Business Planning Archives

Random Business Musings and Ponderings

Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 2:59 am  
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Ever had one of those days where you question whether you’ve made wise business choices lately? Today has been one of those days, but I’m afraid the answers I uncover over the next few weeks aren’t going to be to my liking. I know I violated my own gut instincts with one decision in particular, and I’m kicking myself for it pretty hard right now.

If you’re in a business venture with others, is it clear to everyone involved whether the business could succeed without you or not? If the business could succeed without you, why do you continue to hang around in a decision making capacity? Why should your partners listen to you if the organization could survive without you?

If you bring nothing unique to the mix, and someone else is primarily responsible for the success of the organization, why not do the right thing and get out of the way by taking on a diminished role? It doesn’t mean you have to leave completely, but move aside to let the others grow the business. Chances are you’re not helping; you’re in the way! I’m just sayin’.

Is the generation gap between Boomers and Generation X THAT wide?

Is new media good for business or bad?

How much do you engage in social media for your business? How’s it working out for you?

Are there any business “secrets” anymore? What about new ideas?

Why is there such reluctance from the older generations to embrace new media and accept the fact that the new rules of journalism are vastly different from the good old days? There are newspapers and television outlets that struggle with this mightily, and my suspicion is those outlets are run by elder statesmen. Time to wake up, people! Or get out of the way to let the younger generation take the organization to the next level. I’m just pointing out the elephant in the room that everyone wants to ignore. Don’t shoot the messenger!

If you could start any new business today, what would it be? What would be your first step?

Am I crazy to think $1 million isn’t that much money and shouldn’t be that hard for a business to generate?

Do you know of a sharp Internet marketer that is looking to be a part of a startup? How about a copywriter? If you do, please send them my way.

When starting a new venture, what’s the first hire you make?

Enough ramblings and ponderings for now . . . would love to get your take on any or all of this.

SMART Goals are out; it’s Time to Get DUMB!

Sunday, June 17th, 2007 at 3:42 am  
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If you’ve ever read any strategic or business planning literature, you’ve no doubt come across the acronym SMART for mapping out goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. Those are all fine and dandy objectives, but I’m out to propose another side of the coin—DUMB goals. Hear me out for a second!

DUMB stands for Dreamy, Unrealistic, Motivating and Bold. If you stop and think about traditional and realistic goals, they aren’t that inspiring or exciting. They encourage status quo and/or staying within confined areas to achieve marginally better results at best. Most employees can see through status quo goals and aren’t going to go that extra mile to achieve things that are already within relative reach—greatness comes from inspiration; not reaching a plateau that the ordinary can achieve with typical or expected efforts. That might be why a majority of employees so willingly sign off on the goals during a formal review process—they know they don’t have to do a whole lot more to get the raise that comes from a satisfactory review next time around. Let’s dig a little deeper to see how “DUMB” we can get.

Dreamy goals repeatedly wake you up at night wondering if something is possible with an effort that is truly remarkable. They imply going for that rarified air no one dares to breathe. It’s finding that special “cause” that will unite people on a mission that makes them feel part of something special versus merely putting in time to collect a check. It’s like your kid at five years old saying he’s going to be President one day and you encouraging her/him to be anything they put their mind to. What happened to encouraging that blank canvas of wide open thinking?

Unrealistic goals are the ones traditionalists warn against and believe aren’t obtainable by anyone. To most, a job is a job until there is a challenge of the unimaginable or someone telling you “it can’t be done.” Unrealistic goals push people to really push hard to move beyond what’s expected to stand out in the crowd and achieve greatness. Isn’t it a lot more fun to do something someone says can’t be done?

Motivating goals are those that make someone wake up each morning ready to take on the day versus figuring out a way to muddle through it looking busy even though time is being wasted. They are those things that people want to come to work for instead of calling in sick because they just can’t stand spending all day in the office. Most SMART goals encourage toiling through the day in an effort to fool everyone around into believing someone is working really hard. A motivated workforce is tough to stop because momentum builds daily.

Bold is charting a course competitors don’t dare take because the fear of failure or success is too daunting. There’s a very fine line between failure and success, and most companies and individuals will walk right up to the line and toe it without ever stepping over it. What is the worst that could happen if you stepped across that imaginary line and really went for something? You’ll never know until you try, and most people simply aren’t bold enough to try—we’re too scared we might not be able to return to the comfort zone we currently live. That’s the beauty of the comfort zone however—it’ll always be there in one fashion or another.

I encourage you to DUMB down your goals the next time you’re charting the course for yourself or your company. Who knows what you might achieve?

Why Most Small Businesses Fail

Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 3:19 pm  
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Michael Gerber, author of the mega-best sellers “The E-Myth” and “The E-Myth Revisited,” is one of the people I admire and respect and who has had a significant impact on me and my businesses. Although I have listened many times to Gerber’s audio tape about the E-Myth, and have read and reread his book, I always come away learning more. In addition, I have read a booklet by Michael Gerber entitled: “Why Most Small Businesses Fail and What You Can Do About It.”

In this booklet – Gerber lists the 10 reasons why most businesses fail – and how you can avoid them. So – here they are:

1. Lack of management systems

2. Lack of vision, purpose, or principles

3. Lack of financial planning and review

4. Over dependence on specific individuals in the business

5. Poor market segmentation and/or strategy

6. Failure to establish and/or communicate company goals

7. Competition or lack of market knowledge

8. Inadequate capitalization

9. Absence of a standard-quality program

10. Owners concentrating on the technical, rather than the strategic, work at hand.

After reading this list a couple times, it became apparent that “strategic planning and strategic thinking” are absolutely vital to avoiding these reasons for failure. And that is the primary focus of my consulting practices, J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group(TM). If you would like to learn more about how to be better prepared to develop and grow a successful business and know how you can avoid these ten reasons for failure, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 250 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or jgecoach@aol.com

Planning And Starting An Online Business

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 4:40 pm  
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You will find that the basics and logic of business remain the same, regardless of whether it is an online business or offline. The difference lies in the fact that, to run an online business successfully, you will need to know the fundamentals of any business and have an understanding of the dynamics that drive web-based businesses.

Let’s break this up. To start a business, you will need to have:

• A great business idea

• A solid, realistic business plan, including the financing aspect

• Understand legal issues

• Understand accounting and taxation issues

• Construct a marketing strategy

• Create and maintain a customer base and plan customer service

To start an online business, you will also need to:

• Make sure your business idea works for an online business

• Decide whether or not you need to start a website

• If you do need a website, you will need the technical skill to know how to start, run and manage one

• Understand online marketing and advertising tactics and tools

• Find new and creative ways to drive traffic to your start up online business

• Understand dynamics of customer interaction for an online business

So start with your business idea – try to do a SWOT analysis, i.e. an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that face your concept. Be sure it will work as an online business by thinking – will people buy this product or service online and what value can I offer online that a customer does not get offline? Find out about legal issues surrounding your product or service before starting anything. Determine your start up’s business model – do you want to sell on eBay or start a site or extend your offline store?

Next, come up with a business plan –

Include all costs, all means of possible financing, how you will achieve the financing, logistics of how to procure the product and how to deliver it, and keep in mind that an online business needs to have realistic projections of future income, just like an offline one. Websites can be expensive to start and maintain. Make sure you really need one and account for the expenditure. Be sure that you find reliable service providers – such as the right web host and pay channels. Consider accounting and tax issues in your analysis and planning phase, so you will be realistic in your projections.

Build a comprehensive marketing strategy –

Understand the concepts of internet marketing like search engine optimization (SEO), online advertising, and other ways to increase traffic to your website. Finding a great name is important – something short and simple. Further, make a plan that includes effective and efficient customer service and builds a database or mailing list of customers. Remember that this is an ongoing process for any business and in the case of an online business, it is even more crucial to stay ahead of the game. An online business does not have face time with the customer so it’s important to maintain a healthy communication with all customers.

Keep the above pointers in mind and start planning your way to a successful online business.

William King is the director of UK Wholesale Drop Shipping Trade Supplies, Wholesalers Suppliers & Drop Shippers Products Directory, and Drop Ship & Wholesale Drop Shipping Directory. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

Structuring Your Business Properly

Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 1:46 pm  
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Structuring your business correctly for your needs and tax purposes, is an important step in starting your own business, be it at home or at another location.

Here are brief descriptions of the different types of a business structure that will help you in your decision.

SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP— A sole proprietor is an individual who owns and operates the business.

GENERAL PARTNERSHIP—A partnership exists when two or more persons join together in the operation and management of business for profit.

LIMITED PARTNERSHIP—Like a general partnership, a limited partnership has two or more participants. In a limited partnership, there are two types of partners. A general partner has the same rights, powers, and restrictions as a partner in a general partnership. A limited partner is typically not liable for the obligations of the partnership.

C” CORPORATION—A corporation is a legal entity having its own rights, privileges and liabilities, apart from those of the persons forming or owning the corporation. It is the most complex form of business organization and is comprised of three groups of people – shareholders, directors, and officers.

SUBCHAPTER “S” CORPORATION—A special section of the Internal Revenue Code permits a corporation to be taxed as a partnership or sole proprietorship, with the profits taxed at the individual rather than the corporate rate.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CORPORATION—A professional service corporation, as the name implies, is a corporation made up exclusively of licensed professionals.

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC)—The Limited Liability Company may be treated as a partnership for U.S. income tax purposes and also provides the limited liability of a corporation. This option may be the preferred choice for certain new operations and joint ventures.

Once you have made a choice on the type of company you feel is best, be it Sole Proprietor, Partnership, etc., there are certain steps you should take to protect yourself and your business.

1. Once you have chosen a name for your company, you should register the name with department in your state that handles this function. Usually at this step, you can establish your tax ID number and resale number.

2. Next, decide on a domain name for your website. Try to have the name relate to your product or services if possible. You can use several different sources to see if the name you would like to use is taken.

3. Next, obtain a business license for your company. Depending on where you live, licenses may vary.

This is a must to protect youself and to prove to the IRS that you do have a business.

4. If you decide to incorporate at the beginning, use a good corporate attorney to properly set up your company.

5. Even if you are going to act as a Sole Proprietor for a part time home business, set up a separate checking account for your business. This will eliminate a lot of problems when filing your taxes. Use that account for all your income and expenses relating to the business.

6. Contact the IRS Business Section and obtain a Federal ID Number. This will allow you not to be passing out your personal Social Security Number to everyone. It will also allow you to keep your business income separate from your income from other sources. (If outside the United States, check your local laws.)

7. If working from your home, it is advisable to have a separate phone line(s) for your business. Again, this will save you a lot of time when filing your taxes in documenting your business phone expense.

8. If your business will require you to make contacts in person, get your business cards to hand out. You should also have business stationary for corresponding with your customers, if needed, my mail.

9. Set up a filing system at the start for your expenses, purchases, etc. File properly at the beginning, and you will save yourself a lot of time and frustration at tax time.

There are other things as your business grows, but do these few steps and you will thank yourself many times as your business grows.

Again, depending on your state, country, etc. different items may be required. The main thing is to create a good operating structure so you can spend your time promoting your business.Some businesses start out as one type and then change to another as they grow. So you do have the opportunity to change later if needed.

For a detailed explanation of the different ways to structure your business, and some pros and cons for each, visit http://www.homebusinesscreated.com and look in Step Three of the Seven Step Course offered for free to our customers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tim Smith has over fifty years of tretain business experience. Tim has headed up several sucessful corportations as well as starting seven successful companies. Three for other corporations and four of his own. e was a keynote speaker before retiring from the retail industry. For additional articles on other subjects, go: http://www.homebusinesscreated.com

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