All Articles Tagged "business plan"
Starting a Side Business Isn’t As Hard As You Think
Image: Comstock
Maybe you have a job, but have a secret passion. Maybe you want to make a little more money using a skill that comes naturally. Perhaps you’ve always thought about starting a business, but didn’t want to give up the stability of a 9-to-5. Or you could love your career and simply want to try a little somethin’ somethin’ during your free time.
Whatever the case may be, you’ve given some thought to the “side gig” — that thing you can do in the off hours to make a little extra cash — and you want to give it a whirl. Even if it isn’t a full-on career change, it can seem daunting to get a brand new operation off the ground. But, according to Investopedia, it doesn’t have to be.
“[Many business owners] aren’t expecting these businesses to pay the bills, but they don’t limit themselves on growth either,” the article says. “Starting small keeps the startup costs low. If it does fail, they have lost very little. ”
Among Investopedia’s tips: Don’t go crazy with the marketing since it could be a waste of money and start with a manageable business, like something that can be done out of your house or would only require that you find a small space to rent or own.
Taking it a step further, The Huffington Post has a list of tips to get a business off the ground. Among those tips:
-Choose something you’re passionate for.
-Have a business plan. In other words, answer this question: How are you going to make money?
-Don’t be afraid to ask for help from mentors, friends and family.
And once you’ve got your small business off the ground, tell us about it and you could end up in our Small Business Spotlight. (You can reach us at tgarcia@moguldom.com.)
How to Prepare a Business Plan
by Sue Naylor
Realistic business planning is essential to the success of any new as well as established business venture. Strategic plans involve documenting the underlying procedures associated with the business, its objectives and goals as well as including financial forecasts. All the other business ideas are also integral to business planning. Apart from these key elements, the business plan should also have information regarding securing funding from external sources as an indicator of its success. Organizing the required resources to meet your business objectives need s a well-defined road map to operate the business and also measure the progress that is made along the course.
A high quality marketing and strategic plan always has a detailed description of the project along with the other critical components like the promoters, comprehensive information regarding the technical assistance from marketing, finance, production and management, financial information and the suggested managerial arrangements, etc.
An executive summary that draws and retains the attention of the reader always contains the salient points of the business plan followed by an introduction on a page or two is the right format to follow. The subsequent pages should contain comprehensive and detailed information about the business plan. This includes, but is not limited to the table of contents, a description of the industry, a description of the business venture, the goals of the business, the marketing plan, the sale s forecast, production plan, corporate structure, risk assessment, action plan, financial plans, statements and forecast and capitalization. A good business plan is also great resource to refer and elaborate on a specific aspect of the business at a later point in time.
12 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask Before Writing a Business Plan
(Black Enterprise) — What are your total and target markets? This is the first question you should always be able to answer. How big is the total market for your product or service, and what are your targets? For example, if you’re selling custom-made suits, how big (revenue wise) is the custom suit business? And what type of custom-suit customer are you targeting? Athletes? Businessmen?
What Makes A Business Plan Work?
by Sue Naylor
A business plan is a great way of going about the process of creating results that are important and have the desired impact. The quality of a sample business plan depends on the write up and the overall approach to it. Writing a business plan is an art when the sheer brilliance of the strategy is clearly seen through an excellent and professional write up. Even a small business plan needs to be complete, specific, realistic and simple. The plan must be simple, easily understood and should be acted on.
Using a business plan template has nothing to do with starting a company, finding the right investors or applying for a loan. There is a lot more than can be said about them other than their usage for the aforementioned purposes. Strategic business plans must communicate their contents in a manner that is both easy as well as practical.
Some of the key factors that play an important role in creating a good business plan include, but are not limited to the feasibility and the specificity of the plan in terms of addressing all the business objectives in a measurable and concrete manner, listing completion dates specifically as well as the manpower and the budget associated with the business plan in question, its realistic nature right from the goals and milestone dates to the expense budgets and how well it incorporates all the necessary elements by covering all the required bases. A business plan outline is a logical, smart, intelligent and organized way of taking all the critical aspects of a business into consideration.
College Students Using Contests To Become Entrepreneurs
by Alexander Cain
Facing a tougher job market than ever before, students are using their college years to launch business ideas by participating in contests and investing their money to support their dreams. The recession has changed the ideals of many college students as the recent recession has proven that graduating with a college degree doesn’t necessarily guarantee a job. Rather than continuing to struggle applying for jobs, more college students have chosen to go the entrepreneur route to attain their career goals.
As reported in The Los Angeles Times, many college campuses are offering business plan competitions that include cash prizes. These contests are where students propose their business ideas in front of a panel of judges, often a group of potential investors or those familiar with the business process including venture capitalists, fellow entrepreneurs, college professors, or other small investors.
Those who don’t end up winning the competition gain valuable experience pitching their ideas to business experts and gain valuable feedback about their business ideas that would be difficult to gain outside the college campus. As Bryce Benjamin, chief executive in residence at the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at USC’s Marshall School of Business, explained “The contests are “an extremely safe-haven environment for students to get a real glimmer of what it’s going to take to start and launch a business.”
They also get to network with other young entrepreneurs and share their experiences about growing a business. “We made a lot of connections, although, honestly, over the past week we made so many I can’t remember them all,” said Justin Lewis, 21, a senior at USC who recently received a prize for his business idea.
This initiative to start business plan contests on college campuses are thriving as more and more campuses host these competitions and the prizes become larger. Rice University in Houston has grown their business plan contest from having prizes totaling only $10,000 in 2001 to this year having over 400 applicants vying for prizes totaling $1 million dollars. There has also been an upstart to many not-for-profit organizations to help students track business competitions to participate in nationwide like the College Entrepreneurs’ Organization and Istart.
While the recession has become a struggle for many, college students are using this as an opportunity to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. For many of them, what started out as idea has become a viable business venture.
Quickest Ways for Minorities to Find Jobs
When employers fail in their hiring of women and people of color, especially in a tough economy, there’s no need to sit at home depressed, sad, or beating yourself up. In fact, being out of work can be extremely liberating and can inspire new ways for you to make money instantly–as opposed to depleting your savings in hopes of institutional racism ending and someone just giving you a job. If you follow any or all of the following tips, chances are that you’ll significantly increase your chances of paying yourself, despite the fact that nobody thinks there’s money to pay these days! Read the rest of this entry »
Keeping Your Business Concept Simple
(Inc) — Dear Norm, Can I ask you a follow-up question? How many add-ons can I have before I start looking desperate and willing to do anything? For example, I’d like to offer swimming pool maintenance — balancing chemicals, scrubbing walls, cleaning skimmers, and such. And I could also do light pet care, such as walking or brushing a dog or taking pets to a vet. I could offer basic plant care as well, and light home maintenance such as cleaning lint filters, dealing with air and water filters, and replacing toilet seats. How much can I offer without appearing to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none?
Smart Small-Business Owners Are Making Vacation Plans
(Entrepreneur) — It’s been a long, hard slog through the recession, and many small business owners put off vacation time while they struggled to stay afloat. As the economy thaws, more entrepreneurs are envisioning themselves on a beach with a cold drink in their hand. That’s really good news for their health — and the health of their business. The most recent Discover Small Business Watch study found a decline in the number of business owners who canceled or postponed their vacation. Last year at this time, 58 percent of business owners said they’d put off taking a break; now, it’s down to 51 percent.
Charting Your Business Timeline
(Entrepreneur.com) — After your first year, re-read the business plan you started with. One reason to review it now is to update and, if necessary, revise your goals or schedules. Re-reading your business planalso re-acquaints you with the goals you had in the beginning but may have lost touch with during the hectic startup days. Fix these goals in mind as you enter years two through five.
Now is the time to begin formalizing the processes and procedures you’ve developed during your first year. The basic goal is to get information out of people’s heads and onto paper. Writing down operations procedures in a manual also helps you think through the elements of critical tasks in the company. Having a system that’s rational and repeatable is invaluable as you plan for your first sustained growth phase.
Charting Your Business Timeline
(Entrepreneur.com) — After your first year, re-read the business plan you started with. One reason to review it now is to update and, if necessary, revise your goals or schedules. Re-reading your business planalso re-acquaints you with the goals you had in the beginning but may have lost touch with during the hectic startup days. Fix these goals in mind as you enter years two through five.
Now is the time to begin formalizing the processes and procedures you’ve developed during your first year. The basic goal is to get information out of people’s heads and onto paper. Writing down operations procedures in a manual also helps you think through the elements of critical tasks in the company. Having a system that’s rational and repeatable is invaluable as you plan for your first sustained growth phase.
