What great TV shows teach us about business plans 🎬

Feb 25, 2025

A few months ago I started rewatching one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Dallas. The original one. Now obviously I didn’t watch this show when it first aired since I wasn’t born until season four, but I binged the first five seasons about twenty years ago, and it was due time for a visit to Southfork Ranch.


If you haven’t (yet) seen the show, it’s basically a family drama about the fabulously rich Ewing Oil dynasty where the women all have amazing hair, the men wear tight, tight pants, and the legal system is optional.

 

Despite the complete absence of curse words, nudity, or any graphic sex or violence per Reagan-era FCC rules, the show still manages to cover all the normal family drama. You know, stuff like romantic relations between the 30-year old ranchhand and the 17-year-old truant niece, Boleyn-level pressure to produce an heir, the subsequent attempt to buy a baby on the black market, an internecine family feud, estranged relatives, and liver-shriveling alcohol use.

 

The drama of Dallas was so hot that 45 years ago, 83 million people tuned in to watch the “Who Done It” episode, better known as “Who shot JR?” – eldest brother John Ross Ewing Jr., who absolutely deserved to be shot by many people at many points in his safari-shirt-wearing, philandering life. If the internet is correct, it was the most-watched TV episode ever at the time.

 

Anyhow, as I was watching the show most recently, I was thinking about what exactly makes a show so popular that it grips popular culture? What elements do “great” TV shows share?

 

I thought about Game of Thrones and The White Lotus. Breaking Bad and Bridgerton. The Handmaid’s Tale and The Righteous Gemstones. (Yes, The Righteous Gemstones. It’s the best and Abby and I will fight you about this.)

 

The elements that these shows share – the composite pieces that hook us and keep us invested – are (shocker!) exactly the same elements that make landlords stay up past their bedtimes to read business plans. 

 

Think about it…

👨 Compelling characters with backstories


  • Who are you and what brought you to open this business?
  • What’s behind your passion?
  • What’s your previous experience, and how are you especially qualified to knock this business out of the park?


 

🏙️Specific settings with a strong sense of place
 

  • Why does your business belong in this area?
  • What does the physical space need to include?
  • What are the vibes like inside?


 

🎨Visually attractive artistic direction


  • What does your branding look like?
  • What images represent your ideal space?
  • Is the plan easy to read and understand by your intended audience?


 

💗Engaging storytelling that creates emotional buy-in


  • Why should your business exist?
  • What is the problem that you’re solving?
  • How does your business make the world a better/funner/healthier/happier place?


 

In short, the best business plans are entertaining. No, not in a birthday party magician way…in a capture and hold your attention in an enjoyable, “give me more of this” way.

 

We tell Pedal Retailers all the time that when a gatekeeper clicks open the PDF of their business plan, the reaction should be, “holy shit, this looks awesome!” And once they start reading, they think, “huh, this is a pretty interesting idea” and “wow, this person is qualified and has done a lot of work thinking this through,” and ultimately, “I want to be associated with this business.”

 

How do you pull that off? How do you get someone to read past the executive summary to see how amazing you are and why they obviously want to work with you?

 

✨ You have to put on a show!

✨ You have to make them care!

 You have to make them want more of you!

 

Beyond all that, and equally important, is that the engaging, compelling business plans that make bankers and landlords say YES to you demonstrate your crystal clear understanding that retail is theater. How you show up matters. How you present your space and your products and your team matters.

 

So when landlords and bankers can see that you’re ready to put on a show for your customers, they’re ready to buy that show for five seasons.

hey, did you like that?

There's plenty more where that came from. Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get these hot tips, fresh insights, and more LOLs than you expected delivered right to your inbox.

No spam or other canned meats. Opt out anytime.