Posts Tagged ‘Success’
Business Plan Guide – 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Business Plan
A business plan guide is a great place to start when you are getting ready to write your first business plan. Perhaps you have found a book about writing business plans, or are following a template, but chances are, these materials will only focus on the steps necessary to create your business plan and will fail to point out the critical mistakes that most new business owners make. So let’s ignore the step-by-step tutorial for a moment and focus on the real world mistakes you need to avoid.
1. Don’t Put it Off.
Yes, writing a business plan can be a monumental chore. It’s easy to procrastinate while you focus on the more exciting processes of your business. Many new business owners will wait until the day before their scheduled meeting with the bank — and then frantically try to write a plan overnight. You can imagine the results.
Don’t wait until you have more time. There will never be more time. You need to clear your calendar for a week and make your business plan a top priority. Or if that isn’t feasible, schedule a certain period of time each day to work specifically on planning. No doubt you have heard the old saying: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”.
2. Don’t Confuse Profit With Cash Flow.
Unless you have an accounting background, you are very likely to define the success of your business in terms of profits. A simple definition of Profit would be Sales minus Expenses equals Profit. But in the business world, profits do not equate to cash. Your profit formula does not take into account the amount of cash you have tied up in production costs for products that have not yet sold, or the customers who still owe you money for sales that have already been made. Your business can look quite “profitable” while your bank account is over-drawn.
Make sure your business plan includes a table that addresses cash flow. Ideally, you should detail the monthly cash flow for the first two years of the business and annually thereafter.
3. Don’t Fall in Love With Your Idea.
Too many business plans blabber on for pages about the “newness” and “uniqueness” of the idea. But the truth is, investors want to invest in people, not ideas. It is only the people who can execute the systems necessary to bring the idea to life.
Instead of waxing poetically about your business idea, focus your energy, and your reader’s eyes, on the ways you plan to implement this great business idea.
4. Don’t Succumb to Fear and Dread.
If you have never written a business plan, the process may loom like Mount Everest. But, like most new challenges, writing a business plan isn’t as hard as you have imagined it to be. You aren’t writing a doctoral thesis or the next great novel. If you have invested in a business plan guide, use it. You can easily find helpful resources such as books, software programs and templates. Remember, you eat an elephant one bite at a time, so start chewing.
5. Don’t Over Sell.
Skip the vague and meaningless business phrases such as “best ever”, “highest quality” and “unsurpassed customer service”. You will lose your reader’s interest and respect if you engage in hyperbole that isn’t supported by measurable facts. Remember that the objective of a plan is its results, which require tracking and follow up. Focus your goals on specific dates, management responsibilities, budgets, and measurable milestones. Think fewer words and more numbers.
6. Don’t Engage in One-Size-Fits-All
Business plans can have many different purposes and they should be written to reflect the specific purpose at hand. You may be using your plan to start a business, or just run a business better. Your purpose may be simply to sell an idea for a new business to one particular business partner. Your plan may be intended to secure a small business loan, or it may be needed to secure millions of dollars of venture capital. Each of these purposes would require different information, presented in different ways to meet the needs of different readers. Keep a picture of your intended reader firmly in your mind and your business plan will stay focused as well.
7. Take Off the Rose Colored Glasses
Optimism is a wonderful resource. Without it, a business owner would find it difficult to summon the energy necessary to launch a new venture. However, this is not the time to engage in unbridled projections. If your company’s growth chart is based on an “industry average” of 15% annual growth, you should certainly be prepared to prove that assumption. When in doubt, be less optimistic.
By using a good business plan guide, and avoiding these common mistakes, you can prepare a plan that almost guarantees your business success. Good luck!
By: Barb Dearing
About the Author:
1. Don’t Put it Off.
Yes, writing a business plan can be a monumental chore. It’s easy to procrastinate while you focus on the more exciting processes of your business. Many new business owners will wait until the day before their scheduled meeting with the bank — and then frantically try to write a plan overnight. You can imagine the results.
Don’t wait until you have more time. There will never be more time. You need to clear your calendar for a week and make your business plan a top priority. Or if that isn’t feasible, schedule a certain period of time each day to work specifically on planning. No doubt you have heard the old saying: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”.
2. Don’t Confuse Profit With Cash Flow.
Unless you have an accounting background, you are very likely to define the success of your business in terms of profits. A simple definition of Profit would be Sales minus Expenses equals Profit. But in the business world, profits do not equate to cash. Your profit formula does not take into account the amount of cash you have tied up in production costs for products that have not yet sold, or the customers who still owe you money for sales that have already been made. Your business can look quite “profitable” while your bank account is over-drawn.
Make sure your business plan includes a table that addresses cash flow. Ideally, you should detail the monthly cash flow for the first two years of the business and annually thereafter.
3. Don’t Fall in Love With Your Idea.
Too many business plans blabber on for pages about the “newness” and “uniqueness” of the idea. But the truth is, investors want to invest in people, not ideas. It is only the people who can execute the systems necessary to bring the idea to life.
Instead of waxing poetically about your business idea, focus your energy, and your reader’s eyes, on the ways you plan to implement this great business idea.
4. Don’t Succumb to Fear and Dread.
If you have never written a business plan, the process may loom like Mount Everest. But, like most new challenges, writing a business plan isn’t as hard as you have imagined it to be. You aren’t writing a doctoral thesis or the next great novel. If you have invested in a business plan guide, use it. You can easily find helpful resources such as books, software programs and templates. Remember, you eat an elephant one bite at a time, so start chewing.
5. Don’t Over Sell.
Skip the vague and meaningless business phrases such as “best ever”, “highest quality” and “unsurpassed customer service”. You will lose your reader’s interest and respect if you engage in hyperbole that isn’t supported by measurable facts. Remember that the objective of a plan is its results, which require tracking and follow up. Focus your goals on specific dates, management responsibilities, budgets, and measurable milestones. Think fewer words and more numbers.
6. Don’t Engage in One-Size-Fits-All
Business plans can have many different purposes and they should be written to reflect the specific purpose at hand. You may be using your plan to start a business, or just run a business better. Your purpose may be simply to sell an idea for a new business to one particular business partner. Your plan may be intended to secure a small business loan, or it may be needed to secure millions of dollars of venture capital. Each of these purposes would require different information, presented in different ways to meet the needs of different readers. Keep a picture of your intended reader firmly in your mind and your business plan will stay focused as well.
7. Take Off the Rose Colored Glasses
Optimism is a wonderful resource. Without it, a business owner would find it difficult to summon the energy necessary to launch a new venture. However, this is not the time to engage in unbridled projections. If your company’s growth chart is based on an “industry average” of 15% annual growth, you should certainly be prepared to prove that assumption. When in doubt, be less optimistic.
By using a good business plan guide, and avoiding these common mistakes, you can prepare a plan that almost guarantees your business success. Good luck!
By: Barb Dearing
About the Author:
Barb Dearing is a writer specializing in topics that relate to new business owners. She recommends a free 9-Step Business Plan Guide that can be found at: http://www.business-plan-guide.com
Starting Up Owning a Business
Starting Up Owning a Business
Having a business and be the boss is always everybody’s dream. Yet only a few who can get through it and make it to the top. One of the main reason why people want to have their own business, is to hold their own time. But in the real world of business it is totally the opposite. Owning a business is not very easy, especially starting it. It takes a great responsibility, a well planned strategy and a great mind to make it work perfectly.
One of the hardest thing to do in Starting Up Owning a Business is taking the first step. Nobody has even gone to a business without any careful planning, even how small the business was. So many questions, so many plans, so many things to be considered before you begin to operate. But a good planning usually end up to a success otherwise it will be totally disaster.
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How to Start my Own Business? There are several question to consider in Starting Up Owning a Business. WHAT, WHY, WHERE, and WHEN, these are the common question you need to ask yourself.
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What kind of Business do I want?
There are thousand of choices on the kind of business you can have. A restaurant, Beauty Parlor, a Flower Shop, Pharmacy, Developing Center, Arts and Crafts, Real Estate and more of choices. Usually you end up answering this in the field of your interest. It would be more easier for you to do business that you have enough knowledge on the “What kind of Business†you want to have. It will also depend on what the need of the people in the community. You could not expect a successful business of Developing Center when you know that the people in the community doesn’t even own camera. It should be something practical, easy to deal to the people and goal oriented. Goal oriented? In every business, your main goal is to meet the needs of the people, consumer or client. These people has a direct effect on the success of the business and that is what you should always put in mind. Without this goal, business is impossible.
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Why I want to have business?
Why is it you want to have a business? In order to answer this, you need to have the goals and objectives. Nobody will start a business that doesn’t have any goals at all. So, if you are going to see yourself five years from now, you try to imagine what you should be doing during that time. Are you doing well with the business that you started? Are you growing and productive? Did your business expand? Are you enjoying the life of success? Or you failed because you did not plan it well. For every business that was planned, there is always a reason behind it. And most of the reasons why people want to have a business to earn without limit and be the boss of their own business.
Where would you want to have a business?
Where? It was a good question. One thing to consider a good business is to find a good location. A location where it is very easy access for the people. A place where there are less competitors. Most important is, a place where most of the people has a need.
Where? Another question you have to think about. Where is your business heading. Is it moving, improving and growing or is it stagnant, not productive losing.
In every business there is always a place of improvement that leads to fast growth. If that is where you want to lead your business
If you are aiming for a fast growing Business,
here are the things you need to consider:
Know the kind of business you have
Meeting the needs of the people
Affordable and reasonable prices of products or services
Aim for quality, quantity will just follow
Always make an update and consider opinions and suggestions of others
Be flexible, always look at the possibility of extending your services or branching out
Don’t ignore failure, that is where you learn and do better
Have a good interpersonal relationship with co-workers, competitors and people
Upgrade yourself on new technology that can be applied to your business
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When will be the best time to start the Business?
When will be the best time to start a business? Tomorrow? Next Year? Ten years from now? When you retire? This is what you have to decide if you want to have a business. Having a business takes a time of planning and a decision. It is like taking a risk to reach a certain goal. Some people would decide to go into business after a long year work as an employee then use their retirement money in business. Some would make an investment and little by little they start building up their own business. Starting up is a little bit difficult most of the time because you need to adjust, little income, catching up on the payments, and still learning how to run the business. But once you are there, and getting oriented with the kind of business you have, you will see more challenges to come at the same time enjoying the fruit of your success.
What are the things you need to consider in
“Starting Up Owning a Businessâ€
Permit to operate a business. Get the necessary documents needed to operate the business legally.
Finance. Does your budget enough for the payment of the location or site, materials, employee, construction needed.if not, look for financial assistance that is enough for you to begin with. Start at a minimum cost.
Employee. How many employee needed to start the business, what kind of work they need to do. Qualification of the employee, the work experience and the skills that they will be able to contribute in the business.
Site/Location. Look for a Place that is accessible to the people and easy to locate. People would love to come to a place that is easy access and a place where people usually go.
Knowledge about the business. It takes a great risk of getting into the business that you don’t know or at least an idea about it. Always look at the advantages and disadvantages. The strength and weaknesses of the business. Ask opinions from the people who are into it. And always update yourself with the new issues in the business world.
Â
In every business, there is always a strategy to take. A successful business do not depend on the techniques alone but also on good planning and decision making.
By: Carmel Dolendo
About the Author:
Having a business and be the boss is always everybody’s dream. Yet only a few who can get through it and make it to the top. One of the main reason why people want to have their own business, is to hold their own time. But in the real world of business it is totally the opposite. Owning a business is not very easy, especially starting it. It takes a great responsibility, a well planned strategy and a great mind to make it work perfectly.
One of the hardest thing to do in Starting Up Owning a Business is taking the first step. Nobody has even gone to a business without any careful planning, even how small the business was. So many questions, so many plans, so many things to be considered before you begin to operate. But a good planning usually end up to a success otherwise it will be totally disaster.
Â
How to Start my Own Business? There are several question to consider in Starting Up Owning a Business. WHAT, WHY, WHERE, and WHEN, these are the common question you need to ask yourself.
Â
What kind of Business do I want?
There are thousand of choices on the kind of business you can have. A restaurant, Beauty Parlor, a Flower Shop, Pharmacy, Developing Center, Arts and Crafts, Real Estate and more of choices. Usually you end up answering this in the field of your interest. It would be more easier for you to do business that you have enough knowledge on the “What kind of Business†you want to have. It will also depend on what the need of the people in the community. You could not expect a successful business of Developing Center when you know that the people in the community doesn’t even own camera. It should be something practical, easy to deal to the people and goal oriented. Goal oriented? In every business, your main goal is to meet the needs of the people, consumer or client. These people has a direct effect on the success of the business and that is what you should always put in mind. Without this goal, business is impossible.
Â
Why I want to have business?
Why is it you want to have a business? In order to answer this, you need to have the goals and objectives. Nobody will start a business that doesn’t have any goals at all. So, if you are going to see yourself five years from now, you try to imagine what you should be doing during that time. Are you doing well with the business that you started? Are you growing and productive? Did your business expand? Are you enjoying the life of success? Or you failed because you did not plan it well. For every business that was planned, there is always a reason behind it. And most of the reasons why people want to have a business to earn without limit and be the boss of their own business.
Where would you want to have a business?
Where? It was a good question. One thing to consider a good business is to find a good location. A location where it is very easy access for the people. A place where there are less competitors. Most important is, a place where most of the people has a need.
Where? Another question you have to think about. Where is your business heading. Is it moving, improving and growing or is it stagnant, not productive losing.
In every business there is always a place of improvement that leads to fast growth. If that is where you want to lead your business
If you are aiming for a fast growing Business,
here are the things you need to consider:
Know the kind of business you have
Meeting the needs of the people
Affordable and reasonable prices of products or services
Aim for quality, quantity will just follow
Always make an update and consider opinions and suggestions of others
Be flexible, always look at the possibility of extending your services or branching out
Don’t ignore failure, that is where you learn and do better
Have a good interpersonal relationship with co-workers, competitors and people
Upgrade yourself on new technology that can be applied to your business
Â
Â
When will be the best time to start the Business?
When will be the best time to start a business? Tomorrow? Next Year? Ten years from now? When you retire? This is what you have to decide if you want to have a business. Having a business takes a time of planning and a decision. It is like taking a risk to reach a certain goal. Some people would decide to go into business after a long year work as an employee then use their retirement money in business. Some would make an investment and little by little they start building up their own business. Starting up is a little bit difficult most of the time because you need to adjust, little income, catching up on the payments, and still learning how to run the business. But once you are there, and getting oriented with the kind of business you have, you will see more challenges to come at the same time enjoying the fruit of your success.
What are the things you need to consider in
“Starting Up Owning a Businessâ€
Permit to operate a business. Get the necessary documents needed to operate the business legally.
Finance. Does your budget enough for the payment of the location or site, materials, employee, construction needed.if not, look for financial assistance that is enough for you to begin with. Start at a minimum cost.
Employee. How many employee needed to start the business, what kind of work they need to do. Qualification of the employee, the work experience and the skills that they will be able to contribute in the business.
Site/Location. Look for a Place that is accessible to the people and easy to locate. People would love to come to a place that is easy access and a place where people usually go.
Knowledge about the business. It takes a great risk of getting into the business that you don’t know or at least an idea about it. Always look at the advantages and disadvantages. The strength and weaknesses of the business. Ask opinions from the people who are into it. And always update yourself with the new issues in the business world.
Â
In every business, there is always a strategy to take. A successful business do not depend on the techniques alone but also on good planning and decision making.
By: Carmel Dolendo
About the Author:
Carmel G. Dolendo, Ardentsoul of AgentsOfValue.
Eager, Enthusiastic, Earnest, Fervent, Glowing, Intense, Keen, Passionate, Warm, Zealous, Princess, Warrior. Simple yet broad minded. Carefree yet strong willed being. A Graduate of Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Mathematics, with a background in Computer Engineering, well oriented with Business and Sales. A Teacher, Businesswoman, Writer, Link Builder…