How to Start A Business Plan

A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a current and pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make good business decisions. Because it provides specific and organized information about your company and how you will repay borrowed money, a good business plan is a crucial part of any loan application. Additionally, it informs sales personnel, suppliers, and others about your operations and goals.

Plan Your Work

The importance of a comprehensive, thoughtful business plan cannot be overemphasized. Much hinges on it: outside funding, credit from suppliers, management of your operation and finances, promotion and marketing of your business, and achievement of your goals and objectives.

Despite the critical importance of a business plan, many entrepreneurs drag their feet when it comes to preparing a written document. They argue that their marketplace changes too fast for a business plan to be useful or that they just don't have enough time. But just as a builder won't begin construction without a blueprint, eager business owners shouldn't rush into new ventures without a business plan.

Before you begin writing your business plan, consider four core questions: What service or product does your business provide and what needs does it fill?

Who are the potential customers for your product or service and why will they purchase it from you?

How will you reach your potential customers?

Where will you get the financial resources to start your business?

You may freely reprint this article provided the author's biography remains intact:

By John Mussi

Top 10 Tips to Create A Business Plan! (For People Who Hate Business Plans)

One of the key challenges for any business is to remain focused and invest resources for maximum pay-off. It's said that 80% of a business's activity accounts for only 20% of total profits. In plain language, most of the work we do is unfocused, poorly designed and ineffective. In today's competitive world, no business, whether it's an individual professional or a large manufacturing operation, can survive with that much lost time and wasted effort. A business plan can help, but most small business owners (and some managers/supervisors) hate doing them! In the spirit that any map is better than no map, here are my top ten keys to creating your own map to success:

1. Have a dream. This sounds simple and obvious, but answering the questions: "Why am I doing this? What's the big picture?" can lead to profound changes in many organizations. Too often in the daily grind, we forget to think about where we want to go, or why we started the business or took the job in the first place.

2. Make the dream bigger. What if the whole world bought your products or loved your service? What would it mean if your profits, or your personal income were 10 times greater? How about 100, or 1000 times greater? What shifts in focus would that require? Would your daily routine change? Would you spend your time and energy on different problems, attend to different priorities? Why wait?

3. Make the dream clearer. Have a precise description of exactly what you want and hang it in your office, in the employee lunch room, in the restrooms, and on the dash of your car. Use key words, phrases, a photograph of your future office building or whatever symbol will crystallize the dream and make it real for you and for every member of your team

4. List 100 obstacles that will get in your way. Enlist staff, friends, competitors to help. Ask your customers to join with you in looking for the roadblocks, blindspots and bottlenecks that prevent you from growing. Make it a matter of personal pride to never have a problem pop up that you haven't already considered.

5. List 1000 solutions, 10 for each potential problem. The key here is creativity, flexibility, and responding instantly when the unexpected happens. Expect the unexpected, and have a file of alternative solutions at your finger tips. It's called contingency planning. Do it!

6. Get tons of advice. Have your accountant, your attorney, your insurance agent, your spouse and your cousin take a look at this. If you can't explain it to them, will you be able to explain it to your staff? If these people don't understand and support your plan, will you be able to maintain your own enthusiasm over the long haul?

7. Get GOOD advice. After explaining your dream and your plan to lots of people, sit down with a handful of those you trust the most, and pay them to give you their best feedback. Lots of people can give you technical advice, expert advice, and even friendly advice. Wisdom is more important, and harder to find.

8. Create the path of least resistance. Using the dream as your goal, and knowing the obstacles that could get in your way, begin mapping your way through the wilderness to your destination. What's the easiest, most direct, route? What's the safest route? Which combination of activities and priorities makes the most sense?

9. Take action. Once you know where you want to go and have a path to get there, start walking! Too many managers put their business plan into a nice file folder that is never looked at because they are too busy working "hard." Instead, use your efforts and your plan together so that your effort is focused, productive and smart!

10. Re-assess often. Just as someone hiking across barren territory needs to periodically stop and check their map and compass to avoid walking in circles, business owners and managers need to check their direction and their priorities. Conditions change. Opportunities pop up or disappear, new problems arrive or the nature of the dream changes. All of these things will happen. Plan for it! Regularly step outside your business to re-assess and redefine your most important tasks. You can't afford to spend 80% of your effort in busywork and unprofitable distractions. Re-assess and stay on course.

by Philip E. Humbert

The Chief Cause of Business Failure & Success

Business rises and falls on leadership. According to business guru, Brian Tracy, "Leadership is the most important single factor in determining business success or failure in our competitive, turbulent, fast-moving economy." Still not convinced? Based on a study by Jessie Hagen of the US Bank, here are the main reasons why businesses fail:

? Poor Business Planning
? Poor Financial Planning
? Poor Marketing
? Poor Management

Proper application of these key factors is a function of good leadership. Let's look at some of the conclusions of the US Bank report. According to Hagen's study, in the Business Planning category, 78% of businesses fail due to lack of a well-developed business plan. It boggles my mind that so many people go into business without a plan, as if it were the ice cream flavor-of-the-month! Is it any wonder that when I came across the DEA Police & Government auction site of confiscated property, there is a gleeful statement that declares, "Most businesses fail within their first two years, so chances are, you will come across some relatively new merchandise. At (our) auction, get what you need without paying full price."

If you just rolled out of bed with 'a great business idea' and don't want to be a part of this grim statistic, run to your nearest bank, get a free business plan template, and write your plan now! Honor the time-proven cliché, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Leadership is about planning for success before it happens. Sun Tzu, the 6th century Chinese philosopher, in his epic work The Art of War, gave some sound business advice that still applies today: "When your strategy is deep and far-reaching, then what you gain by your calculations is much, so you can win before you even fight. When your strategic thinking is shallow and near-sighted, then what you gain by your calculations is little, so you lose before you do battle."

In the Financial Planning category, a whopping 82% of businesses failed due to poor cash flow management skills followed closely by starting out with too little money. Business leadership is about taking financial responsibility, conducting sound financial planning and research, and understanding the unique financial dynamics of one's business. Before even starting a business, show your plan to your accountant and get their counsel. What a concept! Asking for the advice of someone who sees the bottom-line realities of business day in and day out; someone who sees the birth certificates, successions, and autopsy reports of thousands of business entities. It just makes good business sense. But many people will ignore this advice and eventually meet with business disaster. [Word of caution: don't rely on just one opinion. Get at least two or three opinions from different accountants to get a more informed view].

The third business failure factor profiled in the report, and a critical one, was Marketing. Over 64% of the businesses surveyed in the Marketing category failed because of owners minimizing the importance of properly promoting their business followed by ignoring their competition. Again, as a business leader, you must be able to effectively communicate your idea to the right people and understand their unique needs and wants. Leadership is all about taking initiative, taking action, getting things done, and making decisions. If you're not doing anything of significance to market and promote your business, you are most likely headed for business failure. I recommend every time you get up in the morning, jot down 5 new things you can do to promote your business and go DO them! If you can't think of anything to jot down, I highly recommend reading Jay Conrad Levinson's book, Guerrilla Marketing, which has oodles of useful information and tips on promoting for small business.

Know your competition. Leadership is also about providing value to people. If your main competitors are all providing a better quality and lower priced product than yours, how can you possibly create any value? Either you harness your strengths to provide different benefits such as speed, convenience, better service; lower your price and improve quality; create a different product for an unmet demand; or get out of the game.

Finally, one of the most important reasons why businesses fail is due to poor management. In the Management category, 70% of businesses failed due to owners not recognizing what they don't do well and not seeking help, followed by insufficient relevant business experience. Not delegating properly and hiring the wrong people were major contributing factors to business failure in the Management category.

Leadership is about knowing yourself - understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Leaders are aware of their potential. Losers ignore their potential. Leadership is ultimately about influence and delegation. As a leader, you must have the humility to be able to surround yourself with people who are brighter than you and who can make up for your weaknesses and limitations so you can do what you do best: seize the day and lead! %

By Sharif Khan

Five Crucial Components of a Business Plan

The format of a Business Plan is something that has been developed and refined over the years and is something that should not be changed. Like a good recipe, a business plan needs to include certain ingredients to make it work.

When you create a business plan, don't attempt to recreate its format. Those reviewing this type of document have expectations you must meet. If they do not see those crucial decision-making components, they'll see no reason to proceed with their review of your business plan, no matter how great your business idea.

Executive Summary Section

Every business plan must begin with an Executive Summary section. A well-written Executive Summary is critical to the success of the rest of the document. Here is where you need to capture the attention of your audience so that they will be compelled to read on. Remember, it's a summary, so each and every word must be carefully selected and presented.

Use the Executive Summary section of your business plan to accurately describe the nature of your business venture including the need that you plan to fill. Show the reasons why people need your product or service. Show this by including a brief analysis of the characteristics of your potential market.

Describe the organization of your business including your management team. Also, briefly describe your sales and marketing plan or approach. Finally include the numbers that those reviewing your business plan want to see - the amount of capital you seek, the carefully calculated sales projections and your plan to repay the loan.

If you've captured your audience so far they'll read on. Otherwise, they'll close the document and add your business plan to the heap of other rejected ideas.

Devote the balance of your business plan to providing details of the items outlined in the Executive Summary.

The Business Section

Be sure to include the legal name, physical address and detailed description of the nature of your business. It's important to keep the description easy to read using common terminology. Never assume that those reading your business plan have the same level of technical knowledge that you do. Describe how you plan to better serve your market than your competition is currently doing.

Market Analysis Section

An analysis of the market shows that you have done your homework. This section is basically a summary of your Marketing Plan. It needs to show the demand for your product or service, the proposed market, trends within the industry, a description of your pricing plan and packaging and a description of your company policies.

Financing Section

The Financing section must show that you are as committed to your business venture as you expect those reading your business plan to be. Show the amount of personal funds you are contributing and their source. Also include the amount of capital you need and your plan to repay this debt. Include all pertinent financial worksheets in this section: annual income projections, a break-even worksheet, projected cash flow statements and a balance sheet.

Management Section

Outline your organizational structure and management team here. Include the legal structure of your business whether it is a partnership, corporation or limited liability corporation. Include resumes and biographies of key players on your management team. Show staffing projection data for the next few years.

By now you're probably thinking that you don't need Business Plan just yet. Well you do, and there is business plan building software that can help you through this immense project. These software packages are easy to use and affordable. Use one today and produce a professional-quality Business Plan - including all critical components - tomorrow!

By Cavyl Stewart

When Do I Need To Hire A Business Plan Consultant

Every new business owner knows that a business plan is critical - it is drilled into them by potential investors and every banking officer they meet. So why is something that is so important to the launch of a new venture so difficult to write? Good question! In this article I will try to address when you should go out and hire a business plan writer versus taking on the task yourself. First time entrepreneurs often cringe when sitting down to write their business plan. Some spend 6 months agonizing over each period and comma, and even worse others spend 6 months procrastinating and do nothing. So lets break it down and see where / when a business planning company should be brought in:

Who will read your business plan and why?

First you need to really understand the purpose of your business plan and who your audience (reader) will be. This is an important point as a business plan being written for a $100,000 loan is VERY different than a document needed for a $10 million round of venture capital! Since this article is focused on first-time small business owners, I will focus on preparing business plans raising less then $1 million in capital. For this "startup" or "seed" business plan 30-35 pages are perfect. You are not expected to deliver a thick book (and no one will read it anyway!). Once you have this down, you can honestly assess which sections you are qualified / comfortable writing and which may need consulting help.

Here is what you should write on your own

It is important for you to write a basic draft / outline of your business plan. Without this direction you are probably asking too much of your consultant. Once you have your thoughts organized on paper you can see what you are comfortable completing. Here are a few suggestions:

Executive Summary: Draft the opening of your business plan - then hire a pro to come in and re-write it. Your executive summary will be read first and first impressions are critical!

Marketing: You need to write your own definition of your target customer / audience. For the market research on industry growth and fancy charts go ahead and hire a consultant.

Competitive Analysis: You should put together the first draft of this section, as it is almost as important to understand your competitors, as it is your customers. If you find a consultant that is an expert in your field, then you can work together and add to your initial list.

The Dreaded Financials

This is the most difficult part of a startup business plan, as you are making projections and assumptions on products / services that you have not even produced or sold yet! If you are stuck on this section you can hire a business plan consultant to just assist you with completing your projections (income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet). Figuring out the cost of goods, delivery costs, and return rates can be simplified by breaking them down into a "light" spreadsheet. Next you need to understand your startup and operating costs - items like electricity, travel, phone expenses, etc. Again just organize these and your consultant can make all the fancy charts and graphs. Just make sure you understand all of the assumptions - for example if you are opening a retail business, you should not look towards your consultant to "guess" your rent - go out and meet with a realtor and come back with real data. If you work closely with your consultant, the financials are a great section to bring in professional help.

Managing Expectations

Now that you know a bit more about when to hire a business plan writer you also need to manage your expectations. You can't expect a $1,000 business plan to have 20 pages of competitive analysis and a full-blown marketing strategy! If you carefully work through which sections of your business plan need outside help and then manage your consultant closely, your final document will be a success! My next two articles will focus on "How to Find / Hire a Business Plan Consultant" and more importantly "When to Fire your Business Plan Consultant!"

By Howard Schwartz

The Power of Planning

I am surprised how few sales professionals, independent consultants, and small business owners take the time to plan the strategy for their business. Most people spend more time writing out a grocery list or planning a vacation than they do planning the direction or outcome of their business. Many will determine a vague or general idea of what they want to accomplish but very few actually identify the specific action steps they will need to take in order to achieve their goals. I'm not suggesting you create a 25-30 page business plan like a good friend of mine writes every year, but I do recommend that you begin outlining the goals you want to accomplish and how you plan to get there.

It is one thing to set a target for yourself, it is quite another to actually plan how you will achieve it. When I establish my annual goals (which get more challenging every year), I ask myself, "How will I accomplish these goals?" This forces me to plan the tactics, strategies, and actions I need to undertake in order to achieve my targets. For example, if your business relies primarily on referrals, identify what you can do to increase the number of referrals you receive.

In her book, Get Clients Now!, author C. J. Hayden suggests using a monthly tracking sheet. This means setting specific monthly goals, planning what action you will take to generate new business, and tracking your progress. She suggests that you engage in a minimum of ten different marketing activities each week. This can include; networking, prospecting, cold calling, sending mailers, speaking, etc. A speaker I know spends most of his Monday planning and strategizing his week, determining exactly what activities he will execute in the upcoming few days.

How should you plan your business? It all depends on what you want to accomplish and what is important to you. I know I could probably increase my revenue significantly in the next 12 months, but it would require spending less time with my family. Only you can determine what is important. And this will change depending on what stage of life you are in. What is important to you now may be completely irrelevant six months from now. Here are five key areas to plan.

Revenue. If you are like most businesses, you likely have more than one product or service. Therefore, breaking down your sales into specific categories makes sense. This allows you to track your progress in each area and see where you can improve year over year. Plus, I can also determine the products or services I should stop selling because they don't generate very good sales.

Profit. Obviously, determining your gross sales is important. More importantly, though, is the amount of money you have left over at the end of the day. In other words, what profit are you going to generate? A professional speaker I know plans his business by deciding what profit he wants to earn by each year. He then creates his plan backwards to determine how he will achieve this. Remember, you can incredible sales but still go out of business.

Expenses. Controlling expenses is a critical aspect of running a profitable and successful business regardless of the size. All large organizations budget expenses but most independent business owners "wing it" and pay the bills as they come in. If you want to increase your revenues, you need to know how much it will cost you to generate your targeted sales. I remember talking to another trainer a few years ago who had learned this lesson. She began analyzing all of her expenses and found several areas she could trim. This freed up cash which she used to market her business. The result was more revenue with no additional out-of-pocket expense.

Vacation or Personal Time. How much free time do you want for yourself in the next year? I have learned that it is very easy to get sucked into the vortex of running a business and forget to take a vacation or personal time to recharge my batteries. Block those days in your calendar early in the year. This signifies a commitment and allows you to plan your business around these personal days. A friend of mine spends most of his summer scuba diving so he plans the rest of year accordingly. He works extremely hard but this frees up almost 3 months for him to partake in his favorite past-time.

Personal Development. I have found that the people who invest in themselves consistently outperform those who don't. Identify the skills that will help you become more successful. Determine what books, programs, courses, or people can help you learn these skills and take action.

Planning does take time. However, it is time well invested. Make the time in your hectic life to create a plan for next year's business. Review it regularly and make the necessary changes as you progress forward. You'll be glad you did.

Copyright 2004 Kelley Robertson. All rights reserved

By Kelley Robertson

Writing Your Business Plan is Actually Storytelling

Storytelling and writing a business plan actually go hand in hand. The same ingredients used in telling a story are also used in writing a business plan. Let's use the Executive Summary as an example.

The usual advice give to write this part of a business plan is something along these lines:

? This is the most important part of your plan because it is where potential investors will focus their attention most on.

? Write this executive summary once your plan is at its very final draft stage.

? Highlights and key issues.

? Avoid detail.

? Address the needs and interest of the reader.

? Use bullet points.

? Keep the length of this Executive Summary to no more than three pages.

If this is the most important part of your entire business plan, then it is even more important for you to get it right from the start. But really, how do you this? How much information do you give in this Executive Summary? How much do you leave out? What do you concentrate on? Is it the description of the product itself? But if you concentrate on the product, then how do you keep it to only three pages when there is so much more to say about the history of the company, the people who run it and the financial status of the company? What about the dreams and aspirations of the company? How really can it all be said in just three pages?

Well, most successful business plans use the same formula that storytellers use to write their Executive Summary.

Let's use a very simple example to illustrate the point. Assume that the business plan you are writing is for the launch of a new face cream called Madame Belle, by a company known as Acme Creams Inc.. Your Executive Summary could read like this:

1. To revive our ailing company and generate some revenue, we are proud to introduce our new product, Madame Belle.

2. Madame Belle is a new age-defying face. The ingredients of this product are derived mainly from the aloe vera plant. Using our secret formula, we have extracted the glue-like substance from the plant and combined it with some other materials to produce Madame Belle.

3. The research and development team for the product is headed by Professor Bloggs. The marketing and sales of this product will be carried out by a team headed by Mr. John Stone, our Director of Sales and Marketing. The entire project has been funded by our company, Acme Creams Inc.

4. The distribution of the product will, in the first two years of production, be focused mainly in the U.S. market. Thereafter, the plan is to expand production and sales to Europe.

5. The date for the launch of this product has been fixed for January 27th 2005 and Ms Gloria Vanderbilt has agreed to be our guest of honour.

Where are the ingredients of a story in this?

Well, in sentence 1, the ingredient of 'Why' was used. The product was created to generate revenue.

In sentence 2, the ingredient 'What' was used to describe the product.

In sentence 3, the ingredient of 'Who' was used to provide information about who was involved in the project.

In sentence 4, it is the ingredient 'Where' that is used to show the geographical location of where this product will be sold.

Then in sentence 5, it is the ingredients of 'When' and 'How' this product is going to be launched that are described.

Now, let me state here that the ingredients listed above are not the only ingredients in telling a story but they are the core ones. Also, the description above is but a sample; so, in writing a proper Executive Summary, one would need to expand on each ingredient. Nevertheless, when writing each part of the business plan from the Executive Summary to the financial plan to the marketing plan, the same ingredients can be used to describe each and every aspect of this.

*******************

By Aneeta Sundararaj

Becoming Wise - Wild & Free - Writing A Successful Business Plan - Part 2 - Do It In Steps

So you've decided to write your own business plan because you know the value that the experience will give you. With the books and software that are out there today you can probably sit down and complete the plan in a day or so, right? Plug in the numbers, add the notes, write the whole narrative (story), print it and get it out to the banks or investors.

If you can complete a plan in a day or so you are either an expert, that has already done all of the research, or you are heading for big trouble, because you have not done enough research. If you are like most people you have a job, a family and commitments that take up a lot of time. It would be impossible to write a business plan that quickly, even if you know your stuff. You have probably heard the old adage, 'Rome wasn't built in a day' well, neither was a good business plan.

To create a top quality business plan you need to research each and every aspect as diligently as possible. Take your time and think of everything, don't leave anything to chance.

That sounds like a lot of work and a long drawn out process. How will you remember or even think of everything? How can you keep track of what you have to research? If you have to set your plan aside for a while, how will you remember where you left off? You may get tired, bored and even careless in your efforts because like most people you probably have Attention Deficit Disorder when it comes to doing this type of work.

The answer is to do your plan in steps. A good guide book or business plan software will ask you to complete work as you go, one step at a time. You read a section, do some research on the items(s) in the section and enter the information that you discovered. This way you are focused on each item as you go and never become overwhelmed. You will also be able to remember where you were when you have to set the plan aside for a few days, without having to re-read a novel. The process may still seem long but if you concentrate on doing your plan in steps it will be done before you know it.

This series of articles has been written in steps because most people don't have the time to sit down and read a novel. You can even do your financial projections in steps, which is where I recommend that you start. Doing the projections will help you analyse the feasibility of your project before you spend a ton of time writing a complete plan that may or may not work for you.

Look for the next article on Writing A Successful Business Plan - Part 3 - 'The Feasibility' of the Becoming Wise - Wild & Free series.


Written by Rod Francis

Is Your Company Growing Fast Enough for You?

Are you frustrated by the lack of growth in your firm, or the effort required to squeeze any up-tick in performance? Are inadequate policies and procedures a root cause? To find out, take this simple self assessment to see if this may be inhibiting real growth at your company.

Q. Can you take an extended vacation without the company falling apart?

A. If you answered "no" then you have a job and not a business. A business must have a system of standard operating procedures to ensure the work gets done correctly, even in your absence.

Q. Can your company handle a ramp-up in sales and production?

A. Hidden inefficiencies are often revealed when sales and production increase. If low turns on accounts receivable and inventory, long sales or production cycles starve your cash flow, then something is wrong. Your policies and procedures should document cycle times for your critical operating metrics.

Q. Can you effectively add more people to your organization?

A. Hiring people is simple compared to ensuring they know what to do and have the resources to accomplish their job. Policies and procedures provide the framework for a management system to oversee new employees and communicate who does what by when.

Q. Does opening a new branch office, plant or facility create havoc?

A. Expanding your operations to new locations will test the limits of your policies and procedures. Did you know that franchises are four times more likely to survive than a start-up primarily because they have a well defined operations manual? Are you running your business like franchises run theirs?

Q. Is your family happy with your work life? A. If your business demands too many hours, too much stress, and too little quality time with your family and friends, then you should do something about it. A well defined system of standard operating procedures can allow you take a vacation without worry, increase sales with ease, add people to fill demand, and open new offices without trouble. Then your family will be the happiest on the block.


By Chris Anderson

More Uses for Your Business Plan

You have invested a lot of time and energy on writing a business plan just to get a loan or to attract an investor. What do you do when you get the money or, worse, should you be turned down?

Do you just file it away? That's like investing in a boat that remains parked in your driveway after its inaugural voyage.

Instead of filing it away or leaving it on a shelf to gather dust, why not capture more return on your investment? To gain a clearer perspective, convert your investment of time and energy into a dollar amount. Then, you'll think twice before filing your business plan away.

Ways to capitalize on your investment





Expand the marketing section for an ongoing planning document, or for periodic reviews, or for revising marketing strategies. The historical data, projections, competition surveys and analyses are valuable bases for updating the data into a working framework. The material is a convenient reference for when you are asked to make an oral presentation, to write an article, to provide background data for ad copy or for other promotional activities.



Save the various sections as templates for any number of purposes. Some of these can be used for decision-making, for analyzing proposals and new ventures, or for dispensing with those time-consuming 'dream/someday' projects.



Use some excerpts for such Human Resource Management activities as: orienting and training a new associate, or as a preparation for a staff promotion.



All your grueling work on the financial data can form the foundation for financial controls and reviews, budget-actual sheets and as background for trend projections. Your original documents serve as benchmarks and as reminders of your progress for your bankers.



You will not have to start out from scratch should you have a similar need to re-apply for funds, tender an invitation to a partner, or supply data for the experts should you consider 'going public.' The evidence of before-and-after progress is helpful as a contribution to a 'for sale' proposal, or for a sudden and urgent offer to buy. Plans for expansion, mergers, spin-offs, or cooperative alliances can start with your collected data.



Your business plan, with its appendices, is a convenient repository for company data and records, equipment details, floor plans, measurements, maps, contact details for legal and accounting consultants, general historical information, industry descriptions including your historical SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the past, current and future at the time of its writing.



Create in-house displays of your mission statement, the organizational chart or the photographs and biographical sketches of your benefactors and supporters.

Don't have a business plan in your files? Begin preparing portions today as an investment for that day when you will need one. It's quite probable that when that need arises you will be too pre-occupied to devote the required time and energy on an appropriate plan.

Now, you have a greater incentive to do a more thorough business plan today, knowing it is going to serve several useful purposes in the future.


By Gerry McRae

6 Steps To Laying Out Your Competitive Strategy

Why do so many companies languish and watch as their business turns into a zero profit zone, while others seem to thrive?

When you look at your business, whether it's a new venture or a company with a long history, can you answer the following questions?





What does my company do better than anyone else?



What unique value do I provide to my customers?



How will I increase that value next year?





Companies that fail to answer these questions, and don't believe they are of paramount importance, relegate themselves to marginal profitability at best and failure at worst. But companies that can answer these questions are able to raise the value bar for their customers and reap the benefits of success.

Of course, being able to answer 3 simple questions does not ensure success, but it is an important step in creating a strategic and focused operation which leads to a successful business. With today's business environment being so competitive, businesses need to re-invent the rules on which they compete in order to be successful. Companies like Wal-Mart have figured this out and have redefined competition in their market by delivering a unique value to a selected customer group. By maintaining a focus and discipline, they make it difficult for other companies to compete under old competitive terms.

Simply, competitive strategy has never been more important to success in today's business environment. It does not matter what type of business you are in or whether you are small, big or just starting out, a company can not survive without an adequate and focused strategic plan to best the competition. Yet many companies fail to execute a successful strategy; it is these companies that languish in the zero profit zone.

In simple terms, for a company to achieve success and enter the profit zone it must first decide where it will stake its claim in the marketplace and what kind of value it will offer its customers. A company needs a clear marketing thrust, a precise knowledge of its customer base, and a product or service with a niche or some competitive advantage to be successful. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and business owners get stuck in the process of defining their competitive strategy. They often have the idea and the product, but being the technician they are not sure how to define its market. Even worse, many entrepreneurs assume or guess their target market and often glaze over a competitive strategy, usually to the detriment of the business.

So what are the steps to laying out a competitive business strategy? While there are different methods you can follow, I have laid a series of 6 basic steps to help you.

1. Financial perspective

This step may not seem to have much to do with strategy, but it is important to determine the value of success quickly. Why? Because, in simple terms if the venture can't deliver significant returns, it may not be worth the risk, and you have to ask yourself if it is worth continuing with your business. In this scenario you complete a reverse income statement. You start by defining how much profit you want to see at the end of a certain time period, and then determine the amount of revenues needed to generate that profit and the costs to deliver that profit. Do the numbers add up and make sense? The goal here is to be objective, if the expected revenue is not sufficient to generate your required profit at the end based on an estimate of costs, don't simply fudge the numbers and assume you can reduce costs or increase revenue. Be diligent in your assessment.

2. Understand the industry and competition

In step 2 you are going to assess your industry and the competition. This basically comes down to assessing 5 factors:





Understanding who your competition is including factors such as competitor strengths and weaknesses, market position, pricing, new product development, advertising, marketing and branding. You should determine how you compare to your competitors.



Assessing the threat of new entrants into the industry (which may include you) and any potential reactions from existing companies. There are basically 6 barriers to entry you can evaluate: economies of scale, product differentiation, capital requirements, cost disadvantages, access to distribution channels, government policy.



Assessing the threat of substitute products (existing or future) that can place a ceiling on pricing.



Assessing the bargaining power of suppliers who can increase prices, lower the quality of products or limit the quantity of supplies one can purchase. This all has an impact on profitability.



Assessing the bargaining power of customers who can force down prices or demand better quality, more services and play you off versus a competitor.

3. Understand the Customer Perspective

In step 3 you assess your customer. This is a key step, get it wrong and you may not be able to recover. In fact, the customer value proposition and how it translates into growth and profitability for the company is the foundation of strategy.

Start by asking your self a couple basic questions: To achieve my vision, how must my customers look? Who are the target customers that will generate growth and a profitable mix of products/services?

Next, ask yourself what is the value proposition which defines how the company differentiates itself to attract, retain and deepen relationships with the targeted customers? There are basically 3 value propositions or disciplines that you can choose from:







Cost leadership - In this discipline you choose to provide the best price with the least inconvenience to your customers.



Product leadership - In this discipline you offer products that push the performance boundary (i.e. newer and better than competitors).



Best total solution - In this discipline you deliver what the customer wants, cultivate relationships and satisfy unique needs. In this case, you may not be the cheapest or the newest, but the total package you deliver to the customer cannot be matched.

In order to help you determine which of these value propositions you decide on, you may want to work through a value chain: 1. Determine your customer priorities 2. Determine the channels needed to satisfy those priorities 3. Determine the offering (products) that are best suited to flow through those channels 4. Determine the inputs (materials/knowledge etc) required to create the product 5. Determine the assets/core competencies essential to the inputs (ask yourself, in order to satisfy my customer at which processes must I excel? For example, product design, brand and market development, sales, service and operations and/or logistics).

4. Finish the business model

The business model shows how all the elements and activities of a business work together as a whole by outlining how the business generates revenue, how cash flows through the business and how the product flows through the business. By this time, you should understand the revenue capability of the business, how the industry works and your competition, who you customer is, what you are going to offer them and how you are going to offer it. By drawing a flow chart that shows how these activities are linked together you will understand how the business activities flow to generate projected profit, which you determined in step 1. This is also a good step to see if something is missing in your analysis.

5. Construct the business plan

By the time you get to this step most of your work is done. If you are looking for financing, a formalized plan will have to be completed. If you do not need financing, simply make sure the preceding tasks are documented so that they can be reviewed and changed as time progresses (strategy is an ongoing process, not a one time task).

6. Learning and growth perspective

In this last step, you ask yourself how/where the organization must learn and improve in order to become and remain successful. For example, determine the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees needed, the technology needed and the climate and culture in which they work.


By Jeff Schein

Business Planning and the "Bozo" Factor

"Bozo" - A clown with a forlorn look, always finding negative implications in every activity or event. A person who tries to find a way to prevent you from moving ahead, giving excuses such as "we've always done it this way, or this is not our culture" when presented a new opportunity or challenge. Normally associated with people who are uncomfortable with learning new techniques, processes, or relationships.

Guy Kawasaki from Garage.Com - a venture capital company, used to have a segment in his presentations called "Don't Let the Bozos Grind You Down." This segment discussed how every organization will have a corps of people who simply try everything in their power to stop innovation, new product and service development, and introduction of anything new into the daily job function. These people are "bozos." If you want to avoid the pain of dealing with bozos in your business planning, you need to develop techniques in identifying and preventing bozos from interfering with potential future activities of your organization or company.

Due diligence on any innovation or change in direction of an organization is a clear requirement - nobody wants to manage a company like a small dog playing with toys - chasing everything that looks fun without following through on any action. A manager must rely on staff to provide a good system of checks and balances to manage risk associated with any change.

However, none of us are immune to the effects of a global economy accelerated by use of global telecommunications networks and business process innovations. With very few exceptions, our organizations must move ahead - offering products and services demanded by a "savvy" consumer market, or run the risk of another company replacing us. Competitive companies are always taking managed risk to innovate and pass your company or organization, offering a better, faster, cheaper, and more modern product. If you lose your place as a market leader due to internal struggles in your attempt to innovate, you will ensure the bozo has successfully accomplished his objectives. If the bozos are successful once, their chances of continuing to hurt your innovation efforts will increase.

Bozos only serve the purpose of dragging down an organization through endless complaints, justifications for refusing change, and comments about the "old days" when "things were better." We have to limit the Bozo-factor in our planning, while ensuring adequate due diligence is maintained. In a worst case bozos will simply refuse to perform tasks associated with new product development and rollout - sabotaging your efforts to move the company ahead.

Look for the Signs of Bozos in Your Office

Bozos are fairly easy to identify. They are the people who generally use phrases like:

? "Its not my job"

? "I haven't been trained"

? "We've always done it this way"

? "Why should we change?"

? "It won't work"

? "It is impossible"

? "Nobody else is doing it"

? "I haven't enough time to learn a new job or technique"

? and many other similar phrases

The bozo is dangerous in other ways. While you are trying to innovate and move your company ahead in the market, Bozos are diligently trying to "rally" the other employees around their justification for not supporting change. Most employees fully understand if they are not always learning and trying to improve themselves, eventually somebody will replace them - but the bozo wants to contribute to their potential unemployment situation by dragging them along into a condition where management must either decide to go around them, over them, or in the worst case "through them" to accomplish company or organizational objectives.

If in your business planning you bypass bozos, use good due diligence, study your market conditions, trends, and futures - you can avoid the bozo factor in business planning. To paraphrase the creed of the French Foreign Legion (March or Die), to survive in the global economy and market place all companies must constantly plan for innovation, providing a product that is better than the competition - where ever that competition may be. Innovate or die - through managed risk.

By John Savageau

Thinking Like A Farmer

One of the difficulties we face in our industrialized age is the fact we've lost our sense of seasons. Unlike the farmer whose priorities change with the seasons, we have become impervious to the natural rhythm of life. As a result, we have our priorities out of balance.

Let me illustrate what I mean:

For a farmer, springtime is his most active time. It's then when he must work around the clock, up before the sun and still toiling at the stroke of midnight. He must keep his equipment running at full capacity because he has but a small window of time for the planting of his crop.

Eventually winter comes when there is less for him to do to keep him busy.

There is a lesson here.

Learn to use the seasons of life.

Decide when to pour it on and when to ease back, when to take advantage and when to let things ride.

It's easy to keep going from nine to five year in and year out and lose a natural sense of priorities and cycles. Don't let one year blend into another in a seemingly endless parade of tasks and responsibilities. Keep your eye on your own seasons, lest you lose sight of value and substance.


By Jim Rohn

Business Ideas: 3 Smart Ways To Generate Profitable Business Ideas Anytime

Creativity is one of the greatest tools for success in business.

All businesses are created first by ideas.

Then once you're in business you need ideas for marketing, advertising, solving problems, product development etc.

The difference between success or failure could be one just one idea. That's all!

Below are three ways to generate profitable business ideas.

1. Communicating regularly with other business people can generate many ideas. There are many resources online and offline to meet new business people lie; seminars, chat rooms, discussion boards, trade shows etc. Sharing your knowledge, asking questions, and taking in new information will stimulate your mind. Your brain will begin to put all this information together to create profitable business ideas.

2. If you're not much of a communicator, try reading. Reading can also stimulate your mind. Read business books, magazines, e-books, websites, journals, e-zines, newspapers etc. Your brain will generate profitable ideas by absorbing and rearranging this information on a regular basis.

3. Don't have a lot of time to read? You could listen to business audio books, seminars and courses. Listen to them in the car, while your doing house work, working in the yard, or exercising. Also, tune in business related radio stations. This will help you save time and generate profitable business ideas at the same time.

There are a few extra tips that will help improve these idea generation strategies. Take short breaks to brainstorm about the information you absorbed. Keep a notepad and pen handy to record your ideas so you don't forget them. All businesses need profitable business ideas to stay ahead of competition and survive.

May these secrets on how to generate business ideas help you to make a lot of money.

Warmly,

I-key Benney

Ten Steps To A Great Strategic Plan

Ask a small business owner about their strategic plan and they'll either laugh or get that stricken look in their eyes. Yet it's well documented that businesses with a strategic plan are more successful. No matter what size business, from solo practitioner to hundreds of employees, a thoughtful strategic plan will help you achieve your dreams.

Many business owners don't go down the strategic planning road because they are a little intimidated by the idea. They don't know how, they are not familiar with the terminology and simply don't know where to begin.

We can remedy that. A couple of preliminary principles to understand: a strategic plan is not a long to do list - it's about the big picture, your approach to the market, and the metrics you'll use to measure your progress. Strategic planning is a bit of an oxymoron. Strategizing is a creative process; planning is a rather linear process. So be creative first, then organize into a plan. To keep the creativity in the strategic planning process, remember that it's not etched in stone. You create it and you can change, modify and tweak it as needed.

Here are ten steps to creating an effective strategic plan:

1) Start by listing five or six values by which you want your company to operate. Be honest and be real. If intensity is part of your culture, say so. If fun is part of your culture, say so. There are no right and wrong values.

2) Write out your company's brand promise. This is the one unbreakable promise you make to your customers. For example, our brand promise for EWF International is "Real-life, real-time business help in a confidential community of peers."

3) Articulate your vision. Get clear on what you want your company to look like long term. Though you are thinking about some point in the future, describe in present tense terms what your company looks like in five to ten years.

4) Set big goals. Goals are desired outcomes, not a description of actions or activities, but the final picture. For example, "Achieve 95% customer satisfaction" as opposed to "Improve our customer service process." Your goals should be ambitious and achievable, not bravado. Choose three to five big goals that you want to accomplish in the next five years.

5) Now it's time for numbers. Choose three to five key metrics that drive your business. Of course everyone tracks income and expense, but what key numbers, ratios and percentages, specific to your industry and your business, do you need to faithfully track weekly and monthly? Don't overcomplicate this, simply ask yourself, "What numbers need to go up or down for this business to be successful?" For example, if you're in retail, you might want to track profit per square foot. A professional services firm might track billable hours. You might track client retention or profit per client. There is no one set of numbers relevant for all businesses, but you know best how your business works and what needs to be measured. Then choose one critical number that needs to be watched carefully and immediately. Often this is a measure of some activity, one aspect of the business or someone's job. For example, how many sales calls do you need to make each week to get new clients? How many new strategic alliances do you need to expand your market?

6) Next it's time to think about what actions need to be taken in the next 90 days to move you toward your goals. For example, technology improvements, marketing connections, staff training, new equipment, better financing, certifications, strategic alliances. Review these actions every quarter and determine new actions for the next 90 days.

7) Determine accountability - you must determine who is responsible for what by when. Use a simple three column chart to track the initiatives.

8) The most often overlooked part of a strategic plan is celebration. You and your team will work hard to implement the plan. Decide in advance how you will celebrate. What's the reward? It could be bonuses or some new piece of technology you've wanted, a company party, whatever sounds fun to you.

9) The next step is to have each person set weekly priorities, and from those priorities each person chooses the #1 priority for their week. This simple process, when written and tracked faithfully will create the biggest difference in your organization.

10) Above all, don't worry about perfection and keep it simple. Your plan is not going to be published and critiqued. It only has to make sense to you and your team. The purpose is to be focused and intentional, yet flexible.

Have fun with it!

By Darcie Harris

Will and Vision

Remember Chux? The disposable diaper that took the market by storm in 1932?

Of course you don't. Chux saw its product as a luxury item, and happily kept its little throwaway business to itself for almost forty years. Then Pampers came along in the 1960s, supported by a huge, mass-consumer vision with persistence to match, and blew Chux out of the market-transforming baby rearing forever.

And everyone knows the legend of the two Steves-Jobs and Wozniak-who invented the personal computer in someone's garage. Only they didn't. The Altair MITS came to market long before in 1975. It's just that Steve Jobs had the mammoth vision of a computer on every desk; and Apple II became the first PC hit.

I just finished reading a brilliant book titled Will and Vision-How Latecomers Grow to Dominate Markets, by Grard J. Tellis and Peter N. Golder.

This book takes the concept of vision and makes it concrete, demonstrating sixty-six cases where a huge vision of value for a market combined with persistence and indomitable will, made the ingredients for blockbuster success. Along the way the authors bury the concept of first mover advantage. They offer numerous examples of companies that arrived second, third or later, and went on to dominate their markets.

So what does Will and Vision say are the key elements of success?

The authors-academics grounded in research-not than starry-eyed growth consultants like yours truly-carefully reviewed the historical record: vision was the number one element.

That's right. Big fat vision backed by persistence, will, and relentless innovation.

Today's world offers many choices. People who lack vision are apt to drift to the next appealing project as soon as things don't go the way they planned. They lack persistence to achieve anything important.

Will and Vision offers us a different kind of world. (Of course I'm biased. I've been shouting about vision and commitment for years.) We aren't talking about a "vision" that's sloganized and prettified and pasted on a plaque. We mean the kind of vision that highlights the importance and value of a product or service to many people and ultimately points the way to a new future. And, of course, requires a 100% commitment to bring into reality.

More mass-value vision examples, from high tech and low: Dell computers, not IBM or IMSAI; Sony video recorders, not Ampex-who gave up a ten year lead; Microsoft Internet Explorer-not Netscape, or its predecessor, Links; McDonalds' Ray Kroc-not the McDonald Brothers; Gillette-not Wilkenson Sword.

Mass market + high utility = big vision.

Seeing what no one else can see. Having a new world view.

Leaders in each of these companies owned a view that extended further than any of their predecessors.

And that expansive vision enabled these people to gain access and leverage the resources (Key #4), maintain the persistence to bring the vision into reality (Key #2), and sustain relentless creativity and innovations (Key #3), over a period of years.

Here are a few points about a successful vision taken from the research:

The vision must be unique. Not uniqueness of product per se, but unique in the way your product serves the world;

The vision must be simple and easy to grasp;

Seeds of the vision typically exist in some form in other products or services; (Thank goodness we don't all have to be inventors or originals-only visionaries!)



The new vision may be of a thing for which there no market-yet. (This last bit is illuminating for any of us stuck in market research.)

And some important points regarding will:



Reaching your vision may take a long time. Vision without will won't get you there. Only great commitment can;



A misplaced belief in luck or other unseen forces hinders our ability to persist. We will find evidence that no such luck exists, and use that as an excuse to quit.



And this great insight: persistence can manifest as a series of minor solutions, and contrarily, complacency in small successes can be a barrier to innovation that farsighted vision requires.





Some additional tips for long-term success:

Maintain a continuous feedback loop and solicit others' opinions regarding your execution;



Keep a sharp eye for market changes, and be willing to respond quickly;



And as Andrew Grove suggests, paranoia drives innovation. A healthy fear of competitors sneaking up on you can keep your product or service fresh;



So how big is YOUR vision?

Is your vision big enough to drive the kind of success you seek? Is your vision large enough to sustain you? Is it important enough to mobilize the resources necessary for its realization? Is it sufficiently inspiring to partners and employees and customers and investors-and all the other people you need to be successful?

If you don't think it's big enough, it may be time to get your vision checked.

Dotcom Business Plans Archive Project

One of the most important initiatives in the domain of business documentation is that of professor David Kirsch from the University of Maryland, who thought of a dotcom Business Plan Archive - , a project that consists of collecting business plans for posterity. The project was started in 2002, through the Web portal businessplanarchive.org. The site was built by Webmergers.com and the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, in collaboration with the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.The project received financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The archive contains records of more than 2,300 Internet companies (either successful or failed) founded in the 90s and during the Internet boom and bust era, that is between 1996 and 2000. The area of interest goes from business strategy to people's interactions in the dotcom workplace. The result will be a digital repository including business plans, marketing plans, venture presentations and any other records. The second part of the project will consist in gathering narratives from entrepreneurs, investors, employees and even customers who participated in this type of activity.

The purpose and usefulness of this project is to preserve past evidence of assumptions and strategies of successful and failed companies, thus providing valuable hints and knowledge for researchers and budding entrepreneurs, so as to learn from past mistakes and successes. Researchers will be able to benefit from this data so as to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research. Valuable insight from these business plans can be obtained:

* assumptions of the founders about the business;
* entrepreneurs' plans to best exploit Internet offered advantages;
* assumptions on market growth and size;
* plans for gaining competitive advantage over traditional and online competitors;
* business core strategies.

The project brought to the researchers involved an award of $235,000 granted by the Library of Congress.

By Laura Ciocan

Business Plan: The Simplest Business Plan Ever

If you're a solo professional like I am, you know how tough it is to find any time at all to do any business planning. Doing a full business plan is a must if you're planning to seek financing or investors, but most solo professionals don't need anything that complicated.

Don't get me wrong, business planning is one of the most important things you need to do to succeed in your one man or woman show. Without planning you'll drift aimlessly from one crisis to the next and one idea to the next, never really getting anything done.

So, what's a solo pro to do? Here's what I do in my own business:

My business plan consists of one page with very little on it. It simply lists the three goals that I must achieve this year. Then, I list a statement for each goal: To achieve Goal #1 I need to?.This is followed by two to five activities or action items I need to do to make that happen.

That's it. That's the whole plan. The beauty is the simplicity. I simply cannot handle more than that. I don't have a staff. I don't have "people". Everything has to be structured so that I can get it done simply and systematically.

So, let's say one of my goals is to increase sales by a certain number, like $25,000. I then ask myself, "What do you need to do to make that happen?" Maybe I want to develop an ebook or add a new service. How many potential or current customers will I need to reach? How much time will I need to develop the book or service? How will I market it?

From those answers, I develop my schedule. What do I need to do monthly, weekly, daily? I break it up into small pieces that take an hour or less. For example, if I decide I need to send out 100 marketing postcards in a month, I break it into 25 cards a week. Then, I put it on my schedule each week, just as I do my appointments with clients.

To keep myself on track, I place my mini plan in front of my keyboard so every morning it's the first thing I see. I also include a note to myself. It reminds me that "Nothing Else Matters." I follow it with my company slogan: Get Knowledge. Get Focus. Get Results.

Complex plans take tons of time to develop and many (if not most) end up gathering dust on a shelf. Using a simple plan improves your focus and helps you to achieve great results.

Are you a solo professional feeling Stressed, Disorganized? Tired of Working Long Hours for Less Than You're Worth? Struggling for Focus?: Learn how one Solo Professional used the Chaos Tamer to Survive and Thrive in the Midst of Total Rampaging Chaos. http://www.TheJordanResult.com .

By Jordan & Caroline Grimm Jordan

Fail to plan... or Plan to FAIL??

Running a business, whether it be an offline multi-billion dollar company or an online part time home business, they share many similar traits.

One of the biggest obstacles I have endeavored to translate to many, many small business / home business people, is a very simple phrase......' Treat It Like a REAL business, Because It IS a REAL Business'.

The fundamental reasoning behind so many failures in small business, is the clear lack of willingness to act like a real business. Many people may ' have a go ', they could ' give it a try ', or ' let's see what happens ' - all with the.. ' what have I got to lose? ' attitude. THAT, my friends, is one of the biggest secrets to FAILURE.

OK - so let's assume that your small business / home business / BizOp etc., is NOT you main source of income. It is NOT responsible for putting food in you family's stomachs, it is NOT what keeps a roof over your head..... it is NOT the sole form of income that you, your family and your Bank Manager rely upon.

So look at it like this. If it WAS, would you put as much effort into it as you do now? I can pretty much guarantee that your efforts would be substantially more, because everything relies on the success of your business, vis-à-vis the money your business generates.

Well, now we have ascertained that you should be running it like a real business.......Are you?

> Do you have a business plan?

> Do you know each step that your business will take over the next week, month, year, three years....?

> Have you prepared your agenda for acquiring new customers, products, joint venture partners?

> Do you have a timetable of events?

> How often do you research, analyse, read-up and check out your competitors?

> When was the last time you contacted your client base?

> Do you offer them special offers, free resources and reports? What about surveying them and asking for their opinions?

> How often do you do all this?

> Does your business have a 'company objective'?

> Has your 'company' it's own 'customer mission statement'?

> Have you set yourself / your business targets....use my S.M.A.R.T. Principle...... .......targets which must be

= Specific.............. each item / area of business must be targeted specifically.

= Measurable........ be able to measure your targets, how much, how often etc.

= Achievable........don't think that you can sell 2 million units if your competitors only sell 50 units.

= Realistic.............. be honest with yourself. Can it be done?

= Time-bound.......give limitations and deadlines to whatever you are planning. Open-ended is no good.

If you want to run your BUSINESS 'willy-nilly', or 'Gun Ho' - then expect eventual failure. However, with some applied thought, planning and foresight, you can develop your little, part-time home business into something which definitely has increased chances for success.

Apply time-management techniques, stick to time-tables and deadlines. Look out for 'Time Thieves'........ These are people or events which steal time from you, time which could be more effectively used elsewhere.

Example: Someone calls and asks when you can deliver a certain item, you reply "within two days", they are happy with your response BUT instead of the conversation finishing, they go on to talk about weather, sports, families etc...

.....before you know it, a one-minute call has turned into a 30 minute episode of everything except business. Not Good. This is time you could have efficiently used elsewhere.........they have stolen your time from you. Look out for the 'Time Thieves' - they are everywhere. Spot them - deal with them.

Time Management is KEY to business planning. If your plan has a tight schedule to work to, then your management of ever-so valuable time will be very important. Plan your time carefully, effectively and efficiently......but do allow for some overspill and overlap.......it happens in any business!

One KEY fundamental of business planning is the ability to be flexible and adaptable. Never assume that once you create your plan, that you must stick to it rigidly, but flexible when necessary, but not to the detriment of the your success. Remember, overspill and overlap work both sides of the same coin.

PLAN. Plan carefully, plan honestly, plan realistically. But you must plan.

Final thought. Think long and hard about the 'company / business objective' and the 'Customer Mission Statement'.

Put together a short (two - three sentences) paragraph for each, which clearly defines..... A). What your business is all about. B). What your customers can expect from your business.

Chose the words carefully, put into 2-3 sentences everything that encapsulates both statements totally and work to these statements closely.

Plan for success, because without planning, you will fail.

By Gary Durkin

Communication Strategy During A Time Of Strategic Planning

"Rubbish!" shouted the large, aggressive man in the red-striped shirt (we had to pay attention to him because he owned the company).

"The staff don't need to be told anything. When we've sorted out all the details and have the adverts ready to run, then we'll tell them. They don't need to know beforehand, it'll only stop them working" he went on to loudly proclaim.

It's hard to ignore the wishes of your client, especially when he's paying you so well and has browbeaten every other consultant, as well as his management team, into submission.

Yet my experience, again and again, is this:

If you don't tell them what's going on, they'll make it up anyway.

Employees not present at strategic planning offsite meetings aren't dumb; they're just not present. They know you're away (they think probably planning the future of the company, their jobs and their salary cuts), so they will gossip and rumour-monger to their heart's discontent while you are not 'minding the store'.

So planning your internal communication is an essential prerequisite to effective and committed implementation of any business strategy. It also goes a long way towards problem minimisation.

In order to minimise the internal and external risks of gossip and rumours, therefore, you should have it very firmly set in your mind that a communication outlining the outcome of the planning should arrive with all due speed, consistency and completeness.

The following guidelines have been tested by experience and found useful:

1. Design and agree
The communication strategy should be designed and agreed by all as part of the planning process, not an adjunct activity delegated to a junior manager who, in all probability, wasn't even at the planning meeting.

2. Tell everyone ASAP
Feedback to all those affected should take place at the earliest possible opportunity-preferably first thing next morning, before the rumour mill has had too much time to gear up. A useful strategy is to have planning meetings on weekends, with the staff briefing occuring first thing Monday morning.

3. One meeting to bind them all
Aim for one single briefing or feedback session, rather than multiple sessions where watering down or distortion of the original message might occur. Thankfully, technology largely allows such a single session to occur, even across multiple timezones. In such an instance, scripting of the communication would prove a valuable tool to consistency, especially where the text of the session will appear on a company intranet.

4. Follow up and re-purpose
A follow-up message (via audio, video or even simple written) to all from the CEO, emphasing the key points, is very useful. It too can be re-purposed to appear on the company intranet, or as a briefing to investors and the marketplace.

All of this might seem like overkill, a tremendous amount of effort for very little gain. But such a view must be evaluated against the fact that the long-term strategic plan will drive the company for anything from the next five to fifteen years.

Investing time at the beginning to 'get it right' will pay massive dividends over the longer term.

Completing the Annual Planning Process

Imagine an office without a desk, or lights, a computer, or even something as simple as a chair. When the architects and designers started planning a building or office space they knew they would have to make concessions for these items during each of the building activities. As marketers, we take part in many activities, much like a builder or designer does.

Of these activities, there is one that precludes each of these; the annual planning and budgeting process. One part of planning often gets left out though, measuring the effectiveness of the activities we plan. Yet plans without metrics are like offices without chairs, conference rooms without tables, or buildings without a foundation. Parts of each exist, but there is a major component missing.

Recently surveys have concluded that 55% of business to business marketing executives face the challenge of measuring marketing's effectiveness. A recent survey conducted by Unica made this statement: "However, survey respondents also said they faced numerous challenges, chief among them measuring marketing effectiveness, which was cited by 55% of respondents." It was also stated that many executives don't believe marketing is measurable. And 63% of them don't consider marketing to be measurable. So it should be no surprise to learn that as many as 57% of marketing plans overlook metrics and that plans are more about counting activities rather than measuring the impact on business outcomes as was determined the fifth Business Readiness Survey conducted by VisionEdge Marketing.

Can we measure marketing's effectiveness? Does it really make a difference?

It certainly does for many companies. One company in particular, VCON, found incorporating a metrics framework into their planning process to be extremely valuable. Founded in 1994, VCON develops and manufactures collaborative communication solutions that include videoconferencing and audio conferencing products. VCON's entire portfolio is integrated together with a suite of management systems and development tools, providing a unique and fully integrated conferencing experience for the user. The company relies on an indirect channel to sell their solutions worldwide. For the past decade, VCON has consistently been the first to market with innovative products and technologies, both in the conferencing market and in the solutions needed to manage and deploy conferencing systems.

The marketing team realized that securing a larger marketing budget would require taking a more metrics-related approach as a means to demonstrate the marketing organization's contribution to the company. So when they realized the need for a metrics-based approach, they hired VisionEdge Marketing to help them develop the right set of metrics. VCON turned to an outside resource to help create a framework for their plan. They chose VisionEdge Marketing because the company's metrics expertise and a model ties marketing metrics to the goals of the company.

Laura Shay, VCON's Global Product Marketing Manager, wanted an approach that went beyond tracking results from a variety of marketing activities, such as metrics associated with web site visits, click-throughs, and participants at a webinar. Rather she wanted a way to connect the marketing initiatives to the company's market share, partner development, and up-sell objectives. "We had a good idea of the adoption process for our technology and we were monitoring dozens of activities and outcomes. What we didn't know was whether these were the right things to be monitoring and how to tie activity tracking to the success of our marketing objectives and strategies," added Laura.

VCON's limited marketing resources were overwhelmed with the number of things that were possible to track. The challenge was getting the team out of the weeds of tracking various marcom activities and more focused on identifying metrics that would really indicate whether the marketing initiatives were moving the needle for the business.

Prior to the metrics development and framework session, VisionEdge Marketing examined the metrics currently being used by the company and the company's business objectives for the coming year. "This preparatory stage was very helpful," commented Laura. "It enabled us to start thinking about tying our marketing initiatives to very specific business outcomes such as market share, order value, and repeat business." The business goals were used as a framework for the plan. By understanding the specific business outcomes, the session could focus on where marketing could make an impact and how to measure this impact. Within a half day or so the marketing department was able to develop a manageable set of metrics. A key part of the process was to clarify what outcomes have real impact on the business.

The metrics focused on two primary areas: The channel's role in VCON's success, and a goal of achieving 25% quarter-to-quarter growth from new products across all sales regions. Three metrics were selected: revenue/partner, qualified leads/region, and new products sold vs. previous product sold. Key indicators were defined for each of these and appropriate objectives and strategies were then incorporated into the annual plan. A side benefit was that the planning session was far more productive. "We didn't get bogged down in discussing the nuances of each region and why tracking certain activities would or wouldn't work. We could keep our eye on the larger picture and each region could address its individual differences," added Laura.

The process enabled the VCON team to achieve two important outcomes:

1. A set of key metrics that crossed markets and regions

2. A plan and budget the management team could evaluate based on business outcomes

Of course the best outcome was the team was able to deliver a plan and a budget request the management team could relate to. "We were more successful in securing faster approval and a better budget, because the plan very clearly connected the dots between marcom activities and business outcomes," said Laura.

VCON has learned the importance of a complete marketing plan and have already reaped the benefits by securing a higher marketing budget. They have learned the importance and ability of metrics to measure the effectiveness of marketing to show how their efforts impact business goals.

Since working with VCON, VisionEdge Marketing has continued to educate companies and individuals on the importance of metrics to a marketing plan and communicating marketing's effectiveness to the company. By using VCON as an example, they are able to show how completing the planning process pays off for the company, as well as the marketing department; just as adding all components to a building, makes it complete.

To learn more about strategic metrics that align marketing with business goals, check out VisionEdge Marketing's latest book, Measure What Matters by Laura Patterson, President of VisionEdge Marketing.

Six Key Areas For Evaluating A Strategic Alliance

Strategic alliances are increasing at a rapid rate. It is good for business, good for the consumer. A strategic alliance is similar to a joint venture. Everyone remains in his or her own entity, yet come together for a single purpose or period of time to create something that could not otherwise be created.

There are cautions and rightly concerns one must consider before entering into a strategic alliance with other people. For instance, evaluating each partner's value and capabilities for alliance is mandatory before agreeing to an alliance. The who, what, when, where and whys all need clarification with failsafe boundaries.

There are many considerations when developing a strategic alliance, here are six main areas along with questions that you will want to answer to help you determine your own readiness for an alliance.

1. Assessing contributions. What do you or each partner bring to the alliance? What is each person's purpose and goals?

2. Agreeing to the terms. This has three parts: (1) area of interest, (2) net benefits, and (3) joint operations. What interest is yours and what is theirs. Strategic interests must be similar and materials or services comparable. Economic interest must have enough benefits for each to remain committed and minimize trade. There must an operational agreement.

3. Agreement on task and skills. Who is the apprentice on what? Who will be name master on what? Who is going to specifically be responsible to complete what task? Who is going to learn what? What is the division of duties?

4. Defining and measuring progress. Who is going to define or handle sales? What target market will be pursued and when? What is the process chart for a new product or service? How will the revenue be generated and distributed? What will occur if the measurements aren't met?

5. Progress and time. Who is tracing the progress and the time invested? Is the time to be contributed equal or is there a trade-off for other resources? Who and when will the progress reports be regularly discussed and completed? Is there going to be a board that will monitor equality and fairness?

6. Points of tension. When there are points of tension, and there always is so don't kid yourself that there never will be, is an outside source going to be the arbitrator? When tension occurs does it need to be expressed in writing first and then discussed? Is there a cool-down period that is required? Who is going to sign off on checks, balance the checkbook, and monitor cash flow?

So many questions, so little time. Yes, I understand, however, this one time you want to stop and open time, address these questions, and any others might need to be addressed.

By Catherine Franz.

Menu Driven Business Planning

A menu is the foundation of any restaurant; Guests will support or avoid a restaurant for its food. Starting with a preliminary menu is a simple and basic approach to restaurant development. Begin with a menu, and you are light years ahead in the restaurant development process. A menu will tell you and your Guest what you are trying to be as a business, and greatly enhance your chances for success.

I view a menu for content, image and pricing. Content (the actual items on the menu) will dictate service staffing needs, level of culinary experience and type of management required. Who will be doing the cooking, do they have experience in this type of food, and how much are you paying them?

Image is how the Guest will perceive the menu. Menu image helps define the targeted clientele and which other restaurants this operation would be competing with. Are the content and image of the menu appealing to your desired clientele? Pricing helps determine a potential restaurant's competitive placement. Is the pricing for the type of food offered competitive with other's in the market area, and does it permit the ability to manage a profitable food cost? Pricing sets the Guest's expectations in terms of food and service quality. This perception will, in turn, help define appropriate staffing levels. The budgeting process can now begin. Analysis of menu content, image and pricing will tell prospective restaurant operators whether their concept is appropriate for a certain market area.

With a preliminary menu in hand, a prospective operator can target a location that will be convenient and appropriate for their desired clientele. Once a site or facility is selected, sales volumes can be projected based on number of seats, menu pricing and the competitive business analysis. With projected sales volumes, how much an operator can spend to acquire, remodel or build a facility is determined. Leases and/or purchase agreements can now be negotiated.

With a clear menu, competitive analysis, sales forecast and development budget, financing can realistically be sought. A business plan can be derived which, if taken to potential investors will demonstrate what type of return they can anticipate on their investment.

Any restaurant business plan must begin with a menu. A proposed menu provides the basics for many questions that must be answered during the restaurant development process. It creates an image of the restaurant, identifies targeted clientele, and defines the proposed restaurant's competition. A preliminary menu allows a sound basis for business budgeting, tests potential profitability, and dictates the development dollars required for a facility. Most importantly, beginning the business planning process with a menu maintains the focus of ownership on the importance of food and the impact it has on the success of the restaurant.

Written by Monte Zwang

Top Reasons To Form A Strategic Business Alliance

A strategic alliance is when two or more businesses join together for a set period of time. The businesses, usually, are not in direct competition, but have similar products or services that are directed toward the same target audience. Below are ten reasons to create a strategic alliance.

1. You could offer your customers a larger variety of products or services. This will allow you to spend less time and money developing new products to sell.

2. Your number of sales people will increase because you're combining with other business. You won't have spend to time and money hiring new employees.

3. Your marketing and advertising budget will increase. When you form a strategic alliance with other businesses you both will share the advertising and marketing costs.

4. You can now offer your existing customers more back-end and upsell products. This will increase your sales and profits.

5. Your business will gain a larger number of skilled people working on the same project. You will gain the knowledge of the other businesses employees.

6. You will be able to beat your competition by selling to a larger target audience. You will also increase the total number of existing customers you can sell your products and services to.

7. You can exchange endorsements with your alliance partners. You'll add more credibility to your business and gain your potential customers trust to buy.

8. You can expand your business more rapidly. You can develop new products and services faster with a larger work force.

9. You'll be able to solve your customer's problems faster with a larger base of customer service people. You'll also learn new ways to improve your customer service from your alliance partners.

10. You'll have a larger number of "strategic thinking" people. This will allow both businesses to come up with profitable business ideas quicker than before.

By Julia Tang

19 Questions to Supercharge Your Business Plan

Whether you are seeking capital for your company or are optimizing your business strategy, the most important element - particularly for outside investors - may be your written business plan. You can tune-up and supercharge your plan using this 19-step checklist. When your written plan firmly answers yes to each of these 19 questions, your market/product strategy is in terrific shape plus you increase the odds of attracting investment capital.

If you don't already have a written business plan - write one! Your business plan is a blueprint for your whole company. It describes in detail your goals, the financial and technical viability of your goals, and the strategy you will use (or are using) to reach those goals. And your business plan is a working tool - it is a yardstick to measure your progress and a compass to keep you on course.

Must a business plan be written?

Yes! A plan which is not written usually has not been thought through fully. And despite what you may have read, it is doubtful that any business ever attracted capital on the back of a napkin.

Use this checklist as a way to identify where your strategy, as spelled out in your business plan, needs work. Each of the questions below highlights an area considered critical to technology investors.

1. Can the key ideas behind your product or service be stated in one or two sentences? (y/n)

2. Does your company have at least one unique and compelling competitive advantage, which cannot quickly or easily be duplicated? (y/n) Examples are a special feature, a cost advantage, a technical refinement, a new delivery system or a special supplier.

3. Is your competitive advantage proprietary? (y/n) That is, can it be copyrighted, patented, trademarked or otherwise protected? Can you keep it exclusive to you?

4. Is your industry segment growing by 25% or more? (y/n) If not, can your new product dominate its segment? If the answer is no, you probably won't be able to generate the kind of financial returns investors look for.

5. Does your product or service create a new market? (y/n) Although generally positive, this could be a trap - in a brand new market, the potential can be slow to develop. Lotus Notes created a new category but took years to create value for investors.

6. Is your market in "early momentum" - the market growth phase where market revenues have recently taken off? (y/n) Venture investors prefer markets in this stage because the time-to-create-value is shorter and the growth potential still large.

7. Is your target market segment 1) tightly defined over a population sharing common characteristics, 2) large enough to support significant profits, 3) served by communications channels to reach that market - i.e., trade or special interest publications, response mailing lists? (y/n)

8. Is your company filling a gap in the market, or do you have a "gee-whiz" product which you think is so terrific that customers will surely want to buy it? (y/n)

9. The benefit of your product or service to users is 1) significant, 2) quantifiable and 3) cost-justified? (y/n). If you provide a benefit which is important, and you can prove it - there is a much higher probability of generating sales.

10. Is there a demonstrated market for your product? (y/n) If you have an existing product, is your customer base expanding? Investors would rather fund sales and production than product development.

11. Is there wide appeal for your product or service? (y/n) Are there enough potential customers in the target market that you can earn significant profits, for a long time? Are there follow-on products to sustain revenue and profit growth?

12. Does your company have the ability to sell your product? (y/n) Particularly in companies where the founders have technical backgrounds, a question to ask is "Who is going to sell your product or service?" What about outside distributors?

13. Is there an experienced management team? (y/n) Investors would rather fund a solid team instead of one lone genius with a great idea. The team should be highly qualified in marketing, sales, finance, and the product/service area itself. Of course, a demonstrable track record helps.

14. Can you demonstrate a likely return of 5-15 times investors' capital, over a period ranging from three to seven years? (y/n) The actual parameters used by venture investors will vary based on which stage you are in (idea, startup, development, expansion, turnaround).

15. Is there a clear exit strategy for investors? (y/n) The most common strategies for returning investors' capital are 1) going public; 2) acquisition of your company; 3) new investors; 4) founder's buyback or management buyout.

16. Have other investors already put money into the company, particularly the senior management team? (y/n) This reduces the apparent risk, reduces overall exposure, and shows that management "has its money where its mouth is."

17. Have you clearly defined a structure for the investment you seeking? (y/n) The structure should include: who is involved, how much capital is needed, what minimum investment you will accept, how much equity that will buy - and, of course, the projected return on investment.

18. Are your financial projections realistic? (y/n) Have you soundly justified your projected growth rates and other financial assumptions?

19. Have you clearly examined the risks? (y/n) Investors like to know that you have considered the risks. This is key - can you turn your risks into opportunities?

Too many no's? Remember, each "no" opens up an area for you to strengthen your business. Even if you aren't seeking capital, each question highlights a critical success factor - which, when mastered, will increase your profits, your performance, and your future success.


In order to help you discover hidden value and opportunities in your existing business, and to make it easier to spot potential problems while you are just starting out, I've created the Discover Hidden Value Business Building Guide. A remarkable aid to accelerating the growth and profitability of your business, this program of insight-provoking questions and checklists enables you to rapidly diagnose, troubleshoot and optimize every part of your business, from marketing to sales, customer service to product development and finance to production.

By Paul Lemberg.

How To Prepare A Business Plan That Guarantees Big Profits

It is always said "If you Fail to Plan, you Plan to Fail"

Success in business comes as a result of planning. You have to have a detailed, written plan that shows what the ultimate goal is, the reason for the goal, and each milestone that must be passed in order to reach your goal.

A business plan is written definition of, and operational plan for achieving your goal. You need a complete but success tool in order to define your basic product, income objectives and specific operating procedures. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN to attract investors, obtain financing and hold onto the confidence of your creditors, particularly in times of cash flow shortages--in this instance, the amount of money you have on hand compared with the expenses that must be met.

Aside from an overall directional policy for the production, sales effort and profit goals of your product--your basic "travel guide" to business success--the most important purpose your business plan will serve, will be the basis or foundation of any financial proposals you submit. Many entrepreneurs are under the mistaken impression that a business plan is the same as a financial proposal, or that a financial proposal constitutes a business plan. This is just a misunderstanding of the uses of these two separate and different business success aids.

The business plan is a long range "map" to guide your business to the goal you've set for it. The plan details the what, why, where, how and when, of your business--the success planning of your company.

Your financial proposal is a request for money based upon your business plan--your business history and objectives.

Understand the differences. They are closely related, but they are not interchangeable.

Writing and putting together a "winning" business plan takes study, research and time, so don't try to do it all in just one or two days.

The easiest way to start with a loose leaf notebook, plenty of paper, pencils, pencil sharpener, and several erasers. Once you get your mind "in gear" and begin thinking about your business plan, "10,000 thoughts and ideas per minute" will begin racing thru your mind...So, it's a good idea when you aren't actually working on your business plan, to carry a pocket notebook and jot down those business ideas as they come to you--ideas for sales promotion, recruiting distributors, and any other thoughts on how to operate and/or build your business.

Later, when you're actually working on your business plan, you can take out this "idea notebook" evaluate your ideas, rework them, refine them, and integrate them into the overall "big picture" of your business plan.

The best business plans for even the smallest businesses run 25 to 30 pages or more, so you'll need to "title" each page and arrange the different aspects of your business plan into "chapters." The format should pretty much run as follows:

Title Page Statement of Purpose Table of Contents Business Description Market Analysis Competition Business Location Management Current Financial Records Explanation of Plans For Growth Projected Profit & Loss/Operating Figures Explanation of Financing for Growth Documentation Summary of Business & Outlook for The Future Listing of Business & personal References

This is a logical organization of the information every business plan should cover. I'll explain each of these chapters titles in greater detail, but first, let me elaborate upon the reasons for proper organization of your business plan.

Having a set of "questions to answer" about your business forces you to take an objective and critical look at your ideas. Putting it all down on paper allows you to change, erase and refine everything to function in the manner of a smoothly oiled machine. You'll be able to spot weakness and strengthen them before they develop into major problems. Overall, you'll be developing an operating manual for your business--a valuable tool which will keep your business on track, and guide you in the profitable management of your business.

Because it's your idea, and your business, it's very important that YOU do the planning. This is YOUR business plan, so YOU develop it, and put it all down on paper just the way YOU want it to read. Seek out the advice of other people; talk with, listen to, and observe, other people running similar businesses; enlist the advice of your accountant and attorney--but at the bottom line, don't ever forget it has to be YOUR BUSINESS PLAN!

Remember too, that statistics show the greatest causes of business failure to be poor management and lack of planning--without a plan by which to operate, no one can manage; and without a direction in which to aim its efforts, no business can attain any real success.

On the very first page, which is the title page, put down the name of your business-ABC ACTION--with your business address underneath. Now, skip a couple of lines, and write it all in capital letters: PRINCIPAL OWNER--followed by your name if you're the principal owner. On your finished report, you would want to center this information on the page, with the words "principal owner" off-set to the left about five spaces.

Examples: ABC ACTION 1234 SW 5th Ave. Anywhere, USA 00000



PRINCIPAL OWNER: Your Name

That's all you'll have on this page except the page number -1-

Following your title page is the page for your statement purpose. This should be a simple statement of your primary business function, such as: We are a service business engaged in the business of selling business success manuals and other information by mail.

The title of the page should be in all capital letters across the top of the page, centered on your final draft--skip a few lines and write the statement of purpose. This should be direct, clear and short--never more than (2) sentences in length.

Then you should skip a few lines, and from the left hand margin of the paper, write out a sub-heading in all capital letters, such as: EXPLANATION OF PURPOSE.

From, and within this sub-heading you can briefly explain your statement of purpose, such as: Our surveys have found most entrepreneurs to be "sadly" lacking in basic information that will enable them to achieve success. This market is estimated at more than a 100 million persons, with at least half of these people actively "searching" for sources that provide the kind of information they want, and need.

With our business, advertising and publishing experience, it is our goal to capture at least half of this market of information seekers, with our publication. MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Our market research indicates we can achieve this goal and realize a profit of $1,000,000 per year within the next 5 years...

The above example is generally the way you should write your "explanation of purpose," and in subtle definition, why you need an explanation. Point to remember: Keep it short. Very few business purpose explanations justify more than a half page long.

Next comes your table of contents page. Don't really worry about this until you've got the entire plan completed and ready for final typing. It's a good idea though, to list the subject (chapter titles) as I have, and then check off each one as you complete that part of your plan.

By having a list of the points you want to cover, you'll also be able to skip around and work on each phase of your business plan as an idea or the interest in organizing that particular phase, stimulates you. In other words, you won't have to make your thinking or your planning conform to the chronological order of the "chapters" of your business plan--another reason for the loose leaf notebook.

In describing your business, it's best to begin where your statement purpose leaves off. Describe your product, the production process, who has responsibility for what, and most importantly, what makes your product or service unique--what gives it an edge in your market. You can briefly summarize your business beginnings, present position and potential for future success, as well.

Next, describe the buyers you're trying to reach--why they need and want or will buy your product--and the results of any tests or surveys you may have conducted. Once you've defined your market, go on to explain how you intend to reach that market--how you'll these prospects to your product or service and induce them to buy. You might want to break this chapter down into sections such as..publicity and promotions, advertising plans, direct sales force, and dealer/distributor programs. Each section would then be an outline of your plans and policies.

Moving into the next chapter on competition, identify who your competitors are--their weakness and strong points--explain how you intend to capitalize on those weaknesses and match or better the strong points. Talk to as many of your "indirect" competitors as possible--those operating in different cities and states.

One of the easiest ways of gathering a lot of useful information about your competitors is by developing a series of survey questions and sending these questionnaires out to each of them. Later on, you might want to compile the answers to these questionnaires into some form of directory or report on this type of business.

It's also advisable to contact the trade associations and publications serving your proposed type of business. For information on trade associations and specific trade publications, visit your public library, and after explaining what you want ask for the librarian's help.

The chapter on management should be an elaboration on the people operating the business. Those people that actually run the business, their job, titles, duties, responsibilities and background resume's. It's important that you "paint" a strong picture of your top management people because the people coming to work for you or investing in your business, will be "investing in these people" as much as your product ideas. Individual tenacity, mature judgement under fire, and innovative problem-solving have "won over" more people than all the AAA Credit Ratings and astronomical sales figures put together.

People becoming involved with any new venture want to know that the person in charge--the guy running the business knows what he's doing, will not lose his cool when problems arise, and has what it takes to make money for all of them> After showing the "muscle" of this person, go on to outline the other key positions within your business; who the persons are you've selected to handle those jobs and the sources as well as availability of any help you might need.

If you've been in business of any kind scale, the next chapter is a picture of your financial status--a review of your operating costs and income from the business to date. Generally, this is a listing of your profit & loss statements for the six months, plus copies of your business income tax records for each of the previous three years the business has been an entity.

The chapter on the explanation of your plans for the future growth of your business is just that--an explanation of how you plan to keep your business growing--a detailed guide of what you're going to do, and how you're going to increase your profits. These plans should show your goals for the coming year, two years, and three years. By breaking your objectives down into annual milestones, your plan will be accepted as more realistic and be more understandable as a part of your ultimate success.

Following this explanation, you'll need to itemize the projected cost and income figures of your three year plan. I'll take a lot of research, an undoubtedly a good deal of erasing, but it's very important that you list these figures based upon thorough investigation. You may have to adjust some of your plans downward, but once you've got these two chapters on paper, your whole business plan will fall into line and begin to make sense. You'll have a precise "map" of where you're headed, how much it's going to cost, when you can expect to start making money, and how much.

Now that you know where you're going, how much it's going to cost and how long it's going to be before you begin to recoup your investment, you're ready to talk about how and where you're going to get the money to finance your journey. Unless you're independently wealthy, you'll want to use this chapter to list the possibilities and alternatives. Make a list of friends you can approach, and perhaps induce to put up some money as silent partners. Make a list of those people you might be able to sell as stockholders in your company--in many cases you can sell up to $300,000 worth of stock on a "private issue" basis without filing papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Check with a corporate or tax attorney in your area for more details. Make a list of relatives and friends that might help you with an outright loan to furnish money for the development of your business.

Then search out and make a list of venture capital organizations. Visit the Small Business Administration office in your area--pick up the loan application papers they have--read them, study them, and even fill them out on a preliminary basis--and finally, check the costs, determine which business publications would be best to advertise in, if you were to advertise for a partner or investor, and write an ad you'd want to use if you did decide to advertise for monetary help.

With listing of all the options available to your needs, all that's left is the arranging of these options in the order you would want to use them when the time come to ask for money. When you're researching these money sources, you'll save time by noting the "contact" deal with when you want money, and whenever possible, by developing a working relationship with these people.

If your documentation section, you should have a credit report on yourself. Use the Yellow Pages or check at the credit department in your bank for the nearest credit reporting office. When you get your credit report, look it over and take whatever steps are necessary to eliminate any negative comments. Once these have been taken care of, ask for a revised copy of your report and include a copy of that in your business plan.

If you own any patents or copyrights, include copies of these. Any licenses to use someone else's patent or copyright should also be included. If you own the distribution, wholesale or exclusive sales rights to a product, include copies of this documentation. You should also include copies of any leases, special agreements or other legal papers that might be pertinent to your business.

In conclusion, write out a brief, overall summary of your business- when the business was started, the purpose of the business, what makes your business different, how you're going to gain a profitable share of the market, and your expected success during the coming 5 years..

The last page of your business plan is a "courtesy page" listing the names, addresses and phone numbers of personal and business references--persons who have known you closely for the past five years or longer--and companies or firms you've had business or credit dealings with during the past five years.

And, that's it--your complete business plan. Before you send it out for formal typing, read it over once a day for a week or ten days. Take care of any changes or corrections, and then have it reviewed by an attorney and then, an accountant. It would also be a good idea to have it reviewed by a business consultant serving the business community to which your business will be related. After these reviews, and any last-minute changes you want to make, I'll be ready for formal typing.

Type and print the entire plan on ordinary white bond paper. Make sure you proof-read it against the original. Check for any corrections and typographical errors--then one more time--read it through for clarity and the perfection you want of it.

Now you're ready to have it printed and published for whatever use you have planned for it--distribution amongst your partners or stockholders as the business plan for putting together a winning financial proposal, or as a business operating manual.

Take it to a quality printer in your area, and have three copies printed. Don't settle for photo-copying..Have it printed!

Photo-copying leaves a slight film on the paper, and will detract from the overall professionalism of your business plan, when presented to someone you're trying to impress. So, after going to all this work to put together properly, go all the way and have it duplicated properly.

Next, stop by a stationery store, variety store or even a dime store, and pick up an ordinary, inexpensive bind-in theme cover for each copy of your business plan. Have the holes punched in the pages of your business report to fit these binders and then slip each copy into a binder of its own.

Now, you can relax, take a break and feel good about yourself..You have a complete and detailed business plan with which to operate a successful business of your own. A plan you can use as a basis for any financing proposal you may want to submit..And a precise road-map for the attainment of real success...

You just complete one of the important steps to fulfill of all your dreams of success.

---------------------------------------------------------
By Julia Tang