You want me to say what?

We’re talking about elevator pitches. Sometimes you give your pitch even when nobody asked you what you do.

There are two basic styles of elevator pitch: contrived, for use at chamber or networking functions where you’re going to introduce yourself to a group and a sincere one-on-one pitch that is customized for the person to whom you’re speaking.

The contrived pitch may be silly, bold, or even outrageous, depending on your business. While you never want to make a fool of yourself, the idea is to be remembered after all the introductions are completed. I call this style of elevator pitch a contrived pitch because you would never respond with this type of pitch when speaking with someone one-on-one. The contrived or chamber version of your pitch is just a little too phony for use in a personal setting.

In this group setting, it’s time to put on your thinking cap and get really clever. Your choice of words and phrases is especially important, so choose them carefully. Many of your associates will have only one version of their elevator pitch. This is your time to carefully craft a message that not only attracts attention but also has staying power. You’ll have introductions, maybe a meal and a program and then networking time. Your pitch needs to stay with your audience until the networking time.   

We’ve all been at a chamber of commerce function where we’re asked to introduce ourselves one after another in front of a large group. How many times do you lose interest in the introductions and quit listening? With 30 to 50 people making introductions, it’s tough to keep your focus. On the other hand, with that many people, it’s actually easier to shine if you just do your homework and give some thought to your pitch.

Here’s where you can really put Rule #2 into action: tell them how doing business with you will make their life better. You want to define your products and services in terms of your customer’s pain. Remember, this is not the place for full-featured description. Nobody cares about features but you. Your customer only cares about benefits. It the benefits of your product that hopefully make their life better. Your products and services do make someone’s life better, right?

Back to the chamber networking setting, how can you use the topic of the event to play off of in your pitch? The entrepreneur who actually takes the time to craft a pitch with the event theme or the speaker’s topic, will make a big splash. I’m guessing you’ll even make an impression with the speaker, who may call you out during his presentation, thereby reinforcing your pitch message.  Making yourself memorable requires doing some homework, but if you spend the time working on your introduction while everyone else just gives their normal introduction, you will stand out from the crowd.

Do you have a great elevator pitch that you’d like to share? If so, list it in the comments or send me an email.

Starting a business? Just fill in the blanks…

If you believe all the advertising hype on the internet about fill in the blank business plans, you’d think that’s really all there was to it. Fill in the blanks business plan, one-page business plan, connect the dots business plan, what’s next, the Crayola business plan? Let your child’s kindergarten class write your business plan with a box of 64 crayons!

Lest anyone misunderstand, let’s be clear: it’s not the business plan document, but the business planning that’s important. The problem is this; these types of documents are targeted at folks who don’t know what they are doing. And whatever preparation is suggested by people or groups perceived as “professionals” will set the maximum bar for preparation. So if you suggest that a startup can create a one-page or fill in the blanks business plan and sell them a template to do so, that’s all the research their writers are going to do. And just enough research to fill in a few blanks is just enough to get them into trouble.

I’m not talking about professional entrepreneurs working for existing or big-time startup companies. They aren’t the target audience for these business plan products in the first place. The target for these so-called business plan templates are inexperienced first-time entrepreneurs who don’t know what they’re doing. To suggest that they can put their business plan in a few blanks is just non-sense. This is a marketing scheme designed to make money on the gullible. Most of these people aren’t ready to be business owners. If they don’t do their research and just start a business, the likelihood of failure is even higher than it is in the first place. And with that rate running in excess of 75%, anyone suggesting that a newbie just fill in a few blanks is helping that person fail. It’s as simple as that.

Again, this isn’t about the business plan document. It’s about understanding your market and the trends that will affect how your market does business in the future. It’s about understanding your competition and how they do business. It’s about understanding your target customer and what they want. It’s about having some understanding of whether your model is even viable in the first place. And for many first-time entrepreneurs looking for the easiest way to get into business, they are going to do just enough research and planning as necessary to write a business plan and no more. Whose fault is that? It’s their fault. BUT, if you’re a professional consultant, incubator group, or author, and you suggest that these people can do it by filling in a few blanks, shame on you.  If you are a first-time entrepreneur, don’t fall for this hype. And if I may sort of paraphrase a famous quote by John Wayne: “Starting a business is hard, and it’s even harder if you’re stupid.”

Don’t be stupid. Do your homework. It’s your life’s savings we’re talking about. Don’t throw it away on a harebrained idea. Don’t throw it away because you didn’t bother to do a few hours’ worth of research. This idea and the associated products is just like everything else in this life that seems too good to be true. It’s not true!

 If you do your research, you can write a one paragraph business plan for all I care. Heck, you can skip writing the document all together, because that’s not what is important. The business plan document is just a way to communicate to others a summary of your plans and research. And seasoned business professionals and entrepreneurs understand all this. They will write a business plan document to support whatever their need; be it funding from investors or recruiting employees at a job fair. And responsible professionals will support this idea. There are plenty of groups helping entrepreneurs write a short and sweet business plan, in some cases a one pager, but it’s backed by research. In fact, it’s a one-page summary of your research and your business model. You know, that sounds an awful lot like an executive summary to me.  

Recipe for Success: Do Your Research

As we begin part two of a who-knows-how-many part series on creating success, we’ll be talking about research. This is one of those areas that many hopeful small business owners would rather skip. You’ve been working in your industry or around your industry or as one most likely unsuccessful restaurant entrepreneur told me once told me when I asked about her industry experience, “I eat at restaurants a lot!” Unless you’ve constantly reading and measuring and following the industry, you’ll need to do some research.

So where do you go to get your information about an industry?

I’m going to give you a list of resources; I don’t have the space in a blog post to tell you how to do it. You can probably figure out that part yourself anyway.

Census Bureau:  http://factfinder.census.gov/ You can also link to the American FactFinder database through my website.

Public Library: I wrote about research librarians in a recent post. Most of you didn’t read it because it sounded boring. Maybe it is, but it also a huge resource.

Virtual Library: Ask your public library about access to special database collections and resources available with a virtual library card.

University Library: The business and research sections of university and community college libraries have great research tools for entrepreneurs. Just ask for help if you don’t know where to start.

Chamber of Commerce: One of the main goals of a chamber of commerce is to support the creation of new businesses.

Trade Associations: Most industries have one or more trade associations to support the membership of the industry. You may have to join to get access to their information, but it’s generally worth it to get that kind of data access.

Small Business Administration: www.SBA.gov/ The SBA has lots of resources for small business owners.

Paid Sources:  There are plenty of paid sources for industry information available to small and big business owners. Big national companies who are in the information providing business are ready, willing and able to help you with your research needs…for a fee.

In addition to these commonly used research sources, there are market testing and focus group activities to tell you specific things about a market. While these activities pay huge dividends in terms of specific preferences, you’ll not typically use them in the beginning phase of research.

Do you have other resources that might be helpful for small business owners? If so, please leave a comment.

For those who want to do it right, get my book Business Start-up 101: From Great Idea to Profit…Quick! It’s a how-to guide for entrepreneurs to take you from great idea, to getting yourself ready, proving your plan, and finally writing a business plan and getting funded.

Recipe for Success: Make a Plan

Many small business models start with a great idea. Entrepreneurs typically get great ideas from one of two places. First, they have a light bulb go off in their heads one day, the classic “Ah Ha!” moment of inspiration. “Why didn’t I think of this before?” You know the moment; you’ve probably had them yourself. These kinds of moments gnaw at an entrepreneurs gut until they have to do something about it. It’s part of the crazy DNA of an entrepreneur. Second and most common, they work with a less than desirable situation for a long time wishing it could be better until one day they decide they will make it better themselves. You work away over the years in someone else’s company thinking “If this was my business, we’d do this differently.” Eventually, the pressure builds up inside until you have to start your own business or explode. For entrepreneurs, those seem like the only real options.

So you have a great idea, now what?

Start by making a plan. Put down on paper a description of your product or service and start defining your business model. In other words, identify your customers, your competitors, the size of your market, suppliers and partners, and your distribution methods. You’ll need to research the market in which you’ll operate to understand how business is typically done and what trends are driving the future. And it’s not that you can’t do things differently in your business. You can and should consider how to make doing business with your company easier than doing business with your competitors. However, if you’re going to reinvent the wheel, you need to understand how the market (i.e. your customers) will react to a different model. Just because your new way is better, doesn’t mean it will be accepted. People can get in a comfort zone and resist change. All these questions point to one activity that is critical for new businesses: research.

There’s just no way around doing your research. I write about doing research frequently. In the next post I’ll give a list of helpful research tools available for hopeful entrepreneurs.

For those who want to do it right, get my book Business Start-up 101: From Great Idea to Profit…Quick! It’s a how-to guide for entrepreneurs to take you from great idea, to getting yourself ready, proving your plan, and finally writing a business plan and getting funded. You can get it at my website www.BluePointStrategies.com or Amazon.

Start carrying the small stones

A Chinese Proverb says:


The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.


Do you feel like doing your business planning and writing your business plan is like moving a mountain? Does the sheer size of the task cause you to shrink from the task? If so, you're not alone. I coach hopeful entrepreneurs in this situation frequently. They see the job as too big, so they just don't start. 


The answer is not to postpone the task yet again, but to start carrying away small stones. Start with a plan template. Of course, I recommend mine. You can get my new book, Business Plan Template, at Amazon or my website www.BusinessStartup101.com in either paperback or Kindle format. Use mine or get your own, but layout the project in terms of your template. For people who have trouble getting started, I recommend starting with the organization description section, because you'll know much of this information up-front without having to do any research. A large portion of this section can be completed quickly and you'll feel a sense of accomplishment and hopefully a new confidence that you really can create a business plan. 


Once the description part is completed, you have to start doing your research. There's no way around that, but at least you've made a dent in the mountain. For many, this getting started is all the push they really needed.




If you need help with your business plan, we can help. Contact me to see if we're right for you. 

Schrodinger’s Cat and the Entrepreneur

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger proposed a thought experiment in 1935 to discuss the paradox of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. Any non-physicist fans of the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory, is likely also familiar with the paradox known as Schrodinger’s Cat. Schrodinger’s theoretical experiment places a living cat in a steel box with a radioactive trigger and a vial of poison. If the radioactive substance decays, the trigger will break the vial of poison killing the cat. If the radioactive substance does not decay, the cat remains alive. The paradox comes in the not knowing. Since there is a 50-50 chance of the trigger decaying, without opening the box, one will not know if the cat is dead or alive. Since we don’t know, and in fact cannot know the state of the cat without opening the box, the cat is said to be both alive and dead. In quantum mechanics, this state is called a superposition.

On the TV show, Sheldon suggests that Leonard and Penny’s proposed date is like Schrodinger’s Cat. Only by looking in the box, or in their case actually going on the date, will they know how the date will turn out and what affect if will have on their friendship.

Living in a space town like Huntsville, Alabama, with all its rocket scientists (both Redneck and not), us mere mortals often feel like Penny; it’s all just a bunch of jibber jabber. I think that’s why I like the show so much. I know lots of real life Sheldon’s and Leonard’s. I’m trying to get them to think about target markets and business models and they can’t quit talking about delta Vs and burn rates. So what do Schrodinger and Sheldon have to do with small business?

After all the planning is done, and the models made, and analysis documented, someone has to open the box. That is, at some point you just have to launch the business and see if it lives or dies. You can poke and prod and analyze a business model to death, but that doesn’t get it started. Many hopeful entrepreneurs struggle with the decision of when is the right time to open the box. By not opening the box, your business can live and thrive gloriously in theoretical bliss. You can’t fail if you don’t open the box. On the other hand, you also can’t succeed. A paradox some would-be entrepreneurs find just too daunting.

In Schrodinger’s subatomic world of quantum mechanics, single particles have been observed in two different states at the same time. That is, his cat is both alive and dead. That fact poses some difficult questions in the observable world of dates with Penny and start-up businesses. The only way to know is to open the box.

Reference Librarians: An Entrepreneurs Best Friend

Conducting research for a new venture or product line, developing a marketing plan, or a  general business expansion is so important to the ventures success. Yet so few people actually take the time to do it. Why is that?  Do they not know how? Do they not know where to look for information?


I tell hopeful entrepreneurs frequently to go to the public library or university library in the reference section and speak to a reference librarian. Many of these entrepreneurs look at me like I had two heads. A polite request for help will generally get you way more information and assistance than you bargained for. Reference librarians, by nature, are helping people. Most thrive on providing assistance to their patrons and members. 


I had another wonderful experience yesterday with a reference librarian at the main branch of the Huntsville/Madison County Public Library. I walked up to the reference desk and asked for some help finding resources to research a particular issue. Not only did the gentleman answer my question, but he also invited me around to sit at his computer to show me how to access two on-line databases that are available to library members. He showed me how to log on and gave me a quick tutorial on using the services. Try to get service like that from you local cable company!

PowerPoint, Not Just For Presentations Anymore

One of the fun parts of being a start-up coach and consultant is I get to review lots of business plans. As you would imagine, some are good and others not so much. There has been what I consider an alarming trend over the past few months though. Entrepreneurs are using PowerPoint to create a "business plan." 


Now clearly, you can't write a business plan in PP unless maybe it's for a lemonade stand. Most people are clueless how to use PP to support a presentation, much less use it for a business plan. Don't get me started on the insane presentations people make using PP. Who in their right mind would try to write a business plan using presentation software? I know, it's nuts, but so-called entrepreneurs are doing it every day. 


If you need help writing a real business plan or developing a real presentation, drop me a line. I'm happy to help with either, but we won't be mixing them together.


www.BluePointStrategies.com

Got Your Backup On?

Everybody hears the commercials on talk radio, TV and in magazines on Carbonite and other online computer data backup services.  “Backup your computer or you’ll be sorry!”  That’s the message that they’re pushing.  If you don’t backup your computer data, it’s just a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ your computer will crash and all your precious data will be gone…and then what will you do?

   

I learned this lesson the hard way many years ago.  I had a computer crash and lost everything on it.  Luckily, I had my data ‘backedup’ in the form of floppy disks.  Guess what?  When I went to restore my data on a new computer, it wasn’t compatible or couldn’t be retrieved off the 3.5” floppy disks.  Turns out I didn’t have ANYTHING backed up.  These are lessons learned the hard way.  I had to rebuild my data base from bits and pieces of data contained in reports and notes in files.  I was doing commercial and industrial real estate appraisals at the time.  I had databases of information on property sales, with all kinds of specific data recorded.  I had flood map data, employment statistics, all kinds of demographics and economic development statistics on the communities where I practiced.  I had hundreds of scripts written on different communities, construction types, sales situations, definitions and what have you.  I had been building this database over a ten year period and in an instant, it was gone.

   

After this incident, I was religious about backing up my data…for a while.

   

Last week, my computer died.  Just like in the Carbonite ads, it’s not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’.  This time I really did get lucky in that my mother board went out and my data was still safe on my hard drive.  However, I also have a subscription to Carbonite, so I didn’t lose any data.  I bought a new computer, restored my data and I’m back in business.  No problem.  Who says you can’t teach an old dog a new trick?

    

So, how do you back up your data?  DO you backup your data?  If you have anything important on your computer, give your backup process a little attention today, before you regret it tomorrow.

The 5 Deadly Sins of Entrepreneurism

The dream of business ownership is like an addiction running through the veins of entrepreneurs.  We crave the start-up and break out into cold sweats at the very thought of a new business opportunity.  When done properly, a start-up is a wonderful thing, blooming with profits and gushing cash flow.  When mismanaged, the beauty tarnishes and becomes a kudzu in our flower bed.

  

So what causes us to lose our way and take what we thought was such a wonderful idea and turn it into such a mess?  For many unenlightened entrepreneurs, they take their eye off the contest and start coveting the prize.  Instead of focusing their serious intention on building an enterprise, they lose focus and just create a job.  Or worse yet, they fall prey to the 5 deadly sins of entrepreneurism:  fame, fortune, leisure, travel and possessions.  Let’s look at these in more detail.

  

1.  Fame

   

You dream of walking into any room in town and being instantly recognized.  People whisper behind your back, ‘say, isn’t that the guy who started that successful business that’s taking the market by storm?’  The mayor takes your call and congressmen call you for your opinion.  That the sort of fame you got in mind?  Well, the reality is that you’re at work so much that your dog doesn’t even remember you anymore and growls when you enter the front door.  

  

2.  Fortune

  

You’re treating everyone in town to dinner at the best places, throwing lavish parties and watching your bank accounts skyrocket.  You’re thinking about opening one of those Swiss bank accounts to shelter your income.  HA!  Most likely, you’re taking a pay cut.  You made pretty good money as a mid-level manager at your former company.  Maybe you were an engineer or salesman and you did pretty good with salary and investments and retirement funds.  But now, you’re employees are making way more than you and your wife is concerned about making the mortgage next month if something doesn’t change.

  

3.  Leisure

  

Do you see yourself in a James Bond movie, relaxing by the pool with bikini-clad supermodels?  Maybe you’re doing something simple like coaching a youth sports team or doing a mission trip to Africa for a few months.  The reality of starting a new business that you’ll be stuck in the office way more nights and weekends than you ever dreamed possible in your worst nightmare.  In fact, in July, you slept in the office more than you slept at home.

  

4.  Travel

   

See the world from your luxury yacht.  You and Robin Leach are sipping champagne and eating caviar in all the best destinations.  Is that your dream?  How about a dream crushing 90-minute commute twice a day in your 2004 Honda?  Will that do?

  

5.  Possessions

   

Possessions tend to be all over the map, depending on the individual.  While some prefer expensive suits and Rolex watches, others want a Bentley or Rolls Royce.   What you’re more likely to get is accounts receivables, inventory and bad debt.

   

There is nothing wrong with wanting nice stuff.  That’s one of the reasons we started these crazy businesses in the first place.  I put myself into that mix with the rest of you.  The problem is, many hopeful entrepreneurs take their eye off the start-up and start focusing on the prize, before the enterprise is even established.  For these people, the prize becomes a poison and bitter reality instead of the comfort.  They dive into the prize before they have earned it.  Instead of keeping their attention focused on creating an efficient enterprise that will generate profits and cash flow without your constant supervision; they spend the new credit line on a ‘much deserved’ vacation or leathers and a hog Harley. 

   

Don’t let the prize get in the way of creating a business enterprise.  Get the work done first and then enjoy the fruits for many years to come.

Selling into a non-market

Do you understand who your customers are and what they want?  I think many small businesses don’t really understand this.  They think more about their product and how to sell something that they want to produce, rather than what the market wants to buy.  

  

Hugh MacLeod, author/blogger/artist one of my favorite entrepreneurs (gapingvoid.com) calls these businesses the Middle Seat Guys.  He likens businesses that sell stuff that their customers don’t want to airlines who sell middle seats.  Hardly any airline passenger wants the middle seat.  In fact, with rare exception, if you were given a choice between the aisle, middle or window seat, the middle seat will go unclaimed every time.  Hugh wonders why the airlines still offer a middle seat when they know their customers don’t want them. 

   

The ideal situation for a small business person is to find a niche within their market segment to operate.  Look at the market and the competition and figure out what the customer wants.  What are the trends in the market that aren’t being addressed?  The way we do business in almost every market is changing.  What areas of business do your competition or market leaders fail to adequately serve?

  

Yeah, this is hard.  But if you can find a niche where there is actual demand and there aren’t 100 other companies in the market already trying to serve, then maybe you’ve found a place for your company.

The Financial Reality of Starting a Small Business

Chris joins Jim Blasingame on The Small Business Advocate radio show on July 5th.  they discuss the financial aspects of starting a small business and it's affects on the entrepreneurs personal financial situation.

Radio Show Link

Jim Blasingame & The Small Business Advocate show

Entrepreneurship is a Family Affair

Chris joins Jim Blasingame on The Small Business Advocate radio show on July 5th.  they discuss how starting a small business affects the entrepreneurs family.

Radio Show Link

Jim Blasingame & The Small Business Advocate show

The Big Idea

So you’ve got a great idea for a business, now what?  The question you’re really asking is how do you turn a great idea into money?  It’s the question inside the question that entrepreneurs are afraid to ask out loud.  I wonder why that is?  Isn’t that what creating a business is all about, making a profit to support you and your family in a lifestyle you can grow accustomed?  As far as I’m concerned, it is.  I’m not sure why many people now consider profit a bad word.  We need profit to grow businesses, hire employees and make charitable contributions.  Without profit, we’d have none of that.  The answer can be summed up in one word: entrepreneurship.  In other words, turn your great idea into a business.

Merriam-Webster defines entrepreneurship as:

           “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.”

The concept that a person can take an idea and turn it into a profitable business and achieve financial security is the embodiment of the American Dream.  For years, individuals have been developing ideas into businesses.  Some have taken really harebrained ideas and become overnight successes.  Can you think of any harebrained business ideas that turned into financial windfalls?  I'll talk about a couple of well-known ideas that worked out in a future post.

There are all kinds of statistics from government and private sources about how many businesses survive and how many fail.  Generally speaking, roughly 80 - 90% of new businesses fail.  And there’s a good reason.  Depending on which publication you read or which organization you believe, there are literally dozens of reasons start-ups fail.  I generally categorize business failures into three groups:

1. The idea behind the business was a silly non-star aligned harebrained idea
2. The real idea behind the business wasn’t sufficiently studied and planned
3. The individual starting the business screwed up.

In fact, operator error is the root cause of almost every business failure.  The owner didn’t understand the market, the capital requirements, the complexities of partnerships or the seriousness of cash flow.  Oh, the cash flow, that vital nourishment of all small businesses.  Perhaps the market turned sour and the owner didn’t have enough capital to sustain though the bad times.  Could we add a fourth category or fifth or tenth?  Sure.  But I generally categorize anything not a 1 or a 2 as operator error.  You can make the case (it’s semantics really) that the economy turning isn’t something that the owner can do anything about.  I could argue that the owner should have foreseen lean times and had a reserve.  Does it really matter?  I think you get the point.

If we look back to the definition of entrepreneurship, it suggests that someone is organizing and managing a business.  That someone is you.  It’s the organizing and managing that tends to get in the way of most people being successful.  That’s the part that makes starting a business such a risky proposition.  However, the statistic that you don’t usually hear is that for people who get some business education and coaching, the statistic turns upside-down.  Entrepreneurs who get business and financial education and who work with a mentor or coach tend to succeed at an 80% rate.  Now that’s more like it. 

More Top 10s for Huntsville

Huntsville ranked 7th among the top 15 regions in the latest Site Selection magazine survey of site selection consultants.  Huntsville is one of the smallest cities on the list, but is still recognized as an attractive location to locate a new business or expand an existing business.  The survey queried the site selection consultants on their pick for the top metro areas for investment.  The top 10 cities on the list were:

1. Dallas, TX

2. Atlanta, GA

3. Charlotte, NC

4. Houston, TX

5. Indianapolis, IN

6. St. Louis, MO

7. Huntsville, AL

8. Charleston, SC

9. Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

In addition, Alabama was ranked 10 in the top 10 states with best business climates as ranked by Site Selection magazine.  While Alabama was bested by other southern state like North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana, landing in the top 10 is still a prized location.  Alabama ranks especially well in the aerospace, automotive, wood products and green energy industries. 

  

As an entrepreneur and one who works with and watches the entrepreneurial community, these rankings confirm the positive environment that residents of Huntsville recognize as business as usual in Alabama and especially in Huntsville.

Rocket City Sitters - Madison, AL Startup of the Year!

         

My friends at Rocket City Sitters were honored by the Madison, Alabama Chamber of Commerce recently as the 2010 Start Up of the Year.  From L-R are Nick Weseman, Adrienne Stephens and Erica Weseman.  Congratulations on the award, you guys are doing a great job!

RCS provides short-terms childcare in the Huntsville-Madison county area.  they hire only trustworthy sitters who are certified to provide quality care for your kids.  They also work with organizations such as churches and businesses and events like a wedding or reunion.  No more need to stay home on a Friday night because you can't find a sitter.  Contact Rocket City Sitters today to schedule a sitter by phone at 256-272-1727.
 
Check out Rocket City Sitters on-line at www.RocketCitySitters.com .

St. Joseph Job Networking Club

On August 17th I'll be speaking to the St. Joseph the Worker Job Networking Club.  They meet on Tuesdays from 12:30 - 2:00 at the John the Baptist Catholic Church, 1055 Hughes Road, Madison, AL.

I'll be talking about Understanding Entrepreneurship; what's involved in getting ready to be a business owner.  I'm not talking about business plans and bank loans.  I'm discussing getting yourself and your family ready for your self-employment.  We'll discuss family, personal finances, success thinking and action plans.

In addition, I'll let everyone know about the resources available for hopeful entrepreneurs at the Women's Business Center of North Alabama.  I'm a big supporter of the Women's Business Center since I'm on their board of directors and serve as a business coach.  In addition to the work I've been doing in Huntsville, I'm serving as the program manager for a USDA Rural Development grant to serve rural Morgan County.  We teamed up with the Rural Morgan County Industrial Development Board to bring coaching and training to rural Morgan County.

If you have any interest in learning about entrepreneurship, come join us.

Business Planning - What Not To Do: Part 3

Shortcut the research.

Does this really need explanation?  Okay, so it does.  I’ve found that ‘things that go without saying’ should always be said.

You probably know someone who tried to start a business without doing any or adequate research.  You remember them telling you about this fabulous business idea that they came up with and after researching the market, they’ve decided that nobody else has ever had the idea.  The only problem is that you know of at least two other companies who do this same idea and are doing it very well.  What was this person thinking?  They clearly didn’t do any research because the vaguest of internet searches would have turned up their competition.

On the other side of the coin, we’re not trying to solve the remaining six Millennium Prize math problems.  We’re talking about answering a couple of basic market research questions.  

1. Who is the competition and what are they do well and not so well.

2. Who is the customer and be able to describe them in demographic terms

3. What do your customers like and dislike about the product or industry and what do they really want?

4. S.W.O.T. Analysis for your company and the market.

That much research might take you a couple of days or a couple of months, depending on how much time you have to devote to the project and how complicated your market.

For more information about the business planning and start-up process, get my new book, Business Start-up 101, From Great Idea to Profit…Quick!  It’s coming out in September, but you can pre-order your copy now.

Business Planning - What Not To Do: Part 2

Just dive in.

Before diving in head first into water that may only be a few feet deep, take a step back and make a plan.  I’ve developed a process for this business planning activity that I think works very well.  It will save you time and help you define the probability of profit quickly.  You can then tweak your model until you like the outcome or dump the whole idea if it turns out not to be viable.  The process is this:

Market Analysis

  - Competition

  - Customer

  - SWOT

Marketing Plan

Viability Testing

Once you finish with your viability testing iterations, you can move on to identifying and determining some of the more mechanical processes of starting a business such as entity type, location, identification of partners (banks, insurance agents, accountant, attorney and of course consultant).  Only then should you start writing the plan.  If you do all the research and planning, writing the plan will be a snap.  The only question will be how much detail you include.

For more information about the business planning and start-up process, get my new book,Business Start-up 101, From Great Idea to Profit…Quick!  It’s coming out in September, but you can pre-order your copy here .

Business Planning - What Not To Do: Part 1

Just start writing.

Many new entrepreneurs get started by writing a business plan.  At least they try to start their business by writing a business plan.  And while this is the advice you’ll get from many coaches and consultants, it’s probably not the right way to begin.  Many get stuck after the company description part and don’t know what to write next.  And there’s a good reason why they get stuck, they don’t know what to write.  If it sounds like I'm talking in circles, it's because I am.

Business planning doesn't start with writing a business plan, it ends with writing a business plan.  That's because a business plan is a summary of all the work, planning and research that an entrepreneur has conducted.  It’s not a novel.  You can’t make up the plot as you go.  You have to know the details, before you can sumarize.  After you finish all the research and analysis, confirmed viability and are happy with your business model, THEN you start writing down your plan.

Over the next several entries, I’m going to discuss some things not to do.  I have a specific process that I recommend for entreprenturs getting started on the road to business ownership.  I’ve outlined this plan in my new book, Business Start-up 101, From Great Idea to Profit…Quick! coming out in September.  Click here to pre-order your copy.