The New Business Road Test
What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan
Starting your own business is a daunting task. No matter how talented you are,
no matter how much capital you have, no matter how good your business plan is, if you’re
pursuing a fundamentally flawed opportunity you’re heading for failure. So before
spending time and money on a new enterprise it’s vital to know if your idea is actually
going to work in practice. The New Business Road Test shows you how to avoid the obvious
mistakes that everyone else makes.
The new edition of this best-selling book features:
• A new version of the 7 domains model.
• Updated case studies that reflect the changes that have happened in the
last four years.
• Chapter 13 has been rewritten to make the Industry Analysis Checklist more
understandable.
• A new author run companion website for readers to access extra information.
John Mullins
, a veteran of three entrepreneurial ventures, teaches and studies
entrepreneurship and the management and financing of rapidly growing businesses, as a
professor, at the London Business School and the University of Denver. He holds an MBA
from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a PhD in Marketing from the University
of Minnesota. He is co-author of Marketing Management: A strategic decision making
approach (McGraw Hill/ Irwin 2002) and of Marketing Strategy' A decision focused approach
(McGraw Hill/ Irwin 2002).
Table of Contents
Why read this book?
Author's acknowledgements
Publisher's acknowledgements
PART 1: ROAD TEST YOUR NEW BUSINESS IDEA
1. My opportunity: why will or won't this work?
2. Will the fish bite?
3. Is this a good market?
4. Is this a good industry?
5. How long will your advantage last?
6. What drives your entrepreneurial dream?
7. Can you and your team execute?
8. Your connections matter: which matter most?
9. Putting the seven domains to work to develop your opportunity
10. What to do before you write your business plan
PART 2: TOOLKITS FOR YOUR ROAD TEXT
11. How to learn what you don't know you don't know
12. Market analysis worksheet
13. Industry analysis checklist
14. Determining the viability of your business model
15. Do-it-yourself marketing research for your new business road test
16. Evidence-based forecasting
17. Getting help with your road test
Appendix - Research methodology
Notes
Index
336 pages, Paperback