Archive for the ‘Business Plan’ Category

Writing a Cohesive Small Business Plan

September 2nd, 2010 admin

Having a business plan has made and broken more than one successful, business idea. When a potential, small business owner is asked to write a business plan, most of them run the other way. Writing a small business – the business plan can be a complicated process. A business plan is the document you will use to sell your business idea to potential backers, venture capital firms, family friends, or just about anyone who may back your business venture.

Getting funding can be costly and extremely time consuming. It will most likely be the hardest part of starting your business. Therefore, your business plan must convey your excitement with the promise to succeed at your business venture. You maybe excited about your business idea, but that does not mean others will be as excited as you. Not only will you need to convey you excitement but you will need to make sure you illustrate the profit potential correctly. If no one can see the potential, then the odds of getting funding will be slim to none. When writing the small business – the business plan you will need to make sure your plan stands out amount the rest.

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Sample Vending Machine Business Plan

August 30th, 2010 admin

The preparation of a vending machine business plan is one of the most important first steps for your new venture. A business plan will be crucial in guiding your business in a successful direction. A business plan sets out what has to happen in order for you to reach your goals, outlines how you will do it and sets out alternative plans in the case that things change further down the line.

It may be necessary to have a plan written in a formal, professional style if your aim is to use it to convince bankers or investors to support your idea and you may need to seek help with this. But even if you don’t have anything to prove to anyone your vending business plan will help to confirm the viability of your idea in your own mind.

Keep a copy of your plan on your PC as well as in files or in a binder in case of emergency. Don’t forget about your business plan once you have opened your doors for business. Refer to it regularly to make sure that you are on track to meet targets and don’t be afraid to make changes to where necessary.

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Write a Small Business Plan – 8 Questions to Evaluate Your Business Opportunity

August 28th, 2010 admin

One of the biggest myths of entrepreneurship is that there is a one-size-fits-all structure for writing a business plan. Business plan books and software may provide you with a formalized structure, but it’s up to you to make heads-or-tails of which of those aspects apply to your business. Do you need to fill out all of the details? What if you don’t know the answers or if many sections don’t seem to apply to your business?

Business Planning Fundamentals

If you aren’t looking for investors or funding, consider writing up an informal business plan and modifying it as you go. When you first start out, you will need to do some planning to evaluate whether you have a solid business ideal that will become profitable in the near future. Some of the questions to ask include:

Is there a market for your products and services?
Which types of customers and clients are most likely to buy what your company offers?
How will you differentiate your company from your competitors? Why should prospects do business with you over all other options out there?
How much revenue can you bring in next month, in six months, in a year?
What are your startup costs? What are your initial monthly expenses?
Do you have or can you get the appropriate resources (money, technology, equipment, expertise) to start your business?
Will you need to hire partners, employees, vendors, or contractors to help you? What will their job functions be?
Who will be responsible for day-to-day business tasks?

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The Perfect Business Plan Process

August 19th, 2010 admin

There is no such thing as a perfect business plan, as even the best business plans can use some improvement. However, by thinking carefully about the steps you take in creating your business plans, you can improve your business plan writing process. With the right process, you are much more likely to create winning business plans, no matter what type of business it is.

Each of the following steps are stages of the business plan development process which should be tackled in order.

Idea Development

Your idea for the business may already be in place. However, there are a number of creative and brainstorming techniques which can strengthen the idea and discover variations on it.

Feasibility Study

Next, the feasibility of the business should be studied in a limited way to prevent money and time from being poured into an unfeasible idea. The study should look at market feasibility, financial feasibility, and personal feasibility. The latter is the feasibility of the business idea to meet your personal goals for entrepreneurship.

Research

The research phase begins the preparation for the business plan in earnest. Research must cover the industry, customers, competitors, and the costs of starting up the business. The findings should be carefully documented and analyzed to determine what presents opportunities and threats to the business.

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Why a Development Plan is Critical to Your Business Plan For Next Year

August 15th, 2010 admin

It is almost time to begin creating your Business Plan for next year. One important part that is often overlooked is what I call the Development Plan. A Development Plan helps you to look at your overall business in different specific areas. A great story is told by Jeffrey J. Fox in HOW TO BECOME A MARKETING SUPERSTAR. It is the story of Pablo Picasso, dining at an elite New York City restaurant and being approached by a socialite who presumes to ask him for a drawing. Fox relates, “Picasso grabbed some paper, and with pen and pencil, promptly sketched the waiters passing parfaits. As the woman reached for the sketch, Pablo Picasso said, ‘Madame. That will be $10,000.’ Shocked, she replied, ‘But that only took you five minutes.’ ‘No, Madame,’ replied Senor Picasso, ‘it took me fifty years.’”

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How to Create a Business Plan

August 13th, 2010 admin

The first thing anyone learns in an introductory business class is the importance of the business plan. A plan lists every preconceived element of a new business and is generally used to secure financing. Writing, editing, and even re-editing a plan correctly takes a lot of time. Starting a business is a big step and should not be ventured into lightly or unprepared. Follow these simple steps for creating a concise, accurate plan that will secure the necessary funding for starting your own business.

The first page is quite obviously the cover sheet with the basic information, such as business name and contact information. The second page, titled the “Executive Summary,” is the most important page of the entire plan. The Executive Summary should be no longer than one page, since many potential investors will not read past the first page. Make sure to summarize the business plan by highlighting only the major points and try to generate some excitement for the business.

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MLM Business Plan – A Recession Proof Plan

August 10th, 2010 admin

There is no doubt that we are in interesting economic times. Every industry has had some effects of the current economy. There is an MLM business plan that can be a full proof recession plan.

The first component in your MLM business plan should be to know exactly why you have this home business. You have to be so passionate about this key point that you will do what ever it takes for your home business to work. I want you to ask yourself just how badly you want it to be successful and what is the annual dollar amount that determines whether you are successful or not in your home business. I want you to write out your business motto that includes your business philosophy and the annual dollar amount you intend to earn. I want you to read this business motto several times a day to insure that you will keep in the forefront what you want to accomplish.

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Creating a Business Plan

August 6th, 2010 admin

Business Plans

I have often been asked by aspiring entrepreneurs:

- Should I write a business plan?

- If so, where do I find information on how to write a business plan?

- What should be included in a business plan or how detailed should it be?

These are good questions. Let me begin by saying that there are several preliminary steps that should be completed BEFORE embarking on the arduous task of compiling and organizing data into a comprehensive business plan.

Usually, after a process of determining whether a business idea is worth pursuing, entrepreneurs immediately launch into a process. For some entrepreneurs, the process of validating the idea is relatively quick, while for others it is exhaustive in scope. However, over the years, I have observed there are some preliminary steps to be completed before starting to develop the business plan. These preliminary steps are a three step process I refer as the Gut Check Mirror (GCM) Test:

1. Figure out if you really have an entrepreneurial personality profile. Many people assume because they have been successful in the world of traditional employment that they will automatically succeed as an entrepreneur. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! I am so passionate about preventing entrepreneurs from making this mistake, that I wrote a book on this specific topic called Transitioning From Employee to Entrepreneur – A Roadmap for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.

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Developing the Management Section For Your Business Plan

August 5th, 2010 admin

In the development stages of the business plan, the Management Plan section is an illustrative look at your management staff and how the business tenure is structured. Investors reviewing your business plan will be searching to see not only who’s the top brass on your management team, but how the expertise of your team will add to the bottom line.

A simple and effective method to organize the management plan section of your business plan is to divide it into sections and parts below:

o In-house Management Team

o Outsourced Management Resources

o HR Requirements Needs

o Officer (Ownership) Structure

Part 1 of the Management Section

Structure

Teams that are planning to start a partnership or corporation will need to specify at the granular level how the business will be arranged from not only a legal standpoint, as well as any applicable intricacies, for example the amount of ownership each relevant partner has.

Part 2 of the Management Section

Professional Support

It is suggested that you hire professionals to maintain your business venture, for example attorneys, accountants, engineers and consultants (several business plan consultants exist online). This section is where you will outline these types of specialized personnel who are vital to you’re the operations of business, however are not in fact a component of the business.

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A Coffee Shop Business Plan – Brewed to Perfection

August 2nd, 2010 admin

Coffee Shop Business Plan

A coffee shop business plan is one of the first steps in starting a coffee shop business. Using existing models and templates can be a real time saver. Every business plan has key elements. These are the most common to elements:

An Executive Summary
An Objectives List
A Mission Statement
Established Keys to Success
Risks

The executive summary will define the type of coffee shop, the target market and in general terms, how this particular coffee shop plans to meet he needs of that market. It will also include financial projections as well as plans for obtaining financing and whether or not it will be incorporated. It may also include specifics regarding square footage, background of the founders, and a detailed conceptual description. It is what the name implies: a summary.

Objectives are the same as goals. This list tells the prospective coffee shop owner in specific terms, what he or she is aiming for:

Product focus
Atmosphere/Ambiance
Service to the consumer
Image in the community
Annual sales
Profit margin

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