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Experts Views on the Value of Business Plans: Andrea Cockerton and Carlos Slim



Andrea Cockerton
Andrea Cockerton is Founder, Artist Director, and Pitch Consultant for The Dowsing Sound Collective. She also founded two other active companies, The Dosoco Foundation and Mudhut. Since 2004, she has advised nearly 500 entrepreneurs, CEOs, partners, trustees, and directors on “business critical pitches”. In a 2010 interview, when discussing a prior client’s success, Andrea commented that in her process, she sought to quiz her clients on everything an investor would ask because in any potential connection, investors would dig deeply to find out information about businesses. She stated that they “needed to know their facts inside out, and to prioritize in terms of what they wanted to say” (BrianofCambridge, 2010). This is absolutely a great suggestion. When crafting a business plan, it’s very important to know your business and be able to describe and provide details about the business better than anyone else. The pitch is arguably one of the most important parts of the business plan because if you cannot make it past the pitch, the full plan will never be viewed.

Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim is a Mexican business owner and is currently Forbes’s 4th Wealthiest Person in the World. Carlos has 10 business principles that he uses in his business. They include having simple organizational structures, minimal hierarchical levels, maintaining strength in good times to be able to avert drastic adjustments in times of crisis, and reinvesting profits. The principles that resonate most with me are “firm and patient optimism always yields its rewards” and “all times are good times for those who know how to work and have the means to do so”. Both of these are important things to understand about business. In my business plan, I will ensure that it is focused on steady growth because with a carefully thought plan comes a strong foundation and hopefully a recipe for longevity.

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References

Linkedin.com. (2016). Andrea Cockerton’s Profile. Retrieved from: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thedowsingsoundcollective

BrianofCambridge. (2010). “Andrea's joy as clients smash records “. Retrieved from: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/andreas-joy-clients-smash-records/story-22508048-detail/story.html

CarlosSlim.com. (2016). “The Ten Grupo Carso Principles”. Retrieved from: http://www.carlosslim.com/desde_ing.html

Forbes.com. (2016). “The World’s Billionaires”. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/profile/carlos-slim-helu/

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