Posts Tagged ‘Business’
If You Must Write A Business Plan
If you must write a business plan, you just can’t move forward without one, keep it simple. Don’t think in traditional terms, just do a simple business plan, something you can refer to as a guide. Here are 8 points to consider if you MUST write a business plan:
- Executive Summary – I would write it after you’ve done the next 7 points. Keep it short, one page.
- Company Description – Legal establishment, history, start-up strategy, etc.
- Product or Service – Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
- Market Analysis – You should know your market, customer needs, is there a need, where they are, and how to reach them.
- Strategy & Implementation – Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you track results.
- Internet Strategy – For E-Commerce, include development costs, operations, and sales & marketing plans.
- Management Team – Describe the organization, and the key management personnel.
- Financial Analysis – Include your projected profit and loss, and cash flow tables.
You could have someone review this plan to ensure it’s a viable business, be sure this person or firm is capable of doing so. Be careful here, you could get stuck trying to make it perfect, don’t, just write as briefly as you can, unless you’re applying for funding, they want all the details.
Take The Drive
Last night while I was driving home, I couldn’t help notice the different types of businesses there were along the way. There were hundreds of buildings, warehouses, and mini-malls, not to mention the large storage centers and big box stores, and that was on one highway! I was wondering how much all the bricks & mortar leasing, rental and mortgage payments might be, I know it’s an odd thing to ask yourself while driving.
When you think of starting a business, or maybe taking over an existing business, do you consider buying, building, or leasing? Or do you consider building something that doesn’t need the large asset, and the huge debt attached. As Bricks & Mortar becomes more and more Clicks & Pages, how do you see the future of these monstrosities?
If you truly want to start a business, take the drive. Drive down main street, drive down any highway or street that has businesses on them, ask yourself one question….what’s missing? Then ask yourself if it can be built with Clicks & Pages rather than Bricks & Mortar, the traditional business building model. How would your idea make your communities life easier, what problem would you solve, and does it need to be solved. Once you know the answer, don’t wait, just start making it happen.
The Future Of Business – Your Profession May Not Exist
It’s entirely possible, that the profession you’re now in, won’t exist or will be dramatically different in the next 5 – 10 years. What you should be learning is, economies, big business, even small business, the financial infrastructure of business doesn’t care how long you’ve been with the company, it doesn’t care if you’re the best at the job, it does care about making money, and you mostly cost them money. Cut backs are almost always in the form of people, rarely have you heard of a business reducing the size of the building or plot of land before they cut back people, it just doesn’t happen, and it’s easier to let people go than to the other cut back ideas.
Many authors have written about the new big being small, because so many people are finding themselves being released all types of jobs, even the long careers that we think are safe and secure. The business world is not compassionate, it’s a bottomline beast, the margins matter, and you’re easier and cheaper to replace.
Soon we will have no choice but to adopt to the new work landscape, and that will be a world with fewer jobs and more self-employed / entrepreneurs. The Industrial Age system is fighting that movement, it wants you to stay where you are and to do as your told.
The biggest challenge with new world order of work, it’s a scary place, the level of risk is higher, but the rewards are also higher if you choose the road less traveled. The reason many don’t step out is because the old system provides you with just the right amount of something called security. That system also has just the right amount structure to make you think no one else could do what you do, you couldn’t be replaced. You must know that’s an untruth. This system we call the Industrial Age is crumbling, and soon we will speak of it as something that didn’t work well for people who were creative, and entrepreneurial in nature.
Your profession, should be you, mastering the best you, providing the best service you can offer, your investment will need to be in you. The term profession now takes on a new meaning doesn’t it, it’s not what you do, it’s who you are, and how you execute who you are. Leaving the Industrial Age behind is hard, but eventually, it will disappear, and you’ll have to figure out how to manage without it. Consider what your profession looks like, and build that.
The Events Question
If you had your choice of events to attend, even a webinar online, what would you want to learn about? What would the event topic have to be to ensure your attendance? Most events cost money, to attend, and to coordinate, setup, and manage, but this event I’m talking about would be FREE!
Most of us buy books hoping to learn the secret ingredient, so we can be a leg up on our competitors. What kinds of books have you been buying, what are the topics that interest you most, and more importantly….where have you invested the most recently to learn something about what you do, or want to do.
We are willing to go to great extremes to learn how to do something, to learn that one thing that will give us permission to move forward, why do we do that, put all that pressure on ourselves? Is it because we want to be with like-minded people, belong to a mastermind group or be in a private membership so no one could figure what you’re doing. If so, stop it, now! The best thing anyone could do, is do the thing you don’t know how to do…why, to learn what works and what doesn’t. You don’t need permission, just do it! Of course you’ll fail, maybe alot, but you’ll do one thing for sure, LEARN.
But if you must attend an event, a seminar, or a webinar, do it, but make sure you put the action in after you have gotten what you went for, or paid for. I love going to events, I love being around people, but I don’t go to events that are merely giving me a warm fuzzy, that’s not good use of time. And you shouldn’t either.
The events question should always be, if I’m being honest with myself, will this event move my business forward, or is it merely a cocktail party? Don’t get me wrong, the cocktail party may give that movement forward, but only you can discern whether it’s the right event to attend.
Back to my opening question, I would like to know what type of event interests you, and what would the topic be to guarantee your attendance? Let me know by filling out the form below:
[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
Something Fell Off The Wagon
Have you ever wondered what happens to things that find their way into the lost & found? What happens to great ideas when they fail to produce desired results? What do you do when what you’ve learned no longer works? Why don’t people start a business? Why do people wish, or hope something better will come along? Why don’t people know what they want? The real question is, what are you looking for, what are you hoping for, and most importantly, what are you waiting for?
There has never been a better time in history for anyone to make the world a better place, to start a business, to make something great happen, to truly see your purpose in life, and yet, we keep holding back. What is it, did you lose something, was it taken from you (most likely yes), or were you told you couldn’t? I’m going to tell you something. Those individuals in your life that tell you it’ll fail, it won’t work, and you can’t do it. They don’t have power over your desire to do something, today….you can just do it, you don’t need permission, you don’t need to ask anyone, you can just do it!
Somewhere along the way we lost sight of our future’s, our desire to do things. I can remember being in high school talking about all the great things I was gonna do after I got out, all the places I was going to go, and how I was going to life out the rest of my life. But somewhere on that journey, that confidence, that desire, that passion, and that drive, was driven out of me. Why? Because I allowed it, not because I didn’t have a choice. But today, that is all in the past, its history, today I can choose, I don’t have to conform to the powers that be, they actually have to keep an eye on me. The tables have turned, and now, you & I have the power to shape our future, to leverage each day, the choice is…more than ever, yours. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, I’m not very good, I did however, choose to start this blog a number of years ago, and I’m writing to you right now!
You might be all fired up and ready to go, but let’s not lose sight of what you already have, and what you must look after, more importantly, making sure you’re being a good citizen that pays their bills, and shows up for work, life doesn’t stop because you’re all excited, and want to focus on your dream. I share this with you because I found myself looking back, wondering what happened, wondering…..something fell off the wagon. What was it, today it’s clear, at the time I was left wondering what was wrong, what was missing.
Many people don’t know what they want to do, many don’t want to leave the comfort of their careers, their jobs, because they are overcome by fear. Fear is powerful, you can’t ignore it, but most of the time, you can over-come it, you might even master it. Fear prevents you from living the abundant life, you never really live until you can move beyond those fears that are strongholds in your life.
What was that something that fell off the wagon? It was my power to choose, I gave up my power to the Industrial Age way of life. I gave my power away so I could feel secure, so I could keep the peace with my family and friends, so I could fit in. That system, that way of life works for some, but it squashes the will of many. If it works for you, then do it well, if it doesn’t….you have a hope and a decision to make, but make smart calculated decisions. Today you have choices most of us didn’t have 20 years ago, today you can do things at much lower levels of risk than 30 years ago. It’s an exciting time to be alive, don’t let your power to choose become something you lost, don’t let it fall off the wagon.