Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan

Writing a business plan is a seminal moment in the life of a new venture. Doing so entails committing to paper a vision of the factors that will affect the success or failure of the enterprise. People take the exercise very seriously and get emotionally invested in what they produce. In that context, the article was written to give insights into how to think about the role of a business plan and its relation to new venture formation. I tried to explain that a business plan can't be a tightly crafted prediction of the future but rather a depiction of how events might unfold and a road map for change. I emphasized the notion that successful entrepreneurs constantly seek the right mixture of people, opportunity, context, and deal. They anticipate what can go wrong, what can go right, and they try to balance risk and reward.

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Innovation Management

Strategies for success and leadership In the Innovation Management Study 2008, A.T. Kearney analyzes the qualities and practices of successful innovation, and also recognizes companies that demonstrate mastery of innovation. The study expands on A.T. Kearney’s European Best Innovator Competition, including more than 250 companies worldwide, from across industries. Our study finds that the most successful innovators: Have a clear focus on a robust innovation strategy and invest three times more effort on the front end of the innovation process Open the innovation process to include parties outside the company, such as suppliers, customers, academia, etc. These findings and others suggest important issues for companies: Do you have the right strategy and supporting network?

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PAUL HAGGIS ON SUCCESSFUL WRITING & CREATIVITY

Paul is one of the most successful screenwriters ever to apply his craft in tinsel town. He is the first screenwriter, since 1950, to write two Best Film Oscar winners back-to-back - Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Crash (2005). For Crash, he also won Oscarsfor Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

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