Me speaking at Ajman University of Science & Technology in Dubai
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What inspired Me to Start This Business?
Me ~2008(?)
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You’ve been using my software, reading my blog, watching my videos…
I’ve been helping entrepreneurs and business owners for more than 40 years — mostly from within our Business Power Tools software apps and templates, and thru my blogs and book Business Black Belt, but now I’m making myself available to you.
My Background Click to Open →
What’s a nice guy like me doing in a business like this?
In the early ’80s, I was the electronics buyer and copywriter for the Sharper Image catalog. Later, I also sold some really cool word-processors in Silicon Valley. After Macs and PCs became popular, I started my own business creating sales literature for tech companies.
A friend had a deal going to sell his engineering software to Apple. They wanted to see his business plan to be sure his company would stay in business to upgrade and support the system. At the time, I viewed a business plan as an elaborate brochure that sold his concept to people at all levels, and responsibilities with various perceptions, biases, and interests. (I learned that from selling word-processors.)
We got the deal.
Over the next year, people came to me with some brilliant ideas, but their plans weren’t getting funded. I helped them fill in the missing parts to succeed. Along the way, I saw that business plans have a fundamentally universal structure. Hmmm…
What if I took all the content I’d developed, redacted everything proprietary, but filled in the blanks with a variety of customizable multiple-choice options, and offered it as a software template that many people could use…
This became BizPlanBuilder. And my new company took off!
We followed up with MarketingBuilder, which picked up where BizPlanBuilder left off, then we went even further with PRBuilder which included sample press release templates… In another direction, we added EmployeeManualBuilder and SafetyPlanBuilder full of actual policies and procedures.
Altogether, we had 10 products in about 3,500 retail stores and built a $12 million company with 30 employees…
I’ve been down the road you’re on…
Today, all of our products have been integrated into a streamlined online dashboard. And we’re the leader in business development software templates.
And they call me, “The man who launched a million businesses.”
In 1995, I was elected to the White House Conference on Small Business where I met with 1,800 other entrepreneurs from across the U.S. to discuss issues every business owner faces and to vote so congress could see what was important to us.
(I very much appreciate the support of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) who helped elect me.)
In 1996, I was nominated for Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award.
Twice, the Brazilian software council flew me to Belo Horizonte, Brazil to teach business planning to Brazilian entrepreneurs!
Also, since 2000, I have presented an ongoing series called The Thinking Behind Your Business Plan for CEO Space and other entrepreneurial organizations.
I have an extensive background in sales, marketing and management and I only bring a very practical approach to everything I do.
OK, let’s add my strengths & experience to yours
(If you haven’t taken the Gallup Clifton Strengths Assessment, I highly recommend that you do.)
Here are my top 5 strengths and how I can support you:
- Connectedness – I help others see connections and purpose in everyday life and sense every event is somehow the consequence of a series of actions, reactions, or lack of actions.
- Strategic – Faced with any given scenario, I can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues, and create alternative ways to proceed.
- Futuristic – inspired by the future and what could be, I energize others with their visions of the future to give them new perspectives on familiar challenges.
- Relator – I connect deeply with the right people and find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
- Intellection – I help people grasp elaborate and complicated ideas, processes, theories, or rules and help them stop and think in new ways. Why The Sharper Image catalog promoted me to copywriter.
Whether it’s business strategy or your mindset, we’ll figure it out…
I can quickly get to the root of the issue and point out some alternatives that may work well for you. So if there’s something you need to deal with (a customer, employee, financial situation, management issue, or yourself) and there’s no one else you can talk to about it…
Book Your Call With Me Here“I truly enjoyed listening to you and admire your simple, yet brilliant, perspective on things. You have a natural ability to break through complexities and make things seem simple.”
~ Sonya W., Santa Barbara, CA
Profit from my unique experience & perspective
We’ll keep it simple and easy to try on for size…
I’m happy to give you 30-minutes free to see if and where I can help you:
- Answer questions and give feedback on your business plan
— Things others aren’t aware of that may cause doubts - Jump-Start Your Business Plan
- Strategize about funding and investors
- Give you feedback on your investor presentation — Things investors may not tell you
- Review your financial model — a reality check before pitching your numbers
- Support your financing strategy and help prep you to speak with investors
- Talk about your marketing and selling strategy
- Discuss your business — Things you may not want to share with anyone else
- Personal issues, management advice, even difficult conversations
- Talk you off the ledge if you’re having a bad day or a catastrophic business issue!
- Or any place you feel stuck — like you just can’t get here from there…
We can cover a lot of ground in a half-hour.
I can coach you myself and/or I can refer you to one of our many
coaches or consultants who are better suited to handle a specific issue or project.
If you want to continue working together, we can make a new deal.
We can also create blocks of time and/or schedule regular weekly or monthly meetings.
“I have been a long-time customer of [JIAN] Business Power Tools using BizPlanBuilder and Marketing Builder to start several companies including one public company, with three more in the works. Your products have saved me MUCH time and energy. I also enjoyed your book, Business Black Belt — finding many parallels to my philosophies.”
~ Russ Benefield, Pompano Beach, FL
13 Weeks: “Your Plan is Ready”
Get your business roadmap set-up & launched
Funding Plan/Financial Model/Pitch Deck
Managing/Marketing/Selling Strategy
Anything You Want to Accomplish13 Weeks: $4,900
We meet via Skype or Zoom
for a 60-90 minute session every week
Upcoming entrepreneurial class or event?
Bring in the “Man who launched a million businesses™”
What your people can learn from me…
Since more than two million entrepreneurs, inventors and advisors have used my BizPlanBuilder business planning and other software, I like to think I’ve had a hand in their success.
For 10 years, I lead the business plan class at CEO Space. (A Forbes Magazine Top-Ten Conference)
Here’s a unique and powerful opportunity to apply the “awareness and mindfulness” of lessons learned from 40+ years of personal development work and workshops, martial arts, flying, and real-world business success applied to building companies…
Thank you Burke, for your powerful contribution to each person on Monday’s call! Your aliveness and generosity to each person was a perfect fit for them, as they are in the middle of their 90day program. You challenged each one to expand the context of their business, engage with full aliveness, and to take on a new level of professionalism. I would love to do this again, in the future!!”
~ MichelJoy DelRe, MillionaireMindMastery.com
I’ll share what I’ve learned from building my own business over 30+ years, compounded by creating software to help others build theirs.
I speak about entrepreneurship, business development and, most-importantly, mind-set.
I’m honored to have been a featured speaker at many business conferences, trade shows, colleges, and startup events.
Let’s talk about what you want me to bring to your party.
Presentation topics:
“Startup & Growth Lessons Learned”
- Highlights of 30 years of business development tips
- Conscious business practices
- What it’s going to take?
- The application of purpose
- Critical issues about investors
- Improve yourself, improve your business
- Planning & Strategy
- ~60-minutes
- Watch this Presentation (It’s with another popular podcaster.)
“Burke, I’ve attended quite a few events in the past few decades, and believe your presentation is unique, and applicable to a lot of entrepreneurs. Having been an entrepreneur since 1988, more than once hanging on by a fingernail, handicapped by not knowing what I didn’t know. I think the compendium of tools you have compiled in the last 30 years can be lifesavers.” ~ Jim Wong, Lt. Colonel, USMC Retired, California Veterans Chamber of Commerce
“How to Build Your Business Without Funding”
- Perhaps my most popular topic
- All the things you can do to get up and running that cost nothing
- Including ideas and insights for becoming ready for investors
- …which also builds momentum attractive to investors!
- 90-minutes
- Watch this Presentation
“I just finished watching your video about how to raise capital. Brilliant just absolutely freaking brilliant!!! ~ Aaron Parnell, Creator, Reposturing®
“The Thinking Behind Your Business Plan”
- In 90-minutes, I walk your group through an entire business plan and teach them exactly what investors and lenders are looking for to fund their companies
- Ideally, everyone has a copy of my BizPlanBuilder on their laptop so they can follow along with the real product
- Questions are invited
- It’s a very popular subject at entrepreneurial conferences
- It’s actually a consolidation of the videos on the Business Plan Coaching page with current events and stories as bonus anecdotes
- Watch this Presentation
“Verbal Awareness — Your Words Are the Seeds of Your Manifestation”
- or “How Conscious Language Leads to Business Success”
- If you describe what you want in terms of what you don’t want, what do you expect?
- We live in a world of double negatives. The world has issues. Coincidence?
- Don’t think of an elephant… (Now, there’s an elephant in our conversation!)
- What else do we say that triggers un/wanted images and emotions?
- You’ll cringe at what you’ve been saying, but, with practice, things will turn-around.
- 40-minutes
- Watch this Presentation →
They liked me! They really liked me! 😎😘😆
“As from last semester, your guest lecture last night was so well received and appreciated by the students.
“Best advice on starting a business!”
“Wow! He makes me believe I can start a business!”
“So real, so funny!” and
“That was incredible!” were just some of the comments.
Thank you so much for taking the time to prepare and deliver another inspiring guest lecture. Thanks again and very best,”
~ Dr. Sarah McCue, Instructor, Georgetown University, Graduate School of Business, Capstone Course, Washington, DC
“Burke Franklin is brilliant. He takes the time to truly understand your business, suggest your best strategic options, and then helps you implement those strategies and tactics with steadfast support. He doesn’t just disappear once the deal is closed. I highly recommend him.”
~ Denise Dorman, WriteBrain Media
“I’m always hesitant about reading business books written by so called consultants. Anyone can give himself the title of consultant. All they have to do is read a couple of books on the latest business trends and start using the jargon picked up from the reading. What I love about Business Black Belt is that Burke Franklin has been down the road, up and down, several times. His is a narration from the trenches of battle, not from the comfort of a battle cruiser a few miles out at sea.
He tells it to you with all the gory details that business life entails. Most of the books that are out there right now are written by infopreneurs that are trying capitalizing on our thirst for answers. Alas, most of these writers’ knowledge of business consists of cashing the checks they receive from their publishers. The wisdom contained in this book is more valuable than what you’ll learn from reading all the current business bestsellers. Buy this book. You can thank me when you’re done.”
– Adolfo Bernal Jr. (Austin, TX)
