By Tessa Stowe

You are about to speak to a potential client, go to a networking meeting or give a presentation. What should you be saying to yourself in those few minutes beforehand? If you spend that time saying what I propose below, you will effortlessly and naturally become very attractive to your potential clients. This approach is very powerful, I promise you.

What if, in those few minutes, you say to yourself:
* I desperately need this client.
* I want their money.
* I need to show them how good my services are.
* I need to get them to listen to me.
* I hope they think I am good enough.
* I need to remember my “script” and those objection handling and closing techniques.
* I don’t think I am going to enjoy this.

Do you ever say these kinds of things to yourself?

Imagine how you are going to come across if you are be-ing like this? Desperate? Unauthentic? Uncaring? Not relaxed? Attached to the outcome? It’s all about me, me, me. Like a salesperson? Oh no!

Instead, just suppose that in those few minutes, you say to yourself:
* I am about to have a conversation to explore if I can help.
* I really want to help.
* I want what’s best for this person, even if they don’t become my client.
* My focus is on what I can give, not what I can get.
* I am committed to helping but not attached to it.
* I am going to put myself in their shoes. I will look at things from their perspective.
* It’s all about them, not me.
* I am going to listen, listen and listen.
* I have no expectations from this conversation.
* I am going to be me (open, honest, full of integrity, natural …).
* I am going to enjoy this.
* I am going to forget about trying to sell them something.

Imagine now how you are going to come across if you are be-ing like this. Authentic? Caring? Relaxed? Committed? It’s all about them. Magnetic? Not at all like a salesperson!

If you are be-ing this way when you are having a conversation, you will quickly build rapport and trust; people will listen to you then. Talk about your solution and products before you do this and what you say will fall on deaf ears.

I suggest you create your own written list by using mine as a starting point. Add to it over time. Say these things, out loud preferably, to yourself before you speak to any potential clients. Then sincerely (or it will not work) be like this.

This may sound silly to some of you but it works. Eventually you will be like this naturally and getting clients will become easier and easier. People will find you magnetic.

This is a simple and yet very powerful technique. Please do not underestimate it. Try it out for yourself and if you do, I promise, you’ll quickly be on the path to getting a lot more clients. It’s all in the be-ing!

By Jeff Schein

Why do so many companies languish and watch as their business turns into a zero profit zone, while others seem to thrive?

When you look at your business, whether it’s a new venture or a company with a long history, can you answer the following questions?
- What does my company do better than anyone else?
- What unique value do I provide to my customers?
- How will I increase that value next year?

Companies that fail to answer these questions, and don’t believe they are of paramount importance, relegate themselves to marginal profitability at best and failure at worst. But companies that can answer these questions are able to raise the value bar for their customers and reap the benefits of success.

Of course, being able to answer 3 simple questions does not ensure success, but it is an important step in creating a strategic and focused operation which leads to a successful business. With today’s business environment being so competitive, businesses need to re-invent the rules on which they compete in order to be successful. Companies like Wal-Mart have figured this out and have redefined competition in their market by delivering a unique value to a selected customer group. By maintaining a focus and discipline, they make it difficult for other companies to compete under old competitive terms.

Simply, competitive strategy has never been more important to success in today’s business environment. It does not matter what type of business you are in or whether you are small, big or just starting out, a company can not survive without an adequate and focused strategic plan to best the competition. Yet many companies fail to execute a successful strategy; it is these companies that languish in the zero profit zone.

In simple terms, for a company to achieve success and enter the profit zone it must first decide where it will stake its claim in the marketplace and what kind of value it will offer its customers. A company needs a clear marketing thrust, a precise knowledge of its customer base, and a product or service with a niche or some competitive advantage to be successful. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and business owners get stuck in the process of defining their competitive strategy. They often have the idea and the product, but being the technician they are not sure how to define its market. Even worse, many entrepreneurs assume or guess their target market and often glaze over a competitive strategy, usually to the detriment of the business.

So what are the steps to laying out a competitive business strategy? While there are different methods you can follow, I have laid a series of 6 basic steps to help you.

1.Financial perspective

This step may not seem to have much to do with strategy, but it is important to determine the value of success quickly. Why? Because, in simple terms if the venture can’t deliver significant returns, it may not be worth the risk, and you have to ask yourself if it is worth continuing with your business. In this scenario you complete a reverse income statement. You start by defining how much profit you want to see at the end of a certain time period, and then determine the amount of revenues needed to generate that profit and the costs to deliver that profit. Do the numbers add up and make sense? The goal here is to be objective, if the expected revenue is not sufficient to generate your required profit at the end based on an estimate of costs, don’t simply fudge the numbers and assume you can reduce costs or increase revenue. Be diligent in your assessment.

2.Understand the industry and competition

In step 2 you are going to assess your industry and the competition. This basically comes down to assessing 5 factors:
1.Understanding who your competition is including factors such as competitor strengths and weaknesses, market position, pricing, new product development, advertising, marketing and branding. You should determine how you compare to your competitors.
2.Assessing the threat of new entrants into the industry (which may include you) and any potential reactions from existing companies. There are basically 6 barriers to entry you can evaluate: economies of scale, product differentiation, capital requirements, cost disadvantages, access to distribution channels, government policy.
3.Assessing the threat of substitute products (existing or future) that can place a ceiling on pricing.
4.Assessing the bargaining power of suppliers who can increase prices, lower the quality of products or limit the quantity of supplies one can purchase. This all has an impact on profitability.
5.Assessing the bargaining power of customers who can force down prices or demand better quality, more services and play you off versus a competitor.

3.Understand the Customer Perspective

In step 3 you assess your customer. This is a key step, get it wrong and you may not be able to recover. In fact, the customer value proposition and how it translates into growth and profitability for the company is the foundation of strategy.

Start by asking your self a couple basic questions: To achieve my vision, how must my customers look? Who are the target customers that will generate growth and a profitable mix of products/services?

Next, ask yourself what is the value proposition which defines how the company differentiates itself to attract, retain and deepen relationships with the targeted customers? There are basically 3 value propositions or disciplines that you can choose from:
1.Cost leadership – In this discipline you choose to provide the best price with the least inconvenience to your customers.
2.Product leadership – In this discipline you offer products that push the performance boundary (i.e. newer and better than competitors).
3.Best total solution – In this discipline you deliver what the customer wants, cultivate relationships and satisfy unique needs. In this case, you may not be the cheapest or the newest, but the total package you deliver to the customer cannot be matched.

In order to help you determine which of these value propositions you decide on, you may want to work through a value chain: 1. Determine your customer priorities 2. Determine the channels needed to satisfy those priorities 3. Determine the offering (products) that are best suited to flow through those channels 4. Determine the inputs (materials/knowledge etc) required to create the product 5. Determine the assets/core competencies essential to the inputs (ask yourself, in order to satisfy my customer at which processes must I excel? For example, product design, brand and market development, sales, service and operations and/or logistics).

4.Finish the business model

The business model shows how all the elements and activities of a business work together as a whole by outlining how the business generates revenue, how cash flows through the business and how the product flows through the business. By this time, you should understand the revenue capability of the business, how the industry works and your competition, who you customer is, what you are going to offer them and how you are going to offer it. By drawing a flow chart that shows how these activities are linked together you will understand how the business activities flow to generate projected profit, which you determined in step 1. This is also a good step to see if something is missing in your analysis.

5.Construct the business plan

By the time you get to this step most of your work is done. If you are looking for financing, a formalized plan will have to be completed. If you do not need financing, simply make sure the preceding tasks are documented so that they can be reviewed and changed as time progresses (strategy is an ongoing process, not a one time task).

6.Learning and growth perspective

In this last step, you ask yourself how/where the organization must learn and improve in order to become and remain successful. For example, determine the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees needed, the technology needed and the climate and culture in which they work.

By Cathy Taylor

How to market when the going gets tough

Marketing in Tough Times When the economy is slow, companies often do the opposite of what’s best for their business. Down times are when you need to escalate your marketing efforts, not reduce them. In fact, it’s the most critical time to make a plan to get in front of prospects as well as re-connect with current clients. If you aren’t, your competition will be more than happy to take care of your prospects and clients for you.

Whether marketing in a print medium, radio, television or just networking, you have a limited amount of time to get your message across. You want to initiate interest and be memorable when the contact has ended. Let’s take a look at what it takes to win with print advertising.

Money-making Headlines Winning headlines accomplish many things. They first attract your prospect’s attention; communicate a strong benefit; and appeal to the self-interest of the reader. You know you have a healthy headline if it answers the reader’s question, “What’s in it for me?” A good headline reflects that intimate understanding of your target audience.

Tests show that a good headline can be as much as 17 times more effective than a mediocre headline even when the exact same body copy is used. Headlines are a powerful tool, and that’s reason enough to get it right the first time. Successful marketers tell us to spend 70 percent of your time coming up with the headline in 17 words or less.

“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that, unless your headline sells your product, you wasted 90 percent of your money.”

David Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Hot Button Benefits Use strong verbs in your copy to communicate your most valuable asset-your benefits. Don’t confuse benefits with features; one is the sizzle, the other is the steak. Sizzle always sells more. For example, a masonry business benefit is the security one feels when buying a durable, long-lasting solution. Bricks and blocks, and first-class assembly, are the features.

Benefits are always from the buyer’s point of view; features are the facts about your products, which help build credibility. Both are necessary in your advertising, but benefits are what close the sale because people buy based on emotions, and then justify their decision with logic. Good headlines stir emotions and motivate response. Here are 10 of the most powerful words used in successful headlines today:

Secrets of
Amazing
Breakthrough
The Truth
Free
Sale
How to
Discover
New
Facts You

Example headlines using these keywords:
Little Known Secrets of How Brick Buildings
Withstand Earthquakes
10 Reasons New Contractors Need Highly Skilled Craftsmen
The Truth about Building Safe Schools from Stonework
Facts You might not Know about the Legal Issues of Ergonomics
Discover How Breakthrough Scheduling Provides Improved Quality

Compelling Body No one likes to be sold or manipulated-they want to be communicated with and shown. If you have a product or service they want, your copy can’t be considered too extensive as long as you keep them engaged. And that’s the trick-you need to know intimately what your target market wants. Always put yourself in the reader’s shoes when analyzing your promotion.

The body of your message is where you articulate your unique selling position. How do you differentiate your construction company from every other? Tell them how your solution solves the void in your marketplace (a void that they have as well). Your body copy should grow from what specific action you want your recipient to take. Make them an offer they can’t refuse; for example, offer to educate them (free of charge) about your business. If you want them to pick up the phone and call your company for a quote or consultation, then give them a good reason to do so. Write each line so compelling that readers can’t wait to get to the next one. Always test messages, track campaigns, and make changes as you go to improve those results.

Practical tips for telling your story include: always use fonts that are easy to read, such as Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana. Make it conversational instead of cute; you want to create rapport with your reader. Make use of subheads that break up large blocks of text and create critical white space. Use photographs that support your copy or graphics of past successful projects with dynamic captions. Include as many testimonials as you can; you can’t have too many testimonials.

Call Them to Act If you don’t ask for the order, the answer is always “no.” Your call to action is a beginning step to converting a prospect into a buyer. The best kind of advertising makes them an offer they find irresistible. Tell them exactly what actions or steps to take-for them to either call, fax, e-mail or write your company, as well as visit your website for more information.

If you send them to your website, make sure you have a two-step process in place that includes a second strong call to action so you don’t lose them at that point. You could use case studies that depict your quality craftsmanship and on-time scheduling. Emphasize customer service and, while you have them, don’t forget the opportunity to up-sell. What additional services might you offer that they could benefit from? You’ll be amazed at what needs you can unearth just by asking.

By Hall and Brogniez

How many times have you thought “We need more customers!”

If you find that you often feel that your company needs more customers, then consider this…

There is a common belief held by most business owners, managers, and sales teams that all of their business problems would be solved if they could just figure out the secret to “finding and getting more customers.”

And, that is their biggest mistake!

The never-ending search for more customers requires an abundance of people, time, and money… resources which are usually in short supply in most companies. In such an environment, the effort put forth to “find” customers is actually depleting the business of its energy, creativity, and enthusiasm…commodities required to serve these customers in a satisfying way. And, since dissatisfied customers do not return, the business must keep finding more customers to replace those they have lost.

So, with each repetition of the cycle, the company has less and less ability to provide the level of service that would satisfy the types of customers it originally intended to serve. So, the number of complaints the business receives continues to increase…and eventually, the complaints outweigh the compliments. The word spreads throughout the community. It becomes harder to find customers to serve. Debts then exceed profits. The business fails.

Conversely, those 15% that succeed have structured their company in a way that “attracts” only perfect customers and clients.

Companies must replace the thought “We need more customers” with the conviction that “We now attract only perfect customers.”

What’s the difference?

It’s the difference between a successful business and one that struggles to survive. It’s the difference between a profitable business and one that pinches pennies. It’s the difference between a thriving business and one that is hanging on by a thread.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR CUSTOMERS TO SERVE, YOU’LL FIND “CUSTOMERS FROM HELL”

Most people agree that looking for customers to serve requires a lot of energy. First, you must figure out where you are most likely to find the greatest number of customers. And, then you must spend more time and money experimenting with the right way to catch their attention. By the time you have actually found someone who is willing to try what you have to give them, your company has exhausted its energy!

So, when this customer tells you that they are not completely satisfied with your products, your policies, or your pricing, you are more than willing to make compromises to satisfy them … truth be known, you are simply too tired to put up a fight. Perhaps, thinking that you have won the war, you feel you can afford to let them win these smaller conflicts…especially in light of what it would cost to go out and hunt down another customer to replace this one.

Yet, if your company had more strength and solvency, you might be more willing to listen to the tiny inner voice that says, “Be careful…this one could be more trouble than their worth. This is a customer from hell.”

You ignore the voice because of the need to make back the money spent on marketing and sales programs. Or, you convince yourself that these customers must be perfect for your company or you are afraid that you will lose this customer to the competition.

Inevitably, though, the voice turns out to be right. By the time you end your tortured relationship with this customer, you feel that no amount of money in the world would have been enough to compensate us for the cost of the experience.

This is the result when you create marketing campaigns or promotional strategies that fail to clearly convey the bright light of your unique business distinctions; you find customers that other businesses should be serving.

THE LIGHTHOUSE TEST

So, how can you tell if your company is structured to “attract” perfect customers to serve?

Here is the “Lighthouse Test.”

Imagine a lighthouse standing strong and erect on the rocky shores of a beautiful ocean. On this particular day, the water is calm, the sky is blue, and there are many boats out to sea. Yet, out in the distance, there is a storm cloud forming on the horizon. It is coming closer to shore very quickly. The sky is getting darker, the waves are getting rougher, and many of the boats are being tossed about on the water. As the rains and the winds pick up strength, so does the power of the beam of light emanating from the lighthouse. Some of the boats, anxious to move quickly to a quiet and protective harbor, are relying on this beam of light to guide them safely to the spot. The darker the skies become, the brighter the light shines.
Notice that not all of the boats are in need of this beam of light to guide them to safety. Some have more confident captains and crew, while other boats have equipment that can handle the storm effectively.
Now, imagine that the lighthouse gets upset because some of the boats are choosing not to come to its harbor. Because it wants to protect and serve all of the boats in the sea, it sprouts arms and legs and begins running up and down the beach, waving its arms, doing its best to catch the attention of all the boats. What would be the result?
Most likely, the boats that were depending on the light to guide them would by now have been destroyed in the chaos and confusion caused by the light moving up and down the beach Other boats, led by their curiosity, may come closer to shore to get a better look at the spectacle of a lighthouse running up and down the shore, and then head back out to deeper waters. While others would be perfectly content to stay where they are…out at sea. The end result, very few boats are served safely and securely.

The test lies in asking yourself what percentage of time is your company the lighthouse standing securely on the shore attracting the boats (customers) with the power of its light and how often is it running up and down the beach looking for boats (customers) to serve?

PERFECT CUSTOMERS COME RIGHT TO YOUR SHORE

Take a moment to recall one of your most perfect customers — someone with whom you most enjoy working. The customer you describe as perfect is most likely the one who respects and values your time, trusts your company to have his or her best interests at heart, comes to your site with realistic expectations, happily pays what your product or service is worth, and refers your business to their friends and family. Perfect customers make you feel needed, appreciated, respected, and understood. Even more, they reconnect you with the passion and purpose that puts joy in your work. And, when you think about it, these perfect customers often find your site easily; there was an immediate spark of attraction and connection with this client as if synchronicity brought you together at the perfect time and place.

The key to ensuring that your company is only attracting the most perfect customers lies in the asking of four simple questions which comprise a Strategic Attraction Plan:

1. What Are the Qualities of My Most Perfect Customers?

2. What Makes My Perfect Customers Tick?

3. What Do I Want My Perfect Customers To Expect Of My Web site?

4. What Do I Have To Improve?

The daily review for just five minutes of these four questions is what will keep you connected to your company’s mission and purpose. It’s this connection which powers the light of your message and draws customers who are a perfect fit for that message right to your shore.

By Gisela McKay

This list has been compiled as a result of years of working with business owners who didn’t quite lay the right groundwork when they started up, and ended up paying for it later. Sometimes, what seems like a means of saving money actually ends up costing more in the long run. Some of these tips work for all different kinds of businesses, while others are more relevant to consultancies.

1. Always get your logo in multiple file formats.

It will probably cost you extra, but it will save you a whole lot of trauma and expense later. Make sure you receive:
- a high-resolution TIFF file

- a web-ready JPEG

- vector version – preferably Illustrator

- a layered version (PSD)

2. Have a copy-less brochure designed – one that can be run through your laser printer.

You can have a letter or legal-sized brochure created in colour with only your company name and logo, address, and USP (or tag line) plus a nice watermark done in full colour (uncoated, no folds) that allows you to print the copy as you need it. This way you can create custom brochures as you need them, instead of having a thousand copies (or more) of a single brochure that might get changed.

3. Get business cards for all staff – even part-timers.

People love to hand out business cards. Can you find a cheaper advertising method?

4. Invest in blank business card stock.

The same way you can have your brochures printed without any copy on them, you can have your printer set 8.5 x 11 sheets set up for business cards, which you can use for people who are representing your company on a contract basis.

If you are placing anyone at a client site, they should have a business card with your company information.

5. Have an MSWord document template designed, at the same time as your letterhead and other marketing collateral.

Make sure it has a cover page as well. It will be good for proposals, quotes, white papers, specifications, faxes, notices, and so on. You can also use this to generate polished and professional PDFs for your website.

6. If you give presentations, have your own PowerPoint template designed as well.

7. Have your own domain name.

Even when you start with only a one-page placeholder describing your company, make sure it is on your own domain name, unless you are part of an industry association website that clearly states what you do. When I receive email addressed from businessname@LargeInternetServiceProvider.com it really appears as though this person does not understand the Internet, or is too cheap to get his own domain name. A domain name can cost you as little as $7 US for a year, and you may be surprised how inexpensive hosting will cost. Look into it – it will make your business seem more solid.

8. Make sure every employee has an email address at your business domain.

This is one of those peculiar areas, as with business cards, where companies tend to skimp out as though saving a few pennies in server traffic, is worth the cost in professionalism and name placement. There have been many times when I have received an email from someone I don’t know, or a message that has been forwarded to me by someone I know, and I have typed in the domain name (the part after the @ sign) out of pure curiosity. It’s a perfect opportunity to showcase your company for surprisingly little – and you never know who it is going to reach.

9. Create a standard company email signature.

Everyone working for your company should have a standard email signature attached to every email message that goes out the door – that is those four or five lines that follow all email correspondence. Most email clients have a function that will automatically insert the specified text. Everyone who receives mail from you or your employees and representatives should be given an easy way to find out more information and to contact your company.

A standard email signature file might consist of:

– [or some way to signify this is the end of the message body]

[Full name of the person sending the mail][, Title optional]

[Company name]

[Phone number]

[Web address]

[Company USP (Unique Selling Proposition or "tag line"]

10. Get training.

Learn how to use your office tools efficiently. If it’s not you managing the administrative side of operations, pay to have that person trained. For the investment of a day or two, knowing how to use the software will save many many hours of frustration and lost document.

How is this marketing-related? How do you think it looks or sounds to your client to have to say, “I can’t do that,” or, “just a minute – I just lost the record.”

By Larry Dotson

1. Online Bookstores- Write an info product about a
subject that relates to one of their bestsellers or one
that has an excellent review.

2. Affiliate Program Directories- Find some highly
rated info product affiliate programs and write some-
thing similar.

3. Newspapers/Magazines- Find top stories or topics
that are probably going to be headlines for awhile and
create a related info product.

4. Television- Check out news channels, talk shows,
and documentaries to find your next info product
idea.

5. Search Engines- Type in a keyword phrase that
relates to your topic and write an info product base
on some of the highest ranked web sites.

6. Discussion Boards- Create an info product based
on which questions are being asked and what topics
are being discussed.

7. E-zines- Subscribe to e-zines that are related to
your writing preference. You will get ideas from the
articles and even the ads.

8. E-mail Discussion Lists- Follow the discussions that
seem to go on for a few days, they are usually good
ideas for info products.

9. Free eBook Directories- Download and read free
ebooks to get ideas for your next info product. The
ebook’s ad can also give you good ideas.

10. In Your E-mail Box- Read the spam, solo ads,
and opt-in ads you get in your e-mail box. They may
give you a good idea.

11. Newsgroups- Most newsgroups are full of ads
or they’re dead these days, but once in awhile you’ll
find a good discussion. Use them to get an idea.

12. Books- Reading books can give you many ideas.
It could be a full book, the summary on the back of
a book, the table of contents, etc.

13. Radio- Listening to the radio online or offline is
a simple way to get good ideas. There is the news,
talk shows, experts being interviewed, etc.

14. Movies- Relax and watch a movie at home or in
the theater. Seeing a subject that is totally off
topic can trigger a good info product idea.

15. Article Directories- Read plenty of online articles.
You could convert one simple idea from an article
into a superb info product.

By Home Based Busines Opportunities

Having trouble finding the perfect work at home business idea for you? You may be trying too hard. To build a profitable business, you must start out with one researched, well thought out idea. A home business can be a very rewarding and challenging experience. It is most important to start your business on the right foot. Let’s examine some of the initial steps in helping you decide what would be a good work at home business idea for you.

How do you decide what type of work at home business idea would be best? Ask yourself these questions. Are your goals to achieve independence and financial security? A home business requires a determination to succeed. Also a new business owner must be willing to accept challenges. Sometimes, you must be willing to work 10-12 hours per day, 7 days per week. Often money is scarce in the first few months so income may become a problem. But with a little time, a simple work at home business idea can start making profits.

Here are some tips to consider when searching for a work at home business idea.

- What makes you happy? A hobby or some other type of pastime can turn into a profitable business. You have to enjoy your work to be truly happy. Why not start a business out of a pleasurable activity?

- What are your talents? Many times we have skills that others don’t that can be turned into a business venture. For example, some people have talents in scrapbooking. Many people want to preserve their pictures for the future but don’t have the craft skills necessary to do a good job. This situation could turn into something that might be profitable for the right person.

- Ask your friends and family what you are good at. Their opinions might surprise you and cause you to think of a good work at home business idea.

A work at home business idea is out there waiting for you. Without a lot of hard work and a little soul searching, you can come up with the right idea for you.

Excerpt-30daysinjuly.com

1) Web Site
This is for sure the most important part of your online business, this is how you create your presence on the Internet. Being in business online and not having a web site means you have no place where your customers can find you. After getting your web site up, you also need to make sure that it’s as easy to navigate as possible and that the information provided is well written so the visitor won’t lose time trying to figure it out. If your web site is hard to understand it’s a fact that you will lose customers. In order to establish a web site you need to get your own domain name. The second step is getting the hosting for your web site.

2) Business Plan
The second most important need is a business plan. The business plan will help give a direction to your business and will help you plan your strategies. If the business plan is missing, losing sight of where your business is going or you want it to go. Once the business plan has been established do your best to stick to it. There is software that helps you create a plan for your business, you just need to search for it.

3) Advertising/Marketing
In order to have customers, people first need to know that you exist. So, even if it’s the third need, the marketing is one of the most important. No marketing usually means nobody knows about your product/service. Even if you have an online business it doesn’t mean that you should advertise only online, you can do offline advertising as well. A good low cost offline advertising method is using flyers. You can create them on your computer, and print at you local print shop. There are many online advertising methods too, some are very cheap and some are more expensive, a lot of research should be made in order to chose the best.

Keep these three needs in mind and you will have the base to start you online business and make it a very profitable one.

David Silva

If you’ve never written a business plan before, the idea alone can be overwhelming.

It doesn’t have to be the nightmare of your imagination.

Traditionally, a business plan is used to secure funding from a lender or a potential investment partner. It serves as something akin to your business’s resume, outlining the purpose and scope of your business, identifying the goals, marketing and management, and establishing a basic balance sheet.

Now, even if you aren’t going to seek additional funding, even if you’re going to grow your business by yourself from your office at home, you’d be wise to put together a business plan. Simply going through the process has value. It’ll help you develop a clearly defined vision of what you intend to do with your business and how you intend to do it.

These are some of the questions you should already have asked and answered before you sit down to write your business plan:

== What “want” does your business fill, and what service or product will you be providing to fill that want?

== Who will be your potential customer (this should be an established, niche market with die-hard buyers).

== Why will people purchase from you as opposed to the business down the street (in other words … what’s your Unique Selling Position)?

== How do you intend to reach your customers? A storefront? An ad in the phone book? Direct mail? An Internet campaign? Selling door-to-door? A combination of these?

== Will you need additional funding and if so, how much will you need and how do you intend to secure it?

Okay, so let’s take a look at what you’ll want to include in your business plan.

Most business plans are structured to examine four primary areas:

1. Executive Summary – a decription of the business
2. How you intend to market the business
3. How the busines finances will be arranged and handled
4. How the busines will be managed

Let’s take a further look at these.

Executive Summary: what the business will do, its Unique Selling Position, the business goals, its ownership and legal structure, your skills and knowledge and how they will benefit the business.

Marketing The Business: describe your product or service, identify your market niche, how big it is, and how you plan to reach it. Define your customer, identify your competition, detail your pricing plan, outline how you intend to attract and convert customers.

Financing The Business: estimate your start-up costs, project your monthly operating budget for the first year, outline your ROI (return on investment) and cash flow for the first year, project your income and expense balance sheet for the first two years, explain how you’re going to compensate yourself, establish who will maintain the accounting records and how they’ll be maintained, and if you’re in need of funding, explain how much you need and how it’ll be used by the business.

Managing The Business: how will the business be managed day-to-day, what the hiring and personnel procedures will be, how the products or services will be developed and how they’ll get into the hands of your customers. You’ll also need to account for equipment the business will need, and how insurance, rental agreements, etc. will be handled.

That’s it. In a nutshell.

Neil Best

Using sample business plans and their structure, along with studying as many business plan examples as you can, will provide you with the necessary framework to consider your business from every possible angle.

Starting or running your business without a business plan is akin to being a human without a skeleton!

Not only will using a sample structure highlight any areas you haven\’t fully thought through, but it will also provide you with a good idea of what makes a good business plan, and what doesn\’t.

The importance of your business plan as a motivational factor in running or starting your business cannot be underestimated. You will find that your commitment continues to build as you collect information, research and write each section.

Your business plan should always accompany requests for Small Business Loans , and lenders or any kind of angel investor will simply refuse to consider your business proposal without one.

Lenders and investors want to see your plan with the aim of satisfying key questions before they make their decision to grant funding or not.

Once you�ve commenced trading your small business plan will act as a steak in the ground, and help you measure where you expected to be against where you actually are. It will help you take corrective action as necessary.

Sample Business Plan Structure

All plans should include at least the elements listed below, and perhaps additional sections depending on the type of industry.

Executive Summary
Company Background
Products or Service Overview
Unique Selling Proposition and competitive advantages
The Marketplace
Operations
Leadership and management profiles including professional competencies
Professional Support
Risks and Threats assessment
Financial forecasts including key assumptions
Relevant appendices

Collecting the information for all the sections is time consuming and sometimes difficult. The business section of your local library is always a good place to start research. Ask your friendly librarian about how to look up market research reports, and how to investigate competitors.

If you are not familiar with spreadsheet software, constructing the necessary financial forecasts represents a significant hurdle. You have 2 choices:

Pay someone to put part or all of the plan together for you, or a small investment in some business planning software.

The advantage of using a professional is you will receive the benefits of their experience, combined with a professional looking plan.

The disadvantage is that it won’t be easy to make changes, and more importantly, because you will not have been as involved in its preparation, you won’t be as familiar with its contents as you should be. Make sure to learn the contents well.

One final tip though, remember it’s the quality of the information you put into it that determines what comes out.