“Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly”.

That quote from Thomas Bacon was uttered back around the year 1600, but it is as good advice today as it was back then. In fact, given the rate of change today, I would argue that it is even more relevant! You know that things will change. You know your market will always be in flux, with new companies entering it, new products and services appearing, new customers, new regulations, new technology, companies going out of business, and on, and on, and on. Change will happen.

So, it begs the question – why plan if there is going to be so much change? Indeed, in his book The Strategy Paradox, Michael Raynor notes that managers must make choices with far-reaching consequences today, but must base those choices on assumptions about a future they cannot predict. If the future does not turn out as expected, these strategies can fail horribly.

It is quite difficult to accurately predict what the future will hold, and the further out you try to predict, the less accurate you will be. Think about the weather forecast. How often have you relied on the local weather forecast to plan some important activity, and then gotten rained out.

Strategic Planning is, no matter how you “dress it up”, a guessing game. By being very rigorous in your planning, you can stack the odds that your guesses will be right, or at least right enough. And, even more critically, the process that you go through to create your plans will yield tremendous information and insights into your markets, your competitors, and your own company.

These insights are perhaps the best reason that going through the process of creating a strategic plan is well worth the effort. As an example, suppose you were going to get in a road race with your neighbor. The race was going to take you from San Diego, California to San Francisco, California, a distance of about 500 miles. Suppose further that there is a $1,000,000.00 prize for the one who gets there first.

Race day arrives and your neighbor is off and running. He is gone out of site before you have gone a mile. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that he is driving a Porsche, and you are driving a minivan. Things don’t look too good eh?

Well, 500 miles later, you are sitting there, having dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco when he comes flying down the road, just getting into town. It would probably be nice if you bought him a nice glass of wine with your million dollar prize.

How in the world, you are saying, did I beat the Porsche? The answer is really quite simple, you planned your trip. You took the time to go to AAA or Google Driving Directions to map out your route. You found out in advance where the detours where, and where traffic was likely to be backed up (if you have driven anywhere in California, there are plenty of those spots!).

You know what else you did, you had one of those fancy new Global Positioning Satellite devices in your car so that it was near impossible to get lost. Oh, by the way, your GPS was the really neat kind that gave you real-time updates on traffic conditions and construction delays – in other words, you had a great strategy and intelligent flexibility.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the greatest benefits of doing strategic planning is the incredible amount of information you gather in the process. That information will allow you to be very sensitive to changes in your market, and to react to them in a way that ensures your continued profitability. That information will enable you to cope with the fickle demands of customers and the free-ranging attacks of the competition.

Prepare to take advantage of a world interconnected in ways not yet understood; of huge quantities of money searching for profitable ideas; of a world where people are increasingly ready to pay to save time, and a world where change occurs with marvelous regularity. Prepare with great plans, and greater knowledge.

 

By: john.advantageconsult02

Strategic Planning

I plan on doing this myself. In my opinion, this is a way to “swamp” them with protests, exhortations, motivation-you name it. We need to let them know, regardless of party, what our concerns are. Adding that we are prepared to vote.

 

Strategic Planning: A Populist Approach

In my previous post, I concluded that what strategic planning needs is a more populist approach that engages more people from the organization(s) that would be.

 

Innovation and Strategic Planning

Most of our discussions have involved strategic planning. Maybe it’s just that time of year or the current state of business, but many organizations seem to be struggling with redefining their strategy for the next 3-5 years.

 

Strategic Planning Meetings  Analytical Mind

Every 6 months, the strategic planning team meets for our strategic planning meeting with the objective of assessing our progress towards achieving our vision and developing a strategic plan for the upcoming 6 months.

 

The Business Factor: The basics of strategic planning and vision

By summarizing the six hypotheses, a strategic gap is identified between strategy formulation and strategy implementation. So, how can organizations bridge this strategic gap and achieve effective strategic planning?

 

Technorati Tags: Strategic Business Plans, strategic flixibility, strategic planning

How long should a business plan be A business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the investor, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy. From surveys of investor needs, Growthink has found that 15 to 25 pages of text is the optimum length in which to accomplish this. Anymore and the time-constrained investor will be forced to skim certain sections of the plan, even if they are generally interested, which could lead them to miss essential elements. Any less and the investor will think that the business has not been fully thought through, or will simply not have enough information to make an investment decision.

Many management teams feel that their company is too complex to describe in 15 to 25 pages. While this is sometimes true, the business plan is not meant to tell the whole story. Rather, the company must be boiled down into its essential elements. If the investor is interested, there will be plenty of additional time to tell the whole story.

Business plans, like other marketing communications documents, should be visually appealing and easy to read. This can be accomplished by using charts and graphics and by formatting the plan for readability. Effectively using these techniques will enable the investor to more quickly and easily understand the companys value proposition within fewer pages.

While the body of the business plan should be 15 to 25 pages, the Appendix can be used for supplemental information. The Appendix should include a full set of financial projections, and as appropriate, technical and or operational drawings, partnership and or customer agreements, expanded competitor reviews, and lists of key customers among others.

If the Appendix is long, a divider should be used to separate it from the body of the plan, or a separate Appendix document should be prepared. These techniques ensure that the investor is not handed a thick business plan, which will make them queasy before even opening it up.

To summarize, the goal of the business plan is to create interest not to have an investor write you a check. In creating interest, the full story of your company need not be told. Rather, the plan should include the essential elements regarding why an investor should invest and spend more time examining the business opportunity. The shorter length does not mean that your business plan should take less time to prepare. Rather, it will take more time. As Mark Twain once said, If I had more time, I would write a shorter story. Likewise, condensing your business plan to a concise, compelling document is challenging and time consuming. Fortunately the rewards are significant.

When raising capital for a business venture, a company can either raise debt capital, equity capital or a combination of the two. Debt capital is money loaned to the company at an agreed interest rate for a fixed time period. Conversely, equity capital is money invested by owners shareholders for use in business operations that need not be repaid. Combinations include convertible securities which may be debt that can be converted into equity at some point in the future.

The simplest form of equity capital is common stock. Common stock has many distinguishing factors as follows:

Common stock is not convertible into another type of security. Each share enjoys one vote. Dividends are payable without limit but only when declared by the board of directors. In liquidation, common stock holders are the last priority to which to distribute assets

In venture capital transactions, there may be two types of common stock which are issued. The first is Class A common stock, which is like preferred stock without the special voting rights which some statutes require in shares labeled preferred. A second type of common stock is junior common stock. While this type of stock is not used very frequently, it allows companies to get cheap stock into the hands of key employees at minimal tax cost.

Determining what type of capital to raise and how to structure the financing transaction is of critical importance to growing ventures. As such, it is crucial to understand the key terms and consult the appropriate legal and business advisors when embarking on the capital raising process.

 

By: parmod11

The Ideal Length of Your Business Plan & The Use of Common Stock

A business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the investor, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy. From surveys of investor needs, Growthink has found that 15 to 25.

 

How To Make Much Money Online: Private Equity And Venture Capital

Venture capital is a form of private equity just like growth capital, leveraged buyouts and distressed investments. Private equity is given by investors to entrepreneurs that have need for capital. This transaction brings together.

 

Some Of The Characteristics That Define Venture Capital

Venture capital allows the owner of the business to not resort to financial institutions for commercial loans. Venture capital involves little cost for the small business. They would only need to pay for the cost of the transactions.

 

Important Aspects You Should Know About Venture Capital

Venture top refers exclusive to transactions conducted in justness in companies creating original and teen companies with broad ontogeny potential. The exemplary investments of top are higher than 300000 euros.

 

Technorati Tags: capital asset, national venture capital, share stock, venture capital

What does it take to become the very successful person you’ve always wanted to be? When you look around you and see, as I have done often, that so many others seem to have all the good things in life, the things that have eluded you for so many years, do you wonder why it is that they seem to ‘have it all’ and yet you seem to have so little?

Surely someone knows the secret.

Can you become successful working for someone else? Obviously the answer to that is ‘yes you can become successful’ but that success doesn’t necessarily translate into you having the things you want for yourself.

I know from personal experience that working as a success for someone else often means longer and longer working hours, more and more responsibility which in turn can lead to more and more stress, hours of commuting, days or weeks away from home and loved ones.

Often that is the price you pay for your corporate success, but what if you don’t want to go that route or you don’t have the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder?

Well, you can always go into business for yourself.

After I was made redundant from my senior sales position with an Australian multinational my wife and I did go into business for ourselves.

The reality was that our business was very successful but I was working about 15 hours a day 6 days a week.

Not what we really wanted.

As I said before surely someone knows the secret.??

Do you have to be one of a few, lucky, well-connected people?

No you don’t!

Does it take work to build a business?

Of course it does but it doesn’t have to be hard, tedious work.

Most importantly, can you achieve the success, prosperity and lifestyle of your dreams and truly love what you do every day of your life?

The answer is a resounding YES!

“Direct selling gives people the opportunity, with very low risk and very low financial commitment, to build their own income-generating asset and acquire great wealth.” - Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

You most certainly can:
build a successful home-based business
earn a multiple six-figure income
earn long-term residual income
work the hours you want to work
have time to enjoy your family
do the things you want to do

and you can do all of this while giving others the opportunity to change their lives for the better, personally, emotionally and financially, as well as changing your life in the same ways.

The Secret, The Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology, The Passion Test, Success Coaching, the buzz is out there and it’s growing.

Critically, none of these offer the ground-breaking personal and prosperity development tools that these. ‘best-in-class’ personal and prosperity development products offer.

“LifePath Unlimited” offers you not only the best of breed personal development products on the market today but also a proven and very duplicatable system to enable you to live the life you’ve always wanted.

This is not another MLM scheme but rather a group of products designed to help you to make the very best of your life.

Awakening our exciting 50-minute feature-film revelation of the secrets
of the key factors of the LifePath Unlimited culture of abundance, prosperity
and personal success.

The Discovery Series LifePath Unlimited’s Premier Transformational
Home Study Program that instructs and inspires you to unlock the unlimited
possibilities that are awaiting you.

56 Days to Destiny Discovery’s interactive website, workbook and trailblazer journal - an eight-week journey of self-discovery and transformation with day-by-day instruction and practical exercises that will take you to the next level. Guaranteed!

Breakthrough LifePath Unlimited’s exclusive live, life-changing three-day
event that “Brings Discovery to Life!” with world-class inspirational speakers, motivational trainers plus the unparalleled LPU transformational technology.

And Destiny our lavish five-day all inclusive event where the LifePath Unlimited culture of abundance, prosperity, delight and celebration manifests to its fullest.

Destiny sets a new standard for personal development events.

LifePath Unlimited’s Discovery Luminaries are 14 enlightened best-selling authors, scientists, PhD’s and globally recognized specialists in personal and prosperity development who teach the Discovery Series 56-Day course.

One of the most successful and proven ways to create success and wealth in life is to be at the forefront of an emerging trend and the emerging trend right now is in the area of personal development, it’s exploding.

LifePath Unlimited is growing exponentially with it.

Now is the ideal time to offer LifePath Unlimited’s products to those who want or need a change for the good in their lives.

Here’s why:
employers are downsizing, laying off staff and going bankrupt
incomes are unable to keep pace with skyrocketing prices
families and family values are being neglected
many are looking for a way out of this downward spiral
people seek to take control of their own lives
and, most want to find their passion in life and live their dreams

LifePath Unlimited’s personal development programme is all about changing lives, your life and the lives of those you are able to introduce along the way.

What then?
Next, you’ll be amazed by LifePath Unlimited’s spectacular income opportunity!
You definitely have the ability to realistically earn a multiple six-figure income with LifePath Unlimited.

You’ve already seen how LPU products are simply best-in-class.

Our proven business system, superb world-class training and support and innovative compensation plan separate this income opportunity from all others in the industry.

In addition to the ability to realistically earn a multiple six-figure income with LifePath Unlimited, there are even more benefits to your LifePath
Unlimited business.

They include:

your business starts instantly
you have the support of a proven business system
you receive the finest training in the industry
you’re backed by a strong mentoring community
you create a lifetime of passive income
you have the transformational power of LPU products for your own use
you will make a new circle of fascinating friends
you will help other people
you are your own boss
you work when you want to work
you become a leader
you benefit from business tax advantages
you will travel to lavish and exotic places
you build an equity in your business that you can pass on to your family
you live the life of your dreams
and, there are many additional benefits that you’ll discover yourself.

Unlock your unlimited potential and achieve everything you want!

Do you really want all the good things in life, all of those things that have been eluding you for years?

Follow the links and discover for yourself the life changing opportunities that are offered to you by LifePath Unlimited.

Successful people say, “timing is everything.”

Well, the time is right. Don’t delay!

Do it right now!

 

By: jmorrad

How to Write a Home Based Business Plan

A business plan for your home based business can help solidify your ideas and kick start your business in high gear. 

 

Is there any business plan for a Japanese Steak house?

If not, how much is it going to cost to hire a Consultant?

 

The MIT Arab Business Plan

The MIT Arab Business Plan Competition, which we covered earlier its launch this year here, has announced the qualified 10 teams for the Final Round fef of the. 

 

The Business Plan Free Blogs

The Business Plan Free Blogs » Blog Archive » Wolfsburg on verge … » Forex Trading Experts on Wolfsburg on verge of history The Business Plan Free Blogs » Blog Archive » From: 

 

My Twitter Business Plan

Much talk about Twitter and business plans, considering I had an email exchange with a good friend on this very topic I thought I’d throw it out for public.  

 

Technorati Tags: business plan outline, new business plan, simple business plan

The annual business planning process can be a great exercise. It can also be a huge waste of time. The quality of the planning outcome and the experience of creating it depend on a lot of things. A great plan is one that powerfully aligns, energizes and helps the organization to achieve solid results, no matter what circumstances the year ahead brings.

A plan that’s effective stands the test of time. It prepares a team or company to adapt, yet stay on target for the long-run, even if the short-run requires adjustments planners might not have foreseen.

To make sure your plan stands the test of time, follow these basic steps:

1. Create a shared vision2. Understand current circumstances3. Create a plan to close the gap4. Implement the plan5. Measure and monitor progress6. Pause regularly to review, reflect, adjust, recharge

1. Create a shared visionA strategic vision is a clear, compelling picture of the future that people are committed to create together. Document it in a way that’s meaningful to the group who will use it. For example, they may to use a large picture or design, a phrase, a theme song.

An effective vision engages the whole group and helps to strengthen them, as a team. I once worked with a manager who was an avid tennis player. His group was 100% focused on Star Wars. He tried to force tennis on the Trekkies. You can guess what happened: it didn’t fly. When they could see the conflict, the manager and team selected a third metaphor that worked for all of them.

2. Understand current circumstancesStart by looking honestly at the successes and failures of the past year. Review customer feedback to learn how well you’re currently meeting customers’ needs, such as quality, cost, timeliness, and other requirements. Consider, also, how your most essential business processes are working. Gather and evaluate information about your market and customer opportunities, as well as information about your competitors.

3. Create a plan to close the gapFocus on two to three large goals a year. Agree on the actions that you believe will lead to the achievement of your goals. Look, also, at the causes of performance gaps you are trying to close. Plan how you can eliminate the causes of those gaps most easily and completely. Then assign resources to the plan. Design an implementation process that will work at your company, and in your culture. Remember, what works at one company might fail at another.

4. Implement the planHold a series of meetings to communicate and discuss the plan. Help employees in all parts of the company to understand the plan, and feel part of the overall process. Let employees each know how their work and good performance support the plan and your long-term goals. Schedule regular follow-up meetings well ahead of time so people understand how progress will be tracked and managed.

5. Measure and monitor progressUse visual tools for this, whenever you can. A high percentage of people - up to 65%, according to many sources - are visual learners. Well-designed visual displays, such as charts, graphs and similar tools help employees to quickly understand how well the plan is working.

6. Pause regularly to review, reflect, adjust, rechargeFinally, follow up, when and as you said you would, as a team. Many companies supplement quick, regular update meetings with more extensive progress reviews once a month or quarter. As part of this follow-up process, revisit your vision. Review progress compared to the plan. If all is moving along well, this follow-up meeting goes quickly. If something is not progressing as desired, this meeting helps the team to decide how they will address the problem so they can move on most easily.

Take some time to reflect on what’s going well, and what can be improved in the way the team is working together:- Is everyone meeting their commitments?- Are people well-suited to the roles they were assigned to fill?- Are communications clear, timely and well-managed?- Does the team need encouragement, or to celebrate a milestone they’ve reached?

A well-designed “review, reflect, adjust, recharge” process helps to keep many teams focused and moving forward well together, through good times and bad.

Use these key steps and keep your plan alive and thriving, all the way to your ultimate goals, as a company or team.

 

Author: Jan Richards 

Free Marketing Plan Outline And Sample Process

Free Marketing Plan Outline And Sample Process. Creating a good and comprehensive marketing plan is one of the most important steps to being successful.

 

Strategic Business Planning | Business in General

business planning, strategic planning. … Business in General. Offering commentary on startups, small business, business planning, and growth strategy.

 

A Guide to Planning Your Business | Information Solutions

The business plan you get is not a static document since it needs to be updated from time to time. But the most important thing is the planning process.

 

When it Come to Making Your Small Business Plan

Then, while you’re putting together your small business plan, start to identify the areas that you feel like you need more support on.

 

Free Business Plan, eCommerce, Online Marketing, Process, Sample

Ko Ellay is posting a personal blog on idea review and free article on fair trade, e-commerce, business plan.

 

Technorati Tags: business plan service.business plan online, planning management

For any business, a business plan is very important because it allows you to set the goals that you aim to attain. It will also include the motivation that you have for these goals and exactly how to reach them. You may also put the history of your company and the people who are helping you to reach the goals you have set in the plans. The main focus here is the financial goals that you intend to achieve. The plans act as business guides for those who want to venture out into any form of business.

A business plan assists you to make major decisions concerning your business therefore there are no set information that is included. Business objectives that you set out to achieve and the prospective customers your business is targeting will settle on the information that you have in your plan. Whilst you are designing a plan for your business, always make sure that you get the adequate information to assist you on setting the necessary goals. Use various resources such as books, consultants, the Internet and mentors who have been in the field for a while.Include the clear process that your business will follow and the persons whose help will be needed for the success of the venture. Indicate clearly the various costs to be incurred in running the business.

Correct estimates should be given to give a clear picture of what is to be expected. A lot of businesses get into trouble due to cost overruns resulting from poor strategizing.The Presentation: There are various forms of presentation that you can use. These include:-Elevator pitch. In this plan, a summary of the whole document is given so as to get the attention of the stakeholders and clients who you aim at.-The plan can be done orally where the presentation can make use of a slide show and speech so that a discussion starts among those who have a stake in the venture.-An additional format of a plan for a business can be a written presentation that has all the necessary information listed out.-An internal operation plan will give all the details about processes to be followed by those in charge when running the business.

However, this type of plan may not be important to people such as customers who do not take part in the process of making decisions.Even if you intend to work from home, you should prepare a plan and ensure that it has all the legal responsibility the investors will have once they put money into your business venture.

 

By: Deborah Jacobs

 

 

How to Write a Home Based Business Plan: A Quick Guide

A business plan for your home based business can help solidify your ideas and kick start your business in high gear.

 

Writing Your Business Plan, Step 4: Marketing Plan

Market Research is something that you DO in preparation for the writing of the Marketing Plan. By doing this research, you’ll be better prepared for writing about the Economics.

 

Marketing Plans That Start With the Answers: New Book Offers

Preparation; Building and managing a career; Business strategy; Business operations; Finance and economics; Leadership; Culture and communications; Personal spirit and style.

 

The Business Plan for Your Recording Studio

This business plan has been independently rated for content, ease of business plan preparation, overall quality, and value by NC Nelson, a company specializing in consulting.

 

Business Plans For Consultants

It is often useful, before launching into business plan preparation, to run through a series of questions, and make notes of the answers. These answers would form the basis of your plan.

 

Technorati Tags: business plan formats, business plan preparation, profitable franchises

Before starting a business online through website it is highly recommended that you should plan a website marketing strategy. Proper strategies will help you to achieve the goals that are required for marketing a particular website. The website should contain the details of the product and services to increase the exposure of your site more on the web world.

Florida Website Marketing is the process or technique to promote the websites of Florida specially in the local market and also in the rest of world through different search engines like Google, MSN, Yahoo etc. The main target will be to get traffic to these sites. It will always be better if you get the maximum traffic from the local market itself i.e. US itself. Thus Website marketing strategies are the fruitful way to bring more and more customers.

There are several other options to promote the website like Viral Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, E-mail Marketing, Pay Per Click (this is a paid search). Email Marketing is the cheap and easy way to implement. Since it is a direct response tool so it is a effective one. You have to take just the people permission to use their email address.

Blogs, Forums, Articles, Social Bookmarking are the other useful ways to promote the website.

For marketing the website of Florida Online Marketing or Online Advertising is very essential. It is almost similar to Direct Marketing and it has same Key Marketing Tasks like Marketing Research, Marketing Plan, SWOT Analysis, Copywriting and Marketing Plan.

But the foremost age old and best way to promote the sites and improve your search engine rank is Search Engine Optimization or better known as SEO. Search Engine Optimization is one type of organic way to promote your website on top of all the search engines. Website Marketing Strategies plays an important role to bring your websites in the Top. These website marketing strategies should be built in such a fashion that they should be affordable yet cheap.

There are different types of SEO like Black Hat SEO and White Hat SEO. These are different strategies which are practiced by people for their websites to be at the top of all the Search engines.

For promoting your site especially in Florida market lots depend on the implementation of the metatag of the site i.e. Title, description, keyword of the page. Alt tags for the images are also very important. It is very important that you should have an accurate format for the content of the page. If we can use the word ‘Florida’ in the title it will help you a lot to get the local traffic. Other important things are bold tags and headings.

Link Building is also very important part of SEO. If you can do link building with relevant sites then it is very effective to improve the rank of the keywords in the search engine. Search Engines give priority to those sites that have done link buildings with the local relevant sites. So while link building you should give special care on it.

So make a proper website Marketing strategies before starting any online business.

 

By Markus Skupeika

 

 

How to Write a Home Based Business Plan: A Quick Guide to Kick

A business plan for a home based business can help solidify ideas and kick start the business in high gear.

 

Business – What is a Business 

Next, a business plan is a vital step in laying out all these topics and proposals in a standardized format. A good business plan serves as a formal statement of the new company’s go.

 

Business Planning Techniques at Finance and Business

There are four main reasons why companies planning the economy. The first reason is that the introduction of the new company, the second reason is that the organization.

 

A Guide to Planning Your Business | Information Solutions

Do you want to achieve financial freedom? If your answer is yes, then one of best ways is starting your own business.

 

Daily Tips for Business: Business Strategic Planning

Surprisingly, many people claim that a business plan has no value & is just a waste of time - they tap their heads knowingly saying that it’s all in there. Well this notion can be dismissed.

 

Technorati Tags: business planning, business strategies, market research

For any business, a business plan is very important because it allows you to set the goals that you aim to attain. It will also include the motivation that you have for these goals and exactly how to reach them. You may also put the history of your company and the people who are helping you to reach the goals you have set in the plans. The main focus here is the financial goals that you intend to achieve. The plans act as business guides for those who want to venture out into any form of business.

A business plan assists you to make major decisions concerning your business therefore there are no set information that is included. Business objectives that you set out to achieve and the prospective customers your business is targeting will settle on the information that you have in your plan. Whilst you are designing a plan for your business, always make sure that you get the adequate information to assist you on setting the necessary goals. Use various resources such as books, consultants, the Internet and mentors who have been in the field for a while.

Include the clear process that your business will follow and the persons whose help will be needed for the success of the venture. Indicate clearly the various costs to be incurred in running the business. Correct estimates should be given to give a clear picture of what is to be expected. A lot of businesses get into trouble due to cost overruns resulting from poor strategizing.

The Presentation: There are various forms of presentation that you can use. These include:

-Elevator pitch. In this plan, a summary of the whole document is given so as to get the attention of the stakeholders and clients who you aim at.

-The plan can be done orally where the presentation can make use of a slide show and speech so that a discussion starts among those who have a stake in the venture.

-An additional format of a plan for a business can be a written presentation that has all the necessary information listed out.

-An internal operation plan will give all the details about processes to be followed by those in charge when running the business. However, this type of plan may not be important to people such as customers who do not take part in the process of making decisions.

Even if you intend to work from home, you should prepare a plan and ensure that it has all the legal responsibility the investors will have once they put money into your business venture.

 

By: Deborah Jacobs

 

Small Business Information Technology - How Network Attached

IntroductionMany small businesses today are working harder than ever to find new ways to reduce costs and streamline their operations.

 

International business information and research

globalEDGE is an international and global business knowledge portal with cultural, trade, and economic resources and information on industries, countries, and states.

 

Global Business Information Tips - Lessons From The Road

Lessons From The Road features startups, global international business and entrepreneurship information, booklets, consulting and marketing guide.

Business information service, Business advice UK, Business

Business information service, advice and guidance from UK based membership organisation.

 

Staying Concentrated On Your Home Business

So you have decided to start your own home business and work for a living from the comfort of your living room.That’s a great decision.

 

Technorati Tags: business plan proposal, business strategy, new business plans

 It is difficult to be successful in sports, business, or even your personal life without a plan for success. Companies need to invest in a comprehensive strategic plan, and, in order to get the full benefit of that plan, they need to communicate the details effectively to the entire organization

Paul “Bear” Bryant, Alabama’s legendary football coach, endured only one losing season in thirty-eight years of coaching. From 1958 to 1982, he led the Alabama Crimson Tide to six national titles, including the best won-loss record in the NCAA in the 60s and 70s. When asked to describe his winning formula, Bryant’s answer was succinct: 1) Surround yourself with people who love football, 2) Recruit winners, and, 3) Have a plan for everything.

Coaches - and business executives - universally understand the need to acquire talented players and staff, but the critical difference between winning and losing is often defined by the quality of their planning. Indeed, Bryant felt that good planning was the key to victory:

“Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you’ll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don’t have a plan. That’s why it’s easy to beat most folks.”

Peter Drucker, the “man who invented management”, has written thirty-nine books on management and spent more than fifty years teaching and serving as a business consultant. He had similar thoughts regarding the impact of planning on organizational success. He formulated five questions that he felt every company should answer:

1. What is our Mission?
2. Who is our customer?
3. What does the customer value?
4. What are our results?
5. What is our plan?

These are critical questions. How would you answer? Do you have a written, detailed plan for your company; a plan that supports your company’s defined Mission?

Unfortunately for most companies, if they actually do have a business plan, they often fail miserably to communicate the specifics of their strategies to middle managers and/or front line employees. If you think this might be an exaggeration, ask the next employee that comes into your office to describe your company’s current strategic initiatives.

Did you get one of these answers?

“To sell more of our products.”
“To cut costs.”
“To take care of our customers.”
“To be the best in our industry.”

These aren’t strategies; they are simply good ideas. An effective plan, on the other hand, is specific and created in support of an over-arching Mission. Each strategic initiative is sustained by a number of specific tactics designed to execute the initiative. The point is, even if you do have a detailed plan for your team, it is diminished considerably if it is not communicated effectively and consistently to the employees that are expected to execute it.

It is, perhaps, just as common for business people to fail to distinguish between business strategies and tactics. For example, in battle, one particular strategic initiative may be to control the airspace in and around a defined battlefield. How a commander accomplishes that one objective, or strategy, would be detailed in a series of tactical decisions: 1) knock out enemy anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air (SAM) missile batteries with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and F-22 stealth fighters, 2) destroy radar installations with EA-18G attack aircraft, 3) attack enemy airfields with ground forces, supported by A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, in order to limit the number of opposition fighters that get into the air, and 4) engage remaining enemy aircraft with superior numbers.

You will notice, in this case, that a single strategy required a minimum of four different tactics to be successful. Further examination reveals that the strategy was developed in support of a much larger “Mission”, namely to defeat the enemy and capture the ground in question. Other potential strategies related to this Mission - to destroy communications capabilities, interdict enemy supply lines, and use ground forces to capture the objective - will necessarily involve multiple tactics for each of those individual strategies.

Lessons to Learn

1) If you don’t have a strategy for your business (or team), then your employees won’t know how their work contributes to a defined objective. This means that they show up, work eight hours, go home, and start over tomorrow - ad nauseum - with little sense of how success is defined. Without a detailed set of tactics tied to a defined strategic plan, there is little hope that you will reach your business objectives. Sadly, a “wing and a prayer” seldom suffices as an effective strategy.

2) Specific tactics must always be preceded by a defined strategy. Sun Tzu, author of the ancient military classic, The Art of War, asserts that “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, but tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Too often, business managers skip straight into tactical ideas without any consideration of a guiding strategy. Inevitably, this leads to executing ideas that, although good in and of themselves, have only tangential bearing on the long-term success of the business. As Peter Drucker said, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

3) Finally, every manager must understand that communication is the key to successful execution. The best Mission, strategies, and tactics will fall well short of the desired result if each are not effectively communicated and consistently reinforced. Telling someone what to do one time simply does not qualify as effective communication. To completely engage an employee, he or she needs to know the what, why, and how behind the strategy employed and the tactics devised to support that strategy.

When employees appreciate the company’s Mission, are fully aware of the strategies that support that Mission, and understand their role in executing the specific tactical requirements that support those strategies, then you can readily demand and expect their best work.

 

By Kelly Riggs

 

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Technorati Tags: business development plan, business plans, startup business plan

Firstly, let’s define a small business plan. A small business plan is a summary of how a business owner, manager, or entrepreneur intends to organize an entrepreneurial endeavor and implement activities necessary and sufficient for the business to succeed. It is a written explanation of its business model.

Business plans are used internally by management and are also used to convince outsiders such as banks or venture capitalists to invest money into a small business.

Business plans often quickly become out of date. One common belief within business circles is that the actual plan may have little value, but what is more important is the process of planning, through which the manager gains a greater understanding of the business and of the options available.

Here’s An Example Of A Business Plan

Most business plans can be seen as a collection of ’sub plans’ including a marketing plan, financial plan, production plan, and human resource plan.

The business plan has many forms. There is a format that is typical:

* Executive summary

- explains the basic business model

- gives rationale for the strategy

* Background

- gives short history of company (unless it is a new company)

- provides background details such as:

age of company

number of employees

annual sales figures

location of facilities

form of ownership including

- sole proprietor

- partnership

- entrepreneurial startup

- private corporate startup

- publicly traded corporation

- limited liability company

- public utility

- Non Profit Organization

- background of key personnel including

owners

senior managers

head scientists and researchers

* Marketing & Sales

- the macro environment

- the competitive environment

- the industry

- the customers priorities

- product strategy

- pricing strategy

- promotion strategy

- distribution strategy

* Production and Manufacturing/Operations

- describe all processes

- production facility requirements - size, layout, capacity, location

- inventory requirements - raw materials inventory, finished goods inventory, warehouse space requirements

- equipment requirements

- supply chain requirements

- fixed cost allocation

* Finance

- source of funds

- existing loans and liabilities

- projected sales and costs

- break even analysis

- expected return

- monthly pro-forma cash flow statement

* Human Resources

- assign responsibilities

- training required

- skills required

- union issues

- compensation

- skills availability

- new hiring

Other specialized sections such as product research and development, legal strategies, marketing research, or inter-company collaborations, are added to deal with unique features or characteristics of the business or its markets.

Author: Bill Darken

 

 

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If a new business is to have any chance of succeeding, the proprietor must create a Business Plan and follow it. Without this long range plan, is like a ship on the ocean without a rudder. It would be moving but in no particular direction.

Similarly, every person should develop a personal [business] life plan - short and long term- to map out the direction for their goals. While most people nowadays know the value of a personal business plan and have knowledge of what a business plan should accomplish, but very few translate it to a personal business plan. So, what should be in your personal business plan?

Like a Business Plan for a business, you must identify and target your personal internal goals in broad terms. This will provide general guidance only and not identify how the goals established will be accomplished. These long range plan that show how the goals will be met are called STRATEGIC plans.

The broader view-personal business plan– identifies space and time for accomplishments for certain tasks you have identified for your life span. For the long term goals, you could look at every five years periodic time. In the shorter term, you could be looking at every year within the five years time blocks. You may write it up to show that by the first five years you would accomplish whatever you have established as a worthy goal-the next five years-ABC etc., until you have accounted for your entire life span.-say 100 years. I hope you live longer than that. You should use a spreadsheet to do this and review it every year or whenever you want to see how you are progressing. By looking at it at regular intervals keeps you focused and provide you the motivation to stay on course and on track.

The strategic plan, however, will have a time element to it. It will show how long it will take, reasonably, to get the tasks you have identified, completed. You should also write what the consequences for not completing them will be. So, considering this long range plan, if by the end of the first year of the five year block, you did not accomplish what you set out in the business plan and the strategic plan, you will have to take a very hard look at what you did and change it a bit to get focused back on track.

This practice creates good discipline within yourself and if you stick to it will pay handsome dividends in your life. You will make remarkable improvement and develop a sound personality.

While there is no –hard and fast– rule for writing a personal business plan, the content you put in it is what really matters. This long range plan, must contain substantial activities that are worthy of accomplishment which would lead you to make valuable progress in your life when accomplished.

Having said all of this, you must NOW take your business plan seriously. It is your map to the future-your future. If you do not give it the respect it deserves you can fail in the long run. And, you do not want to fail!

Here is what you can achieve when you FOLLOW your personal Business Plan

- You will see more opportunities come into your life and will be ready to act upon them

— Your motivation level will be heightened.

— You will become a more enlightened person

— You will become a more authoritative and confident person

— Your leadership skills will improve.

–You will be less stressful and happier since you can see a direction for your life and how you will get there.

So, what do you do NOW?

Get to your desk or table with pencil and paper in hand and start writing your personal business plan. It may take a big push on your part to get started but keep at it-piece by piece-and until you get it all done. But, don’t forget, your plan can be changed as conditions change. But, do not go carelessly and change it at a whim. You will be defeating the purpose of the plan if you do.

Make your personal business plan, your long range plan, and your road map to chart the course of your life in a successful way. You will achieve the success you want if you follow these guidelines. Get going NOW!

Author: Trevor Adheen

 

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