Operations Planning Checklist

1. Key operational objectives and strategies
2. Location and facilities
3. Equipment and technology
4. Labor requirements
5. Inventory management
6. Supply channels
7. Distribution channels
8. Research and development
9. Legal Requirements
10. Order fulfillment and customer service
11. Capacity utilization
12. Critical processes
13. Quality control
14. Safety, health, and environmental concerns
15. Management information systems
16. Other operational concerns
17. Start-up budget
18. Operating budget

How to Write a Resume

Here is a link to the slide deck from a seminar I did at the University of Arizona for grad students transitioning to positions in industry. In particular, it addresses the process of creating a good industry-focused resume. -Jim

Tips for Picking the Right Opportunity

1. You and your team are passionate and persistent ...
2. Your team has or can learn the skills needed ...
3. Your team can collaborate and cooperate ...
4. The problem is clear ...
5. The customers are readily identified ...
6. The market is significant ...
7. You have a feasible solution ...
8. The competition is identifiable ...
9. Your solution has better and sustainable benefits ...
10. Your solution can generate a sustainable profit ...
11. Your venture is timely, important, legal ...
12. Your venture can build barriers to entry ...
13. Your concept is scalable ...
14. You'll invest less time, money, and effort in the venture than it will be worth in a couple of years ...
15. If the opportunity turns out to be less than favorable, you can exit with minor losses ...
16. Risks can be mitigated ...
17. The upside potential is significant and timely ...
18. Your team has a clear plan for success ...
19. Your team can find the resources needed ...
20. You and your team are committed to success ...
21. The opportunity has a potential for long-term success ...

Competitive Creativity Mindmap

For 20+ years, I taught in a University of Arizona entrepreneurship program.  This Innovation Impact Mindmap started on the whiteboard in my office, a graphic schematic of the course syllabus.  

A syllabus is sequential, but innovation and entrepreneurship usually is not.  They bounce around a bit, from here to there and round again. 

The whiteboard version was fairly simple, but useful.  Students and colleagues took pictures of it for reference.  So, I thought, why not elaborate it just a little bit?  

[OK, OK, so maybe a little bit more than just a little bit!]  

I've added elements that I thought would be most useful, but certainly not all apply to every new venture! The "main highway" is the mission statement, highlighted in yellow.

Think of this Mindmap as a checklist of the elements you might want to visit as you travel around on your new venture adventure! 

High resolution versions are available HERE.

--Jim

Technology Readiness Levels

Thanks to NASA and the European Commission for this succinct guide to the readiness of technology ideas and concepts for commercial application.

 

The Entrepreneur's Creed

1. Do what gives you energy ... have fun!
2. Figure out what can go right and make it happen.
3. Say "can do" rather than "cannot" or "maybe."
4. Illegitimi non carforundum: tenacity and creativity will triumph.
5. Anything is possible if you believe you can do it.
6. If you don't know it can't be done, then you'll go ahead and do it.
7. The cup is half-full, not half-empty.
8. Be dissatisfied with the way things are, and look for improvement.
9. Do things differently.
10. Don't take a risk if you don't have to ... but take a calculated risk if it's the right opportunity for you.

[Thank you, Jeffry A. Timmons and Stephan Spinelli]

Innovation Hot Spots

While innovation is often associated with new products, new gizmo-gadgets, a broader perspective shows innovation occurring in many areas of a business and often has little or nothing to do with products.

Here are some key areas of innovation opportunity for a business venture ...

1. Products (yes, still high on the list, of course!)
2. Services
3. Processes
4. Business methods
5. Business model
6. Revenue model
7. Positioning (relative to the competition)
8. Paradigm (a combination of several innovation areas)

Phases of Innovation

1. Preparation ... focus on the problem or opportunity, and who it affects
2. Exploration ... identify current solutions, alternatives, and substitutes
3. Stimulation ... use creativity techniques to trigger new ideas, concepts, and solutions
4. Incubation ... give the new ideas some time and thought
5. Illumination ... identify new ideas, concepts, and solutions
6. Selection ... establish and use clear criteria for selecting the "best" concept
7. Planning ... decide how to implement the concept
8. Implementation ... put the plan and concept to work
9. Evaluation ... determine if the new concept is working
10. Iteration ... apply incremental improvement to the concept, or start over

Brainstorming!

A good way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas from which to choose! Brainstorming is a Creativity Supertool!

1. Brainstorming is a team sport ... support your team members!
2. No criticism ... no "devil's advocates" allowed!
3. Anything goes … wild, crazy, impractical, ingenious ideas encouraged!
4. Go for quantity, not quality, of ideas!
5. All ideas encouraged!
6. Piggyback, improve, combine ideas ... be an "angel advocate"!
7. Record all ideas so nothing gets lost!
8. Filter ideas later, not during the brainstorming session!
9. Set a time limit for the session, then stick to it!

Variation ... brainwriting: the general process is that, in a group, ideas are recorded by each individual who thought of them ... they are then passed on to the next person who uses them as a trigger for their own ideas.

The Critical Success Factor

There are multiple factors that directly influence the health and wealth of business ventures. These factors may be diverse and different depending on the nature of the business. The Critical Success Factor, however, is common to virtually all business ventures.

The Critical Success Factor: Earn Rewards Solving Customer Problems Better than the Competition. It is do, or die. A venture dies for one of three reasons: 1] It didn't earn a profit; 2] It didn't solve its customer's problems; 3] It wasn't better than the competitive alternatives.

Earn Rewards Solving Customer Problems Better than the Competition ... The Critical Success Factor for all business ventures.

Critical ... having the potential to become disastrous
Success ... attains prosperity
Factor ... a circumstance that contributes to an outcome

* Earn ... Teamwork!  A business employs a team of people working together to continually and profitably solve customer problems better than competing alternatives. Healthy, growing ventures follow a clear business model. An educated, experienced, collaborative, communicative team with key core competencies is paramount to success.

* Rewards ... The monetary value captured by a business is appropriately called earnings. After all expenses are accounted, earnings become profit. Profit is a reward for doing a good job solving customer problems. A key source of growth funding for a business venture is earned profit. While the profit reward is "financial", the reward can and should have other elements, too. In a healthy venture culture it can actually be "fun" going to work and being part of the team, and their may well be some "fame" that results from delivering valued solutions to customers.

* Solving ... Solutions to customer problems are typically combinations of products, services, process, and methods. However, the world keeps changing as do customers and competitors. Solving customer problems, new and old, is a continuing process for sustaining a healthy venture.

* Customer ... Customers are the primary source of revenue for a business venture. Some business ventures may have only a few key customers, others may have many. A group of customers that share similar traits comprise a market segment. Many business ventures may serve multiple and varied market segments. A business venture exists to serve its customers.

* Problems ... Customer needs, wants, desires, and situations that can be adequately addressed  and resolved in a reasonable time and expense are good opportunities for a business venture.

* Better ... Continually improving value is critical to sustaining a competitive advantage. Scientists and engineers often think about innovative solutions in terms of the fit, form, function, features, and performance. The entrepreneur thinks in terms of the benefits customers will receive. Value is measured by comparing the benefits to the price. Value can be increased by delivering better benefits to customers, by lowering the price, or both. Customers decide what offers the better value. In the long run, the products, services, processes, and methods that deliver a better value win the business.  In short: Value = Benefits / Price

* Competition ... There are (almost) always competing solutions and ventures from other sources that are directly comparable to our solution. This competition includes indirect alternatives, substitutes, and replacements that could serve customer requirements. Best to assume we have competition, even if we don't yet know who or what. Competition is not always a bad thing ... competitors can help validate and build new markets, and sometimes competitors can become collaborative partners.