Rio and Buenos Aires Global Forums
Family, Friends and Fools are the three Fs you must first look to when finding investments for a start up.
Dr Mullins, Associate Professor of Management Practice in Entrepreneurship, visited Latin America for the Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires Global Forums, where he led sessions aimed at reducing the numbers of businesses failing at the first hurdle – the business plan.
The events were held in Rio at IBMEC on 29 October and followed on to Buenos Aires on 1 November at UCEMA.
Two alumni joined a panel of five experts in Rio, Fernando de la Riva (EMBAG2007), CEO Concrete Solutions and Walter de Mattos, Junior (LEP40) founder of Brazil’s biggest sports publication, Lance!
Alumni also joined the panel in Buenos Aires, including Stephen Alexander (MBA2004), founder of Casablanca Polo, who developed his business plan during his time at the School; Alejandro Dillon (ADP25), Managing Partner at Columbus – Merchant Banking and Enrique Duhau (IEMP98), Chairman Administacion E Duhau S.A.A.G who shared their experiences and provided valuable advice and guidance.
So what should you do before you write a business plan? Run a seven domains analysis which will
• Identify key weaknesses
• Suggest avenues for reshaping the opportunity if not mitigated by other domains
• Identify key strengths.
These are just three of Dr. Mullins tips on Entrepreneurship. You can find out more in his book, The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Writing a Business Plan (London: Prentice-Hall/FT, 2006), the definitive work on the assessment and shaping of market opportunities.