RDVP Seminar: Jim Horan (11/17/2004)

Jim Horan of the One Page Business Plan Company gave the seminar this week. I went in a skeptic, and came away mildly intrigued. I've been doing business plans for 7 years. I've co-authored two that have raised a combined $125M in venture capital. The book (which we were given in advance) has lots of pictures and sample plans about companies that produce knit goods or hand made furniture or the like--in other words, not the sort of company that I envisioned myself starting.

After a bit of a slow start, Jim finally said something that made me realize he was aiming for a different goal: not a plan that was fundable by investors, but something to "help keep other people on track as they contribute to the solution." The One Page Business Plan is not really a strategic document, but more a communication and marketing document: a way to achieve high-order bit alignment among different constituents. Undirected employees are a drain on resources: even volunteers who aren't paid a salary still require management time and attention. If they aren't doing the right thing, they're draining resources. The OPBP is a "way to get them to show up and serve the cause in a cost-effective way."

It forces the plan author (and there should be many plan authors per organization, perhaps each employee should have his or her own plan; Jim made the radical suggestion that they should all be shared widely within the organization) to answer the question: "From where you sit, what does the future look like?"

Objectives

Jim offered the nice insight that an objective needs to be graphable. A very intuitive way to get people to think quantitatively.

Mission

Getting people to use simple, emotional words was probably the biggest breakthrough of the session. Rather than the Dilbert business-speak, shoot for a sound-bite that tugs at the heart strings and gets people to ask the next question (typically "How do you achieve that mission?")

Other interesting quotes / thoughts

• Margarita: This is a printed call to action. It needs to engage other people, get volunteers to commit; it's a marketing document.
  
• Mans: "You start off thinking 'It would be great if someone could make that happen,' and then you realize that maybe that someone is you. And you can't do it alone."
  
• Carlos: (In response to Greg's proposed mission statement of "So that artists don't have to starve.") "If the art sucks, the artist should starve."
  
• Carlos: If you send your business plan to a stakeholder and ask for feedback, and don't get any, IT'S TOO LONG.
  
• Jim Horan: "Hold on to the leadership of your project. Your vision for a solution to a problem [is a valuable strength/asset.] Don't give it up."
  

Conclusion

So the OPBP doesn't replace the strategic plan that you present to potential funders. It might, however, be a valuable additional exercise to use for communication within your organization. It's perhaps not that far off of the
"MBO" (Management by Objective) goal-setting plans that are good in concept, but
tough to execute well.