hurdle book business planning pdf

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Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning

"The value of a (business) plan is the decisions it influences..."

Stanford Professor Emeritus, James March

Quoted by Tim Berry in Hurdle

"He is obviously a genius. He agrees with me."

Steven J Roy, after a wine tasting...

Hurdle emphasizes creating and implementing a working business plan-something quite different from the sterile, academically-correct document many business plan guides espouse.

Hurdle provides excellent introductory coverage of

* Cash flow planning and its relation to profit planning;

* Goal setting, milestones and accountability; and includes

* A section on capital sources that is as realistic as it is informative. (What are a startup's chances of getting venture funding? Slim to none.)

Hurdle also includes the only presentation of variance analysis I`ve seen in a business plan book.

It has always baffled me why business plan authors/instructors think it is absolutely necessary to know, to at least four significant decimal places, that your company controls a miniscule share of a very large market. Apparently, Berry (A co-founder of Borland International) has felt the same befuddlement.

Hurdle spends few words on how to correctly quantify, e.g. your market share. It says a great deal about how to present what is useful (or practical) to your plan's intended audience. If you follow Berry's guidelines, you won't produce a "plan" that gets shoved into a drawer and remains there,testimony to your prowess with internet searches, word processing, and spreadsheet software and a memorial to your ability to follow meaningless instructions. Instead, you will learn about your business and convey that knowledge to your audience.

Formally, Hurdle consists of seven sections, two sample plans, a workbook, glossary, and index. Each section begins with observations that underscore practical applications for the material that follows:

* Part 1: Fundamentals "As you start the planning process, begin with a general view of the whole project. Review your goals and consider your options."

* Part 2: Tell Your Story "A standard business plan includes company background information,history, and basic descriptions."

* Part 3: Gathering Information "A good plan will include information about your market, your customers, and the business you are in."

* Part 4: Forecasting "Forecasting is more art than science, a combination of good research,logic, simple math, and educated guessing. It's hard to forecast, but it's harder to run a business without forecasting."

* Part 5: Financial Analysis "The financials aren't as hard as you think, particularly if you have the patience to follow the steps. A good plan includes sales, cash flow, profits, and related financials."

* Part 6: Strategy and Tactics "Strategy is focus. You also need tactics to implement the strategy,and tactics require concrete milestones and well defined management accountability."

* Part 7: Following Up "Ultimately, the impact of your plan depends on how you manage and implement it, how it's presented, and to whom."

If you have time to read only three chapters, make sure you read:

* Chapter 3: The Mini-Plan (The only place, other than my own practice, that I have ever encountered this extremely useful shortcut.)

* Chapter 19: Plan for Implementation (How to breathe life into your plan and sustain it.)

* Chapter 20: Print and Publish (The importance of letting other people know what the goals and expectations are.)

Hurdle is also a life raft cum life support system for Palo Alto Software's very affordable business plan software, Business Plan Pro (now in its eleventh incarnation). I have not reviewed the software.Manifesting my preference for doing everything the hard way, I customize my own. To test drive the software go to Palo Alto's website ( http://www.paloalto.com/  ).

While there, review some of their other software and publications. The advertising copy for one publication (Berry's The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan) is a near-perfect synopsis of Hurdle:

... plan for your company's sake, not for planning's sake.

... block all thoughts of overwhelming, traditional, formal, cookie-cutter business plans and embrace an easier, more practical, modern business plan--the plan that evolves with your business and allows you to start building your business now.

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Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning: How to Develop and Implement a Successful Business Plan

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Title: Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning: How ...

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Publication Date: 2003

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Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning Paperback – October 31, 1999

Purchase options and add-ons.

Includes concrete, detailed advice on how to actually manage and implement your plan. Also includes two sample plans, plan comparisons, as well as sections on starting your business, financing a business, and running your business.

• Print length 292 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Palo Alto Software
• Publication date October 31, 1999
• Dimensions 8.94 x 7.52 x 0.71 inches
• ISBN-10 0966489128
• ISBN-13 978-0966489125
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

From the author.

He was very right, although I was fairly smug about my successes and didn't like his response. And the underlying lesson is vital to this book.

About the Author

Berry holds a Stanford MBA degree, an MA with honors from the University of Oregon, and a BA magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Palo Alto Software (October 31, 1999)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0966489128
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0966489125
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.94 x 7.52 x 0.71 inches

About the author

Just Google “business plan expert” and you’ll see that Tim Berry is the world’s leading expert on business planning. Well-known author Pamela Slim calls him the Obi-wan Kenobi of business planning. Small business radio host Jim Blasingame calls him “the world guru on business planning.” He’s the expert other experts turn to. He’s been interviewed on business planning by CNN, Forbes, USA Today, Guy Kawasaki, and others.

But he’s not just a business plan expert; he’s also a successful entrepreneur. He built Palo Alto Software from zero to 40 employees, multimillion-dollar sales, no debt, and 70% market share without outside investment. He was also founder of bplans.com, and co-founder of Borland International, which went from zero to more than $50 million annual sales in less than four years. He’s involved in several current startups, has raised venture capital, and is an active investor member of the Willamette Angel Conference.

He pioneered business plan software, designing and developing Business Plan Pro, which was the first successful business plan application and the inspiration for LivePlan, the web app. He’s also the author of The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan, published in 2008 by Entrepreneur Press, co author of 3 Weeks to Startup, published by Entrepreneur Press; and Sales and Market Forecasting for Entrepreneurs, published in 2010 by Business Expert Press.

He has a Stanford MBA degree and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. He taught "Starting a Business" at the University of Oregon for 11 years.

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Hurdle, the book on business planning : how to develop and implement a successful business plan

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