We've often heard of how difficult it can be for entrepreneurs to get the financing they require to start or expand their businesses. Would you be willing to rework your business plan if it could improve your chances of success? Let me introduce you to my friend and former colleague, Norm Greenwood.
Norm Greenwood has been involved with the small business community for over 25 years. Norm has assisted, counselled and mentored hundreds of businesses of all sizes and in many areas. He has also taught at various educational institutions including Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), the NAIT Entrepreneur Center, Grant MacEwan University, and the University of Alberta. His business and mentoring skills have been recognized across Western Canada and among his peers.
After reading this account, please read my note at the end of this post regarding a special video clip that provides some additional perspective on this story.Now, here's a great story that Norm shares:
I was working as a volunteer mentor with the TEC Edmonton VenturePrize Business Plan Competion. I received a call from an individual who was looking at starting a very unique company that would be working in the media, electronics field. He had been working for a large firm that did electronic background work with ads, films and other such media clients. He was highly skilled in his field and knew that his expertise would be needed by a small market in Alberta and maybe western Canada.
He registered for the VenturePrize program and took the required sessions. He then developed his first Business Plan and a first meeting was arranged. Just a quick side note here ... at the time I was working with the Alberta Government as a Senior Business Consultant and the Department had 2 very bright co-op students working with the unit. Both students were taking Business and Marketing so I asked the client if he would allow me to bring these 2 students on-board as part of the team to work on his project. He was happy to have the students assist with his plan and the students were trilled to work with an actual client and real business plan.
At the first meeting, the client presented his business plan and went over the package in some detail. As the advisory team, we asked various questions for our clarification. We spent a lot of time just going over various sections as well as the market for his services. The client had a very rough business plan. It was incredibly detailed around the technical side of the business, but contained very little on all the other key areas that would be required by the program and other parties. His objective was to secure $250,000 in financing for the purchase of some key electronic equipment. The client had some assets, but his main collateral was his technical knowledge and personal contacts in the sector.
The meeting went fairly well. The client understood the 'next steps' and that the next meeting would get down to the nuts and bolts of building a business plan that would be more suitable for the program. The students were so excited after this meeting that we ended up sitting around for a few hours discussing what happened, how to proceed with the client and their roles. Each student was given a specific area to review, asked to come back with recommendations and, if possible, examples for the client.
The next meeting was a tough one. We had to tell the client that his business plan was really a technical 'how to' document and not a real business plan. The second meeting with the client was the real deciding meeting. We laid out our views, recommendations and asked the client if he was prepared to accept our advice and rewrite his business plan with our suggestions. The client was a little taken back that we were not totally impressed with his plan, but after some good discussion, did agree that his plan lacked some key areas. He agreed to take our advice to go back and think things over. At this point it was now up to the client to decide what he wants to do, or not do. To his credit, the client called back in a few days and stated that he agreed with most of our suggestion. He would now do a major rewrite of his business plan that would reflect our advice.
The client called about a week later and stated that he had an updated version of his business plan and would like the team to review this new package. We met with the client and were really surprised that he had incorporated all of our suggestions. He actually had a new draft business plan that started to look like a real business plan, complete with all the key areas identified and addressed. Again we reviewed the plan and offered some new suggestions for him to consider. We had four additional meetings with the client. Each was a positive experience as we worked to refine the information in the plan. The students were learning a whole new side to business and how to work with a real client.
The client finally had a plan that he submitted. He did not win the business plan competition but the story has a happy ending. This fellow was able to approach his own bank, who reviewed the business plan and actually gave him the money required for the needed equipment. The Bank stated they were very impressed with the plan as it laid out all the areas that they required for the loan. The client was totally pleased and stated that he would never have been able to meet the bank requirements if he had not listened to the team. The client also invited the team to his open house and they continued to work with me for about a year, just to keep him on the plan.
Thanks for sharing that story Norm! For another perspective on this story and other insights, Norm Greenwood provides some interesting comments in the video interview that we did with him several months ago. Feel free to view that video on our YouTube Channel.
