Business Plan Part 1: Preparation

Describe an original idea for a product or service you think you can develop and sell.

A service that I think I can sell would be motivational speaking. I can also develop and sell books. The most inspiring and successful motivation speakers are those with a personal story of success that can be passed on to audiences (Marsden, ehow.com). I know this because I am currently doing speeches now and will eventually author books. I choose this path because I have always been a talker. Every since a child, I have loved to speak in front of crowds. I would love to read the Sunday school minutes. I was then introduced to Toastmasters International Speaking Club and was advised of how well of a speaker I am. I did not believe it at first. I then begin to see it because people demanded me to speak so they could hear me. I decided I could make this a career, so I started speaking. Now I am four speeches away from having my Advanced Communicator Silver with Toastmasters. Once it is obtained, I will only have one more level to reach out of five, which is the Advanced Communicator Gold. I am also working on becoming an accredited speaker through Toastmaster. Once I become an accredited speaker, I will be able to charge for my speeches versus accepting whatever donations are provided. Once my speaking career takes off, I will venture off into authoring books. I think I can sell books because I am an excellent speaker and people will want to read my books. Once they hear about me, everyone will not be able to come and see me, so I will be able to put my products over the world by selling books. I will be the type of entrepreneur to help solve problems in the society. Social entrepreneurs recognize a societal problem and use business principles to develop innovative solutions (Kurtz, 2010, p.184). By me knowing the category I fall in, as an entrepreneur, this will help me get into the market.
Explain the need for the new product or service, including the problems your idea will address.
The product will not be new, but I will be new to the industry. A new fresh face and fresh ideas in the market is exciting for anyone. In today’s time, there is a major need for motivational speakers. With the economy coming out of a recession, gas prices fluctuating, teens having children, college students going wild, and adults having no where to turn, motivational speaking is always needed. As long as humans continue to walk the earth, someone, somewhere will need encouraging. By reminding people there is still hope means a lot. Many people sit alone and wish they had someone to talk with. I will also have different offices located around the country where I will be in and out of the offices at different times and people can set up appointments to come in and see me. Instead of killing the entire family because a parent has lost work, come see me and let’s talk about it. Instead of children killing themselves because of bullying, come see me and let’s talk about it. Instead of a teen thinking they can find love in a young man because her father was not there, come see me and let’s talk about it. The world needs someone they can look to for hope. They want someone who can tell them things will get better, because they will. The greatest fear of change is adjusting.

Describe the industry to which your product or service idea belongs, and the likely competition you will face.
Motivational speaking falls into the motivational industry. Marsden (ehow.com) stated, nevertheless, at its core, motivational speaking is an industry, with many competitive factors that make the difference between a successful speaking business and an unsuccessful one. The competition I will face as a motivational speaker is other speakers. I will have to find something special in my messages to set me apart, which will be my story to success. My story from a small town, leaving going to college with only $20.00 to my name, mother not knowing how I was going to make it, and four years later I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. I have a certain boldness about my speech and fearlessness and many people tell me it’s the God in me. I would have to agree and I do understand it will set me apart, because he tells me what to say in the speeches I have currently done and every time, I get a standing ovation. The wider a speaker’s reach and fame is, the more in demand and highly paid he will be (Marsden, ehow.com). If a motivational speaker makes himself or herself available over many airwaves the greater chance they will have at becoming a more popular speaker.

Speculate on the chances for success with your venture, supporting your speculation with facts.
Becoming a successful motivational speaker right now is a good thing. With times being so hard and jobs being at an all time low, people need encouraging words. If you have ever considered becoming a motivational speaker or at least adding a motivational component to your topic, NOW is the time (Steve, 2011). With a company as large as Toastmasters behind my name, this is also a chance for success. Many people know the name Toastmasters and believe in the name. Once I receive accreditation through the Toastmasters, I am then seeking accreditation through the National Speakers association and so many other clubs. By joining these clubs and putting my name out there, other people will help as well. People who work at developing strong clusters of networks across a broad cross-section of interests, age groups, demographics and cultures can often wield enormous positive or negative influence (Henderson, extract). I will have great success and be a well-known motivation speaker.

References

Henderson, R. Understanding Influence for Leaders at all Levels of Management for Today.
Extract. Retrieved July 18, 2012 from http://www.aim.com/au/publications/bkchapters/influence_ch5.html

Krutz, D.L. (2010). Contemporary Business. John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Marsden, C. What are the Competitive Factors for Motivational Speaking? EhowMoney. Retrieved July 18, 2012 from http://www.ehow.com/info_8597296_competitive -factors- Motivational-speaking.html

Steve (2011). Motivational Speakers Needed. Public Speakers Blog. Retrieved July 18, 2012 From www.publicspeakersblog.speechworkshop.com/motivational-speakers-needed/