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Carefully Watch Your Business Model Tests To Validate Assumptions And Learn About The Unexpected

Why stay with a less than ideal business model, when you could have a better one? This takes identifying an idea you want to try. Next, you need to validate that idea. You are now ready to test your best ideas. By running more than one test at a time, you speed the chance that you will verify a good idea.

You want to get into the market fast with your improved business model. Freeing up resources from tests that are failing can help you do that. How can you speed up the process of making those resources available again?

Some of the tests will start to flop as soon as you begin them. That lack of results may come from finding out that a key assumption was wrong (for example, that it is easy to put together a prototype process to provide the new benefit), or from total disinterest by those who are supposed to be excited.

Many of these tests should be immediately and permanently stopped. Some should be re-framed and re-focused to reflect what has been learned, especially where there is an execution problem. In either case, little purpose is served by continuing with the planned test.

At each review ask why the test should continue any further and what will be gained. Often, the answer will be that the test should not continue and that nothing will be gained because as much useful information has already been gathered as one can hope for.

On the other hand, the unexpected may provide clues to breakthroughs. Especially pay attention to situations where a customer buys a great deal more than you would have ever thought possible, and where customers ignore something that looks like a great deal.

In the former instance, you may simply be seeing leakage. A local unit of a national organization may be buying into your new offering for their whole company. That means that your test is working, but not as well as you thought.

Of even greater significance is the possibility that they have found an additional way to use your offering. Ray Kroc's first introduction to McDonald's came from his curiosity about why one hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California was ordering so many more milk shake mixers than any of his other customers.

When customers ignore something you think will expand their usage, you also have the opportunity to learn something valuable. What were you missing when you decided to run the test?

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell

Competition Considered

No matter what type of business you operate, there will be competition of some sort. If there is not already competition, the potential for competition is most likely present. There are billions of people on this planet, to say the least. We share the same recycled oxygen, elements, and so on. We usually share the same thoughts. When we don't have the same thoughts, we can be found wanting thoughts and things of others. Competition is inevitable any way you look at it. You may think of doing something that no one else could have possibly thought of in your opinion, but realize even your opinion may be shared. There are definitely others on this planet with thoughts and experiences similar. Rest assured there will be potential competition if there isn't competition in your area already. You may invent something and soon find that someone made the same thing after yours. Their invention may differ enough so that your patent can't protect what you have. I'm not merely a pessimist. Research reveals these examples to be fact. You must consider someone taking what ever you have from you in this world. That has been the stark reality of our culture for the past 6,000 years or so.

Preventative solutions are the best. Address the problem before it happens. If you're a business owner, inception of the business is the time to think about what you're going to do. Think about things like if someone opens up a store next to yours. What if someone out sells you? Maybe you have an online business that is doing great and more competition comes on the scene, causing you to lose money. Take time to consider competition before it's too late in the game. If you all ready have competition, make reasonable effort to combat it. Now is the time for analysis.

Where do you start at analyzing your competition? A list of potential or current competitors will not be needed in the beginning. The first thing you should think about is your customer or your ideal customer. Once you understand what your customer buys and when they do business with you, a better understanding of your competition will be evident. Take for an example if you owned a fish tackle store on a corner of Time Square in New York City. Who would by fish bate in the middle of time square? What time of day would they buy and how often? Imagine the store next door to yours sells New York souvenirs and pharmaceutical products. Who do you think would make more money, you or the guy next door? Who is your customer? When would they buy? Obviously fishermen/fisherwomen or eccentrics are your customers. The answer to when they would buy from you can vary depending on a few conditions. A tourist may buy from you as a joke. An eccentric fisherman may pass buy once a year and buy from you. This is a ludicrous example for the sake of demonstrating what competition can be like. I'm by no means suggesting that you to open a fish store however, I want to demonstration practical business logic. The guy next door would probably make more money than you. Your competitor would give you reason to make a formal plan on paper. This would probably involve your change in product or location. Before changing anything, the process of change should consider your customers.

Here is what I find to be two core elements in considering a plan against competition :

1. identify your customer or ideal customer


2. identify your ability to supply your customer.

It's that simple. When you can satisfy your customer or potential customer better, you naturally beat your competition. When you can do the two core things better and consistently, you will beat whatever competition.

Think of your efficiency, performance, or capacity to offer products/services per hour, day, week, or other time period.

You will now know who your competition is if you can identify the two above elements.

Common sense should reveal to you if you have or will have competition

When Is It Time For A Feasibility Study?

One of the most frequently underestimated aspects of new venture development is the feasibility study. This part is a detailed look at whether an underlying business concept is sound, and can be effectively executed.

Feasibility studies are not just important for structuring a business, but also for establishing realistic financial needs and expectations. One that is poorly- conducted can fill an entrepreneur and their team with false hope that could eventually lead to financial ruin. A well-constructed feasibility report, however, can break down the doors, cementing a ventures' chances for prosperity in the eyes of potential investors.

After initial research validates the viability of an idea, it is time to begin the process. One of the more complex components of this will be determining the market viability of the venture. While the first step is to examine the breadth of those who serve as potential customers/users/clients, other factors must be taken into account as well.

Once you've completed an initial investigation, it's time to go forward with the formal report. A major caveat, though, is that these studies, much like haircuts, are best left to professionals. Executing the report on your own sacrifices the true objectivity of an impartial party, and your own intuition can cloud accurate analysis.

Some of the best guides to help you along the way will include the following topics:

* The importance of a proper study for any new venture

* Key mistakes to avoid while creating the document

* How to seek assistance from trained professionals with the process, and which factors to look for when selecting consultants

These are all important things for anyone trying to start a business. If you are serious about getting into the entrepreneur game, you need to do a feasibility study and take the results seriously. It is one of the greatest secrets of success around!

Business Brokerages - What Services Do Business Brokers And M

Every business broker and M&A intermediary works towards the same goal, to help you successfully sell your business for maximum value.

A good business intermediary will provide you with valuable services essential in selling your business:

• Evaluation: The most important step in any transaction is evaluating your business before it goes to market. A business broker should carefully examine your company's financials and your personal needs to guide you towards a price that would best accomplish your goals while remaining realistic.
• Buyer search: A business should be marketed confidentially through several channels to create a competitive arena with multiple buyers. Besides business-for-sale Web sites, the business intermediary should have an existing buyer database of local and national prospects. A successful business intermediary often has other marketing strategies to generate competition for your business, which will lead to a higher selling price.
• Negotiate a Letter of intent: Once a potential buyer expresses interest in the business, a business broker will help review the buyer's Letter of Intent, which is a tentative agreement outlining the primary economic considerations of the transaction and other issues. If your broker is able to negotiate with many potential buyers simultaneously, he or she can usually achieve the best results.
• Due diligence: Once the Letter of Intent is signed, the buyer brings his or her attorney, accountant and other professional advisers to conduct a thorough investigation of your company. During this time, your business broker must use his skills and diplomacy to defend your business.
• Definitive purchase agreement and closing: When due diligence is complete, the business broker helps you and your attorney review the final Purchase Agreement and closing documents.

When looking for a business broker, it is important to interview several and ensure that they have the experience in handling transactions similar to yours in size.

Factors Influencing The Value Of Your Company

Recast Earnings

With rare exception, a company's recast pre-tax earnings influence valuation more than any other factor. Viewed in the simplest manner, buyers are looking to purchase a stream of income that will provide a desired return on investment and justify the purchase price. Consequently, most commonly accepted valuation methods primarily rely on multiples of earnings. It follows that the stronger the earnings the greater the value, all other factors remaining equal. Given this reality, it is critical that a seller present the financial statements in a format that will maximize the earnings in the eyes of the acquirer.

Hard Assets

Tangible assets have a positive influence on value. Generally the greater the asset value included as part of a transaction, the greater the overall company value. However, since earnings typically have a greater impact on valuation than assets, increases and decreases in asset values rarely have a dollar-for-dollar impact on company valuations. For example: assuming there is equipment valued at $300,000 included in a transaction, increasing the amount of equipment to $400,000 may slightly elevate the company's value but considerably less than the $100,000 difference. Large sums of required capital assets may actually be viewed as a "liability" to certain buyers as they generally require larger future investment to replace or maintain these assets, diminishing future available cash flow.

Risk Factors

To clearly determine a company's value, buyers must weigh the future opportunities against the perceived business and economic risk. Elements of the business that increase risk decrease the value of the business. Conversely, elements that decrease risk increase value. Examples of risk factors that influence valuation include: industry life cycle; industry stability; customer base concentrations or dependencies; supplier dependencies; product or service differentiation; strength and size of market; management quality and depth; employee dependencies; impending regulation; new technology and many others. Although each of these risks is unique, they all have one common trait - an ability to either reassure or cast doubt on the predictability of future cash flow. As a result, the better a business can control, offset or properly present these potential risks, the more positive the impact on valuation.

Acquirer Identity

A company can have a significantly greater value to one acquirer than another. Much of the perceived value derives from the company's strategic fit with a potential buyer. Strategic value can be achieved through cost synergies (i.e. elimination of duplicate expenses and reduction in cost of goods) or sales and marketing of complimentary products and services that afford new markets and customers to each company. The key is to identify potential acquirers that should have the most to gain from a business combination.

Terms

Price and terms tend to have a negative correlation. For example, an all cash transaction will generally yield a lower price when compared to a transaction that includes owner financing. The better the terms offered to a buyer, the higher the price that can be paid to the seller. This primarily relates to cash flow, the cost and availability of outside debt capital and the risk associated with completely "cashing out" the business owner at closing. The key is to identify the right combination of price and terms that creates a "win-win" for both buyer and seller.

Transaction Structure

Many deal structure factors in addition to price influence the total financial yield to a seller. Will the transaction be an asset sale or a stock sale? Will the seller receive continuing perks and fringe benefits? Will the seller retain certain assets ( i.e. receivables, cash, deposits, etc. ) rather than include them as part of the transaction? Will the seller be willing to structure an earn-out for a portion of the transaction? These and many other alternative transaction allocations and structures will have a direct impact on tax implications and total yield to the seller.

Presentation and Packaging

When buyers evaluate a business opportunity, they expect the records and facts to be properly organized and documented. A professionally packaged business will greatly increase a buyer's confidence and comfort level, thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful sale. Most buyers enlist their CPA, lawyer or business partners to provide feedback. These educational presentation packages keep everyone on the "same page." You have spent years establishing name recognition, market niche, vendor relationships, operation and production systems, management, personnel, distribution channels, customer loyalty, expansion opportunities, synergies and numerous other intangible business assets. This is a story that needs to be properly presented to potential buyers. A professional intermediary can present the best possible picture of the entire business, thus maximizing the attractiveness and perceived value of the firm in the eyes of potential acquirers.

Business Plans - How To Anticipate What The Banks Want

If you're looking for information on business plans, then the chances are you have spoken to a bank or financial institute about a business idea and they have asked you to go away and write a business plan for them. I'm also sure they will have given you no advice as to what key facts they will be looking for in your plan. For most people writing a business plan will be a daunting task. Unfortunately, this can, and does, put many people off starting up their own business and commits them to a life of working for someone else. I intend to show you why you shouldn't be running away from writing your own business plan and even better, how to get around writing one at all.

Like most things in life, experience is key to success. I can't over emphasise how important it is to get your business plan right first time, as banks are not impressed by return visits with second attempts. Although I said you shouldn't run away from the plan, I didn't actually say it has to be all your own work. Some banks will give you packs which set out a basic business plan for you and all you do is fill in the blanks. This can work for a lot of people, as their business plan may be quite simple and low risk for the banks. If you want to be more certain of gaining the funding you require to start your business, then you will need a business plan that goes into greater detail.

Writing your own business plan from scratch can be hard work, so you need to go about this in the correct manner. Do not try to write the plan from first page to last page, as many areas are likely to change over the weeks leaving some of your early information outdated before it's complete.

Start by writing down exactly what the business is about, what you are trying to achieve and over what time period. What your business is going to be about is completely down to you, but it will be advantage if it's in an industry or service that you personally have experience within. You can always pay for that experience, but this always puts great pressure on your finances from day one.

Next you need to look at the basic finances of the business to get a rough idea of whether it can be profitable. This information is made up of 5 main areas:

• Start-up cost for the business (manufacturing equipment, computer equipment etc)
• Annual indirect costs (rent, rates, electricity, wages etc)
• Individual survival budget (your personal income needed to live)
• Annual direct costs (cost of sales)
• Income (from sales)

If you have an accurate plan which includes all of the 5 point above, then you will be able to find out how profitable the business plan really is. This will also give you an idea of how much (if at all) you will need to borrow from the bank to realise your new business. Research is imperative to a successful plan, otherwise your business will have unforeseen problems once you start trading. Remember that putting false data into a business plan might fool an unsuspecting bank manager, but the outcome is likely to backfire on you in the future.

Once you have your basic finances and structure in place, you need to set about writing the plan in a format which any finance company will find easy to understand. The layout of the plan can be as important as the contents. It's no good having well researched and detailed information, if the investors or bank managers are unable to understand what you have written. Make sure you have a clear contents page and that all your referrals to appendixes are correctly labelled and are relevant.

Finally, present your new business plan in a professional folder or wallet and make several copies for the different financial institutes you're going to see. Make sure you know your plan well and can go to a particular page quickly should you be asked a question about an area of the business.

Creating Successful White Paper Programs - Best Practices

Introduction

Technology companies around the globe use white papers to educate buyers on solving business problems. But too much of a good thing creates a backlash: prospects complain about being inundated with mediocre messages that hype rather than solve problems. How is a company to stand out from its competitors?

Decision makers don't want sales pitches, they want expert advice about the products they buy, and that's what a well-crafted white paper should provide. Companies that make exceptional use of storytelling in white papers will succeed. Companies that under-deliver by focusing on product details instead of customer needs will not.

Part 1: Benefits of a white paper program

A white paper program is a curriculum of organizational elements and best practices that support companies in delivering a schedule of targeted, well-written white papers over a period of time.

A well-executed program provides several clear benefits to technology companies. Through a series of planned papers, a program helps differentiate a company's approach to technology, positions the company as a thought leader, clearly defines the benefits of proprietary solutions to prospects and investors, and enhances credibility among business leaders and decision makers.

A successful white paper program equips authors with the tools they need to craft stories that garner top line attention and support marketing departments with the creative messaging that attracts prospects and keeps them engaged. Here are the benefits of a well-executed white paper program:

?Reduce time commitment of authors and content providers

?Increase storytelling capabilities and educational value of the papers

?Provide best practices that ensure successful papers

?Deliver more effective calls-to-action

?Improve marketing capabilities of the papers

?Increase readership with well-designed documents

?Highlight the collective intelligence of an organization

Part 2: White Paper Program Best Practices

White papers are ideal sales tools for communicating the advantages of complex, technology products and services. A robust white paper program can be used to serialize papers for technical and business decision making audiences, as well as users. Careful planning of a white paper program generates more fulfilling documents for both authors and readers. Here are some best practices to guide the development of a successful white paper program:

Simplify the research process - researching a topic can be one of the most time-consuming and

cumbersome procedures in the white paper writing process. Laser-focus the research practice and shorten the timeline.

Create persuasive storylines - one of the biggest challenges for an author is creating a solid, persuasive thread that keeps the reader interested and anxious to turn the next page. Engage readers by showing them that you feel their pain. Look for fresh perspectives and communicate them with persuasive and compelling content.

Compose a compelling title - a strong title attracts more readers than a basic description. For example, "Five things computer hackers don't want you to know" is far more intriguing than "PC Security Measures."

Build credibility with case studies - many business executives are skeptical of the average white paper. However, including case studies in a white paper can add incredible value if they are powerfully and succinctly written.

Deliver what your reader really wants - day after day your prospects are bombarded with so many

marketing messages that they simply stop listening. Readers want different things: some want to be educated about new technologies or platforms, others may want to know if you can solve their problem. A well-written white paper accomplishes both by delivering a clear message in the language of the readers.

Manage your time - any successful person has a million things to do and only a few hours in which to do them. But there are time-proven ways that authors can manage their time so that the important things always get done-and done well.

Capture skim readers - most readers skim your paper before making the commitment to read it. There are tips that make a paper more enticing to skim and therefore more readable. Strong headlines, subheads, bullets and captions are a few ways to provide readers with valuable information at a glance.

Exercise restraint - prospects today look to white papers for insights and education, not sales pitches. When companies ignore these expectations, they lose credibility and valuable sales opportunities.

3-30-3 rule - grab your reader's interest in the first three seconds; that's how long you have to show them that you have something meaningful to say. If they stay for the initial glance, you may have another 30 seconds to make your point. If they're still with you, the final three minutes are to convince the reader that you have the right solution.

Create irresistible calls to action - when it comes to a great white paper, the last thing you write is just as important as the first thing. Learn how to write a powerful call to action that gets prospects to pick up the phone and call.

Avoid deadly design mistakes - design plays an essential role in the success of any white paper. Before a prospect begins reading your paper, they judge its value by its appearance and attention to detail. Graphics, tables and charts can make your papers more accessible and more interesting.

Part 3: Collaborative Process

The collaborative process is key to a positive outcome in any working relationship. When developing a white paper program it is essential that all parties - content specialists and writers - understand and support this process. Professional technology marketing writers can either assist an organization's in-house authors in writing more compelling papers, or they can develop the papers for you. Either way, here are the steps in the collaborative process:

?Outline Process: Writers work with content specialists/key internal stakeholders to create a clear, concise white paper outline.

?Content and Research Process: Writers work with an organization's internal experts to collect the content necessary to fulfill the underlying theme of the paper.

?Writing Process: Writers work with an organization's experts to streamline the writing process and create the first draft for review.

?Revision Process: Writers work with an organization's internal experts to speed the revision time and get papers completed sooner.

?Promotion Process: Writers work with your marketing team to develop promotional copy and deliver creative ideas to help increase the readership and improve response rates.

Creative Team

Many professional technology marketing firms take a team approach to white paper development. Rather than depend upon a single writer, they support an organization's authors with a team of writers and creative experts who provide every aspect of successful white paper production.

?Creative Director: Manages the entire program, including assignment of resources, development of schedule, and adherence to best practices.

?Project Manager: Dedicated point-of-contact for authors, content specialists and marketing staff.

Responsibilities include maintaining the schedule and work flow; supporting the writing team; managing the research and writing process; coordinating document review; and more.

?Writing Team: A team of writers and editors who work to ensure technical accuracy, storytelling strength and continuity within the document.

?Design Team: Add value to white paper design and readership.

Program Summary

A final and important element of a White Paper Program is manageability. The first step in assuring

manageability is selecting an experienced team of technology writers who bring added value to the project and can manage the creative process for you. For example, experienced writers understand the technology sales cycle and can offer suggestions that an organization's content specialists may overlook. A team of writers offers far greater breadth and depth than a single writer. If that team includes a project manager, it will not only bring added value to the White Paper Program, but they will also relieve your marketing staff of the burden of managing and executing the program so you can devote more energy to planning, enhancing brand identity,

preparing for new product launches, and driving prospects through the sales funnel.

The creation of a robust white paper program adds immense value to an organization's white paper

development and distribution efforts. Creating a roadmap for a 6-month or year-long program provides content specialists, authors and marketing managers with a unified approach that enhances the collective intelligence of an organization's authors and experts, increases executives' position as a global thought leaders, and offers promotional capabilities that will increase readership and response from prospects and clients. The ultimate success of a White Paper Program depends on selecting the right team of writers that complements your internal team, supports your marketing efforts and helps to manage the process from beginning to end.

How To Succeed In Business

In business we often hear most professional advocating that most businesses fail because of that economy of its host environment , as much as this is true, I would like to bring to your notice that in third world countries where the economy is worst than useless, most businesses still blossom and thrive.

If these professionals are wrong, you may be tempted to ask why, do most business still fail. Well if you want to know that am sorry I can't tell but what I have I will give to you and what I have is some practicable and reasonable steps on how to make your business succeed.

Mission statement


When going into business know why. Do not rush into it. Take time out and ask yourself what you hope to achieve at the end of the day, prepare a clear and concise mission and vision statement from it. Try as much as possible to communicate this mission statement and make sure it is understood by all stakeholders in the business. If the vision is clearly stated for all to see deviation become inevitable

Succeed


Most business that succeeds does so because they were created to meet a need. If your business is to succeed then it should be crafted from the onset to meet the need of all its stakeholders (customer, employees, and owners). Great companies like Microsoft, Google etc that are successful today are because they found out what people needed and came up with it.

Closely related to meeting need is the issue of culture. A great company or business should have certain culture and belief, tradition and uniqueness that set her apart from other companies. When a company has certain values and customs that meet customers need, the customers will be able to predict the actions or reaction to elicit from the company at any point in time and thus will be able to ascribe a certain level of trust to the company. When this happens the company has not only succeeded in meeting a need but also in setting a standard, creating a uniqueness that sets her apart from competitors and can be identified as her ultimate selling point and also answering the question of how they should conduct themselves as they do business. It is expedient to mention that if a company fails to meet a need then her integrity is at stake.

Attract the bees


Every successful business or organization is like the Honeycomb that attracts bees. The success of a company greatly depends on her ability to attract develop and retain top performing manpower or human resources. Your ability as the founder of a vision(business) to find top performing people to with special skill and charisma to accomplish your vision is very important . For your business or vision to flourish and succeed you should be able to identify people who posses those special needs that your business needs to succeed even when the individual those not even know that he or she posses such skill.

Build up and make proper use of financial reserve.


Build up reserves from capitals accumulated from a healthy stream of profit. If this is done successfully more investors would be attracted by the healthy streams of profit. As we all known investors love any investment that creates wealth for them.

The reserves that have been built up should be used for the further improvement of the business, improvement should be the topmost priority even when the business is doing well . Improvement ,should be invested in with reserved and pursued with much vigor

Cut cost and save pennies.


Any business that want to succeed should ensure that all possible avenues are been explored when trying to cut cost. Stiff measures should be put in place, and s suitable alternative should be sought for all business activities whose cost is high.

Minimize Your Failure By Strategic Planning

Life is unpredictable. Sometimes things take a completely unexpected course that defies all expectations and results in failure.

In such situations all our strategic planning comes to naught and we are left perplexed and, quite often, desperate. What did we do wrong?

What if, after a lot of introspection, you find that there were no flaws in the way you approached and executed your task?

These are questions that will haunt you, more so because the answer is extremely hard, if at all possible, to arrive at.

How do you overcome these apparent failures? The key is in understanding that these so called failures are as important, if not more, in our progress in life, as are our successes.

Failures are essential, but, given human nature, not the easiest thing to get over. And while we are never going to get around to actually enjoying the process of failing, there are a few things we can do to appreciate the positives that arise from a failure.

1. Always remember that there are multiple ways to perform a task.

We pick one based on our understanding of the task, our skills and experience, and our planning. Most of the time, applying our knowledge and planning efficiently will ensure we pick the most optimal path, but it is important to remember, that at the end of the day, it is a choice based on limited information and prone to rapidly evolving external, environmental factors. It can go wrong! When it does, it is important to remember that there were multiple ways from which you picked one. Which means that there are other ways to handle the task. It is far from the end of the road. Go back and revisit those options given the new experience and information available with you.

If, for some reason, you believe that experimenting with different approaches signifies that you don't have a focused plan of work, please put your work down for now and spend some time getting rid of that notion!

There cannot be anything more detrimental to your overall progress and growth as an individual. Read about any of the great inventors and thinkers that the world has known and you will realize that the one consistent lesson that most, if not all of them, thought necessary to pass on, is the virtue of experimenting and failing.

Success never comes knocking with an 'Instruction Manual' in hand. It takes planning, persistence and failures - failures which are the cause for the eventual success.

2. It is in our nature to be impatient.

Everyone wants to complete a task at one go. But that rarely works. Break your task down into smaller, simpler units.

Prioritize and take on the smaller tasks one at a time. Just doing this will ensure that you are able to track and manage your progress much more efficiently.

You will be able to quickly identify which part of your overall approach did not work or yield the expected results and rectify that specific aspect of your work.

Compare this with the situation wherein you attempted the task as a whole, spent a lot of time working with the wrong approach, did not achieve the desired result, once again spent a whole lot of time trying to analyze where exactly you went wrong, and finally started once again from scratch.

3. Finally, understand that failures are necessary.

They are a part and parcel of our lives and can be a great learning tool if we handle them wisely.

Most management gurus, including Tom Peters, have for long been advocating that organizations need to encourage their employees to fail and should reward these failures that arise not out of bad planning or bad execution, but by virtue of evolving circumstances and the effort to find improved, more efficient solutions.

If you don't find yourself reaping any rewards for these failures, reward yourself - you've just learnt something no book can teach you and you may have just started on the path to discovering something new.

Like one the brightest minds the world has known, Thomas Alva Edison once said, "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work.

Start-Up Plans Start With Lease Signing

If you are opening a dollar store it is important that you use a start-up project plan. That plan can provide critical help to you in preparing for and conducting the grand opening of your store. It is also important that you delay most actions until you have a location and a signed lease. Many problems can occur if you begin taking action and do not have a final location identified.

Be sure that most start-up tasks are not initiated until you have completed that important task. Without a final location you have no place for merchandise, equipment and fixtures to be delivered. Receiving these items before you have a location means that you will need to store them and then handle them an extra time.

You will need to reload, haul and offload everything from a temporary storage location into your final store location. This takes time and costs money that you do not need to spend. There are too many challenges associated with opening a dollar store to have these added as well.

Be sure that you don't add to the challenges and confusion by moving forward with start-up tasks too early. Using your project plan can help to ensure that you don't make that mistake when opening a dollar store.

Finding a location can be a challenging problem. Your location is probably the single most important factor in determining the ultimate success of your business. It is the critical first step once you begin down the path of opening a dollar store. Start your start-up plan actions only after a location is identified and a lease is signed.

Effective Leadership Is Leading From Core Values Within The Strategic Plan

Effective leadership begins and ends with the core values. Businesses or organizations with leaders who consistently demonstrate core values or those non-negotiable behaviors will always outperform those where the values are inconsistently not being demonstrated.

One of my clients recently had to give a presentation to the employees of a company in which he was just appointed president. This was in an industry that has significant leadership problems. We worked together to create an effective speech using PowerPoint. (Executive Coaching Tip: PowerPoint is a great tool to outline a speech even if you are not using this presentation tool to physically deliver the speech.)

Within this presentation of 21 total slides, the slide for what he perceived as the core values of the business was repeated 5 times. For his belief as an effective leader is that he must lead first from these core values as should everyone else.

Giving lip service to these values was not an option. His goal is that within 60 days everyone will be able to repeat these core values and all actions will be in alignment with these values.

Also, this executive business coaching client recognizes that the adoption of core values is a great performance appraisal tool. If individuals are not performing according to the core values, discussing their performance during those critical appraisal interviews becomes far easier.

Just imagine for a moment, if you as a business leader had everyone leading from a value centered position?

• What would that mean for your business or organization?



• Would you have less redo's because value centered actions would become the prevailing attitudes or habits of thought as Zig Ziglar defined attitudes?



• Would you be able to focus more energies on achieving the desired results?

Of course, most businesses lack a strategic action plan that clearly articulates the core foundational statements including the values statement. This may help to explain why many of these firms have failed to achieve their desired results.

P.S. Effective means doing the right thing and should not be confused with efficient which means doing things right.

Corporate Credit Building

Having corporate credit doesn't give you a free ticket to use it. The wise business owner understands this from the very start. If you aren't good at handling your own finances, then you aren't going to be much better with business credit. You need to keep it all in perspective though because if you mess up your corporate credit it will have a severe impact on you for the life of your business.

Should you end up abusing the corporate credit that has been extended to you, it can be almost impossible to get it down the road. What you can get your hands on though may be at a very high price. Those higher interest rates are going to deeply cut into your profits and that will affect the overall success of your business. Always strive to keep expenses low so that more of what you do earn can be deemed as profits.

Some would say you just can't win when it comes to the issue of corporate credit. On one hand you will be in trouble if you don't have any in place. On the other though you can end up with quite a mess if you don't control it very carefully. Never assume that you will have the ability to pay for the credit you use later on. Always have a plan of action in place. Then you also need to have a back up plan just in case the first one doesn't work out for you.

The key is to establish the corporate credit that you can for now. Then place it aside as a type of safety net. Never get into the habit of depending upon your corporate credit to get you by. If you do so, you will place your business in jeopardy of failing from the very early stages. Also, if you have large balances in place it will take you a very long time to pay it all back.

All of the experts will tell new business owners though to get out there and secure some types of credit. You may wonder why you need to get it then if you shouldn't use it. Well, you want to have it in place for when the need does arise. It can take a great deal of time to get corporate credit in place. Being ready for what comes along is a big step in successfully operating your own business.

You should view having corporate credit in place as a life line for the future of your business. Reach out for it when you really need it to keep you going. Make good decisions though and think logically instead of emotionally about what you will buy with it. Sometimes you have to see the big picture though to realize why you are going to take the steps you are now.

Just because you have successfully secured corporate credit doesn't mean you have to access it. This can get you into big trouble if you aren't careful about what you spend it on. Make sure you have a fine line between necessities and things you can do without until you have the profits to buy them.

Don't be afraid to take some calculated risks though either. You will find that many successful businesses have done this and it was in their best interest. No one can say for sure if your business will be around in the future, but you can do your very best to try to make it happen. Taking responsibility for how you use corporate credit is one way to make sure you are going to have a fighting chance.

I Want To Win! - The Power And Pitfalls Of Competition

This is an appropriate title for me because I have thought and said "I want to win!" many times in my life. Ask those who know me best and they will tell you that I am a competitive person in just about any facet of life. Ask those who've known me my whole life and you might even hear some stories of competitive board and card game play that I'd prefer not be repeated.

As a younger person my competitive nature led me to want to win every game of HORSE, Scrabble, Euchre; every foot race or contest that I entered; and score the highest on every test. While I was taught to be (and think I mostly was) a good sport, my focus was most always on winning. And looking back, I can point to both the power and the pitfalls of this competitive nature.

I married someone much less competitive, and I have a son who takes more after his mother than me in this area. I also spend my time with people and organizations who are trying to improve their results. These facts have kept me pondering and exploring competition throughout my life.

This exploration and self-examination as well as a lifetime of observations have led to some specific beliefs about competition:

Everyone is competitive at some level and in some ways.


The intensity of your competitive feelings drives your thoughts about competition.


Your thoughts about competition and your competitors influence your behavior.


Your behavior leads to your results.

Competition as a GIFT

Since competition can impact our results, it makes sense to me to view it as a gift that we have been given. How we use and direct our competitive nature is determined by four components that make up the word GIFT.

Goals - competition is defined by goals. The goals you choose are critical to harnessing the power of competition. Having a goal - a profit target, grade, score or time - sets the stage for competition, regardless of who you are competing against. Consider your goals from the perspective of how they stoke your competitiveness.

Intent - your intent will determine how you compete. If your intent is to win at all costs, your behaviors will be different than if you want to do your best, or improve since your last effort. If my intent in a board game (or life) is only to win, my thoughts and behaviors will be different than if my intent is to improve on past performance. Both intents produce a result - one might produce a better, healthier and more sustainable long-term result. This concept of intent is an important one to consider in relationship to competition.

Focus - who you are competing against. You can view yourself, others, other teams or other companies as your competition. If you see the person in the next cubicle as your competition, you may not share information or resources. You may be less likely to build relationships. Why would you want/need to? They are the competition, after all! If you think of another department, another shift, or another region as the competition, you certainly may build great team pride and unity, and yet work at cross purposes with those other groups. Why? Because you want to win! Where ever you place your focus determines who you are competing against. This is a critical component in the results you will achieve. Think carefully about who the competition really is before ramping up your competitive juices. Do not misunderstand this point. There is nothing wrong with internal competition, just make sure the focus is on overall goal achievement not just winning for the sake of winning.

Timeline - where you place the competition finish line. Do you consider it winning only when you reach a life-long major goal, or can you revel in and celebrate small wins along the way? Where you place the finish line determines how often you can win. If you want to win an Olympic medal, you would have many competitive finishes before reaching that large goal wouldn't you? While you can have (and need) the long-term, big, competitive aspiration, you must set many smaller, intermediate opportunities to win along the way.

I hope you can see how the choices you make and the perspectives you take on these four GIFT components will determine your results.

Take some time to consider the role that competition plays in your life and your results. Reflect on these ideas regardless of how competitive you are.

Competition is truly one of the most powerful human forces. As a leader, as a teammate, and as an individual, it is important to consider how you can use this competitive fire to create the results you really want.

Potential Pointer: Competition and a competitive spirit can be one of the most powerful productivity levers - or one of the most destructive forces - on the planet. The key to harnessing this power is to understand it and learn how to use it productively.

What Does Your Set-up Project Plan Look Like?

Are you opening a dollar store? Then be sure that your start-up project plan is your master checklist for every step and action that will be taken to prepare and open your store. It also important to remember that none of these actions can be taken until a final lease has been signed, however.

As you are developing your project plan be sure that you include a timeline of completion for the actions. Since they will be listed in chronological order, your project plan timeline becomes your store completion and grand opening event timeline as well.

Be sure that you monitor the status of each and every action on a daily basis. If something is due to be completed, be sure that it is completed at the designed date and time. That is one of the critical steps to opening a dollar store as planned.

If you are opening a dollar store never hesitate to follow up with vendors, contractors, and others to make sure that they are on track and will be completing their designated action item as expected. By following up as a part of your daily and weekly routine, you will have advanced notice if there is going to be a late delivery, or if there are other problems that need to be addressed.

Be sure that you hold every supplier accountable for delivering as planned. Having merchandise arrive even one day late can delay the final grand opening date if you are opening a dollar store. There will also be employees and others to reschedule if this happens.

By using your start-up project plan as your master plan and timeline for preparing and opening a dollar store you greatly increase the odds for a successful grand opening that happens on the targeted date. Give it a try!

To Your Dollar Store Success!

Getting Information From the Horse's Mouth

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Business Process Improvement (BPI) looks at an organization's processes and identifies areas that can be simplified and improved in order to increase productivity, reduce frustration and ultimately, increase profits.

The key to its success is to involve the process owners, those who perform the tasks, in the fact gathering and analysis of the system. The people who complete the process know the areas that can be changed to make a positive difference for their department or company. It's a vital resource that organizations often overlook. However, without the commitment and involvement of these process owners, an organization is setting up their BPI project for failure.

When doing Business Process Improvements, it is critical to interview staff directly. You may ask "why don't you just ask management to fill in the blanks and make suggestions for improvement?" However, ONLY the people doing the job will tell you exactly what happens. Management will tell you what they feel should happen, but in some cases the task hasn't been performed that way in years. You can go on plant tours where a process occurs a certain way in the presence of management, but is done very differently when they are not around.

This is especially crucial for organizations with an ISO Registration or who have regular supplier audits for procedures and are at risk of having non-conformances. Major problems can result if a procedure that is documented in the manual is not being performed properly at the time of an audit, not to mention the inconsistencies that can result between departments.

If you are going to implement BPI in your company, be sure to go right to the source for your information.

The Business Intuition Niche - We're Making Progress!

I've noticed more and more searches on Google are using the keywords "business intuition". It's still very sporadic but still, there's a trend. So what will it take to bring this concept in mainstream business conversations?

Well, probably a few more years. And a more systematic approach to intuition overall. This field has been plagued with dial-a-psychic connotations and the fuzzy-gut-feeling concepts, making it difficult to get a credible approach to strategic intuition.

Yet, every successful CEO is using intuition, whether she calls it that or something else. Business is a fluctuating world where you have to make decisions with limited factual information. That exactly the Business Intuition niche.

Business Intuition is a unique opportunity to turn sporadic "gut feelings" into a systematic right-brain approach to decision making. It's not about predicting the future or reading people's minds. Business intuition allows you to leverage all the little pieces of information that are scattered all over your conscious and subconscious mind. By bringing it all together in a coherent "whole", you are more likely to create lasting results than by just guessing or hoping it turns out well...

And when you consider that both Oprah and Trump attribute their success to following their intuition, it makes that approach pretty darn interesting.

So there's still a long ways to go but we are making progress! I was very surprised and so excited to get a call from Intel (an Engineering firm, no less!) asking me to speak at their employee conference about Business Intuition. They were specifically looking for an approach to Intuition that kept it relevant to the business world...A perfect match for my work in this domain.

So even though the trend is just beginning, it's definitely gathering momentum. And in business, there's nothing more exciting than momentum!

Criticism Could Be Your Key to a Better Business Plan

I was watching a recent episode of CNBC's "The Big Idea". I really like the show as they always have a lot of inspirational and educational leaders from the business community. Hosted by Danny Deutsch, they do their best to provide a variety of differing personalities in regards to how you can succeed in business.

In the episode that I am referring to, they talked a lot about criticism and help from others. What they specifically were referring to is trying to get the points across that if you are an aspiring business person or entrepreneur, do not be afraid to seek help.

I have learned this in my own business. As with all businesses, I developed a business plan. I developed a model by which my company would run, how it would run, how it would profit and so on. After I finalized the plan I really wanted to know if my business plan was viable. In other words, is it realistic and are the numbers accurate or did I make a mistake with them just to appease myself with what I wanted to see.

So how did I finally realize my plan was a good one? Very simple, I obtained some help in the form of business critics. I contacted various members of S.C.O.R.E., the counselors to America's Small business. I contacted the specific members in my area who were experts and knowledgeable about business plans. I asked them if they would review my plan to make sure I covered all of the bases, and that the numbers were somewhat realistic.

In all I contacted about 50 members, of which, about 40 of them agreed to look it over, with the other 10 not being able to, due to either time constraints or they did not have the expertise in my area of business. What came next was a flood of valuable information that helped me enhance my plan.

I received phone calls and emails from all of the counselors with such criticism (both good and bad) that it propelled me to make changes and fine tune the plan. I was told to do more research on my marketing techniques and be descriptive, up through, how I needed to outline a more decisive exit strategy.

Historically speaking, I have never been one to take such criticisms. As a former software engineer, to be told what you are doing is wrong, or won't work, doesn't sit well with most people who have developed software for a living. Those in the same line of work know what I mean.

What I found from all of this criticism was such a great wealth of knowledge, that it helped me fine tune the plan, make it better, and have me realize that, yes, others do know more than me and are willing to share that knowledge.

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or are already in business, and you need to find some ways to increase sales, employee productivity or a number of other things, get the help of those in business that are currently successful. Many times a set of eyes on something that are not emotionally attached to it will give you a more clear vision of where to go. Contact S.C.O.R.E. (score.org) counselors in your area. I know it helped me, and I am sure it will help you also.

Starting a Business - Freedom Can Come in Three Simple Questions

One definition of freedom is, "liberty from rule by another." Many hope for freedom to quit their job or start a new business, but few truly succeed at achieving liberty from the rule of another. Don't be discouraged. Freedom is within your grasp...you can escape the daily grind. And here's where to start:

Question 1: If you could do anything, money's no object, (but you have to work) what would you do?

Most people's dreams are snuffed out by the responsibilities of kids and bills; but, spending some time to daydream and answer this question is crucial. Dream a vision that drives you to sheer excitement then ask the second question....

Question 2: What's stopping you from doing what you want to do?

Most people I talk to about this answer with a one word answer, "Money." The vision they developed in answering the first question suddenly becomes dim as they slip back into their disappointing reality...back to the daily grind. But it doesn't have to be this way. You can move on to the third question and start building towards the dream.

Question 3: What do you need to do to overcome the obstacle described in Question 2?

If you need money to start a business or to be able to quit your job and start a new career, start by paying off your debt. This will give you more disposable income. Then find an additional source of income. You can start a part-time job or a part-time home-based business. Start saving until you have the money you need to achieve your dream.

Freedom is closer than you think. Just start and don't let any of your old excuses stop you.

Integrative Business Planning - 10 Tips On Common Pitfalls To Avoid

Business Planning, whether at the start-up of a new venture or during its growth, requires an integrative approach. It is important that all crucial aspects are addressed and balanced. The following tips show some of the common pitfalls that should be avoided in the business planning process:

1. Certain aspects of a detailed and integrated business plan are ignored. A typical example would be market research. This is often due to the cost and time involved, lack of know-how or ignorance of the importance thereof.
2. The different aspects of the business are not match. It is for instance important that there is a good fit between the team and the opportunity.
3. Over-optimistic projections are used. Sales and market share projections are quite often not realistic.
4. Assumptions are not tested and adjusted where necessary. An example would be where it is assumed that $x of marketing will result in $y of sales.
5. Not enough time is allowed for the business planning process. The importance of proper planning is often negated in favour of execution.
6. The reverse of tip number 5 also occurs regularly. Especially new entrepreneurs tend to fall in the trap of over-planning and almost seeing the business plan as an end in itself. A fine balance should exist between planning and execution.
7. The use of resources is underestimated. More people, time and materials are normally needed than anticipated. This cause budgets of capital and cashflow to be insufficient with potential grave consequences.
8. Critical obstacles and even fatal risks are ignored. It is important to work through and resolve any potential problems and not to turn a blind eye.
9. Measurable and achievable goals and mileposts are not set.
10. A big problem, of adhering to the requirements of integrated business planning, is that entrepreneurs often have preconceived ideas that they don't budge from. This can be due to a lack of knowledge combined with specific personality profiles. It is extremely important to be flexible, acknowledge when you are wrong and to get assistance when needed.

Copyright?2008 - Wim Venter

Before You Hire The Answering Service Next Door

Every business needs someone to answer their phones, and they often hire a front desk or telephone receptionist to answer, screen and route calls. Great receptionists are gatekeepers to your organization, and when they go on vacation or on personal leave, businesses feel their loss. Turning to temporary receptionist help can be a frustrating, expensive experience. But there's another route that your business can take when you need you need professional telephone coverage. When you partner with a local answering service, you don't need to hire a temporary receptionist. With a local Answering Service your calls are professionally and accurately covered. Your callers will always hear a professional and articulate operator. Local Answering Services, particularly in major metropolitan areas, are well aware that first impressions count and the voice callers hear first, is vitally important to maintaining your company's professional image.

A local answering service should make sure that their operators are well trained, thoroughly screened, all based in the US, and are carefully supervised on a full-time basis. Most nationwide answering services provide an array of useful services that can assist any business. Basic office services can include appointment setting and reminder calls, order taking, 100% HIPAA compliant medical messaging, provide customer service and more. Your local answering service, particularly if you're located in a major city, may or may not be able to provide you with virtual office service options.

Don't bother hiring a temporary receptionist and spending wasted time training him or her on your systems, additionally attempting to fill them in on all the particular details about individual staff members. A local answering service's professional operator will act as your receptionist without the attitude or paperwork. A local answering service that truly offers outstanding value will program your protocols and preferences into their systems so that their operators instantly know how to handle your incoming phone lines.

Professional local answering service staff should understand the important role they play for your business, and should be focused on delivering reliable call coverage, whenever you need it; on an overflow or after hours basis, even 24/7 complete telephone answering. You should receive call details and seamless coverage of all your calls. You should never miss a single telephone call. Your local answering service should be able to notify you of all your important phone calls in many ways, on your schedule: via a text message, by phone, cell or PDA.

Can your staffing agency provide you with perfect temporary receptionists who can hit the ground running and perform their tasks perfectly the moment they walk in your office door? Local answering services' best practices should include anticipating almost your every need, and quickly accommodating your last minute changes to your account. You should have access to professional office staff whenever you need them. All the equipment and support services such as customer service and IT services that you need should all be provided by your local Answering Service. Now, does a temporary receptionist come with that kind of support and backing?

Strategy By The Numbers

The following is a simple step-by-step process for creating a strategic plan by the numbers. This is a ten step process that can be used by a group, an organization, or an individual. Print out the steps and prepare to organize your ideas into a tactical plan for progress.

1) Twenty-one questions

Brainstorm to make a list of the first twenty-one challenges that come to mind. This can be done as a group, or as an individual. Ideas should be based primarily on identified opportunities to improve, real current challenges, or competitive necessities. Brainstorming means a free flow of ideas, so do not discourage or debate the merit of any individual ideas until twenty-one items have been identified.

If you are experiencing difficulty in identifying a list of twenty-one issues or ideas for improvements, then try using a SWOT Analysis. The SWOT Analysis is a list of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This can help to give perspective and spark some ideas, but may not be necessary to identify a quick list of twenty-one issues, obstacles, problems, and opportunities.

Once you have created a list of twenty-one suggestions, stop. The list is complete. The first twenty-one ideas that come to mind are the most important opportunities and the most relevant issues. Anything beyond the top twenty-one ideas is getting too detailed in the issues, and can wait for the next strategic planning session.

2) Assign a point value to your twenty-one ideas

Review your list of twenty-one potential issues and opportunities, and assign points based on the following criteria.

Assign one point to each idea that is important. Important means long term and lasting benefit that truly impacts or changes the business. Be honest about your assessment.

Assign one point to each idea that is urgent. Urgent means that the idea or improvement needs to be implemented immediately, because waiting would have catastrophic consequences.

Assign up to three points based on your determination of the benefit. Benefit can be measured as financial benefit, or customer satisfaction benefit, or some other metric of benefit. Whatever methodology is used to determine benefit, this same measurement must be applied to all twenty-one ideas. For example, if you choose to use financial impact as the measurement for benefit, then all twenty-one items should be measured by financial impact. Do not mix and match, as with measuring some items by financial benefit, and measuring others by customer satisfaction impact. The metric should be the same for all ideas. The value of three applies to significant realistic benefit. The value of two applies to significant benefit, but not really sure if it can be achieved. The value of one applies if the benefit can probably be achieved, but may not be significant. If the benefit is not significant, and not likely to be achieved, then it is reasonable not to award any points for the idea, and move on to the next idea on the list.

Assign up to three points based on your ability to affect change, implement the idea, or address the issue. If you are absolutely certain that this is within your control to do, then assign a value of three. If you feel that it can be done with some concentrated effort, then assign a value of two, If it can be done, but requires resources, investment, budget, or other assistance to get the job done, then assign a value of one.

Add up the points assigned to each idea. Now you have a score for each suggestion,

3) Pick the Lucky Seven

Sort and prioritize the ideas based on the total score for each suggestion, from high score to low score.

The seven ideas with the highest points are the lucky seven that will get your attention. In the event of a tie score, agree on the final seven. Review the final list one more time and confirm your top seven priorities. The other fourteen ideas are really good suggestions, and may be the starting point for your next strategic planning session. For now, we will only focus on the top seven.

4) Ask the Five "Why's"

One by one, for each of the lucky seven selected ideas, ask the question "Why" five times. First, ask, "Why?" When you have the answer to that question, ask the same question about your answer. For example, "This idea will help me improve customer satisfaction." "Why?" "Because this is something that customers are always asking for." "Why?" "They are frustrated by not knowing what to expect." "Why?" "They have no visibility to our schedule, status, or progress." "Why?" "Our ETA is not always the same. We cannot communicate an expected completion date, and there is no method to give them updates." "Why?" "Creating a way to give updates would have some development cost, and it would take time to design the customer interface."

Some individuals may become frustrated asking "Why" five times. The reason that it can be frustrating is that the answer may appear to be abundantly clear as common sense. Even though the answer may appear obvious, it is still beneficial to ask the question, and dig a little deeper into relevance and root cause. In the example above, it is not enough to know that the idea will improve customer satisfaction, but by asking the question "why" five times, it created some additional clarity with regards to the real customer value and the real underlying obstacles. Practice asking the question "why" five times, even if you need to slightly adjust the question or the answer to give yourself an opportunity to dig a little deeper into each idea.

When you have completed asking the question "why" five times for each question, it is time to asses your lucky seven ideas. After this further review and assessment, you can decide if you want to work on all lucky seven opportunities and issues, of if you want to work on just a few of them. The magic number that you choose is based on what you feel that you can handle, based on your assessment of each opportunity.

5) Assign your METRICS

Measure Everything That Results In Customer Satisfaction. Identify two primary metrics for each of the ideas that you have selected to pursue. These two primary metrics will be the method to compare past history, and future success. Things that get measured get done.

The first metric is based on the goal that you wish to impact or achieve. Metrics must be tangible items that can be measured with a numerical, financial, or date assignment. For example, a reasonable metric is to reduce cost, increase revenue, increase profit, decrease hours or time to complete a task, decrease time to obtain a response, increase production by a predetermined percentage, etc. If it is a good idea, then find a way to measure progress and assign a goal.

The second metric is based on a measurement that could potentially be adversely affected by the attainment of the goal for the primary metric. For example, if the primary metric is to reduce time, a secondary metric may be to measure the associated cost to achieve the goal. If a primary metric is to reduce price, a secondary metric may be to measure the impact to quality as determined by number of defects. Consider the potential undesired consequences of achieving your primary metric, and assign a secondary metric as your control. The combination on these two metrics will greatly enhance your success.

6) Create your schedule

Identify key tasks and milestones associated with your ideas and implementing improvements. Perhaps you have commitments for dates, or a fiscal period that must be accommodated. Perhaps you are in a competitive race for the solution. Perhaps you have an idea of the project plan and key milestones for implementation. Use your judgment to assign a tentative schedule for achieving your metrics. The schedule may be subject to change upon further review, but it is important to recognize important commitments and establish expectations.

7) Do it

Create a plan for each objective and implement it. The process for creating an implementation plan for each idea is distinctly different from the strategic planning process.

8) Measure it

Measure your results, both the primary metric and the control metric. How did you do compared to your goal?

9) Learn from the experience and make adjustments

Use the knowledge that you have gained from the experience as a review before beginning the next strategic planning session. It may create new opportunities, and it may help to refine your perspective for other ideas.

10) Go back to the first step It is time to start planning again

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Words of Wisdom

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

- Douglas Adams

"Why be a man when you can be a success?"

- Bertolt Brecht

"An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today."

- Lawrence J. Peter

How To Make Business Planning As Much Fun As Vacation Planning

For most entrepreneurs, plan is a four-letter word. Technically it's a four-letter word for everyone. But you know what I mean. I'm referring to the stigma associated with planning that has caused it to earn a reputation as a 'bad' word. Is planning in general distasteful or only certain types? Let's think about it for a moment.

?Planning for a vacation is fun. It involves picturing yourself in a place that you want to be, doing fun and relaxing things. No worry, no stress, no strain.

?Planning for the arrival of a baby is fun. There's shopping for all the sweet and adorable baby gadgets and choosing the colors for the nursery.

?Planning for a wedding is fun - as long as the bride is getting what she wants.

But mention business planning to most entrepreneurs and they are likely to react as though they have just learned that they need double root canals. In fact, given the option, most would likely choose the dentist's chair without Novocain over writing a business plan.

What is at the root (pardon the pun) of this aversion to business planning? Could it be that the phrase "business plan" brings up an image like the following?

A man, who looks like somebody's grandfather, in a blue suit and red tie peering over his glasses as he tells you that you aren't getting the financing you need.

Translation: business plans are hard to write, they are boring, they are overwhelming, scary, time-consuming and make you vulnerable.

Yeah, that is definitely some intimidating stuff and the regrettable result of many people's experience when seeking financing for their venture. However, this is only one type of business plan and the unfortunate consequence is that business planning in general has been unduly tarnished by such experiences.

What if you could think differently about business planning? What if it could be fun? Stop laughing, I'm serious! What if planning for your business could be as much fun as:

?Planning for a vacation, where the ultimate destination is a business that allows you to be doing exactly what you love doing and is fun and fulfilling, or

?Planning for the arrival of a baby, where you are the parent birthing a business that can only be brought to life by you and your unique vision for it, or

?Planning for a wedding, where you get to be the bride and structure everything exactly the way you want it.

I believe that is precisely what planning for you business should be like. It should be fun, exciting and rewarding. And it can be, all it takes is a shift in perception. I suggest you begin to cultivate an outlook on business planning that includes a conscious decision to think of it as the process of designing your success. And success is definitely not a four-letter word.

Fitness Business Operations

The popularity of launching a fitness business has caught the attention of many a fitness expert and consultant all over the globe. In most of the developed nations and also in many developing nations, the requirement and awareness among the public towards maintaining fitness and health levels among the public has increased tremendously. Hence there is a definite requirement of fitness experts and consultants to cater to this huge existing as well as ever growing market for fitness. Also, it is only these experts and consultants in the field of fitness, who have first recognized the huge promise that a fitness business has in terms of launching a successful venture. Again, it is only these experts and consultants who have themselves launched a number of fitness businesses across the globe. One can find numerous fitness centers or fitness equipment sellers or even gyms to have mushroomed up within a single colony in a small town in any of the developed nations. Such is the promise that a fitness business possesses, because fitness for the public is now more of a necessity than a luxurious hobby which was pursued in the early and mid '90s by only the privileged in the society. However, times have tremendously changed in terms of awareness as well as pursuing of fitness related activity by the common masses.

Even though fitness businesses are numerous in number, they have their own positive as well as negative effects as far as the business owner is concerned. Every fitness expert or consultant starts his or her fitness business with the idea of nothing but growth in mind. However, at one point in time, there is a general trend that such business that are started, get stagnated in terms of operations and also as far as the business returns are concerned. The reason for this trend is very simple. The fitness business owner tends to treat every aspect of the business as their own assigned task that can be performed properly only by they themselves. This is a very negative approach that tends to make the business to get completely stagnated. The fitness business owner, in spite of being helped by staff, tends to perform most of these routine business operations by themselves. It could be more of a mindset developed due to being a fitness expert or a subject matter expert in the particular field.

However, they need to keep in mind one single aspect that once launched into business they need to develop a keen acumen for business. Of course they also need to develop their subjective skills. But the subject skills here should not be confused with the normal business operations. If it comes to general administration of the business, there are always staff to do them. They could otherwise hire staff to do them. But this does not end up to be the case in terms of an average fitness business owner. They want to even attend every phone call coming in from customers, process all the invoices, etc, all by themselves. This very negative approach eats up on all their time and energy to think in terms of planning and formulating strategic business processes that could make them increase their business and let it grow. Conversely, the negative trend among these fitness business owners in performing only the do nothing but their routine tasks that lets their business growth suffer. Hence, the main need of the hour for an average fitness business owner is to develop the attitude to delegate work. If they feel that they are under staffed, they should not quite hesitate to fetch for help by recruiting more staffs.

Once they have put in place this routine of their business, they have ample time to concentrate on planning and formulating business strategies that could increase their business. They need to really concentrate on this aspect because this is the only aspect that would be deciding the future course of their businesses, as to whether or not they would reach the short term goals formulated as well as keep the way open for the business to grow.

Keeping Up With The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was created by the major credit card companies to be a tool and a guide for merchants who store, process, and transmit credit card data toward instituting more powerful, and more sufficient security measures.

In the wake of a number of high profile security breaches that have occurred in recent history, consumer attention and paranoia have been focused very heavily on the procedures a merchant may or may not have implemented to protect their sensitive information.

Unfortunately, complying with all the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard can be a difficult, time consuming, and costly endeavor - enough to make some merchants hold off on their PCI compliance. The Payment Card Industry has since created a number of benefits and incentives... and fines and penalties to encourage merchants to more quickly adhere to their requirements.

But here's another problem. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is not a static entity. It can't be. The very nature of electronic transactions (either over the web or from a POS system) and the criminals that target them are constantly evolving. If the PCI DSS remained the same through the years, it would very quickly lose any relevance and usefulness.

Now consider another story. There was once a man named Sisyphus. Sisyphus is famous for a particular endeavor - it goes something like this: every morning Sisyphus was made to push a rather large and distressingly heavy (although suspiciously round) rock up an impressively steep hill. Inevitably the suspiciously round rock would immediately roll back down the other side the moment he reached the top, and thus, Sisyphus was cursed to continue this unbelievably frustrating and futile task throughout eternity.

The continual struggle to achieve something, despite its seemingly pointless and unrewarding nature is often referred to as a "Sisyphean task" or "Sisyphean challenge," and many merchants fear that keeping up with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard would fall into this category. They feel that no matter how much time, effort, and money they throw at it today, there will just be something else waiting for them tomorrow.

The question, then, becomes: is this view well founded? And if so, does it really change anything?

The answer the second question first, no. If you wish to continue to accept credit card transactions then nothing changes. You still have to push that rock up the hill, even if it feels like you'll never be able to stop.

But really, is keeping up with the changing requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard a Sisyphean task? Well, if you define that as a task that is pointless and unrewarding, then no. The PCI DSS is anything but that.

Consider the rewards of the PCI DSS - a secure system that customers can feel good about using, a reputation that can be protected, and protection from fines in the case of a breach that may still occur. These should be reason enough to push the rock, especially when you consider examples like the TJX companies who are now the poster child for what happens if you are not PCI compliant (i.e. Massive fines, required security audits, etc, etc.).

But given the changing nature of the industry, can the task every be truly accomplished? One would think that if Sisyphus was a little smarter then somehow he might have managed to balance the boulder up on that peak.

Keeping up with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard can be a similar balancing act. A merchant can reach compliance with the 12 requirements of the PCI DSS, and they can stay compliant, but it's not a simple thing. Let your attention wander and the rock can get away from you. But with some dedication and vigilance, you can keep the rock on top of the mountain and keep your business safe from intruders.

Choose The Right Kitchen Equipment For Your Restaurant

Well, you've done it. You've finally taken that step and you're opening your own restaurant. Wonderful! Now it's time to pick out your kitchen equipment. Good chefs know that the right kitchen equipment can make or break a dish -- and make or break your restaurant's success.

The most important kitchen equipment is the oven. Restaurant kitchens typically have one of four types of oven: conveyor, convection, pizza and cook-and-hold ovens. Which type you use depends on a variety of factors.

Pizza ovens are relatively self-explanatory: they bake your pizza. Costing between $5,000 and $12,000, the typical pizza oven is freestanding. There are also countertop deck ovens that cost around $2,000. Which type you use depends on whether pizza is your restaurant's main offering. Or is it just one among many offerings?

Cook-and-Hold ovens, as the name implies, lets you cook the food, then leave it in the oven until a patron orders it. Thus it won't dry out and become unappetizing. Typical cook-and-hold ovens can hold the food for up to 24 hours. Some can beprogrammed to automatically change to a holding pattern when its sensors indicate cooking is tone. These sensors either judge by cooking time elapsed or food temperature.

Convection ovens are familiar to some of us as they are sometimes used in homes. These ovens have fans inside to circulate the air, allowing food to cook mroe quickly and more uniformly. Single-deck convection ovens typically cost between $3,000 and $5,000. Double-deck models are also available and are extra useful in restaurants. They can cost up to $10,000. (There are also half-sized convection ovens that cost about $2,000.)

Some fast-food restaurants use conveyor ovens to prepare a lot of food quickly. Pizza and/or sandwiches (or just their meat and bread components) are placed on a conveyor belt. The belt continuously carries the food into oven, synchronized in size, speed and temperature, so the food is fully cooked by the time it reaches the other end of the conveyor belt. There are various models. If you choose a conveyor model, be sure to check how to clean the components. Some models can be tricky.

Often a chef or restaurant owner will be choose the type of oven by what he or she is most used to using. However, it is important to consider the other types as well.

To find out more about restaurant ovens, be sure to go online to research all the different types. Also be sure to check restaurant supply companies and trade associations. They are all interested in making sure you succeed and so will be able to provide a lot of useful information.

Picking the right oven is one of the most important decisions you will make in opening your restaurant. The right choice will pay for itself in no time, with better food and happy customers.

The 6 Biggest Secrets Of Equipment Leasing - Benefits And Advantages

Equipment leasing is intelligent decision making, especially when compared to bank loan financing or cash purchases. Investing cash reserves in equipment makes the business enterprise asset rich and cash poor. When a business is cash poor, it is severely limited in its ability to take advantage of new opportunities or to adequately respond to changing market conditions.

Today, more than 80% of all U.S. corporations lease some or all of their equipment. It is the use of equipment, not ownership of equipment that generates profits. This simple precept explains the rise of equipment leasing activity, especially as equipment life cycles shorten in this high-tech age. Whether opening a new business, expanding existing facilities or opening an additional location, the method you choose to acquire equipment can have a profound impact on your business, credit and cash flow.

Secret #1:

Virtually all types of equipment in almost any industry can be leased. Leases are specific. You can choose the manufacturer, the model number, the source and even accesories. You're covered by all conventional manufacturers' warranties. And because lease payments are usually lower than other forms of financing, your leasing dollar allows you to acquire more of the equipment your business needs or more advanced equipment. With an equipment lease, you get 100% financing so the amount of cash needed up-front is reduced. Most soft costs can be included: delivery charges, installation, training, and software to ensure that the equipment is productive immediately, speeding your return on investment.

Secret #2:

Bank loans can be dramatically more expensive than anticipated because of the large security deposit that is required. Down payments for bank loans will usually range between 20% and 40%. The result is that there is a tremendous difference between the effective APR and the stated APR. A stated 8% bank rate with a 25% down payment is actually equal to a 21% APR on a five year loan.

Secret #3

Even if you have the cash to purchase your equipment, purchasing is rarely, if ever, the best choice. With equipment leasing, cash can be used for other business requirements such as expanding sales, starting new marketing programs, offering quantity discounts, replenishing inventories, opening a new line of business, or increasing cash reserves. Using cash for necessary business expenses that cannot be financed is much more intelligent decision-making than spending it on equipment that is worth less and less as time goes by. If you decide not to lease you will have to come up with the entire amount for a cash purchase or a sizeable down payment, as well as higher payments for traditional financing.

Secret #4

With the lower, fixed-rate payments of an equipment lease, you're protected against inflation. Cash outlays are deferred, as compared to an up-front purchase. Inflation will then lessen the cost of future lease payments, since the payments will be made with "cheaper" dollars. You will be making your monthly payments to the leasing company with ever-inflating dollars during the term of the lease. This actually reduces the cost of financing to you in real dollars, a tremendous advantage that is often overlooked.

Secret #5:

Leasing equipment offers a wide range of benefits, from consistency with expenses to increased cash flow. But perhaps the most significant advantage of leasing is the ability to maintain up-to-date equipment. Leasing allows you to easily and affordably add equipment or upgrade to a completely new piece of machinery to meet future needs. This lets you transfer the risk of being caught with obsolete equipment to the leasing company.

Secret #6:

With the scheduled updating of your business equipment offered through equipment leasing, you can maintain a competitive edge, keeping you ahead of your competition. With an equipment lease, upgrading to newer technology during or after the lease is easy. In contrast, when equipment is purchased with cash or bank financing, there is an incentive to postpone any upgrade until the original investment has been recouped through depreciation, which hinders your flexibility. A planned replacement program avoids obsolescence and keeps you up to date with the latest state-of-the-art technology. An additional, often-overlooked disadvantage of ownership is equipment disposition. Ownership of equipment, the result of the full repayment of bank loans or cash purchases, includes several additional costs that are significant and can be avoided with leasing. These costs are associated with removal, environmental fees for disposal (for certain equipment categories, such as computers) and the costs of remarketing.

In summary, there are many "Secrets of Equipment Leasing" that require significant research to uncover. These "Secrets" can be determining factors in the survival and profitability of any business enterprise. As such, they warrant in-depth consideration to determine their potential contributions to every individual equipment acquisition situation. Nearly 100% of the time, bank loans and cash purchases are always significantly less beneficial and less advantageous than equipment leasing.

If You're Starting A Business, You Need A Plan

Every new venture should begin with a plan but when it comes to putting together a business plan, it can be difficult, and complex. Even worse, if done wrong you'll end up with worthless information spread out over tons of paper. When it comes to business plans I've seen some really great ones but I've also seen some really bad ones too. When most people set out to write their business plan they do one of two things. They either purchase software and just followed the steps, not really knowing what elements actually belong in their plan. Or worse, they pay someone $500 to $2,500 to use the same type of software to do basically the same thing - follow the steps! The end result is you have a business plan that is not functional and therefore is basically useless.

Unless you are trying to get a business loan, you do not need a formal business plan but you do need a plan. Before you open your doors, sit down and think through the many details that will be involved with running your business. Putting this information on paper will help you be prepared and keep you on track long term.

While your plan will be uniquely designed for your business, there are certain objectives that you want to make sure you include. A great business plan must:

1. Set forth goals and how they will be achieved.

2. Define obstacles and outline strategies to overcome them.

3. State the legal and organizational structure of the business.

4. Quantifies financial needs and make financial projections.

The length of your plan depends on the purpose you will use it for. If you plan to use it as a roadmap then it can be just one page. If you plan to present it to investors then it may be 100 pages. Regardless of your objective, when putting your plan together there are three major areas you'll want to tackle. Here are a few questions to get you started. Answer them as they apply to your business.

The Business

What is the name of your business?

What is the legal structure of your business?

What is your product/service?

What does it do?

How is your business uniquely positioned to succeed?

What are existing conditions within your industry?

How do you intend to grow?

How will you handle orders?

The Market

Who are your customers and why?

What needs are you meeting for them?

How will you motivate them to buy from you?

How will you find and attract these customers?

Who is your competition?

What advantage do you have over your competition?

How will you position yourself to win market share?

Do you have technical data, surveys, or information sources to back your claims?

Finances

What are your start-up costs?

How will the money be used?

When will your business become profitable?

How much money are you bringing to your business?

What are your financial projections for the next six months?

What are your financial projections for the twelve months?

What are your financial projections for the next two years?

A few additional key elements to include in your business plan:

Executive Summary - Summation of important points within your business plan. Should not be over three pages long. If you are seeking financing from investors, this section will be of particular interest to them because it will help them decide if you are a worthy investment vehicle.

Company Summary - Describes your business, customer focus, and your goals. This section should include your business structure, start-up projections, and business location.

Products/Services - Describes what you have to offer, advantage to the customer, your reason as to the need for product/service, and a look at your place among the competition.

Market Analysis - Details the who, what, where, why and how within your market. Also includes an analysis of your industry and your strengths therein.

Marketing Strategies - Details your plan for operating in competitive environments. Includes sales forecasts, marketing details, and gives an in-depth look at actual customer acquisition.

Operations - Details the structure and operation of your organization.

Financial Plan - Provides a comprehensive look at cash flow, profit and loss, break-even analysis, and other financial indicators.

Your business is less likely to fail if you're able to predict outcomes and putting together this plan will help you set some realistic goals for your success. The information provided serves as general outline but for it to work; you'll have to provide the details. How may details? As many as are needed. Most assuredly, your efforts will be rewarded for years to come. Remember, you are in it to win it so make sure you stay focused and keep your eye on the prize!

Organizing Your Work - Creatively, Part I

The initial reaction of most creative minds when they've woken up in the morning is to start immediately on a project that they've already started working on or start on a new one. If you've already contemplated who you're creating for and reflected for a bit that morning on the fact (and you're happy with your answer), then you should immediately be starting with the most pertinent project. Part I will cover deciding who's project is the most important. Part II will go over how long it will take you and when you can expect to be completed. If you want to get organized, be sure to also read Part II.

When I ask a fellow artist how they decide what project they put the most work into or what they usually finish first, their response is usually whichever pays the most. In our virtual world though, that's not what will help you to get your name out their. And your name is what you want to develop (whether it's a pen name, your original name, your website, or anything else you go by). Even if you finish a few awesome projects and they take you forever, yet you don't have a blog, a book, a website, or anything else to draw in your target market (the specific market segment, separated by age, geography, industry, gender, socio-economic status and so on, you market your work to), no one will know who you are and your reputation will not be being built.

*Note: You don't have to start with your "most important project first. it's better to know yourself and know when you're the most productive on project. therefore, break up your day into different time periods for projects, just like you would at a company job. you may work best during the early morning hours. that is when you should get the majority of your work done. if you prefer the afternoon, do other chores that are not project-related during the rest of the day. and so on.

So, what does make it important?

* Who hired you first. The client that asked for a project to be completed should be the first to be completed, no matter who they are and regardless of pay.

* Who needs it first. If you have some clients who are more flexible on time [no many are], complete the projects that have the closest deadline.

* Who is communicating. Some clients have a more difficult time expressing their creative wants and needs. That's normal. It's important for you to have a list of questions to ask that will help you get started on their project, but if you get stuck and they're not communicating, contact them every 48-72 hours and move immediately to the next project until they reply.

* Who can get you ahead. This should be the fourth thing on your list, not the first. If they hired you at the same time, need it at the same time, and are all communicating, choose the project that will stretch you and grow your rep.

And that's the short list, but it will help you to get started towards some type of organization of your current projects. To run your business well, you have to be able to give your clients an estimate of how long it will take you to create what they need. Knowing how quickly you work is pertinent.

Also, communicating with your client how much time needs to be taken for their project is primary. You must send them a guesstimate of your date and time of completion as well as an estimated invoice for your work. Without this, you and your client are working blindly together. You don't want either of you to be surprised by the outcome. These few steps will help you get more organized and use your creativity even more for your own profit, but if you don't know how long it actually takes you be sure to read Part II for some simple tips.