My colleague Raika Wokoeck kindly agreed to write up this workshop for the blog:
As part of my Masters in Information and Library Studies I am completing a management course which requires me to write a business plan for a fictitious new service. If, however, you have only ever worked in Humanities based environment this can prove not only tricky but quite difficult. Yes, I’ve read the literature and I can write it in a Word document but putting theory into practice turned into a challenging task.
However, being an employee of The British Library does have its advantages, and I was able to attend one of the Business & IP Centre’s workshops on 16 March.
Lawrence Gilbert, the founder of Company Partners and Alan Gleeson of Palo Alto Software were presenting a comprehensive ‘how to do’ workshop on the do’s and don’ts of business plan writing. The attendees came from various backgrounds and were interested in start-up as well as continuing business plans, and contributed actively. This very interactive group made the workshop even more enjoyable.
After everyone introduced themselves, Lawrence started the half-day workshop by talking about the secrets of successful entrepreneurs. The part that I found the most helpful, however, was the following presentation on how to structure a business plan and what makes it a successful one. Lawrence provided a practical insight through case studies and examples helping us to understand the practicalities and purposes of a business plan.
At the end Alan took over and presented the Business Plan Pro software, how to use it and what it can do to help you writing your business plan… I so want this software now. There are two editions available, Premier (£129.99) and Standard (£79.99),
Sadly the workshop was the last one at Business & IP Centre for the time being due to funding issues, although I hope it will return soon. Keep an eye out for it on the Business & IP Centre website at or Palo Alto’s website.