Writing business plans has become a science and there are a plethora of books, seminars, and courses (even graduate and doctoral level) that address the mechanics of writing a business plan. Many business plans even include detailed five year forecasts that everyone knows are utterly unreliable and serve only to check whether the writers are able to put together a coherent plan that mirrors classical organizational models - "Management 101" so to speak.
Investors however are primarily interested in understanding the probability of the venture succeeding, and whether it is more attractive than other investment opportunities. ValueNetworks.com supports business plan writers and investors in addressing these issues by (a) determining whether the ecosystem of the planned venture is resilient, flexible and encompassing enough to ensure success, and (b) accurately identifying the value that will be created by the venture within the ecosystem of relevance.
In respect to point (a) the greatest benefit of a Value Network Analysis (VNA) is being able to benchmark the value network of the business venture with the historical data of other ventures that have been funded. By comparing the venture against other successful ones in respect to value network indicators, the investor gains an understanding of the extent that patterns for success are being duplicated. The important point here is that these patterns are largely independent of the specific context of the venture. Depending on the phase of the venture the roles, participants, interactions and sequences all show typical structures of maturity and supportability.
Regarding point (b) the value network shows the key tangible and intangible deliverables and transactions of the venture ecosystem. Mapping these allows savvy investors to determine the appropriate value creation profiles and patterns. They can then compare the ideal patterns to the explicit messages of the venture candidate and the expectations of the investors. Many funded organizations, for example, bet their success on innovations that generate different value profiles than expected by the various stakeholders. Making this transparent is the first step toward synchronizing the governance of investments with an appropriate operational focus.
Data required for the ValueNetworks.com application derives from manual website analyses, a qualitative evaluation of business plan documentation and the comparative evaluation of the proposed value network with benchmark data. Additional potential sources of information include industry statistics and success stories of other ventures. Data is aggregated either manually and then imported into the application, or fed directly into the application in a sequenced aggregation process. Generating value creation thumbprints is based on taxonomies of deliverables integrated into the ValueNetworks.com data model. Investors would be well served including a venture value network and value creation profile as a mandatory component of business plans.
If you have questions or wish more information please contact us at info@valuenetworks.com.
Other topics in this series: | 
