Is there a business plan?  If not, one should be created.

The key elements you need to identify are:

- Problem you are seeking to solve

- The solution you will offer

- How you will make money at the endeavor

- How you will fund the effort

- Who is the team behind it

- Why you are the best person to run this endeavor

- What is your long-term goal (exit or build it)

Value for whom?  For an investor or loan officer or course instructor?  For real world financing valuations, this is the best online tool I have found:  http://www.wsgr.com/publications/PDFSearch/entreport/Q12013/private-company-financing-trends.htm.  For scoring one business or business plan against another, many instructors use rubrics that score based on the criteria that Roy Wallen describes above.  Usually Likert scale type scores for each section which implies that a balance of factors matter for grades.  In the real world, it doesn't matter how polished your presentation beyond a good first impression.  Investors are usually looking at size of the market opportunity, quality of proposed technology/business model, ability of team to execute, amount of cash required, proximity to liquidity event (exit), and likely ROI.

All of we know those key terms for evaluating a business project, i mean, it´s a great idea to create a business plan considering target market, cash flows, ROI, etc. But i think you need to evaluate the "Start Up", that  changes everything. I suggest "Lean CANVAS Start Up" by Ash Maurya.

First consider you strength in terms of Capital, education, team, work plan, product, marketing, etc.

Personally, I do not like Maurya's integration of the Business Model Canvas and the Lean Startup Model.  Steve Blank and many colleagues are using both models separately and for good reason.  It is very difficult to assess any start-up at a given moment in time because most executions are not linear processes.  In fact, most startups involve iterative models where a continuing series of hypotheses are tested and adjustments are made, hopefully in line with a clear market problem and strong customer value proposition.  This is the main premise behind the Lean Startup model.  In contrast, the Business Model Canvas is designed to analyze internal and external factors that need to be aligned for a balanced revenue model.  Related, but separate analyses.

Dear Emmanuel,

Business startups are resulting from an entrepreneurial process which involved: opportunity, an agency for opportunity (entrepreneur) and the decision making context.  Match your three indicators with these components in entrepreneurship.  Resources are not considered as an essential component for entrepreneurship  (Jarillo and Stevenson , 1989?). Opportunity identification ability of the individual may dictate the resource flow.

Then the evaluation criteria may include the following:

Individual: opportunity creation/discovery capability; risk taking propensity etc., (Shane, 2003)

Opportunity: Wealth creating potential (Usbasaran et al., 2009)

Decision making context (Welter, 2010; Smallbone and Welter, 2011; North, 1990, 1991).

Upananda

Would it be possible define a business start-up?  There is evidence indicating that majority fail in the first 3 years.   Having an established boundary (like Life cycle analysis) on the Start-up phase after the pre-Start (Concept phase) and before going into establishment phase and the latter committing phases.  

The key indicators to me are 

Promoter

Proposition

Perseverance

Prospects and

Place

Money, glossy business or marketing plans, legalities, commercial intelligence and the backing of one's family or friends are not relevant.  A start-up can be achieved successfully to establishment phase with just the right conditions of the P's and I believe nothing else.  This is where I would focus indicators. 

However, I am not suggesting illegal trading but, objectivity , is this a pre-condition of a start-up?

The basic principal of business is to offer something for something to somebody with with some need or desire. The action is trade.  In many ways a trade is just an action of trust, which is a belief in the Promoter and their Proposition.  In some cases,  it does not include a product or service. Its mainly a trust of some kind. What is traded and for what are just usually tangible instruments, and not part of the equation of Start-up criteria. Unless, a Start-up enterprise does include Establishment and commitment.  This is where confusion lies. 

The Idea has actually no real weight in the Start-up process and is usually over emphasised because the Idea fits only in Pre-Startup/concept phase. A Promoter may have many ideas or adjustment in later phases but what is being planned in the Start-up phase is strictly a clear Proposition.  The initial Idea has now evolved into a solution. This is what is traded. Yes, the Proposition(s) may evolve further and modified according to typical product or service life cycle.   But if the message of the initial Idea is modified during the start-up phase then the delivery of the proposition is confused and confusing to the prospect. And to develop a plan, the modelling of the business, will be riskier.  There is nothing wrong about being wrong, but how do you know until its tested. Success is about the number of failures you get over. But would any backer back a failure or the last success? That just about timing and another irrelevant factor or indicator. However, perseverance is a good indicator.

However, the plan is not all about putting an idea on paper or in a spreadsheet, its about a successful delivery of a message to a Prospect where its interpreted without adjustment.  This process is Communication another possible indicator.

So beside all the 5 Ps as per above, I would rate Proposition with some factors related to communication abilities.  But is it true that all successful businesses owners or inventors today are good communicators?  Its about Proposition delivery but with followups, not really all about communication. 

Hello

i really appreciate your comments

i´m doing this research in developing country with rural women who already own a business. We all know their situation, that´s why i try to see how did they start their businesses because most of microfinance institutions are trying to help them and we know that both are have problems. MFI and clients. 

Those problems exist because MFI don´t make sufficient evaluation. Solidarity group model includes women with different level of entrepreneurship that´s why some of them don´t have difficulties with MFI.

I hope that it´s clear to understand how women started their businesses (idea, money, if they just inherit it). Thankssss 

Remilien - Thank you for the clarification of your business project.  You are dealing with a much more complex problem than a simple business evaluation.  I suggest that you look at the Global Entrepreneurship Data (http://www.gemconsortium.org/) for a model of business measures to support your assessment.  GEM collects both individual level data from representative national samples and expert data on environmental conditions conducive to business start-up. GEM reports are published every year documenting national and international trends as well as special topic areas, like women's entrepreneurship.  I developed a theoretical and statistical model for cross-national patterns of women's entrepreneurship using GEM data which will also be helpful.  See"Gender and Entrepreneurship: A multilevel theory and analysis" on Google books and available on Amazon.

Their indicators are very interesting. Furthermore, the general theme - evaluate start-ups - is also tremendously current, and demand studies for the Academy and the community formed by investors of all kinds. Finally, I believe that these three indicators are arranged in decreasing order, ie the most important to least important. I say this because the last indicator, if present in abundance, indicates that the business would not require additional resources, at least during its early years. Meanwhile, the first two indicators are crucial.

A start-up is valued at different stages of its evolution. The first is the beginning of its existence when no investor is entering the capital: this is the pre-money value is known. After the contribution of investors, it is the post-money value

You can find the enclosed article of some interest. Regards, MV