Urban Innovation21 Small Business Grant Competition
Writing your Business Plan Summary
The Made to Stick
Success Model
A sticky idea is understood, it is remembered and it changes something. Sticky ideas of all kinds, ranging
from the “kidney thieves” urban legend to JFK’s man in the moon speech, have six traits in common. If
you use these traits in your communications, you will make your ideas sticker.
Simple:
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Describe your business in one sentence;
Build a one paragraph business description. The structure of a paragraph is; topic sentence,
supporting sentence and concluding sentence;
Unexpected
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Provide an unexpected view or your business in one sentence;
Tell the unexpected story in one paragraph;
Concrete
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Give sensory examples of your business;
Describe your customers experience in one paragraph;
Credible
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Verify your business assumptions, use statistics or cite studies;
Provide vivid details of your business model;
Emotional
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People care about people, not only numbers;
Appeal to identity or self-interest; describe how your business appeals to people, beyond
features and benefits;
Tell a story that drives to action, stimulate and inspire, motivate the judges to select your business.
Example:
If you love what you do you will never work a day in your life! That is why I am a baker and opened
Dana’s bakery, which I named after my daughter. My mentor’s motivated me to become an
entrepreneur and now I can support my family and community. I support many causes in our
community such as the baseball team, churches and a homeless shelter. I have won business man of the
year twice. My name is Joseph Simons.