you have lived through the journey long enough to know okay, fine, last year we did X amount of dollars, this year, this is our target. We are targeting to increase the number of fleet by this much. We are targeting to achieve A, b, c, d. It's now very clear and you begin to achieve your goals. So let's go, let's push, let's make those goals achievable. Peace out.