[Asterisk-biz] Open Business Plan

[Paul]

Tom Rymes wrote:

> On Dec 15, 2005, at 4:17 AM, Alan Gutierrez wrote:
>
>> * Mike Fedyk <mfedyk at mikefedyk.com> [2005-12-15 03:42]:
>>
>>> Schneider, Silvio wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Business will never quite get the idea of giving away product or 
>>>>> trade
>>>>>
>>>> secrets without having it be a loss leader.  That's just  business,
>>>> plain
>>>> and simple.
>>>>
>>>> So why then is asterisk open source? Think about it and rewire your
>>>> braincells.
>>>
>>
>>> Because the software is the loss-leader...
>>
>>
>> Uh, huh. It sound like the high-school arguments against altrusim.
>>
>> Q) Why then would a person give their time and money to the poor?
>> A) To alliveate their own guilt, thus giving to charity is a purely
>>     selfish act.
>
>
> Well, not to get off topic, but you use the word selfish as if that 
> is a bad thing! The reasons a person might give their time and money 
> to the poor as diverse as the people involved. Someone might give 
> because they like to, because it makes them feel good, because they 
> might be poor one day and they would like someone to do the same for 
> them, because it makes them happy... All of those are selfish reasons 
> and GOOD reasons!  On the other hand, giving to charity because you 
> feel obligated, because you think you have to, or in spite of the 
> fact that you don't like to are all unselfish and BAD reasons. 
> Selfish != bad; don't assume it does.
>
> As for the current topic, Asterisk isn't open source because it's a 
> loss-leader for Digium, simply because Asterisk pre-dates digium's 
> founding. Asterisk is indeed a loss leader for Digium, but that 
> wasn't the reason it is open-source. I don't know the reason that 
> Asterisk was open sourced, but I guarantee it was a selfish one! (and 
> open sourcing something because it makes you feel good to contribute 
> something to the community is a selfish reason.)
>
> Lastly, open sourcing a business plan isn't a bad idea, per se. It 
> has it's pitfalls (you might be helping your future competitors), and 
> its benefits (You might end up with a better plan, and even a better 
> business, by getting help from the community at large.) Now, whether 
> open sourcing YOUR business plan is a good idea for you is another 
> question entirely!
>
I think the idea itself is good in many ways. A generic business plan
template for the hypothetical "Acme Widgets" company can be obtained
from textbooks or attending the right classes. I'm sure some people have
gotten rich by taking this plan they got in school and modifying it.
maybe the same will happen to some who take the free "Acme VOIP" plan
available online and modify it for their unique needs.

There are business plan ingredients I would only disclose to working
partners. I'm sure the same is true for many others. You can probably
put a starter business plan online that is suitable for obtaining
capital without giving away any valuable secrets. The people who review
things like SBA loan applications probably don't see much that is worth
stealing(other than data that might be sold or used for illegal insider
trading). Most of us already know that you should file applications for
things like patents, copyrights and trademarks before disclosing them in
a business plan.