Spencer Fry

July 28th, 2006 at 4:04 pm

I strongly disagree with this method. You’re going about business development all wrong if you think getting a template and slapping up some content on it is a step in the right direction. It’s much more likely a step back.

First of all, a major part of your business planning should be in the look and design of your company. Getting a template completely negates this. It actually does lots of harm because you’re presenting an image that has nothing whatsoever to do with your final product (well, let’s hope that a template has nothing to do with your final product).

Secondly, as someone who has dealt with venture capital issues in the past: if you ever showed me a template design of your website and tried to pass it off for a business plan or even included it with your business plan, I’d laugh at you. A much better approach is to hire a web designer to do some concept sketches and begin to write some of the actual content of your business’s website.

I really think the above is just horrible advice and I had to comment on it. I’m sorry if I upset the writer, but think about what you’re saying first. I’m actually really appalled that this entry is on MindPetals.com as most of what is written here is very informative.

Anthony

July 29th, 2006 at 12:56 am

I agree with the first comment - As a believer in the MindPetals network, the fact that “advice” such as this would even enter the blog is just unnerving.

Buying a website template and customizing it with a little bit of your own content is about the furthest you can get from ever impressing anybody - especially somebody actually worth impressing.

Anybody who thinks they can take a template, customize it, and be on their way to the big time is off their rocker. Following this advice would mean skipping nearly everything that matters when starting up a business - actual foresight, planning, market research, etc etc etc - and on top of that, it also means showing potential investors that you don’t even believe in your own business enough to hire a professional web designer or try your hand in putting together a design unique to your company.

How would a cookie-cutter website design and a lack of proper business planning impress a potential investor? And more importantly, how would it really help you in the long run?

The logic behind this entire post is just baffling…

Dan Marques

July 29th, 2006 at 8:11 am

Spencer, sorry you feel that way.

As someone who has both been a small VC, and received angel investment, and been offered VC I think it is a great idea; but not necessarily for Web 2.0 ideas that have a complete reliance on the site.

Let’s say I have an invention that will be made from injection molded plastic in a niche industry. But all I have is a prototype and some market research. It will be hard to get anyone interested if I just run around with sketches and market data. But if I have real prototypes and pictures, videos, testimonials, and content all on a site that I can easily point people to, that is valuable.

This was not an article geared towards internet ventures alone…sometimes we have to widen our perspective on what types of projects young entrepreneurs are working on.

Another example, a major real estate rehab project valued at $30 million. You can show the sketches and the current dilapidated property and your plan to as many people as who are willing to look. But if you put your vision up on the web with your designs and the market research; same solution.

Not everything in this world has to be a web 2.0 venture…

Spencer Fry

July 29th, 2006 at 8:47 am

“But if I have real prototypes and pictures, videos, testimonials, and content all on a site that I can easily point people to, that is valuable.”

I agree with you there! In the above sentence you mention the word real and not templates. What I was trying to get to in my first comment was that you need those real materials before going out and seeking VC capital, angel investors, or anything similar. I see far too often young entrepreneurs trying to do the bare minimum when creating their business plan, web presence, or what have you. You cannot cut corners in the Web industry anymore (this isn’t 1997).

Also, I don’t see where you’re getting Web 2.0 from my first comment? I didn’t mention anything about Web 2.0. A presentation of real materials is not specific to a Web 2.0 idea.

Anthony

July 29th, 2006 at 12:27 pm

Dan,

The points you make in your comment are true, but the problem is, they were never mentioned in the initial post. The initial post made it seem as though you were suggesting to throw up a website template and go straight to investors without doing much in the way of proper business planning first. This is evidenced in the opening paragraph where you state “…you may be able to find a way to impress potential investors without the need of an in depth business plan.”

Does it really make sense to go to investors without an in-depth business plan? Even if they ended up investing - which would be absolutely ludicrous - is it really the best thing for your business? Do you want to be accepting investments when you don’t even have a true business plan? A developed business plan helps entrepreneurs realize certain things - whether or not they need investments at all, how much they might need, if their business even makes sense, etc. Why would you encourage people to seek investments without first developing an in-depth business plan and answering these extremely important questions?

Dan Marques

July 29th, 2006 at 2:38 pm

All good feedback, I guess the post needs a few assumptions and qualifiers:

1. All my articles come from the perspective of an entrepreneur who has received funding (both good and bad) and is a strong advocate for bootstrapping

2. This post is intended more for ventures that are unrelated to the internet (i.e. Real Estate Development, New Products, B2B services, etc.) as opposed to an internet start up.

3. This is based on succesful experiences of myself and others, not business school theory.

4. Business planning is important. But sometimes a handful of conversations with the right people (i.e. potential investors, industry veterans, etc.) can shape the opportunity much faster and better than all the business planning in the world. And how would those people take you serious in the early stages? By at least having something you can point to, some sort of mock up.

5. Mock ups are a common practice in business across many industries (advertising, product design, organization theory, etc.)

Thank you for the feedback, I should have made the post a bit longer and added a bit more perspective and usage examples because it definitely was not construed in the way I had intended.

Thanks again!

David Askaripour

July 29th, 2006 at 4:46 pm

You all make valid points. I think that at the end of the day, there is no right or wrong answer. We each find our own solutions as young entrepreneurs and if either 1.) having a template as a mock-up or 2.) laying out a more involved and detailed business plan works for you, then that’s the way said person will expand his or her business via VCs, boostrapping, angels, whatever they are seeking.

We all live and we all learn, that’s what is so great about being an entrepreneur trying to build a successful business.

Ash

July 31st, 2006 at 8:16 am

I think that with anything, whether this idea is good or not all depends on the situation. With that said, for the 20,000 foot level of communicating a concept, I think it works. It works for entrepreneurs trying to get someone to buy in to their concept, possibly seed investors that will enable the entrepreneur to advance to a more functional model. It works for young entrepreneurs that are simply trying to illustrate a concept. Investors are smart enough to realize that with their dollars, things will improve, but more importantly, seed / family / angel investors will appreciate the entrepreneur’s effort to try and illustrate the concept beyond a written business plan. Investors applaud and respect the idea of bootstrapping an idea to fruition. That is all I believe that is being proposed. Numerous templates exist that have custom elements and again, this is just the first crack for the purposes of illustrating a concept. This is good advice for first time entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs that do not have web development skills, and entrepreneurs that wish to show they are frugal in the early stages of communicating a concept. Investors do not want to see that an entrepreneur is going to blow money on an unfunded “concept.” This recommendation should be coupled with a well thought out and written business plan of course (embedded into the site). So Dan, keep the good ideas flowing and realize you are making progress when you get constructive criticism. All that I would add is that the entrepreneur should add a user/pass access to the site which is quite simple and change the user/pass on a regular basis. The purpose being that is important to control who has access to your concept.

W. Benzoni

August 15th, 2006 at 1:08 pm

I think of a business plan as a resume for a new company. The goal of a resume is to get an interview and (for me) the goal of the business plan is to get a person to person meeting with someone who can help me start my business.

Whether it is a loan officer, investor, key vender or potential partner they will likely be an important component of you new business and you should get a face to face meeting with them. Once this is done both you and the other person see if you can establish a relationship or not.

However you get this meeting is fine. Many people use business plans. But why not use a web site even if it was built from a template. Everyone is different; some people will love a web site built from a template, others will not.

If you want you can build an online business plan and download it as an html file then include a link to the file on you new web site. A great site to do this for free is http://www.fast4cast.com.

However you get this face to face meeting is fine. To Many people use business plans. But why not use a web site even if it was built from a template. Everyone is different; some people will love a web site built from a template, others will not.

Student Organization Guy

August 26th, 2006 at 11:08 pm

TemplateHeaven, TemplateMonster, any template site is a poor choice. Those templates stress graphics over content and presentation over usefulness. They glorify silly visual effects, gradients, and smiley stock photos. They may give the illusion of greatness for about 10 mins, then you find the site is hard to navigate and useless. For a low budget get a simple, clean site that communications what your about, what your offering, and why a visitor should stay around.