QUICK-LAUNCH BUSINESS PLAN
AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
SEGMENT 1A


	Welcome to the Quick-Launch Business Plan training 
session.  This is the Quick-Launch Business Plan session, brought to you by 
Virginia Commonwealth University's START-UP-USA and Griffin-Hammis Associates. 

       This session covers multiple segments.  Throughout this presentation, 
we'll be stopping so you can go off for a day or two or a couple of hours, 
depending on your schedule, and work on your business plan. Then you can come 
back to the next section.  

       Throughout this session, you'll be referring to a variety of documents 
attached to the web site. You will be downloading the documents.  You will be 
following along, manipulating, editing, and putting your own information into the 
documents.  We're going to start with how we got to this point in the first place?

	Generally we recommend that you do a thorough Discovery process.  That's 
an assessment process to figure out if self-employment for a person happens to 
answer the two critical questions of discovery.  These two questions are:  Who 
is this person? And, what are the ideal conditions of employment for him/her?

	Discovery involves a series of interviews. The interviews are on-site 
explorations to figure out who this person is.  Where is he or she at their best?  
What kind of supports does he or shee need in a variety of environments? This happens 
through conversation.  It often happens through a team process.  It's an 
information-gathering process that allows the people assisting the prospective 
business owner to figure out a good ecological fit between the person and the 
business model.

	Now, you're going to watch another presentation by Michael Callahan on 
Discovery.  It is referenced on the web site.  

You should be sure that before you're starting a business for somebody
that you have done the Discovery assessment process, unless you and the 
person are thoroughly convinced that it is the business he or she absolutely, 
positively wants to get into.  

We highly recommend Discovery as the assessment process and then a planning 
process to make sure that you're going down the right road for that person. 

	We advise you to watch the presentation by Michael Callahan on 
Discovery.  Pay attention to what Michael has to tell you.  Then come back 
and go to the business planning portion.  

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