How to Write a .Com Business Plan: The Internet Entrepreneur's Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Business Plans and Financing Options

The All-in-One Internet Entrepreneur's Guide to Success!
My goal in writing "How to Write a .Com Business Plan: The Internet Entrepreneur's Guide to Success!" was to provide current and future entrepreneurs with an all-in-one guide to every step required to achieve success on the e-biz highway.

I interviewed successful entrepreneurs, venture capital executives, and other e-commerce experts, and you'll find their advice -- and cautions -- detailed in the book.

For example, I interviewed Guy Kawasaki, founder of Garage.com; General Partner Kevin A. Fong of The Mayfield Fund, a Menlo Park-based venture capital partnership; Traci Van Der Vorste-Kaufman, creator of one of the most popular diet and nutrition sites on the Internet, and many more.

I then wove their wisdom in with the steps needed to create your own e-biz plan for success.

My step-by-step approach to creating your own dot-com business plan includes comprehensive worksheets for every task. By completing those worksheets, you'll have a detailed business plan designed especially for your unique e-biz. Also included in the book is a sample business plan to help you visualize the end result of your work.

And here's a bonus: the entire second half of the book is a "Dotcom Directory," packed with all the resources you need to create your Internet business and keep it on the path to continued success. Included in this directory are chapters on how to locate financing help, where to find the best e-commerce publications online, which are the best resources for women entrepreneurs, how to wend your way through the maze of government regulations, where to get freebies from the government, how to locate marketing statistics for your e-biz niche, what to do about security for your Web site, how to play the recruiting game, and much more.

Here's a sampling of the invaluable tips and resource gems that you'll find in my book:

- What are the most frequent errors made by entrepreneurs in their financial management plans? Learn why Kevin Fong, General Partner of the Mayfield Fund, says that the most common mistakes he notes in this section are "unrealistic hiring and unrealistic revenue expectations.

- Are you laboring over your Web site domain name, even investing big bucks in hiring consultants to come up with an instantly recognizable, marvelously memorable name for your dotcom? Consider this advice from Garage.com CEO and chairman Guy Kawasaki: "If the company had a killer domain, it would help. For example, loans.com, car.com, clothes.com, or garage.com. But a mediocre domain isn't a deal breaker."

- You've heard all the hype about venture capital funding and the gold obtainable for dotcoms via hat route. But just what is it? And how does it work? One click can answer all those questions if you know about the National Venture Capital Association...

- Which key e-biz publications should you read regularly? Check out my recommendations (you can find them all online) and decide which ones belong on your subscribe-now list, such as: Business 2.0..., The Standard (http://thestandard.net/), and Fast Company...

Succeed in the Wired World

Whether you're an entrepreneur with a great e-biz idea, a business owner who wants to enter the dot-com domain, or the owner of a popular but currently unprofitable Web site, you need a business plan to get your concept online, attract investors, and reap the benefits of the growing online business boom. How to Write a .Com Business Plan is the only "how-to" book that focuses on the unique needs and requirements of the online arena. Here you'll discover how to address the Internet-related subjects that distinguish online businesses from more conventional entrepreneurial pursuits, from search engines to site security. Using two fictional sites as case studies throughout the book, Silicon Valley journalist Joanne Eglash demystifies the creation and implementation of the business plan, complete with step-by-step checklists and interviews with successful Internet entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other e-commerce experts.

Learn how a well-developed dot-com business plan can help you: * Secure financing, wow prospective investors, and lure top employees* Lay out a roadmap for your future, both for you and your colleagues, for tomorrow--and the next five years* Evaluate how you can most effectively manage your business and market your product or service--and create a blueprint for implementation* Develop descriptions of your company, your financial projections, and ways you can beat the competition

... and much more, including an invaluable Dot-Com Directory to help you locate information about a range of relevant topics. From mission statements and financial management to choosing and registering that all-important make-or-break domain name to thereality of the long hours your newbiz-dot-com will require, this much-needed, easy-to-use guide will set you on a solid path to e-success today.