Joi has an interesting note of a new phenomenon: write a business plan, recruit staff, find some early financing, create the web site and services, launch the company and sell it on ebay, just in 24 HOURS ! Funny phenomenon. This idea should expand into global contests ;)
On another note, Philippe Laferrière is asking whether he should go public with his business plan as he develops it, and whether he should take feedback from us all, or try to protect his ideas. I think he should go public to some extent. More on his blog. Extract from my reply there:
"I would suggest you discuss the value proposition (describe the market pain fully), some products & services (don't describe them in too much detail), some market analysis (but don't give away your sources), your overall revenue and cost models (but don't discuss specific values, sensitivity analysis or cash-flow statements), team profile (but don't give out names), and risk analysis (but not on how you are going to minimize them). Finally do not disclose your implementation plans in detail until you are confident you have created some barrier to entry (patents, exclusive rights to something, etc.)."
By the way, there are many many ressources on the web to help you write a business plan. Most venture capitalists will have a page on how to do it better. This is another ressource. HEC has also an online tool to check the validity of business plans.
