I must say it sounds a little weird that you don’t know what beer koozies can add tos event; a lot I would say.koozies are popular in special events and meetings; they are the little bags that keep beverages and beers chilled for a pretty long time. Due to the fact that they are portable and effective in chilling beverages; they are usually on high demand by event planners and managers. They are made of foam-like material, which is responsible for their use to chill beverages and beers.

Due to the high demand, using Beer koozies as a form of advertisement is now very rampant amongst marketers who see it as a cheap means of advert. Have you ever been to a party where you are served a drink and given a koozie to keep it chilled; do you notice some banners or logos printed on the koozie? That is how marketers play on its use. If you are somebody that loves and is attracted to the logo on the koozie, you may as well pick your phone up and dial the marketer’s number. You have been turned to a prospect by just holding on to a beer koozie.
That is more of the reason why I will advise you to use the opportunity that beer koozies provide to advertise your product; you don’t know who will be at the other end making use of a koozie crested with your company’s logo from places like http://trueimprint.com/.

by khawaja

Your business day has just begun and you quickly whip out your clearly written plans. Pardon? Did you say you don’t have a written business plan? Then join the club, ‘Business Owners Without Plans’. The main problem this club faces is that the majority of it members’ businesses are likely to fail. Business failure rate is high and a crucial reason for this is lack of planning.

If you belong to this group and I did once, you’re probably an entrepreneur or a creative person. The idea of planning feels boring to you, seems unnecessary and involves a lot of detail. And you’d rather be doing other more interesting things. Your way of working is probably a lot more spontaneous, exciting and in the flow so you don’t want to be restricted with plans. However, without plans you can to easily end up very unfocused, not achieving the results you desire and ultimately face the failure of your business.

So, what’s your reason for not having business plans? Besides the usual reasons, like not having sufficient time to plan, not knowing how to do it or where to begin, perhaps you think that planning doesn’t fit in with your entrepreneurial and creative spirit. After all, this is who you are and you don’t want to lose this. Now fear begins to surface; fear that you many need to change personally or fear of failure. While plans stay in your head, it’s not so frightening and real. Putting them in writing, brings them closer to fruition and although you may say this is what you want, is it really if you’re not willing to commit them to paper. Planning your business takes it from being a hobby to a fully-fledged business. Although a lot of people would say that they operate their business as a business, in reality most operate them as hobbies and don’t take them seriously. Then they wonder why they’re not being very successful and getting results.

I feel one of the problems for creative and entrepreneurial people is that when they consider business plans the picture that spring to mind is of hours pouring over enormous pages of details. That’s enough to turn them straight off. However, it doesn’t need to be that way. There is a way to develop plans for your business, and to be creative and entrepreneurial at the same time. These informal business plans are ones that you’ll use yourself. If you need a business plan for outsiders, such as your bank or investors then this approach might not be for you. It could however be a good process to get your formal business plan started.

Instead of thinking that you need to commit hours to working on your business plans, I invite you to start with just five minutes. Now, without any thought of the appropriate way to do it, just write down the things that first come into your head for your business. Simply capture any goals, strategies, problems, your current situation and positioning. Writing down your plans, clarifies, organises and prioritises them, and clears vital space in your head.

The next step is to tap into your strengths as an entrepreneur or creative person. You’re probably fantastic at coming up with ideas and solutions, and may well be intuitive. So, you’ll tap into all of these using the power of questions. You’ll use questions to come up with answers and solutions that you’ll put into your business plan. Your business plan need only be a straightforward review of your present situation, your strategies, resources and goals. Nothing complicated or too detailed.

Here are some questions to obtain you started:

What is the current business situation?

What goals do you have for your business?

What problems and challenges is your business currently facing?

What strategies are you using?

What strategies do you need to use?

What resources and opportunities do you have available?

Okay, so having spent five minutes on your business plans, I now invite you to make a commitment of five minutes each business day and continue working on your business plans. Once you’ve responded to the above questions, put on your creative and entrepreneurial hat, and come up with your own thought provoking questions to answer. Take your creative and entrepreneurial spirit, and use this to perfect plans for your business that keep you focused and producing the results you want. Once you start laying down some plans for your business and experience the benefits of doing this, you’ll find it easier to continue. The most important step is getting started.

As an entrepreneur or creative, what will it take for you to begin putting some of your business plans onto paper?

What planning for your business do you currently do?

What further planning do you need to do? ie. Sales, marketing, business development.

What will it take to start writing down your business plans?

Related Business Plans Articles

by Wonderlane

Business Plan innovativi: ascoltare i clienti importanti o focalizzarsi sulla massa?

Image by Simone Lovati
Posted via email from The Simone Lovati Life Stream [Italiano]

Running your own business is a highly rewarding, but often a risky endeavor. As with anything else, increasing your chances of success begins with preparation. And when it comes to transforming your dream into reality, the key to successfully jump starting your business is simple: plan the work and work the plan. Whether you’re just getting a new business off the ground, expanding the business you have, or purchasing a business, devote plenty of time to planning:

• Begin with a discovery process to confirm the viability of your venture.

• Do your homework.

• Uncover fundamental objectives, insights, opportunities and risks.

• Research the market.

• Examine your offering, market conditions, trends, and the competition.

• Excavate potential problems.

• Outline your goals and objectives.

• Compile the business intelligence you need to create a solid foundation of actionable

information to chart your present and future direction.

The next logical step is to develop a plan—a strategic business plan that functions as a living document to define your objectives, guide your business, and take you from Point A(where you are today) to Point Z (where you’d like to be). But remember—a strategic plan is about more than securing funding—it’s essential to jump starting your business. And once you’ve written your business plan, follow it up with an action plan that spells out your short and long-term objectives and how you’ll achieve them.

Just remember this—there is no underestimating the power of planning. As the former CEO of Octel and Lucent Technologies notes, “People usually plan their vacations more carefully than they plan their careers. I’m a compulsive planner, but there were times when I had no idea what I was doing.”

Even when you have no idea what you’re doing, developing and implementing a plan improves your chances of achieving your goals. This article outlines the fundamental components of crafting a strategic plan to take your business to the next level.

What is a strategic plan?

Strategic planning is the process by which the key stakeholders (you and your partners) in an organization

envision its future and develop the procedures and operations that will enable you to achieve that vision.

A strategic business plan serves two purposes. First it’s an internal document that defines your goals, strategies, and tactics. Second, it’s a tool for raising capital. However, you need a plan, whether you’re looking for capital or not. Without a plan you won’t know where you’re going and you have no way to benchmark or track your progress.

With a strategic plan you have a roadmap that enables you to look ahead, allocate resources, focus on key points and prepare for problems and opportunities.

A well-articulated strategic business plan clearly outlines your vision, goals, priorities, strategies, products, services, and financing needs. It also provides relevant information about your company, your management team, and short- and long-term objectives. Highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of your business opportunity, your strategic plan should look ahead from three to five years.

How do I write a business plan?

As they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Likewise, there’s more than one way to write a business plan. Formats, outlines, and lengths vary. But they all tend to share a generally accepted format and certain standard components.

Your plan must be clearly written, logically organized, and convincingly worded. It should target a specific audience. It should outline the details of financing, competition, strengths, weaknesses, and forecasted financial performance. As a rule of thumb, when writing your plan, include the following components:

• Cover letter—write a cover letter to introduce you and your business plan to your audience.

• Title page—include a title page that details the content of your plan, your name, address, phone number, names and positions of the executive team, date and contact information.

• Table of contents—add a table of contents to make it easy for readers to find information.

• Statement of purpose—include a clearly stated explanation of your company’s goals and how you’ll achieve them. For example, your statement of purpose may be “to provide quality, reliable landscaping services for less in the Phoenix metropolitan area”. Describe your value proposition, whether it’s price, convenience, service or another attribute, how much capital you’ll need, and how you’ll repay it.

• Executive summary—this is the most important part of your business plan. Include a brief summary that highlights the major points of your plan. Provide background on your business, the market, your value proposition, key team members, projected ROI (Return on Investment), internal rate of return, and current and potential risks.

• Market information—describe your target market(s). Substantiate statements with facts and supporting detail. Include market research on initial and future markets, key market segments, past growth rates, anticipated trends and changes.

• Company—describe your company, its type, history, legal structure, industry, market, principals, revenue size and growth rate.

• Product/service description—describe your offering, relevant business benefits, stage of development, how your product/services will satisfy a real business need and enable you to compete.

• Management team—include detailed information on the core members of your team—the people who will run the company, as well as senior partners, attorneys, financial and business advisors. Include names, titles, experience, skills, responsibilities and compensation.

• Potential risk factors—include an assessment of the risks facing the company. Describe the worst-case scenario and anything that could go wrong today and in the future. Offer strategies for overcoming risk.

• Execution/action plan—describe how you’ll translate your business plan into actionable results down to the finest detail. Describe how you will obtain licenses to do business, open an establishment, get products on the shelf, hire employees, and forge partnerships. Describe production schedules, delivery processes, and customer service policies in order to set operational benchmarks to measure progress.

• Financial information—Include a section that projects future revenues and profits three to five years out. Base this information on best-case, worst–case and most likely-case scenarios. Summarize financial data like cash flow, income statements, balance sheets, banking relationships, terms and rates of loans, financing plans and working capital requirements.

• Legal preparation—includes corporate bylaws, patents and trademarks, licenses to do business, employment agreements, and customer contracts. Anticipate the legal and documentary setup your business will require. Writing a business plan can seem like a daunting task. However, there are many resources available to help you prepare a sound plan. You can find books in your local bookstore, software programs and templates online and in local computer/software stores or you can work with a consulting firm, a nearby Small Business Development Center or a local business school.

No time like the present to start to plan your work and work your plan. Happy planning…

Find More Business Plans Articles

by plantoo47

Team USF_ IBPC_201050

Image by shawncalhoun
Team USF – Local Loyalty Inc. – The University of San Francisco International Business Plan Competition (IBPC)

A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. Business plans that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans. These plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, tax-payer, or larger community. Learn how to create a winning business plan. Writing a business plan will force you to objectively develop and evaluate your tactical and strategic plans.There is no fixed content for a business plan. Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience. For example,a business plan for a non-profit might discuss the fit between the business plan and the organization’s mission. Banks are quite concerned about defaults, so a business plan for a bank loan will build a convincing case for the organization’s ability to repay the loan.

In the U.S., many of the new jobs have been credited to small busines. There are workshops available for everything from joint ventures to developing business ideas. A business plans handbook is a compilation of actual business plans developed by small businesses throughout North America. This handbook includes checklists and operating forms for small businesses. The FTC is an organization that works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair practices in the marketplace and to provide information to businesses to help them comply with the law. Employee Identification Number is a necessity even if you have no employees. Most wholesalers will ask for it. Most wholesalers will ask for this before you can do business with them.

There is much to do and consider when writing a business plan. Keep in mind this is a critical document. Owners of businesses do not take planning seriously and fail. In the U.S, check local and state laws where you plan to do business. One of the many questions about business planning I receive is how long a typical plan is. Business plans can vary in length and detail. Growing your business using information technology and the internet takes careful planning and many businesses are unsure about how to proceed.

– Creating your own business opportunities

– Planning your personal road map to success

– Pricing what you sell — Money: what you’ll need and where to get it

– Making it legal

– Who owns the business.

Finally, your plan may help you develop as a manager by giving you practice in thinking about competitive conditions, promotional opportunities, sources of finance, etc.

Economics is always part of a business plan in some form or other. Whether you are starting or growing a small business, a sound business plan is your roadmap to success. Business plans can be simple or complex — it all depends on who is driving and where they want to go. These plans will still be needed for banks or investors, and most businesses need to go through that. A plan that has changes in perception and branding as its primary goals is called a marketing plan. Your business plan will become your roadmap to chart the course of your business and its success!

by Ivan Walsh

Ticking Off

Image by Folded Word
It’s been two months since taking our Literary Publishing Course and we’re STILL working on getting our business plan written. Making progress, though:-)

Business planning is an extremely enjoyable, ongoing process for me — now. But I remember when it was a struggle, a “should”, something I felt I “had” to do as a business owner, but that didn’t give me much joy. I had spent years creating successful plans as a fund raising professional (quite easily, I might add), but for some reason, I felt a great deal of resistance within me when it came to creating a plan for my own business. That resistance ended up being complex and required a lot of clearing.

Part of my resistance to business planning was because I really loved working with the spiritual laws, and I didn’t want to get caught up in some of the “negative” energies around business and money I witnessed in the material realm. And, of course, I associated business planning with these energies!

But, gradually, my polarized way of thinking changed. Reading this sentence in Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer’s book, Creating Money, assisted that transformation: “It will take less of your energy to attract, save and create more money if you are in harmony with both the spiritual and man-made laws of money.” And, if you’re a business owner, one of the man-made laws of money is business planning. So I set out to develop a business planning model for myself that harmonized the physical and metaphysical laws of commerce.

A Manifestation Tool

Many wonderful dreams and business ideas never materialize because they have not been clearly envisaged and grounded. A written business plan enables you to get very clear about your vision for your business, to ground this vision in the physical world and to align/focus your energy as you act on your plan. It’s a fabulous manifestation tool!

Inspired business planning integrates both the spiritual and man-made laws of business development together. Specifically, it:

- connects you to the higher purpose of your business;

- helps you clarify what you desire for your business;

- supports you in clearing any resistance to having what you desire for your business;

- anchors you in a consciousness of faith and love;

- gives you a space in which to receive guidance from your highest levels;

- translates that guidance into the action steps of your plan, as you discern what business-building strategies to use and structures to put in place that will allow you to receive what you’re desiring; and

- quantifies the financial aspects of your business.

The Seven Steps to Inspired Business Planning

Inspired business planning is a continuous process that will help you develop your business naturally, utilizing both your intuitive and intellectual capacities in an integrative way. As you go through this process, you’ll notice that you feel more balanced and aligned, that the steps to build your business become clearer and you’re more trusting and relaxed about the results. You’ll experience much growth and expansion.

Inspired business planning is a seven-step process:

1) Determine the higher purpose of your business.

From a spiritual perspective, what function is your business meant to serve? What’s your role in the evolution of humanity and our planet, and how will your business allow you to fulfil this purpose?

2) Create key intentions for building your business.

Like clarifying the higher purpose of your business, intentions are part of the “visioning” aspect of your plan. They are the broader goals you establish that will help you fulfil your purpose. What are your intentions?

3) Identify specific objectives and targets you desire related to each intention.

Also part of visioning is defining objectives and specific targets you aim to achieve for each intention. Objectives are more narrowly-defined goals; targets can be both the quantifiable or unquantifiable results you desire. What are your objectives and targets?

4) Tap into your guidance system to determine the action steps associated with each intention and corresponding objective(s) and target(s).

Spending time quieting your mind through meditation or other techniques and thinking/receiving ideas from your highest levels will lead you to the action steps of your plan. What action steps are you guided to take?

5) Clarify your financial inflow and outflow.

How much will it cost you to operate your business, create your offerings and get them out to the world? What level of revenue are you open to receiving on a monthly and/or yearly basis? How will you price your offerings to match that revenue level?

6) Clear resistance that may come up as you create and implement your plan.

Resistance is a belief, thought and accompanying feeling that disallows your natural state of well-being. The intention of building a prosperous, fulfilling business can bring up any number of fearful, resistant thoughts and feelings. These can prevent you from creating a business plan in the first place or from taking the actions your plan describes. What resistant beliefs, thoughts and feelings do you have about creating and implementing your business plan? How can you release this resistance?

7) Operate from love and faith by using prayer, visualizations and affirmations.

When you operate from love and faith, your actions are more joyful and inspired and you more easily attract clients and customers. Prayer, visualizations and affirmations are powerful tools that will anchor you in a state of love, trust and surrender. What prayers, visualizations and affirmations will support you as you build your business?

The real gifts of inspired business planning are in the process of creating the plan and implementing it, without being rigidly attached to the plan or its outcomes. So it’s helpful to remain flexible and allow your plan to change and evolve as you gain more knowledge, guidance, perspective and clarity. Keeping your inner focus on higher essence states such as joy, generosity and gratitude is also important. As Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer say in Creating Money, “the process of getting there is the quality of being there.”

Copyright 2008 Mary C. Davis

by plantoo47

Business Plan

Image by Dragan-Sute
Business planning is a process

Writing a business plan for home-based e-entrepreneur is easy and you can do the job within 10 minutes. If you are an e-entrepreneur, all you need is to learn how to write a business plan that is simple and practical. Just visualize why you get involved with your Internet business, define what your dreams are, set realistic goals, plan your business activities, and then work your business plan.

The Internet is a source of profits for all e-entrepreneurs. And as an e-entrepreneur, the main purpose of your business plan is to guide your Internet business activities and to keep them focused so that you can grow your Internet business substantially to achieve your dreams and goals of making money on-line.

Here are five simple steps on how you write a business plan for your home-based Internet business.

Firstly, you develop a vision of your Internet business and write your vision statement. Ask yourself why do you want to be an e-entrepreneur. If you are into affiliate marketing, what is your main reason that you join an affiliate program? What you value most of your Internet business? Do you have a strong desire to be your own boss? Why do you want to be your own boss? Why do you want to run your own home-based business? What do you want to do with the remainder of your life? These are some of the crucial questions you must answer as you write down your vision statement in your Internet business plan.

Secondly, you define what your dreams are and write them down. Of course, you want to have lots of time and money to do what you want. To make your dreams work, you must write a clear, concise statement in your Internet business plan on why do you need more time and money. You must be specific in your dreams. What kind of a car you want to drive – what model, cost, color, etc.? What home do you desire – by the beach, on top of a hill, etc? What debts you like to pay off – credit cards debts, housing loans, car loans, etc? As an e-entrepreneur, visualize as clearly as you can the kind of Internet lifestyles you want to enjoy if you have all the time and money to do what you want..

Thirdly, you set your goals that you want to reach in a specific time – short-term, medium term and long-term. You use your goals to fulfill your dreams. Remember, what you write for your Internet business plan is a personal matter. No one can write your dreams or goals for you. It is up to you to decide which level of success you want to take your Internet business. Whatever level that you have set for yourself, you have to work it. Nobody is going to do the work for you. You need to set your goals for the next three months, six months, twelve months, two years and five years. Make sure to write down your goals that are realistic, achievable, and quantifiable.

“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” – Denis Watley

Fourthly, you create your action plan around the goals you have set for yourself as a e-entrepreneur. A good, solid action plan includes your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly activities. Your action plan for your Internet business will probably include how you are going to use your marketing aids, marketing methods, and your budget to promote your products or services. Don’t forget to allot time to continuously educate yourself in your chosen Internet business. A successful e-entrepreneur must keep abreast with current trends happening in the Internet. This will give you the extra leverage against other e-entrepreneurs in your market.

Once you have listed down all your Internet business activities, you must assign your time to do them. Time management for the e-entrepreneur is very important when you write your Internet business plan. One of the most practical ways of managing time is to schedule blocks of time for every activity that you must complete each day for your Internet business. You must stay focused on your business activities. You must not be distracted by other activities that do not contribute profitably to your goal of making money on-line.

Finally, you must take action according to the business plan that you have just created. You must carry out what you have written in your Internet business plan. You must be committed, consistent and persistent. Also, you need to have lots of patience. You build your Internet business step-by-step. As an e-entrepreneur, you must believe in yourself and that you can do something to change your present situation using the Internet as a source of profits. By taking positive actions, you will develop profitable habits that can make your dreams come true. All the hard work that you put into developing your vision, dreams, goals and action plan will be wasted if you do not take actions. If you do nothing, nothing will happened.

Your business plan is the compass that points you the way to Internet success. And success is just the progressive realization of your dreams because of the actions you take to achieve your goals. Your opportunity for success as an e-entrepreneur is absolutely possible if you carry out this simple and practical business plan that you have just created for your home-based Internet business.

Remember, a business plan will change over time as your situation and focus change. It is dynamic and has to be reviewed and tweaked regularly to meet new goals you have set according to your current situation. As an e-entrepreneur, you must also constantly fine-tune your business plan to reflect the needs of an ever-changing Internet environment.

To help you get started on how to write your Internet business plan, you can download this printable form HERE.

by khawaja

monday-morning or new business plan

Image by larryosan
Since everyone is opening cafepress stores I thought I would come out with my own business plan and new economic pardigm.

A good business plan doesn’t have anything to do with length, or the information covered in the plan. It’s all about the process of figuring out what your goals are and the specifics of how you’ll achieve them. If you want to know how to write a business plan, here’s some advice – keep it simple, specific, and realistic so that you can actually achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Every small business needs a good business plan to get started. If you don’t have a clue where to begin, search for a business plan template to get the ball rolling. A business plan template provides an outline for a basic business plan so all you have to do is fill in the blanks, so to speak. When running a small business, it can be difficult to put all the information together – for most people using a business plan template takes some of the guesswork out of how to write a business plan, and speeds up the process. There’s no good reason not to use a business plan template if you want to.

So what are the elements of a well-written business plan? A simple plan is always best. Can you take action on everything you have planned, or are you being too unrealistic? To help your small business grow and flourish, it’s important to understand how to write a business plan that serves as a decent reflection of what you can actually accomplish if you implement the steps outlined in the plan.

Is the plan full of specifics? You need to lay down facts and concrete objectives to make sure you know exactly what steps to take to achieve your business goals. Knowing how to write a business plan is one thing, but if you want to write a plan for your small business that won’t let you down, it’s important to take the time to seriously set down a real plan of action.

A sample plan, many of which you can find online, can help make the process easier. With a sample plan to guide you along the way, it’s possible to get the job done more quickly than if you were doing everything from scratch, without any extra guidance. Or, purchase software designed to put together a proper business plan. Business plan software is easy to use, and guides you by the hand, step-by-step, to complete the process.

A good business plan should always have a specific budget included in the financial section. This is important if you plan to ask investors or a bank for loan money, but even if this isn’t the case, it’s helpful for your own sake. Setting up a budget and planning how you’re going to take care of the financial aspect of your business will help you turn your dreams into a reality. And that’s the whole point of starting a business and writing a business plan – you want to start or continue to run a business in the best way possible, to provide a service to the public and enjoy what you do.

The exact points you include in a business plan can vary depending on your needs and your specific situation, however, there are a few main sections that should always be included in a business plan. The finances section is a must, as well as a vision statement. Of course, every business plan is different, so you have to follow your own needs when putting together a business plan for your company.

by I-5 Design & Manufacture

What I do at work

Image by The Scott
This is a solid business plan my co-workers and I thought up. Don’t steal it.
I drew up the actual plan, though.

(Disturbingly, there are four other photos on Flickr that are tagged "chicken milk.")

Everyone knows they need one.  Everyone plans on writing one, eventually.  But not everyone does it.  Why? Because it’s so easy to put off and it’s such a chore.  I’m talking about writing a business plan.  Many business owners put more effort into planning their vacations than they put into planning their businesses.  This is a shame because an entrepreneur with a business plan is much more likely to succeed than one without a plan.

With just a little effort, you can plan the business of your dreams complete with desired level of income, time off, and emotional satisfaction.  The key is the business plan.  Let’s take a look at some of the mistakes we tend to make with business plans and what you can do to overcome them.

Mistake #1 – Putting it off

It’s easy to hang up an “Open for Business” shingle and then dive right into the busy-ness of day to day operations of your business.   Things are going well and you think “Someday I’ll get around to writing that business plan” or “I don’t need that business plan after all”, or even “Who says you need a business plan to be successful?”   Years later when you want to buy a building or expand operations you find out that the bank or investors want a plan, but you don’t have one.

Don’t put it off.  Having a business plan helps you to solidify your future, anticipate problems, and plan for success.  If you’re always running on adrenaline, putting out fires, and playing catch up, you probably need a business plan.  So just do it.  Block time on your schedule two to three hours a week and just get it done.

Mistake #2 – Not a big enough vision

Think BIG when creating your long term vision.  This is your opportunity to design a business that far exceeds your current situation.  I’ve seen far too many boring, limited, and going-no-where visions.  Think in terms of the ideal and put yourself in the future.  What would you most like to be doing in your business?  The grunt work?  The annoying stuff you’re doing now?  Of course not.  You are the face of your business.  Your job is to meet the clients, close the big deals, and rake in the dough. 

What kind of revenue do you want in your business?  Think BIG again.  And don’t say 20% better than now.  What are the possibilities five to ten years from now?

Mistake #3 – Weak goals

A business plan without detailed goals is like a ship without a rudder.  The business becomes directionless without a purpose.  You, as the business owner must have goals for every facet of your business.  What I often see is a 5 year revenue goal, but no monthly and yearly goals to lead up to the finale.  I see very few business plans with client goals, professional goals, and personal goals.   How many new clients do you want each month?  What are the revenue goals for your products or services?  What information products do you want to produce in the future?    Having goals in life is what drives successful people.  What are your goals?

Mistake #4 – Not focusing on Marketing and Branding

It’s really easy to get into statistics, theory, and hyperbole in a business plan.  I say “Show me the money!”  What are you going to do to bring in the dough?  Any business plan worth the paper it’s printed on should have a significant marketing and branding section. Take a look at your vision and decide what marketing actions you need to take to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in five to ten years.

If you want to stand out in the crowded marketplace, you’ll also need to create a strong brand and continue working on it going forward. Invest in yourself and get a professionally designed corporate identity complete with tagline, website, four-color business cards, and the like.  No one wants to do business with someone who doesn’t look professional.  So get rid of the dull boring business image and kick it up a notch.

Mistake #5 – Not working the plan

Why do you write a business plan if you are going to put it away in a drawer somewhere?  You need to keep the plan visible.  You need to review the plan on a weekly basis.  You need to be asking yourself “What now?” at least weekly.  You need to make sure you are getting results.  No matter how brilliant the plan, you must take action to get results.  You do this by reviewing your plan, checking the marketing activities for results, and asking “What bigger projects do I need to tackle to get closer to the big Vision?”  Then you ask yourself if the direction needs to change.  If so, it’s time to re-write your plan.

Traditional thirty-page business plans are not always useful for entrepreneurs.  They can be overly technical and may not provide the accountability needed.   I have created a business plan system for entrepreneurs and independent professionals that may fit the bill: The Two Page Mini Business Plan™.  This system incorporates Goal Setting, and heavy Branding and Marketing with My Success Book – a built-in Daily Action Planner to encourage accountability and results.  This may be just the system you need to get where you want to go.

©Copyright 2008- Suzanne Muusers – All Rights Reserved  

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by khawaja

Acquisition Plan, Capital Funding, Excel Template

Image by Ivan Walsh
Example of an Acquisition Plan, for Capital Funding:

Sample from here www.mysoftwaretemplates.com/category/acquisition-plan/

For many entrepreneurs the creation of a business plan is the biggest hurdle in the development process of their fledgling enterprise. There is a mystery, almost a dread in many people when discussion of a business plan requirement is first broached. They conceptualize a boring, dry, painful experience and many would like to avoid this step if at all possible.

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that qualifies, quantifies and narrates a commercial opportunity. It is that simple to state, more difficult to execute, but anyone can customize a business plan that gets results. The plan must have an exciting Executive Summary. Like the opening scenes of a movie, or the first chapter of a book, the writer must set a hook.

Typically, active investors, angels, venture capital groups and investment bankers are deluged with business plans. Screeners typically read the document before passing along to decision-makers within the firm. However, very few move a business plan along the decision making food chain precisely because the Executive Summary lacks excitement, punch or sets a high level of anticipation about what is inside the document.

Having written hundreds of business plans for clients I can attest that creating a plan that works is, well, work. No two plans are alike. The plan must be customized, well researched, structured and direct. I receive more than 500 business plan submissions annually in my consulting firm. Less than 1% have commercial potential as written. Many describe products, services, retail or new business development ideas that otherwise might be exciting. However, the plan does not convey that potential.

One of the worst things to evolve from the arrival of the internet is the ability to download a business plan template and write the document by filling in the blanks. The template itself is not problematic, I use a self-developed template when I customize plans. The problem is that many entrepreneurs do not have the writing skills, the research in hand, know the keys that turn on investors and thus, take shortcuts. Filling in the blanks without sweating the details and doing comprehensive research results in a document that will not be read and an opportunity that will never launch.

Rule number one in the development of any commercial opportunity: shortcuts equal failure!

I am a self-taught business plan writer. If I can do it, anyone can. In reality, however, most people just want to expose their opportunity to investors, licensees or potential partners. They don’t have writing skills, do not know the types of research necessary to support the plans sales model, need help in creating the marketing strategy, and will never be able to narrate financials. Where can they go to create and exciting business plan document?

The following are resources readily available in most communities. Many are free.

Many colleges, community colleges and universities have developed small business incubators. They attract additional state funding, as small business growth and development are keys to job creation and an increased tax base. Take advantage of this community asset. Students, graduate students and professors are often available to direct your efforts. Ten years ago there were only a handful such programs. Today, over 1000 schools have some version of an entrepreneurial program.

Many states, regional and local governments offer business development programs. They have retired business people and mentors on hand to support, guide and train prospective entrepreneurs and guide business plan creation. There is no charge for utilizing this service, after all, your tax dollar supports these programs.

SCORE, the Service Core of Retired Executives is a Federal Government sponsored initiative. Thousands of retired, experienced business people make themselves available to evaluate commercial opportunities and direct the development and launch of those deemed to have potential. They are often intimately involved in creating business plans.

The Ewing Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, MO is devoted solely to the development of entrepreneurial development. Mr. Kauffman started, nurtured and developed Marion Labs from a tiny drug local company into a multinational, multi-billion dollar powerhouse. He also owned the Kansas City Royals baseball team. His devotion to developing and promoting the entrepreneurial base of the United States resulted in creation of the foundation that bears his name.

Seek out a consultant. Typically consultants charge a fee, just like lawyers, accountants or plumbers. The advantage of an experienced consultant is that they write business plans for a living, will be strong writers, able to properly direct or perform research, narrate financials and differentiate a commercial opportunity by creating an exciting word picture. Always seek references and talk to several before deciding on a consultant.

Why Do I Need a Business Plan?

You might not. You might not need a deeply customized business plan if you are seeking to license or sell an invention, a patent or a prototype product. In this situation, the potential licensee would take your work product and develop a plan that fits their internal organizational needs.

However, if you are attempting to fund a start-up business, self-market a product or buy a small business you will absolutely need to create a road map. That road map is your business plan. The map is not linear, there will be curves and setbacks, but by quantifying, qualifying and narrating a well- researched, customized business plan you are much closer to success.

by Linda Nowakowski

Dina Kaplan channeling Krasota.ru

Image by Esthr
at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin. The business plan she and
her partners came up with for HairDreams was startlingly similar to
Krasota.ru, a start-up I almost funded back in 2001-02.

Are you interested in starting your own business? If so, there is a good chance that you have heard of a business plan before. Whether you were discussing starting up a business with someone that you know or researching business start up ideas online, there is a good chance that business plans came up somewhere in your journey. Although you may know what a business plan is or heard about it is passing, you may be wondering if you really need to have one. Better yet, you may be wondering if making a business plan is even worth your time.

When it comes to business plans and being worth your time, you will, almost always, find that they are. In fact, if you are interested in starting your own business, no matter what type of business it may be, you are urged to make yourself a business plan. Developing a business plan may take a little bit of time and research, but it will, almost always, be worth it in the end.

One of the most common reasons why business plans are created is to give a business owner a plan. Starting a business can be a fairly long, complicated, and expensive process. To save yourself time and maybe even money, you are urged to create a business plan. Having a business plan will help to ensure that you get everything taken care of that you wanted or needed to have done. For instance, if you are planning on marketing your business, you may want to have your business plan include marketing tips or ideas. In most cases, you will find that you forget less if you create yourself a plan or a list of instructions to follow.

In addition to giving you a direction to take, business plans can also help you obtain financing for your business, either from investors or from financial lenders. Most financial lenders and investors will not give you money unless they know that you are a sure thing. That is why a business plan is ideal and always worth your time. In fact, you may find that many financial lenders and investors will not even meet with you without having a detailed business plan. That is why if you are relying on financial assistance from others, you should have a business plan.

The good news about creating a business plan is that you have a number of different options. As previously mentioned, creating a business plan can be a stressful and time consuming process. If you are limited on time or if you want your business plan to be perfect, you have a number of different options. In addition to making your own business plan from scratch, you can also rely on the assistance of a professional. Professional business plan developers are writers who can easily be found online and their services are obtainable for a reasonable price. It might also be a good idea to try and find business plan templates online. These templates will act as a guide for you.

Whether you make your own business plan, rely on assistance from a professional, or use an online business template, you are urged to make one for yourself. As stated above, there are a number of benefits to developing yourself a business plan; thus making it always worth your time.

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