Business Plan

Famous Business Strategies

Either simply a looker-on or a player in the world of business, you see
millions piling into the accounts of world’s most famous businessmen and
naturally the question pops “How?”, wondering what is the alchemy they’ve
discovered? Yet, there is no magic here – it’s mostly pure strategy. And what it
takes to spot it and make it real.

Strategy

Identifying the best strategy for your business is the key to all success. It
should give you the lift that makes a difference. The art for your strategy
success is planning.

* settling a vision for your business
* defining a mission
* setting
out objectives
* establishing values, goals and programs.

Vision

It is all there, it is all important, but first there is the vision. So, is
vision a spark, is it a moment? How much is inspiration and how much hard work?
Is it 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration? Can we all be geniuses?

According to Edison’s theory I would say yes, if we are committed to hard
working, as it is primarily the hard work that makes a genius. Inspiration comes
on the way, when involved in as much action as you can handle. Contrary to the
conceptual meaning, inspiration seems to be driven by propitious conditions – in
this case, by work.

Hard work

So, what really happens behind the fairy-tale success stories is usually not
what some would expect – a brilliant, extraordinary, never heard of discovery
that changed the world, but, disappointingly enough, plain hard work. What these
people have is what I would call “industry intelligence”. How is it acquired?
Working of course. That is, sharply aware of their industry environment,
learning all the rules and deeply involved in their own businesses, success
people have at some point of activity a vision for their business that proves to
be a winner – the revelation naturally produced as a result of their work
commitment.

Let’s take the example of three American legends: Sam Walton, Warren Buffet
and Bill Gates. What do they have in common? The winning vision, the winning
strategy.

Sam Walton

In the case of Sam Walton, no new, innovative business models were launched.
He followed the existing low-price retailing pattern but the competitive
successful strategic approach was that instead of focusing on large cities he
took his business to small towns becoming the low-price leader in rural
towns.

Warren Buffet

Warren Buffett’s success resides in his different approach to value
investing. While usually investors look for stocks they believe undervalued by
the market, Buffett does not take into consideration the stock market aspects,
such as for instance the supply and demand ratio. He analyzes the stocks on the
basis of their potential as companies. He is interested in long-term results,
such as ownership in companies with capacity of generating money, namely,
companies with a strong name, great historical results, strong management and
industry expertise.

Bill Gates

Neither is the case of Bill Gates to have made extraordinary innovations.
Rather than innovation, he had the ability to put together other people’s ideas,
thus producing big hits and making a profit. He did that first when adjusting
BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 (first PC) – neither of which was
his original creation. Then, the same happened with DOS, which Microsoft bought
(the original version was QDOS) and adjusted.

Business strategies implementation

Then, action comes. As the saying goes, planning without action is futile,
action without planning is fatal. It takes guts to act boldly and take whatever
risks are necessary to put your vision into practice. It takes a great deal of
tenacity to surpass obstacles and get over unfortunate happenings on the way.
So, how did they implement their planned strategies? What was the outcome, what
principles resulted for them to base their businesses on?

Warren Buffet

For the implementation of his strategy, Buffett has drawn his company choice
principles, involving a great deal of analysis of business, management,
financial aspects and a great deal of patience, waiting for the right price once
the possible investment has been identified.

On businesses

* simple and understandable
* consistent operating history
* favorable
long-term prospects

On management

* rationality in treatment of retained earnings and investment of company
profits
* disclosure of all aspects of company performances
* capacity of
thinking independently of other managers’ way of thinking.

On financials

* look for return on equity, not earnings per share
* analysis of free
cash flow growth
* unique niche companies with high profit margins
* look
for companies with at least one dollar of market value for every dollar
retained

On stock valuation

* reasonable price for the company
* stock valuation analysis followed by
analysis of a possible significant discount, case in which it will be
purchased.

Success depends on the investor’s dedication to learn and follow the
principles.

Sam Walton

He gives his ten rules for success in the book “Made in America, My
Story”:

1. commitment to business
2. profit sharing with partners
3. partners’
motivation, competition encouragement
4. total communication with partners,
trigerring their commitment
5. giving appreciation to what your partners do
for the business
6. keeping spirits up in celebrating success but also in
treating failures with a touch of humor
7. listening to everyone in the
company, encouraging their talking
8. a sustained exceptional relationship
with the customer – exceeding his expectations, showing appreciation,
apologizing for mistakes
9. finding a competitive advantage in controlling
expenses
10. originality, doing things differently there is a good chance to
find unexplored niches.

Bill Gates

Microsoft’s corporate mission “A computer on every desk and in every
home” shortly became a reality. Offering an easily accessible operating system
for computers, perceiving the importance of customizing their product to the
ordinary client and not only to computer engineers and thus addressing masses,
Bill Gates succeeded in putting together and promoting towards a tremendous
popularity (and profit accordingly) the world’s dominant operating system.

What these people have in common is nevertheless an extraordinary ingenuity:
they innovated their industry domain, building their own strategy tailored for
their own business particularities and went further to its implementation.

About the Author

Laura Ciocan writes for http://www.businessplanning.ws where you can find more
information about how to make a successful business plan.

Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter or on your website.
If you use this article, please include the resource box and send a brief
message to let me know where it appeared.

Contact: lauracio@gmail.com

Filed Under: Business Plan Tagged With: Bill Gates, Business Strategies, Business Strategy, Sam Walton, Warren Buffet

The Top 10 Mistakes Made in Business Plans

Top 10 Mistakes Made in Business Plans

Lenders and investors may see hundreds of business plans in a single day. Make your business plan stand out against the rest,
and avoid these common mistakes.

1.Not proving that you have the management expertise to make it happen. The quality of your people will lend
credibility to your ideas and even to your financial projections. If your management team is not as strong as it could be,
join forces with a great board of advisors.

2.Not demonstrating where your revenue will come from – what customers pay you and why they pay you. Don’t be too
aggressive in setting revenue projections or you will undermine your credibility.

3.Not proving that your business model and long term cost structure is good enough to make a real profit. How will
your business make money – what is your margin structure, what are your costs?

4.Not being clear enough in your product description to allow the reader to quickly see the need and the niche for
this product. It may seem obvious to you, but not so to the reader not educated in your business.

5.Not proving that the market opportunity is big enough to get interested in. How big is your market now and what will
it look like in 5 years?

6.Not adequately acknowledging your competition. Investors know that if there is no perceived competition, there may be
no market for what you are offering. The better you can describe your competition, the better you understand your
market, and the more likely you will dominate it.

7.Not writing for the target audience. Although the core is the same, the plan should be written for the perspective of
banks, equity investors, and others. Go as far as you can to tailor each plan to the audience’s specific interests to
show you’ve done your homework and know to whom you are talking.

8.Starting with a boring, unenthusiastic executive summary. This is the first section to be read, and if it isn’t
exciting the rest may never be seen. Make it fun and be enthusiastic. It should stand alone and generate interest
for more. It deserves all the thought you would put into a professionally done promotional piece for your customers.

9.Poor presentation. If you have typos and grammatical errors in your business plan, the reader will assume the
work you do in your business is sloppy too.

10.Saying too much. Keep the entire plan to a maximum of 30 pages, with an executive summary of 3 pages or less. If
investors are interested, they will ask for any other information they need. Amateurs talk in the business plan
about unimportant details because they don’t know what they should say and what they shouldn’t. Hire a professional
editor to reduce the page count and help you emphasize your strengths.

About the Author

Jan B. King is the former President & CEO of Merritt Publishing,
a top 50 woman-owned and run business in Los Angeles
and the author of Business Plans to Game Plans: A Practical
System for Turning Strategies into Action (John Wiley & Sons,
2004). She has helped hundreds of businesses with her book
and her ebooks, The Do-It-Yourself Business Plan Workbook,
and The Do-It-Yourself Game Plan Workbook.
See www.janbking.com for more information.

Filed Under: Business Plan Tagged With: business plan, business plan mistakes

Let Your Survey Write Your Business Plan

Most entrepreneurs first write their business plan and then develop their
services or products. This causes them to generate and fulfill a marketing plan
that requires them to swim upstream using the backstroke. To save the stress,
consider placing the business plan on hold until first completing a few customer
surveys. Okay, some of you are saying, “Catherine, how can you do a survey
before you know who your market is?” Yes, this is one challenging double edge
sword, that is, if you’re mindset is set there.

Over the years, I’ve found that everyone I’ve worked with generally knew what
he or she wanted to sell. I don’t believe you are any different. This is the
perfect place to start. You have a clean slate to write on. You might be at a
place of seeing it in nonspecific terms with measurable doubts as well. That is
okay, doubts will always be there, thus, allow them to be your friend instead of
a foe. It’s easy to start with a gender preference — choosing either women or
men as having a higher purchasing balance for what you are selling. If you don’t
have a majority gender in mind, choose the one you feel most comfortable talking
with or asking questions to.

Let’s dive in a little deeper, its time to start thinking about your surveys
and what to ask. Okay, don’t fade out on me now. Generally, when people think of
surveys, they visualize or experience the sensations of long drawn out processes
that cost more money then they can afford or time that they don’t have the
patience for. Boy, do I remember those days of thinking.

Let’s play together on this concept of taking surveys before writing your
business plan. At least, allow the old perceptions to sit outside your door
until you’ve finished reading this article and learning of a new possible
alternative perspective. The perspective that surveys come first and don’t need
to be time-consuming, money-hungry, must be done by professionals, mongrels.

Take the area you want to focus on, combine with your gender preference, and
begin there. For instance, if your area is life coaching and you feel more
comfortable with working with women you have a starting point. This doesn’t mean
you will never coach men, set those thoughts aside; they will block your
progress and keep you stuck.

From knowing just this basic information, you can now create a few simple
surveys in no time at all that don’t require any money. Even if you know more
specifics about your buyers, you might want to back it up to this point if you
are stuck in generating questions. To generate this survey plan you don’t need
to know whether your focus is for a product or service, or even if its for
electronic, telephone, or in-person delivery, at this time.

The first question you want to generate and ask is what your gender wants to
buy next. If asked in narrow terms, they will answer. If asked too broadly, they
will respond with “don’t know.” If the latter, rewrite the question more
specifically, then ask again. Whenever I start, I sometimes have to revamp my
questions five or six times. Just an FYI, to help you understand that even the
experts refine as they go. Surveying is an evolutionary process.

A second survey question is for people who have purchased from you in the
past. What are looking for next? What do they want to accomplish in the next few
months or whatever future terms they desire to talk about?

If you don’t have any customer history, then substitute. Open the scope to
what is the gender buying? What is the cross between what you offer and what
they want? What do they want to do next (short-term) that falls within your
scope?

Continuing with the life coach illustration, what type of women, what age
areas, what type of self-development or improvement topics are they purchasing
now? What is the regular step past this? What “new” hot topics in the
marketplace that meshes with your area? If you attend a workshop, conference or
seminar, examine the topic, and take notes on the type of women attending.
Record or ask their age group. Ask a few to complete a survey while they are
there.

Ask one way, then another, and create a list of no more than six multiple
choice, yes or no, questions to ask. Then continue to ask with whomever you
meet, wherever you go. Talk with the workshop leader or conference marketing
people and find out who they were targeting and why. If the event is a match for
you, collect copies of all their marketing materials for language learning.

Ask friends, family members, or colleagues. Even if they don’t think these
groups fit within your current focus. Just remember not to stay off focus when
doing so. If you attend a coaching school, ask other coaches that do what you
want to do. What are their clients into, what are they selling them or what
ideas have their clients told them that they are looking for?

Your survey method you use is up to you. To ease into it, you will want to
ask in the form most comfortable for you at the time. However, caution, most
everyone chooses written form first in order to avoid any negative responses. In
a B2B survey, negative responses never occur. Everyone knows why a survey is
important. In B2C (business to consumers) be careful not to cross the line of
interrogation or too personal. Ask politely, with respect, and share why you
want to know.

The number one rule of getting survey responses — is KISSing the questions
– “keep them short, simple and as specific as you can at the time.” Special
note: Don’t use the contraction and in your sentences. The contraction “and”
creates a multiple question, stacks questions, which confuses readers and
listeners on what you really asking.

As you go through the experience of completing your surveys, new clarity will
flower. The gender equation gets more specific, the age group narrows, and the
rest unfold. One industry category might begin to show you where there is
greater revenue generation. Allow the data to drive you towards the right
direction. Don’t try to control or drive it yourself. That struggle will cost
you dearly.

If you’re survey request is in the form of writing, you can offer something
in return for an exchange of their time. Usually saved for longer surveys, you
can create a reward for short surveys too. It’s its too early in your survey
process to know what prospects want, offer something generic. Match the gift
with the amount of time it takes them to complete the survey. If this is the
case, offer something generic. Offer a $5 gift certificate from Amazon.com. If
local, ask you’re favorite restaurant if you can offer a discount coupon that
they will honor. There is some fr*ee portion to the amount donated on the
restaurant’s part because it increases their clientele list.

It’s time to survey. Allow patience, time, and you will want to schedule this
as a regular routine in your business. Next, plan your services and products to
meet those needs and then generate your business plan around them.

Catherine Franz, a Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in
product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training.
Newsletters and articles available at: www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Filed Under: Business Plan Tagged With: business plan, business startup, how to write a business plan, small business

19 Questions to Supercharge Your Business Plan

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

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

Must a business plan be written?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the Author

Paul Lemberg’s clients call him “the unreasonable business coach” because he
insists they pursue goals and take actions far outside their comfort zone to
make more money than they previously thought possible. To get business
coaching tips, tools and strategies like these, visit www.paullemberg.com.

Filed Under: Business Plan Tagged With: business plan, business startup, how to write a business plan, small business management, small business resource

The Inside-Out Business Plan™ — Your Small Business Plan in 10 Easy Questions

Writing a business plan for your Solo Entrepreneur business doesn’t have to
be a daunting project. If you can answer 10 straightforward questions about your
business, you can be ready to go.

The key to success is to answer all of the questions in enough depth that if
a friend asked you to invest in this business, you’d say yes. Most importantly,
make sure you record your business plan somehow…whether you write it by hand,
type it into your computer, or put it on stickie notes on your wall. Keep it
someplace handy where you can refer to it when you are making important business
decisions. And, make sure you review it monthly–or, even better, weekly–and
update it at least annually.

1. Your Dreams: What do you want your business to provide for you?
(think time, money, freedom, who you work with) Be specific–how much money, how
many hours, when do you want to “retire”.

2. Customers: Who are your customers and what do they want/need?

3. Products and Services: What products/services will you provide to
meet customer’s needs?

4. Markets: Where are your customers and what do you know about them
as a group? “Where” might be geographic, it might be what kind of places they
hang out, or where they go to find products or services like yours. What is
their age, income, gender, hobbies, family structure, etc.

5. Your Style: How will you reach customers and what will you say?
Your methods of reaching customers needs to match with where your customers
are–and with a message that they can relate to.

6. Competitors: Where else are your customers likely to get this need
met? Find out all you can about how your competitors price, market, and provide
service.

7. Your Uniqueness: How will your product/service meet customer’s
needs differently than your competitors? Consider how your personal uniqueness
impacts that.

8. Your Abilities: Of the skills necessary to run your business, what
do you do well, and what do you need help with?

9. External Resources: What people/technology/services will support
you in the skills you need help with?

10. Fulfilling your Dreams: How will your business provide the kind of
working environment you desire, both in how much time you spend, how you perform
your work, and how much money you make? Here’s where the rubber meets the
road–make sure you can show how you will sell X amount of product or service at
Y price, cover your expenses, and reach the goals you set in 1. above.

Once you can answer all these questions, have it reviewed by some trusted,
experienced professionals who will give you objective feedback. Consider a
business coach, as one such resource!

Terri Zwierzynski is a coach to small business owners and Solo Entrepreneurs.
She is also the CEI (Conductor of Extraordinary Ideas) at Solo-E.com and the
author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small Business. Terri is an MBA honors
graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill. Terri has been coaching for over 10 years in a
variety of settings, including 6 years as a senior-level coach and consultant
for a Fortune 500 company. She opened her private coaching practice in 2001. You
can reach Terri at www.FastLaneDreams.com.

Filed Under: Business Plan Tagged With: business plan, business plan help, business plan mistakes