Sep
02
The core of any usable business plan, and also any plan that is created in order to find financing or partners, are the financial projections. Most important to those projections are the assumptions used to create these projections.
TIP 1: BE CAREFUL ON ASSUMPTIONS
The core of any usable business plan, and also any plan that is created in order to find financing or partners, are the financial projections. Then, most important to those projections are the assumptions used to create these projections.
Are the assumptions that are the basis for your financial projections understandable? If you’ve written your business plan because you’re looking for an investor or lender, don’t assume that the reader can understand your business plan assumptions. By the time you are finished with your projections, you will be very familiar with the assumptions you used to construct your financial models. A first time reader of your business plan will not. Are you certain that you made it easy to follow your logic? It’s better to explain a little more than you have to, than not explain enough.
The best projections for your business plan are well-rounded ones. Telling the investor that his projected return is 52.444% is not any more impressive than saying you project a return of roughly 50%. Many entrepreneurs come down with a bad case of “spurious exactitude” when doing projections. This seems to be a highly contagious disease.
TIP 2: BE CAREFUL WITH “WHIZ BANG” SCENARIOS
Continue Reading »
Tags: business plan, entrepreneur, profit, strategic plan
Planning, financial analysis
Aug
25
Recently, Gina brought an issue to one of our CEO groups. She had a General Manager (we’ll call her Judy) who had been with her since startup and, until recently, had worked out pretty well. However, as the company began to grow, Judy began to be trouble.
She demonstrated a low work standard to the other employees and refused to “jump in and do the grunt work” when it would have been good for her to do so to set an example. The last straw was when Judy began to clash with Gina, sometimes even in front of the members of her team.
The problem is, Gina had given Judy the title of General Manager (GM). Now, she was certain that she needed to either terminate Gina, get a new General Manager, or both. However, any of those scenarios seemed as if they would create more trouble.
If she terminated Gina, there would be ripples with the other employees, plus, Gina had a “soft spot” for Judy, having worked with her from the beginning of her business. If she brought in a new General Manager and kept Judy, she risked Judy creating even more trouble. This was one of those classic “Catch-22″ business management situations.
What to do?
THE SOLUTION
Continue Reading »
Tags: business coach, employee motivation, family business, small business
People, family business, management
Aug
16
Are you the great-guy small business owner who loves to be loved by all your employees? Do you have an “open door policy?” I have a challenge for you – close it!
Think about it – open door policies are for big businesses that need a strategy to break barriers. Small businesses don’t have those barriers. You’re on the floor with your people every day, aren’t you? The only thing an open door policy does is upset the chain of command and confuse your employees. So, close yours when you need to get some work done.
Things are somewhat unorganized, undermanned, and chaotic in most small businesses. An open door policy reinforces this dynamic.
REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE:
One of our CEO peer group members named Alan prided himself on his interpersonal skills. He knew the hobbies, kids, spouse’s name, and personal history of all thirty of his employees. Alan also prided himself on his open door policy.
Continue Reading »
Tags: business coach, entrepreneur, management, small business, time management
Planning, management, professional growth
Aug
13
Sarah Shaw’s Entrepreneurette Gazette has a great new post with a tip from yours truly. It’s all about how to target properly. Most small businesses really don’t get this right. Here’s my tip from among 28 listed by some fine fellow experts:
19. Narrow Your Target First
How to find your target market: Most small businesses don’t narrow their target enough. In researching things like keywords, you have to “nano-target” the customer. If your target is “health-conscious buyers” you’re not done. What are their demographics? Age, sex, income level, education, etc.? What are their likes and dislikes, etc?
Many small businesses are afraid to narrow their target. They think, “If I do that, I’ll miss many customers. So develop several targets – research & build marketing campaigns for each!
For 27 more very useful tips, drop on by
Sarah’s blog. And then come back here and give us some of your real-world experience in a comment, below.
Uncategorized
Aug
12
Many entrepreneurs are uneasy with the looming recession as reported in the news over and over again every day. If their goal is to instill fear in the hears of Americans, they have succeeded. Have you seen the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) lately? It’s at an all time low.
Well, in reality, the BEST way through this period is to write a basic business plan…not the 1,000 page kind used to get bank financing, but a simple document that you will actually USE TO RUN YOUR COMPANY! A good business plan is a management tool
So – do you need a business plan? Absolutely YES if:
YOU ARE DECIDING WHETHER TO START A BUSINESS AS THE RECESSION LOOMS
A sound plan will help you improve your chances for success and avoid making serious mistakes. You may be the only one who reads this plan, although you should have input from a number of other people with business experience.
Here are the core questions you should ask – then incorporate the answers in your business plan:
Continue Reading »
Tags: business coach, business growth, business plan, economic downturn, grow business, New Economy, recession, small business, strategic plan, strategy
Planning, strategy
Aug
09
Always a good and useful read, Inc. Magazine often has important info on marketing issues.
Today I came across a very good article on B 2 B Social Media Marketing. Read it to learn about how to set your strategy first, then use free services such as Linked In, Facebook and Twitter to drive new customers and better connect with those you have.
Use groups, advanced search, chats, pages, topic strains, virtual events, etc. to drive more traffic to your own businesses’ website. But learn this important truth: Establish yourself as a thought leader and share useful information at will first, then slowly offer people your products, services or website.
Here’s a link to the article on the Web: CLICK HERE
Please come back by and tell us what you learned in the article, or have learned otherwise through your own experience, in a comment below.
Tags: entrepreneur, grow business, marketing, small business, social media marketing
marketing
Aug
04
My friend Mike Michalowicz has another great tips list on his unorthodox blog in which I have been featured. Thought you ought to see it.
My best friend went roaring into a new business a couple years back – ended up with the oft occurring 20-hours-a-day / no-energy-when-he-got-home syndrome. Almost ruined his marriage. Till we got to talking and I convinced him to get his wife on board.
How’d he do it? He gave her a simple task to do for the business that she liked (some organizing), which gave her a sense of ownership. Now she’s controller and he has the best support in the world!
Have a thought or personal experience on this? Leave us a comment below!
Tags: business coach, family business, spouse in business
family business
Jul
27
Just today, I had another “tip” published on Carol Roth’s Blog – go get ‘em, Carol!
Here is the tip:
Help your people know where you are taking the company (your vision), and that you need them to help make it happen (their unique role). When someone does something helpful, reward them with praise & also a bonus.
Don’t be afraid to give those bonuses for performance – SHOW your thanks for helping realize your vision. Make sure to create a SYSTEM of “performance-based compensation” that makes it clear to your people how they will be rewarded when they are a part of growing to your vision.
Have you had success with keeping your valued people for the long-term and creating a culture that keeps them loyal to you and your company? Or perhaps you did things the wrong way and learned the hard way how to do it. Either way, leave a comment below to help us learn.
Tags: business coach, employee motivation, entrepreneur, human resources, People
People, management
Jul
22
Mike Michalowicz has a great new list on his “Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” blog. 18 tips from small business, sales, marketing and strategy experts. I guarantee you’ll get something to think about!
Here’s a sampling:
- Put It Out There – learn by teaching others
- Going Beyond The Follow-Up - always do more than simply “checking in…”
- Eat Fear For Breakfast: - embrace your business fears and they will power you to success
CLICK HERE to read these in more depth and 15 more. BTW – yours truly has one there too!
Please come back here and give us one of your tips to get our of your small business comfort zone by leaving a comment, below.
Uncategorized
Jul
19
Carol Roth has some nice tips on her edgy business blog. Check it out here: http://www.carolroth.com/unsolicited-business-advice/?p=1644
Here are a few to get you started:
- Give to Get
- Stay Focused
- Wise Words From Henry Ford
- Just Don’t Do It!
These 163 bits of wisdom were culled from 163 different business owners and experts. Great stuff to scan through for something relevant. This may be self-serving, but you’ll find one in there from yours truly!
If you have one to add, leave it with us here in a comment.
Tags: business coach, business growth, small business, strategy
management, professional growth
