Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Business Plan Layout Simple 3 Minute Video

If you need a business plan format to construct your own version, this simple video is a very good under 4 minute summary.

Good introductory stuff...

Have a look yourself and see what you think....

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Watch Video Below





Saturday, July 19, 2008

Use This Simple Business Plan To Obtain Your Best Results

Business Plan Pro

For all Budding Entrepreneurs - You know you must have a simple business plan to give you motivation, direction and strategy. I maintain that without a written plan there is no hope of doing your best work. Research backs up the fact that those with a current written plan are 15% more successful than those who are not.

Here is the best and most simplest business plan software available today. I use this myself.
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Simple Business Plan Basics

To Find Out More CLICK HERE


The best way to show bankers, venture capitalists, and angel
investors that you are worthy of financial support is to show
them a great business plan. Make sure that your plan is clear,
focused and realistic. Then show them that you have the tools,
talent and team to make it happen. Your business plan is like
your calling card, it will get you in the door where you'll have
to convince investors and loan officers that you can put your
plan into action.


Once you have raised the money to start or expand your business,
your plan will serve as a road map for your business. It is not
a static document that you write once and put away. You will
reference it often, making sure you stay focused and on track,
and meet milestones. It will change and develop as your business
evolves.


Do I need a business plan? Or Should that be - How will I survive without a Simple Business Plan?




Not everyone who starts and runs a business begins with a
business plan, but it certainly helps to have one. If you are
seeking funding from a venture capitalist, you will certainly
need a comprehensive business plan that is well thought out and
contains sound business reasoning.


If you are approaching a banker for a loan for a start-up
business, your loan officer may suggest a Small Business
Administration (SBA) loan, which will require a business plan. If
you have an existing business and are approaching a bank for
capital to expand the business, they often will not require a
business plan, but they may look more favorably on your
application if you have one.


Reasons for writing a business plan include:


  • Support a loan application

  • Raise equity funding

  • Define and fix objectives and programs to achieve those
    objectives

  • Create regular business review and course correction

  • Define a new business

  • Define agreements between partners

  • Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes

  • Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion





What's in a business plan?



A simple business plan should prove that your business will generate
enough revenue to cover your expenses and make a satisfactory
return for bankers or investors.



  1. Executive Summary--features the highlights of your plan and
    sells your idea in two pages or less.

  2. Company Summary--a factual description of your company,
    ownership, and history.

  3. Products (or Services or both)--describes your products
    and/or services and how they stand out from competitive products
    and services.

  4. Market Analysis-provides a summary of your typical customers,
    competitive landscape, market size, and expected market
    growth.

  5. Strategy and Implementation-describes how you will sell your
    product, how you will put your plan into action, and establishes
    milestones.

  6. Management Summary-provides background on the management
    team, their experiences, and key accomplishments.

  7. Financial Plan-contains key financials including sales, cash
    flow, and profits.





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What makes a successful business plan?

  • A well thought out idea

  • Clear and concise writing

  • A clear and logical structure

  • Illustrates management's ability to make the business a
    success

  • Shows profitability



Business Plan Resources Go Here

How do you write a business plan?



Sitting down looking at a blank computer screen as you prepare to
start your business plan can be daunting. You may want to look
at some alternatives that will make the process a bit easier.


Hire a Professional

A professional consultant will create the business plan for you,
but you still have to be prepared to think through your business
and understand the underlying concepts in your business idea.
You will have to work closely with the consultant to ensure that
he or she develops a good plan that accurately represents your
business or business idea. You can find a list of business
planning consultants at www.planconsultants.com.


Buy a Book

There are many good books on the market that will help you to
understand what needs to go into a good business plan. You can
read Timothy Berry's "Hurdle: the Book on Business Planning".


Use Business Planning Software

A good business planning software package will provide you with
an outline for a well-developed, objective-based and professional
business plan. Software packages will remove the problem of
starting from scratch by structuring your plan for you. The
software should ask you the right questions that will pull out
the most important underlying concepts within your business idea.
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Now writing a simple business plan for your organization becomes easier and affordable. Check out this great resource today.


Simple Business planning resources



Business Plan Pro

Friday, July 18, 2008

Short Business Action Plans - Do They Work?

Short Business Action Plans - Do They Work?

If your are a smaller business or department (of a larger organization), I encourage you to utilize the power of business action plans.

Why? Well breaking a large annual business plan format down into bite size chunks makes it much easier to implement. Team morale tends to fuse together when there is common purpose towards determined action.

I favour using this format for 90 day periods.

Short action over 90 days is much easier to implement than long annual plans.
Although mentioned in many business text books it appear around 50% of all businesses have no plan and fly along "on the seat of their pants".

I have found through experience that the result in term of profit and revenue suffer over time for those businesses without short or long term planning.
Message and their is evidence of this, a plan is better than no plan.

Even better, consider breaking long term plans down into various 90 day business action plans. If you are a larger business consider having 1 business action plan of 90 days duration for each main area. Therefore you may end up with 3 or 4 plans (dependant of how many divisions or departments).

Small teams working on smaller plans every 90 days is a recipe for business success. Consider this the next time you update your business action plans.

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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Steps to Write a Business Plan - 10 Common Mistakes

Steps to Write a Business Plan - 10 Common Mistakes


Unfortunately mistakes abound before, during and after people take the steps to write a business plan. Here are some common ones. The aim is for you to be aware of these as you go through the process and I hope it can help you ultimately avoid them.

The Common Mistakes


1. Failure to define exactly what your primary aim or ideal future is in the very beginning of the process.

2. Making the business plan format process long, drawn out and too complicated.
Keep it Simple Simon (K.I.S.S)

3. Failure to integrate the finished plan into all levels of the organization.

4. Keeping planning separate from the management on a day-to-day basis.

5. Developing only superficial mission, value and vision statements rather than passionate, inspirational and motivating words that truly reflect the culture of the business.

6. BIG MISTAKE: Failure to implement the plan effectively. Too often, so many hours go into planning only to find it sitting in the desk drawer gathering dust.

7. Lacking a scoreboard to measure the important rather than what is easy.

8. Neglecting to focus in some way on what the competition is doing and having some market intelligence on your industry position.

9. Using confusing, complex languaging in the written plan.

10. Conducting only long range financial forecasting and neglecting the short term targets.


Thursday, July 3, 2008

Be Single Minded About Your Single Minded Proposition

In your business plan format, do you have a clear, unique point of view about your company or service? You see without this, I have found it increasingly difficult to convince others to be involved in your organization as a customer or team member.

We all love clear, specific instruction. So too it is with successful enterprises. They all seem to have a clear, uncluttered view on their own strengths and communicate this effectively in one sentence, slogan or saying. Marketing pieces (in multiple forms) can have this slogan or catch cry which in turn helps communicate the vital message.

My advice to anyone in business is to find your unique selling proposition, your major benefit, your value to the customer and once you have it - shout it from the rooftops. Shout it to the world! Get out there and do yourself a favor.

Here is an example of Minolta's unique selling proposition: MINOLTA - We Understand the Office. Printers, faxes, photocopiers! Now this has been seen on many huge billboards throughout America and elsewhere. What do you think when you see a company put specifically, clearly and without hesitation their major unique strength out to the world?

Tell you what I think. I see strength of purpose. I see professionalism. I see the courage to say it in the first place and I see increased sales the result of this simple but extremely valuable branding.

Now what could your business do to emulate this?

Once you find it include it in your company's business plan.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

So You Have a Newly Created Business Plan Format, Now What???

So You Have a Newly Created Business Plan Format, Now What???


You should be congratulated if you have completed a new shiny business plan format (that is finished) but now what do you do to implement it successfully into your organization?

I find most organizations big or small fall into 2 categories once a plan has been created for the year ahead.

1. We have spent so much time planning that I just need a break from it. Often management has spent months creating a fantastic plan but the important part of this is not the written plan itself but the implementation and action of "doing". Therefore sometimes plans just sit on the shelf "for a while" gathering dust.

2. A plan has been created successfully and management and key people are bursting with enthusiasm to get going with implementation.

Of course the 2nd scenario above is where we all aim to be.
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Here are 3 tips on implementing your business plans:

1. Business Plan Format Tip No. 1
Print out the plan and distribute it with a covering letter to all important people in your organization. The cover letter should mention the importance of the document and seek some feedback.

2. Business Plan Format Tip No. 2
Get different sections of your business to have a meeting/s to ascertain the 3 most important first actions required to move forward with key strategies resulting from the plan.

3. Business Plan Format Tip No. 3
Give out report cards each quarter for each main section of the business in regards to how much implementation has happened and reward those who have excelled.

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