Let me give you a brief overview about the business plan that we suggest that you create. And then I'm going to suggest a supplementary or complimentary approach to the business plan. Remember, at the very start of the first of the courses in this specialization, discovering ideas. We said that creativity is widening the range of choices. Well, you have a choice despite this capstone project that requires you to write a business plan, and we'll describe that choice a bit later. First, the business plan template. So here is a framework for writing a business plan. The first and most important is called the need. The need means I've explored the market, talked to people, did introspection, and I've identified something that people need and want, but that want isn't satisfied, because the product doesn't exist. After the need, Part 2, the product. Describe how you will meet the need in a certain amount of detail as concrete as you can. The third part, unique features. Where is your wow? What is unique? What is special about your product that doesn't exist? Remember, as a startup, you're facing incumbents, people who are in the market already. Unless you have some unique feature or features that people really, really love that don't exist, you'll be struggling in an uphill battle. So Part 3, unique features. Part 4, the Market. Who is your market? Who are you aiming at? Be specific, be concrete. And bottom up, describe one customer. Who is that customer? Who's expressed interest in your product, if it existed. Be concrete. To start a business, you just need one or two customers. If there are one or two customers, chances are there are a lot more. And then Part 5, a crystal ball. Look into your crystal ball and talk about future developments. Where is the market heading? How will your products, your second and third generation products, meet future needs? So that you have your thinking directed to the future beyond the success of that first product. Some startups have one product really successful, but they haven't thought about what comes next, and they fail. So I want to talk to you about something called a non-business plan. And another story, inevitably, I'm a storyteller. I taught in an MBA program in France for many years. And at one point, I was tired of reading my MBA student's brilliant science fiction, which took the form of business plans. And I asked my students, please do a non-business plan. Instead of writing words and numbers on pieces of paper, things that you dream of, I want you to get up from your desk and from your chairs, get out of the building, get into the street, talk to real people, get into the world. And every day for two weeks, do several tangible actions every single day that move your business forward and make your ideas happen. Thought is important, but it's not a substitute for action. And sometimes as professors, well, we tend to mistake thought for action. But ideas are validated when it become products and reach the market. One of my students was named Jake. He was American, and he had a good idea. And he grabbed my suggestion for a non-business plan, and he ran with it. And for two weeks, he went out into the field, and each day, did 10 or 12 things that moved his business forward. And we are making you available, both his business plan for his business. It's actually a liquor based on a drink developed in West Africa, in Benin, an African country. And the company is Tambour, and we are making available to you his business plan, which launched a successful business. Now doing well in America, and his non-business plan describing all the actions that he took to move his business forward. So dear learners, again, thanks a million for taking our specialization. Thank you especially for persisting. You're among a fairly small minority who have stuck it out and got to the end of the startup specialization and are doing this capstone project. Welcome to the project. Thanks for your persistence and your resilience in completing the previous three courses. And I'd like you to know that the finish line of this marathon is within sight. As you begin this project, I want you to know that I'm with you, and I support you. And I'll do my best to answer your queries, and I try hard to follow the discussion forms and to respond to a possible questions. So let's all enjoy this entrepreneurship journey together. It's a hard journey. Sometimes it's stressful, it's painful, it's worrisome, but challenging and enjoyable, and we have the possibility of changing the world for a lot of people. Let's make the process itself of entrepreneurship as much our goal as the final product. Final product being a winning startup. Good luck to you all, and I can't wait to see your ideas and your business plans and your non-business plan diaries. Good luck to you all.
