Business Plan Help for the Overwhelmed Small Business Owner

If you are a small business owner who is struggling to write a business plan, help is here. 

Planning is one of the most important, yet often underestimated, parts of starting a business. In fact, many businesses fail from lack of research, goals and a thorough plan. 

The business planning process requires a lot of time, work and effort, though. It can be overwhelming for many small business owners.

This guide will explain why a business plan is a must-have, provide a shortcut to the business planning process, help you collect important background information, and get you started with a working business plan outline.

Do You Really Need a Business Plan?

Do you really need to spend time and effort developing a business plan? Should you even bother? The answer is: Yes, you need a plan. But, no, you may not need a 10-page, structured, traditional business plan.

In almost every case, having a business plan of some sort will help your small business succeed. A business plan gives you direction, helps you qualify your ideas and clarifies the path you intend to take with your business. This article will explain some of the most important reasons you should slow down and create a plan to guide your small business journey.

A Quick and Easy Business Planning Exercise

Okay, you're on board and ready to write a business plan. The good news: You're on the right track. The bad news: This is where you may start to feel stressed, overwhelmed and completely out of your league. Take a deep breath. This business plan shortcut is the perfect place to start. The exercise asks you a series of questions about your business, your goals and your future plans. Once you write down your answers, you will have a short, streamlined business plan. You will be able to use it as-is to get started with your business, or it can be a starting point for a more in-depth business plan.

What's Your Mission?

One of the questions asked in the simple business planning exercise above is: What is your mission? Your mission statement can guide your company from startup to established business, and keep you on track to reach your business goals. A mission statement is a great way to stay grounded and focused. This article outlines three important elements of an effective mission statement. It will help you clarify why you're starting your business and your overall goals.

Developing a Unique Selling Proposition

Another important part of the simple business plan exercise is your unique selling proposition (USP). You will use your USP throughout all of your future marketing activities, but it's also a useful tool in planning your business from the very beginning. A USP basically outlines how your business, product or service is different from your competition's. This may sound simple, but it can be difficult to identify. When you've created an effective USP, it can become an integral part of a successful business. This step-by-step exercise will help you write a USP for your business.

How to Incorporate Your Small Business in 7 Steps

Step 1: Choose Your Business Name

The first step is choosing a name for your business. An effective business name should fit what you do, how you do it and the audience you are trying to reach. It should be something people will understand and remember.

Once you create a business name, you should check with your state's corporate filing office as well as federal and state trademark registrars to see if it's available. It's also a good idea to come up with an alternate name in case your first choice is not available.

Step 2: Identify Your Location

Next, you need to select a state as your headquarters' location. This doesn't necessarily need to be where you live or even where you expect to do the majority of your business, although sticking with your home state may be an easier process.

Some factors to consider when choosing a state for incorporation include the cost to incorporate, taxation and corporate laws.

Step 3: Select the Type of Corporation

Now, it's time to decide what type of corporation you will form. You can incorporate your business as a C Corporation, an S Corporation or an LLC. Each of these types has their own advantages and disadvantages, so you should explore the explanations of each corporation type and consult a tax accountant for advice.

Step 4: Name the Company Directors

The next step involves selecting the directors. A corporation is required to have a board of directors who are effectively responsible for running the corporation. The selection of directors is a very important decision and can impact your business in many ways.

Step 5: Determine the Type of Shares

Next, you will select the type of shares your corporation will sell to stockholders. In many cases, corporations are private, limiting the availability of the shares to only a few individuals (your directors).

Step 6: Obtain a Certificate of Incorporation

You will then obtain and complete a Certificate of Incorporation, available from your state's corporate filing office. It will include your company name, purpose of the business, location and other information gathered in the previous steps.

Step 7: Process and File the Paperwork

The final step of incorporation involves submitting the articles of incorporation you prepared in the last step to the state, along with the required registration fee.

You have the option of filing the paperwork yourself, through your attorney or by using a third-party service. You should choose the option that you are most comfortable with and the one that works within your budget.

Choosing the structure of your business is not an easy or small decision to make. Take the time necessary to gather all of the information you need to make an informed decision.

Business consulting / Resources management

Our team of specialists are dedicated, seasoned professionals with many years experience of “world class” exposure. Experience gained and developed over many years with major blue chip and public sector organisations. We have honed the best practice techniques of Lean, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management and incorporated them into a sustainability package –Resources Management. Resources management ensures modern business practices are compliant with and compliment today’s tough environmental recycling and sustainability targets.

Our specialist key areas are;

• ·          e-Commerce
• ·         Environment
• ·          Project Management
• ·         Training & Recruitment
• ·         Production & Logistics Management
• ·          ISOe-Commerce

This is a real way to reduce cost and overhead in your business. We have the skills to maximise your e-commerce potential, either by designing and developing your in house e-commerce platform, or by our team managing the whole package on your behalf thereby benefitting from our lower cost base and greater resourcing ability.

The areas we can help you are;

• ·         Procurement
• ·         Sales
• ·         Marketing
• ·         Document Management & Storage
• Environment

So important for us all, and with the Environment Agency now gaining more regulatory powers it is ever more critical that systems and procedures are in place. We are licensed by the Environment Agency to provide an environmental recycling and refurbishment service allowing you to save cost by increasing sustainability and resource effectiveness.

• ·         Recycling
• ·         Refurbishment
• ·         Sustainability
• ·          Impact assessment
• ·          Environmental Management

About Management Consulting

Management Consulting is currently a popular and competitive career field. While we have seen an increase in the number of firms who are recruiting for management consulting at Cornell there are many excellent firms who do not recruit and who must be contacted directly or through networking contacts.  Basically there are two types of consulting positions--the generalist and the specialist. Specialists offer process or functional knowledge to clients. Not surprisingly the hottest specialist area for management consulting has been in information technology and many of the firms who recruited at Cornell were specifically interested in students with background and interest in technology. Accenture and CGI (was: AMS-CGI) are examples of such companies. Another consulting specialty that does well in recruiting at Cornell is human resource management. 

Most students who ask about management consulting are interested in the generalist firms such as Bain,McKinsey and Mercer. These firms offer advice to corporate clients on to operating more efficiently, or opening new markets, etc.They generally only hire experienced candidates or MBA's for the positions that lead to partnership within the firm. Typically they hire undergraduates to act as research analysts and assume that these "associate consultants" or "business analysts" will leave after two years to pursue an MBA.  If you are seriously interested in a career in management consulting, you must make the effort to learn as much about it as possible and demonstrate your resourcefulness in researching both the consulting industry and the individual consulting firms. Remember, the firm needs to hire the type of individual who can demonstrate the ability to research thoroughly and articulate succinctly. In your first contact with a firm you should demonstrate as much knowledge about the firm as you would eventually be able to demonstrate about the firm's clients.  

Upstart Business Consulting

Upstart Business Consulting Group provides comprehensive Business Plan books that help individuals start a profitable company with an initial capital requirement of $10,000 or less. Each business plan is researched and written by successful entrepreneurs for products and services across a broad range of industries. “New entrepreneurs may not have the necessary knowledge or experience that is required when developing a business plan,” says Tim Roncevich, the co-founder and award-winning business plan writer. “We saw an opportunity to help other entrepreneurs start a small business. After all, small businesses are the foundation of the American economy.”

Working with successful entrepreneurs in their specific industry, Upstart Business Consulting Group has unveiled business plans in the following industries: 

·           Business Services

·             Arts & Crafts

·             Children

·             Education & Instruction

·             Entertainment & Events

·             Food

·             Healthcare & Medical

·             Home Products & Services

·             Maintenance

·             Manufacturing

·             Pet

·             Plants & Agriculture

·             Real Estate

·             Retail Businesses

·             Security

·             Travel & Recreation

In addition to selling business plan books, Upstart Business Consulting Group also provides free business templates. Perhaps the greatest resource this business plan kit provides is the ability for you to e-mail your questions to professional business consultants and entrepreneurs from Upstart Business Consulting Group. Whatever your question may be, you will find a competent resource available to help you. Upstart Business Consulting Group is committed to your success, because when you succeed, we succeed.

Also, Upstart Business Consulting Group offers a free e-newsletter that is full of useful information for budding entrepreneurs and includes financial, legal, marketing, and business plan writing tips. Additionally, new business plan books and discounts will be announced through the newsletter.

“This book, and the series that it is a part of, is an excellent and practical guide for individuals seeking to learn more about business start-up in general and particular areas of opportunity,” says P.K. Shukla, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Entrepreneurship at Chapman University. “The tips offered in the financial planning review section are very valuable for readers to act upon.”

Steven Primm, CPA and co-founder of Upstart Business Consulting Group, was instrumental in developing the financial planning section of the business plan. Most small business consultants and lenders consider the financial projections of a business plan the most important section when determining whether a business is viable or not. Instead of spending hundreds of hours developing and researching your business idea, our pickup one of our small biz books will help you save time and money getting from initial idea to opening your doors.

As entrepreneurship continues to gain in popularity, the [business plans] from Upstart Business Consulting Group fill the gap between the entrepreneur’s initial idea and actual start-up. A very popular type of business to open now is a mobile business. Business plans continue to be vital to all businesses, not only as a necessity to obtain financing, but also as a roadmap for future courses of action. In fact, a business is more likely to fail in the first year if the entrepreneur did not write a business plan. It does not matter if you are a recent college graduate, a employee trying to make ends meet and save for retirement, a burned out mid-level manager trying to climb the corporate ladder, or a retiring baby boomer, there is no better time than now to become an entrepreneur.

Upstart Business Consulting Group provides much more than a generic business plan. They provide detailed business plan kits, including helpful information from initial start-up to daily operations, for many businesses in various industries. Additionally, Upstart Business Consulting Group offers various small business services including website design, marketing and advertising consulting, bookkeeping, SEO, and much more.

About Upstart Business Consulting Group 

Upstart Business Consulting Group was founded by graduates from one of the top ranked business schools for entrepreneurship in the United States, Chapman University. Upstart Business Consulting Group was founded with one goal in mind; bring entrepreneurship to everyone. The founders have over a decade of combined experience with two of the largest consulting firms in the world. The founders have various consulting experience including mergers and acquisitions, financial analysis, business process improvement, and information technology. Additionally, one founder is an award winning business plan writer and successful entrepreneur.

Component business models

Open communication standards and plummeting transaction costs have ushered in the era of specialization. Industry dynamics are changing substantially, presenting firms with new opportunities to create or destroy value. No matter how large, individual firms can no longer expect to control end-to-end industry value chains. Instead, they must specialize in areas where they command an absolute advantage in the marketplace. 

Easily said. But putting specialization into practice with the right operating model requires executives to think differently, not only about the construct of the company but also about the interrelationships of the assets they rely on to provide value to the marketplace. Component business models offer a proven approach to driving a specialized focus, both internally and externally.  Internally, components help firms rethink the leverage they can achieve with the assets and capabilities they own.  Externally, components help firms source specialized capabilities that they cannot feasibly create themselves.  Combining these types of specialization allows firms to redefine their competitive positions in the face of the sweeping changes in their industries, while simultaneously achieving the competing benefits of scale, flexibility and efficiency

Competing in the era of specialization

During the last decade, businesses across the globe struggled to comprehend and adapt to the changes brought on by the ubiquitous growth of information technology and the Internet. Today, those uncertainties are no longer so uncertain; the tech-driven upheavals of the 1990s and early 2000s have coalesced into a new, eradefining set of imperatives. Widespread adoption of standard communication technologies (such as the Web, e-mail and instant messaging) and enterprise software packages (most notably in the areas of customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning) have given firms many of the same channel capabilities as well as a similar outlook on their organizations. At the same time, open data standards like XML have made it possible to automate transactions, driving a dramatic increase in flexibility and a “race to the bottom” in transaction costs.The convergence of these forces has formed what is, in effect, a global connectivity platform. The almost universal ability to plug into this platform has removed many traditional barriers to entry. As new entrants flood the marketplace, customers are finding it easier than ever to switch providers, creating an unprecedented opportunity for firms to create value – or lose out to competitors who do.  In this environment, only specialization – a laser-like focus on the few activities that confer real advantage and profit – will enable firms to deliver full value to their key stakeholder groups of customers, employees and shareholders. As the implications of the global connectivity platform ripple out through the marketplace, firms face a fundamental need for specialization on two parallel tracks: external and internal.

Social Business Enterprise Strategy Accelerator

A transformation is taking place in how people interact and how relationships form and develop and this is changing the way we socialize, the way we work and the way we engage with our customers. The new normal is that customers are leading the conversations that define your brand, competitors are crowd-sourcing ideas to bring new offerings to market, and employees are using social media in all facets of their lives, including work. This shift in technology and human behavior presents an opportunity for organizations to improve everything from reinventing customer relationships to how work gets done. 

A Social Business embraces networks of people to create business value, and activates networks of people that apply relevant content and expertise to improve and accelerate core and ad hoc processes, delivering unprecedented return for the time invested. Recent IBM C-Suite studies confirmed that standout organizations, those that are outperforming their peers, are focused both on getting closer to their customers and are more likely to embrace social mediain the workplace.

•           95% of standout organizations will focus more on “getting closer to the customer” over the next 5 years (IBM Global CEO Study 2010).

•           57% of financial outperformers are more likely than underperformers to use collaborative and social networking tools to enable global teams to work more effectively together (IBM CHRO Study 2010)

New Business Consulting Service

In addition to our comprehensive new business packages, we offer the following individual

consulting services.

Creation of a Presentation Coffee Business Plan

A well-written plan is essential for obtaining a desirable location, favorable lease terms

and financing for your new business. This document will include an executive summary,

description of the business, product descriptions, location, company principles, additional

expertise, target market analysis, related competition, marketing techniques, market trend

analysis, forecast for continued growth, a sample layout plan and menu specifications.

Service include related phone consultation. Client shall receive printed and bound copies

at no charge, additional copies will be billed at $15 each.

Pre-Opening Financial Evaluation

This service is a “must” for anyone thinking about opening a retail specialty coffee

business. One of the major reasons we at Bellissimo see people fail in the specialty coffee

business is the under estimation of the expense associated with starting the business,

and unrealistic assumptions about the rate of business growth and return. Frankly, in

many cases these miscalculations cost good people their life savings! While no one has a

“crystal ball,” Bellissimo has probably generated more pre-opening financial evaluations

of proposed businesses than anyone in the industry. Our years of experience, and the

information gained by working with hundred of clients have provided us with insights

that help produce financial projections that are realistic! The process begins with a 60

to 90 minute phone consultation with one of our qualified senior consultants. During

this time our consultant will ask you questions about your proposed business concept,

the dynamics of your market, locations you are considering and their related costs, your

intended capital investment, and your expectations on return on investment. They will also

help you develop and solidify your concept by making valuable suggestions. Through our

consultant’s extensive years of experience, we’ve learned which menu items and business

features typically “work”, and those that do not. By helping you define and hone your

concept, we can greatly contribute to your chances for success.

The following information will be provided:

Estimated start-up costs (based upon your menu, concept, & location)

> coffee & food service equipment/fixtures & small wares

> furnishings

> general contractor’s administrative fee

> general carpentry & painting

> plumbing

> electrical

> floor coverings

> miscellaneous (signs, menu boards, alarm system, internet equipment,

   stereo, safe, pre-opening owner’s compensation, pre-opening employee

   labor, pre-opening marketing, uniforms, opening inventory...)

> professional services (attorney, accountant, architect, & consultant)

> necessary operating capital prior to business profitability

Estimated operational performance

> average dollar transaction per customer

> average daily customer counts (showing projected growth per month)

> monthly labor expense with staff  schedules (adjusted for different business volumes)

> cost of goods and all other monthly operating expenses

> monthly profit/loss

> break-even business volume (in dollars and daily customer counts)

> full monthly income statements for first 12 months of operation are supplied

    (summaries for years 2 and 3)

Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence (BI) is a broad category of computer software solutions that enables a company or organization to gain insight into its critical operations through reporting applications and analysis tools. BI applications may include a variety of components such as tabular reports, spreadsheets, charts, and dashboards. Although traditional business intelligence systems were delivered via host terminals or paper reports, the typical modern deployment of a BI application is over the web, via Internet or intranet connections. It is also possible to develop interactive BI applications optimized for mobile devices, smart phones, and e-mail.

Well-designed BI applications can give anyone in your company the ability to make better decisions by quickly understanding the various “information assets” in your organization and how these interact with each other. These assets can include customer databases, supply chain information, personnel data, manufacturing, and sales and marketing activity, as well as any other source of information critical to your operation. BI software allows you to integrate these disparate data sources into a single coherent framework for real-time reporting and detailed analysis by anyone in your extended enterprise – customers, partners, employees, managers, and executives.

View sample WebFOCUS reports to see some samples of reports, charts, and dashboards that would satisfy diverse end user requirements.

WebFOCUS – Information Builders’ comprehensive suite of BI software and the industry’s most secure and flexible solution – provides comprehensive BI functionality for many different classes of users, from the corporate executive to the assembly line worker; from the financial analyst sitting at his desk to the sales rep who’s always on the road. WebFOCUS allows organizations to leverage any data source, transform it into useful information, and deliver it in an actionable format to any end user, both within and outside the enterprise.

WebFOCUS reduces the cost and time for development and deployment of BI applications, while providing powerful, scalable, enterprise-wide BI solutions.

WebFOCUS BI software will empower your organization to:

·         Process requests quickly, intelligently, and efficiently

·         Respond faster and more efficiently to changing conditions affecting your organization

·         Make your greatest asset – information – part of your organization’s natural culture

·         Transform raw data into intuitive, illustrative enterprise reports quickly and easily

·         Enhance reporting systems by incorporating transactional forms, as well as data maintenance and update capabilities

·         Deliver usable information to both local and remote workers in the format that works best for them, whether it’s HTML, Microsoft Excel, Adobe PDF, or e-mail.

To find out more about BI, read our white paper "Worst Practices in Business Intelligence: Why BI Applications Succeed Where BI Tools Fail.” In it you’ll see the most common mistakes made in BI deployments and how to avoid them so your BI applications will be as successful and effective as possible.

Tips for Successful Business Networking

1.     Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.

2.     Ask yourself what your goals are in participating in networking meetings so that you will pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts, and/or volunteering rather than on strictly making business connections.

3.     Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest. Notice the tone and attitude of the group. Do the people sound supportive of one another? Does the leadership appear competent? Many groups will allow you to visit two times before joining.

4.     Hold volunteer positions in organizations. This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.

5.     Ask open-ended questions in networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.

6.     Become known as a powerful resource for others. When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you visible to them.

7.     Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes your doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.

8.     Be able to articulate what you are looking for and how others may help you. Too often people in conversations ask, "How may I help you?" and no immediate answer comes to mind.

9.     Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given. When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.

10.  Call those you meet who may benefit from what you do and vice versa. Express that you enjoyed meeting them, and ask if you could get together and share ideas.