Business plan or no business plan?

Your business plan is considered to be the most important tool needed in order to determine how successful your business can possibly be. Steven Gedeon is an expert on the value of a business plan. According to http://www.ryerson.ca/tedrogersschool/bm/faculty_staff/bios/gedeon.html, he is currently a professor in Entrepreneurship & Strategy at the Ted Rodgers School of Management and has founded and led more than a dozen public, and venture capital and non- profit organizations. Another expert in the field of business plans is Chuck Blakeman.

            Blakeman is an entrepreneur with an irregular approach to business. His view basically states that business plans are not necessary and focus too much on the future. Instead, one should “implement now and perfect as you go.” According to http://chuckblakeman.com this approach has been adopted by thousands of business owners. Currently, he is an internationally acclaimed business speaker with an average of 100 plus speaking engagements and workshops per year. Here we have two highly recognized persons that are experts in starting a business, extremely successful, but have two totally different approaches. However, these approaches can both be used. The reason for this is that when starting a business, there should be certain elements present. Both include critical and key elements that investors look for. Certain elements must be known in order for the business to a success. These include:

•             Who am I selling to?
•             What is the growth rate of this market?
•             What is the price point for the products and services my company will offer?
•             Who are my competitors?
•             How will I make a profit?

In addition, the overall business idea and the necessary financials should be present when starting a business. These elements are key as they guide you to understanding what strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats your business may have. Your business must be able to impact the audience you will be catering to. 

Theodore Elyett in good standing to win grand prize on Mission Catwalk

Based in Jamaica, is the hit new reality TV series Mission Catwalk, that features fifteen designers from the islands of the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Hati, Barbados and the Bahamas. Each week, T.V. Jamaica airs an hour-long show comprised of four segments: the challenge, the design production, the runway show, and the elimination of a designer. This marks the third season of Mission Catwalk and according to host of the show, Keneea Linton- George, “this has been our most successful season.” In addition, fans are able to vote weekly for their favorite designer. Always leading, as the fans favorite is Bahamian fashion designer Theodore Elyett.

Elyett, who is a noted and popular designer in the Bahamas has won two challenges and placed in the top three in majority of the challenges. His first win occurred during the opening challenge.  The challenge required designers to create a piece “inspired by the Caribbean, which could be taken anywhere in the world and recognized as a uniquely Caribbean piece (Jayakumar, 2013).” Elyett won with his African- Tourist inspired dress, which was then manufactured and sold in a retail store in Jamaica and the Bahamas. Since then, the dress has been sold and worn by numerous women such as the First Lady of the Bahamas, Mrs. Bernadette Christie. During the seventh episode’s challenge, Elyett was also victorious.

For this challenge, designers were to transform five yards of white fabric by painting a motif that represents their personality in only eight hours. Unlike the other designers, Elyett constructed a cap-sleeve blouse and cigarette pants; creating something simple. “The blouse featured a bold orange graduated collar and a hand painted, florescent pink floral design paired with cigarette pants (Neely, 2013).” According to Elyett, the ombre’ effect that was shown on the piece represents his personality.

Therefore, with his current success and only 3 short weeks left until the grand finale, Elyett has been proving himself to come out on top and claim the grand prize of Mission Catwalk. Will he be successful? Tune in to T.V. Jamaica on www.televisionjamaica.com Saturday nights at 9:00 p.m. to follow the show. Here is a link to view Theodore Elyett’s opening episode challenge win. 

Met Ball Fashion

This years Met Ball was held in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met Ball is considered to be fashion’s smartest party, hosting all of the A-list celebrities who come out to showcase their designer attire. This year’s theme was Punk. With the current fashion trend of leather, sheer materials, tons of black, and studs, one would assume that a punk look would be easy to master by these fashion Gods. Surprisingly, many of the looks can be deemed as a fashion fail.

One of the most disappointing looks of the event was queen of pop Madonna. Madonna has been known for reinventing herself and mastering the punk look. However, Madonna’s black and white plaid blazer and schoolgirl skirt, accessorized with fishnets and cerise shoes suggested differently. According to the Guardian, “Madonna's punk is now studied rather than natural.” This look may not have been her best, but probably was one of the best looks of the night. Another shocking look that walked the red carpet was Grammy award winning artist Beyonce.

“Queen B,” as she is affectionately called is known for dominating the red carpet and setting new trends in the fashion industry. There is rarely a time when Beyonce is criticized for what she has on. In previous years, Beyonce’s has given signature and timeless looks at the Met Gala; always falling into the best-dressed category. Well, this time Beyonce’s stylist may have dressed her with a blindfold on. Fashion critics such as Sharon Osbourne referred to her gown as bed linen. Beyonce wore a Givenchy black tube gown, with a flame-patterned bottom, flame patterned gloves and boots. The dress was very unflattering.

With that being said, many who hoped to see their top A-list celebrities in out of the ordinary gorgeous gowns at the Met Ball were probably disappointed; especially those fans of Madonna and Beyonce.

         

Miss Latina U.S.A. headed to Miss Universe

Telemundo Media, which is the number one Spanish-language primetime programming, recently announced that this years Miss Latina U.S.A. would be done as a reality series. The lucky winner will be afforded the opportunity to make history by participating in the 2013 Miss Universe pageant as Miss Latina U.S.A. This will be the first time that two delegated from the United States would be in the pageant. Miss Universe is one of the most watched televised events in the world, many believe that this gesture would help to improve the ratings of the pageant and opens doors for Telemundo Media. However, pageants such as Miss Black U.S.A. feel that this move is segregation or prejudice for other regional pageants.

        

The launch of this new reality series will be comprised of multi-city auditions, contestants living in a mansion, where they will be trained by a team of talented experts, weekly competitions and eliminations that will lead up to the selection of the Miss Latina U.S.A. Emilio Romano, President of Telemundo media stated, “It’s always great to be in business with Donald J. Trump and the Miss Universe Organization.” For the Miss Universe Organization, this arrangement is expected to draw “big numbers” for the next broadcast of Miss Universe. Statistics have shown that 25% of the delegates in the Miss Universe are from Spanish speaking countries and in the past four years, three out of the four queens were from Spanish speaking countries. It is evident that the Latina market is crucial to the Miss Universe Organization. A venture of this nature seems like a great business opportunity, but socially has a negative effect.

        

Reporters and bloggers have already suggested that this new venture depicts segregation to other regional pageants in the United States. The Miss Black U.S.A. is just one of the other pageants that have become vocal about the matter. This has caused many to speculate that the Miss Universe Organization is only interested in Latinas.

Therefore, there are two main questions to ask in regards to this situation. Is it fair to other countries that more than one delegate from the United States is able to participate in the pageant? Also, is it far that other regional pageants such as Miss Black U.S.A is not able to participate in the pageant? This new venture will definitely change the shape of pageantry forever; for better or worse.

Artists vs Managers

The role that the manager plays within a talent’s career is pivotal. This is why managers and any upcoming talent usually sign contracts in order to outline what role and rights both parties would receive in the relationship. However, there have been many cases where managers and their client’s split, resulting in law suits. In recent years, it has become more common to see cases where either the artist is filing a lawsuit, or the manager is filing a lawsuit.

            In 2012, Scott Howard, former manager of actress Lisa Kudrow made an appealed to the appellate court. Howard and Kudrow was in a long legal battle that was based on whether or not Howard should receive commissions after being terminated. According to HollywoodReporter, Howard was not allowed an expert witness to testify that Hollywood managers typically continue to receive commission from jobs their client’s book, even after they are fired. The verdict from this case favored talent managers and now serves as a standard case for any future disputes similar to this. Another popular manager and artist lawsuit is Toni Braxton vs. Bankerherson case.

            In 2007 Toni Braxton filed a lawsuit against her former manager Barry Hankerson for $10 million dollars, accusing him of putting his financial interests ahead of hers and using deception to persuade her to leave Arista Records. Although the artist’s management relationship between Braxton and Hankerson had been in existence for five years, the relationship became sour. There was assumed to be fraud, deception, and double- dealing done by Hankerson. In the end, the lawsuit was settled, enabling Braxton to freely launch her singing career without being signed to Hankerson. Finally, the most popular lawsuit artist manager case to date is Taylor Swift and her former manager.

            Dan Dymtrow, former manager of Taylor Swift, filed lawsuit against the popstar in 2007 claiming that he was owed millions in commissions because he discovered Taylor Swift. He also claimed that Swift breached a management contract by paying him only $10,000 for his work that launched her career.  It was also believed that the Swift family intentionally delayed signing a record deal with Big Machine in order to fire Dymtrow and avoid paying him commissions. During the court hearing, there was a piece of evidence that showed a contract between Swift and Dymtrow prior to her deal with Big Machine. However, the court ruled the contract null and void because Swift was considered to be a minor.

            From these three cases presented above, one can see that the relationship between an artists and their manager can become ugly. Therefore, it is important for both parties to understand and agree to all terms presented in a contract, and to ensure that the contract will protect them should the other party be in breach.