Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Writing a strategic business plan is a critical business management skill that unfortunately in small business is often neglected or ignored. Various studies show that only one in ten businesses have an up to date written business plan. Many businesses do a plan at some stage but 90% do not have an up to date consistent and competent planning process.As a business coach, I create 90 day action plans every 90 days for all of my clients and the direct result is motivation, direction, focus and better results.So what are the benefits of writing a strategic business plan? Well here are 5 main reasons why writing a strategic business plan equals maximum business success.1.Better Management Results
Business planning has long been recognized as one of the first and critical functions of superior management. When planning is not done it is so much harder to lead effectively, to organize key staff, to know which marketing strategy to implement and to know how to grow your enterprise effectively.2.Keeps your business on track and in better control
There is a proven link between effective leadership control and planning. Why? A business moving towards a set of pre-determined goals and targets, with specific strategies, has against this, a set of measurements and tracking to control if ...
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Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Why Write A Business Plan?How Do I Write A Business Plan is a question very much on a business executives mind usually around mid-year or during the last quarter of the financial year? As it is part of the management process, most businesses would have scheduled the business plan sub-process to start at a suitable time of the year. There are others, usually small independent entrepreneurs who may probably put it together as the need arises. This could be due to the need to apply for financial assistance or to impress a third party on some important business matter or venture. However it is done, a business plan is important as it serves as a performance reference, sets the business direction and rallies the team to an agreed business objective.The 7 Elements Of A Business PlanExecutive summary which is written after the plan is finalized. It briefly provides an overview of the business plan in terms of the approach employed and key considerations in terms of business offerings, key staff and expectations in terms of financial results.Introduction consists of a brief description of the business, the policies, mission, vision, purpose and objectives of the business for the specific business period. In some cases the introduction may even include a broad of the ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009

When it comes to writing a quality restaurant business plan it is important to be prepared and to do plenty of research before sitting down to write the business plan.The more information you can gather about the proposed business the better position you will be in when it is time to actually create that restaurant business plan.While there are certain elements, like a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow analysis, that will be part of any business plan, the restaurant industry presents its own unique set of challenges, and that means that the restaurant business plan will likely contain a number of elements not included in other kinds of business plans.==The Number Of Excellent Resources==There are a number of excellent resources available to make the process of creating and planning a restaurant business plan at least a little bit easier.For instance, the many business planning guides, business books and business publications available at the local and online bookstore can contain a wealth of information on how to create a restaurant business plan that will get the attention, and the money, that is needed to get the new business up and running.==Using The Internet For Advice==In addition to these offline sources, there are a number of excellent restaurant business plan examples available ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009

The first type of business plan is one you plan on showing to others. This might be so you can raise venture capital funding or get a bank loan. The second type of business plan is for yourself. It is in essence a document to keep you on track, something you can refer to in the day-to-day chaos of your operations and use to determine whether you are on target. First, let's explore the first type.If you are writing a business plan to obtain funding, you are essentially giving a stranger an overview of your company. This person will want to evaluate your goals, your personell, and your financial projections for the future. Therefore, these are the things you want to address and give special attention to in your business plan. At bare minimum, your business plan needs an executive summary, a marketing plan, financial projections, and a description of the personell involved. Let's learn a little more about each phase, as each one is crucially important.Executive SummaryThe executive summary is what you might call "the main point." It is the most important part of your business plan. This is where you summarize the purpose of your company, how you will make money, in essence, what you will be going into business ...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009

Writing a business plan is both an art and a science. It’s a science because it must follow guidelines associated with business plans, as they tend to be written in the business community. It’s an art because you will draw from a vast amount of information related to your specific project and bring all the elements together in the form of a business plan that will be read and acted upon by others. Your final plan will depend on the size and scope of your project and how much work you are willing to perform.You will get out of the business planning process exactly what you put into it. Asking the right questions of yourself and your project will give you information to make better personal and business choices and legal and financial decisions. Writing a plan for your project requires you to have an idea and vision of the whole project, the component parts of the project and the operating system behind your project. An effective business plan will require you to look critically at the multitude of issues facing you in a way that is not initially influenced by your emotions. You want the facts. As you gather information and facts, that data will either support your thoughts and ideas ...
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Show me the...evidence!When it comes to writing a business plan, many businesses focus on speed. By rushing to complete their plans, businesses often forget to gather critical evidence to support their plans. Investors never read business plans that lack evidence or consider the claims in them worthless.Gather evidence to build your case, support your claims, and persuade investors. When writing a business plan, use these 10 critical pieces of evidence to win the trust of potential investors and their backing quickly: Articles about your industry, competitors, products, trends, and so on. When unsolicited, articles about your company or products help build credibility, provide unbiased viewpoints, and often include third-party research. Market studies. Use market studies to support market trends, size, and growth rates. When prepared by an independent party, these studies add credibility to market related claims. Product or business literature. In-house product or business literature shows you are in the game. More important, it can help investors better understand your product or service and the key point of differentiation you are competing on. Customer interviews, surveys, testimonials. All these are effective forms of third-party endorsements in which someone offers independent testimony, comments, or opinions about you, your product, or your service. For these to be persuasive, include with them ...
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Small business plan One of the most important tasks to carry out when you are planning to launch a brand new small business, is to take time to prepare a fully functional small business plan.Writing a small business plan will not only allow you to focus on your business start up, but it will also be a valuable asset to present to your business bank manager or indeed any potential investors who may wish to inject vital funds into your new small business.Another key benefit of a well written business plan is that it becomes a permanent reference point for you to view as needed and will assist you in maintaining your focus for the life of your business.I am writing this guide in small sections to allow you to follow the plan in your own time. This article will demonstrate the complete overview of what you will need to consider when writing your small business plan.Small business plan - an overview There are 6 key elements to consider when preparing to write your business plan they are;Your business aim: this section should indicate your businesses generic goals and should also identify what areas you will need to research (such as marketplace, route to market etc) and also pinpoint an accurate timetable ...
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009

When writing your record label business plan, pay attention to what you need to achieve in the plan and what will be difficult or even impossible for the plan to convey. The following are a few tips:Do Keep It Short and SweetThe length of your plan won't make it any more convincing and there is no a magic number of pages which will win over investors who are on the fence. It is the quality of the argument within its pages which should make it clear that you have found a valuable opportunity, have the means and ideas to exploit it, and expect profits that will make investors happy.Do Show The Experience of Your Management TeamRunning a successful record label requires skills in a variety of functional areas (marketing, sales, legal, logistics, artist development) and it is highly unlikely that any one person, yourself included, will have skill in all of these areas. Therefore, you must show that the experience of the team members and planned team members, put together, covers all of these bases. Spend time showing this experience through biography and resume focused on the needs of the business. If any holes are left, don't ignore them, but show you recognize the need to recruit more talent.Don't Assume The Music ...
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Some people who are launching a business question the value of writing a business plan. Entrepreneurs tend to be action oriented, so it's not surprising that many feel that the time spent writing a plan is time that could be spent in more tangibly beneficial activities like marketing or product development.Writing a business plan causes you to think strategically about all angles of your business. Business is competitive, and it's wise to take every advantage possible to grow your business. Here's how you can benefit from writing a great plan:1. Writing a plan for your business may give you confidence and help you to fully commit to pursuing your business.Once you have it all on paper, you'll have a clearer picture of the steps you will take to achieve you goals. That feeling can provide powerful motivation through the challenges of building your business.2. A business plan is necessary if you are seeking funding from outside sources.If you intend to approach anyone for funding for your business, they will likely ask to see your plan; it sells your potential backers on the idea that your business has the potential to make a reasonable profit.3. The in-depth research and planning required to write a plan can help you to discover valuable information about ...
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009

"If you fail to plan, then plan to fail".That's a very apt saying for all information marketers. Business plan writing is critically important to your infopreneur business.Writing a business plan gives clear shape, focus and direction to your plans, hopes and ambitions for your business. Where you wee once vague and unclear, you will find yourself steady and goal-oriented when you have finished writing your business plan.And as an information entrepreneur, you could even set yourself up as a specialist at business plan writing - for others.To learn business plan writing, you need to first understand the various components of a business plan, and how to go about creating one for your own business, and possibly for your clients too.The Steps In Business Plan WritingThere are certain well defined parts of a business plan. Business plan writing involves creating a document that contains all these parts and embodies the guiding philosophy, goals and targets of the business.In business plan writing, prepare to cover these parts:- executive summary- table of contents- company description- market analysis and marketing- technology - research, development, trends- business operations- management and ownership- organization and personnel- funds required and their use- financial data- administrative considerations- appendicesTips To Effective Business Plan WritingTo make sure you come up with a document ...
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