How to Overcome 5 of the Biggest Challenges of Managing a Small Business

Small business owners and managers continually face a variety of challenges and obstacles that can seem to pose an insurmountable obstacle in growing or managing their businesses efficiently and effectively. Without a clear direction on how to approach these challenges many business owners become increasingly frustrated as the challenges seem to snowball while profits continue to shrink. Below is a list of 5 common challenges faced by business owners as well as some proactive tactics for overcoming each of them.

5 Small Business Challenges

1. Challenge: Financial Pressure

Budget and cash flow are two primary areas that affect a company, especially if seasonal ebbs and flows affect your product or service. In addition the economic pullback has significantly affected many companies balance sheets and bank accounts.

Solution: Budgeting and Proactive Management

Though sales do not always meet or exceed expectations, small business owners will want to project both sales and expenses realistically to predict performance. Annual budgeting with quarterly adjustments and weekly monitoring are a proactive approach that successful owners utilize regularly. Some expenses to consider are appropriate salaries for staff and production; costs for health care and other benefits; necessary purchases of materials, equipment and new technology; and identifying the necessary inventory for goods and supplies. It is critical to develop a backup plan if short-term cash infusions become necessary. Identify your funding sources in advance to ensure you have a proactive solution to overcome short term cash crunches.

2. Challenge: Sales and Marketing

Sales fluctuate, are inconsistent, or worse – are declining. Marketing is ineffective, inconsistent, or often nonexistent. Many business owners “shoot from the hip” when it comes to sales and marketing.

Solution: Take Overall Responsibility for Marketing

Most small business owners are often consumed by the day to day operations of their business and neglect daily sales and marketing duties. Regardless of daily tasks and responsibilities successful small business owners understand that sales and marketing is the life blood of the business and place it first on the daily “To Do” list. If you aren’t able to delegate some of the daily tasks to other team members you must schedule your days and or weeks to allow for the necessary sales and marketing tasks that will guarantee the long term success of your business. Reserve time each day to devote strictly to sales and marketing tactics – most successful small business owners spend a minimum of at least 2 hours per day meeting with clients and making sales contacts. In addition setting up a formal time management system allowing for focused selling days; preceded and followed by days with time scheduled to catch up on other tasks proves to be extremely effective.

3. Challenge: Competent Staff to Fit Your Budget

Most small businesses must maintain a low overhead to survive and sustain the business for the long term. How do small business owners complete all the crucial tasks required of their business without going over budget?

Solution: Hire and Train the Best

Finding and retaining key employees and or sub-contractors is crucial for long term success. In today’s dynamic environment employees must multi-task, which may reduce the number of workers in your organization. The challenge is attracting and retaining top talent while competing with the more distinguished benefits and compensation plans that larger businesses may offer. Business owners need to make it a priority to train new and existing employees and help them see the opportunities available to grow with the company from a long term perspective. In addition many operational tasks like payroll, daily accounting, and tax reporting can be hired out to competent subcontractors at a fraction of the cost to self perform.

4. Challenge: Maintaining Client Relations

Due to the growing dependence on email, texting and other technology, the impersonal aspects of client interaction has diminished loyalty and appreciation. In addition competition has reached an all time high as more businesses enter the market and attempt to distract and lure your clients away.

Solution: Take a Personal Interest and Maximize Value

Small business owners must develop personal relationships with their clients. Most importantly, they must communicate that they care and consistently exceed expectations to differentiate themselves from the competition. “Under promise and over deliver” is one of the most effective techniques still in use today. Furthermore, the relationship must be win – WIN. Small businesses must be able to provide their product at a profit AND more importantly clients must believe they receive MORE in value then they give during the exchange.

5. Challenge: Getting It All Done

Marketing, operations, production, accounting, family and personal time – the small business owner is consistently challenged with escalating responsibilities – and unfortunately the same 24 hours they had prior to the increased demands. Many small business owners started their businesses to take back control of their time and life. The reality – small business management increasingly requires more thought, creativity and often demands more personal time from small business owners.

Solution: Effectively Manage Your Most Precious Asset

An effective time and priority management system must be utilized to ensure the small business owner’s success and personal sanity. Time is the most precious asset of any small business owner and must be treated as such. Create a list of the three most crucial tasks to be completed each day and focus on completing only those items first. In addition use a daily calendar and plan your days and work weeks in advance. Schedule personal and family time, as well as your daily work responsibilities. In order to maintain a healthy balance time must be allotted for all areas of life.

Proper Workplace Etiquette Is Great For Business

In order to run a successful business every action has to offer the customer something useful. Great products or services are extremely important, but the behavior of your employees and the level of customer service you provide is just as important. Making your customers comfortable with proper business etiquette, is the cornerstone of a great business model. p>

1. Honesty is one of the most important aspects of a business. Your customers have to trust you. Building that trust depends on honest transactions and following through with everything promised to the customer. If a few customers spread the word that you don’t follow through with what you promise, it will damage your reputation.

2. Confidence in your products and services will go a long way. Avoid answers like “I don’t know”, this will leave doubt for the customer, if you don’t know, how are they supposed to know. Know your products or service extremely well, every small detail about what you offer is important. If you don’t know something, look it up, or ask someone before giving an uncertain answer.

3. Manners are just as important in business as everyday life. Avoid anything remotely offensive to the customer. Bad manners will put your customers off for certain.

4. Politeness and good manners go together, some may consider them the same. Greeting your customers properly will give a great first impression. Use polite words such as please, thank you, you’re welcome, sir, ma’am. A proper greeting example”Good afternoon Sir, is there anything I can help you with today”.

5. Compliments are received well if done correctly and are a useful tool in a business setting. This one is a little tricky, if done incorrectly, it may offend the customer. Tread lightly, and keep it simple, a comment about their clothing would probably be best. “I love your shirt, or I’m a Washington Redskins fan too”, avoid comments about physical appearance.

6. Hand shaking is common in business settings. A firm handshake will present confidence. If you’re a male, wait for the female to extend their hand, and use a lighter handshake.

7. Eye contact will assure the customer that you’re committed to them, that they have your full attention. Keeping direct eye contact when you meet them. Looking away or at other customers will give the customer the impression that you’re disinterested or distracted.

8. Smile as much as you can, especially when you first greet someone. A smile will signify that you are enjoying conversation with them and helping them with their needs. You don’t have to maintain a smile the entire conversation, but when you are greeting or ending a conversation are the most important times.

9. Enthusiastic greetings will give a customer the feeling that they are appreciated and that you want to interact with them. This instills confidence in you and what you are saying.

10. Speak clearly and in an appropriate tone of voice. The normal conversational tone is fine, as long as you speak clearly enough to hear. This will follow the enthusiastic greeting, show confidence in your voice without being too loud. Proper business etiquette is great for business and will assure your customers they are your focus. It will give them a reason to return for your products or services. How you treat your customers is more important than the service or product you sell, so keep that in mind.

The Academy Of Business Strategy – The Closely Guarded Recruitment Secret

The recruitment industry has always been reactive by nature. This is not intended to be a criticism in any way, it is just considered to be convention within the industry. An employer advertises a vacancy, a candidate advertises their CV. Prospective candidates are forwarded onto the employer and prospective vacancies are similarly forwarded onto the candidate. This will invariably result in thousands of candidates applying for each individual vacancy and success is ultimately determined by the efficiency of each individual employer’s recruitment procedure. Candidates are always powerless throughout this process. The introduction of online job boards through the internet has only served to exasperate this problem. They tend to identify success in terms of quantity rather than quality. They will proudly advertise that they have thousands or even millions of candidates registered with them. They will also have hundreds or thousands of vacancies listed too. The implication being of course that if they serve this many customers then they must be good. Having said this, online job boards do provide an important service now within the recruitment industry. They provide portals where both candidates and employers can be introduced to each-other and the service which they provide is far more cost-effective than traditional offline advertising and in most cases they provide a more efficient service too. Unfortunately it does not really do very much to help candidates gain better employment and it is still rather like looking for a needle in a haystack. This is because the service which they provide merely ensures that more and more applicants apply to each individual vacancy. It is also widely accepted within the recruitment industry that any vacancy which we may see advertised is always a peripheral vacancy. What is meant by this is that they tend to be general vacancies which arise from prescriptive change such as expansion, or a merger or acquisition. The very fact that the organization does not have anyone in mind for this vacancy who could be promoted from within tells you that the vacancy is probably a peripheral one. Core vacancies are never advertised. The organization will already have internal candidates in mind for these positions and they are too important to risk employing a candidate who is considered to be an unknown quantity. Consequently core vacancies are always the ones we should be targeting. They are the vacancies which constitute power, influence and life-changing personal benefits. A senior manager or partner at a major financial institution, retail organization or manufacturing company will earn an annual salary amounting to several hundred thousand dollars for their services. A senior Director or Executive Officer at the same company will earn an annual salary amounting to several million dollars for their services. How many jobs do you actually see advertised with annual salaries that exceed 250,000.00 USD? There are traditional recruitment companies who practise what is commonly known as head-hunting, but these still tend to be for peripheral positions. The reality is that anyone who achieves a core vacancy within a major global organization will have developed and implemented a successful career management strategy over a sustainable period of time. It is quite literally the difference between success and failure. Recruitment companies and online job boards alike are already thinking of innovative ways in which they can provide better services. Improving online technology is to some extent gradually enabling them to do this. There are growing improvements in terms of the search engines that are used to pre-qualify candidates for employers and conversely to pre-qualify employers for candidates. However the more recruitment companies or online job boards which choose to move in this direction the more they will have to charge candidates and employers for the services they provide, whereas registration, particularly for candidates has been largely free of charge and candidates have grown accustomed to this of course. It is already clear that those recruitment companies who are starting to charge candidates for the service that they provide, tend to provide much better services. The old adage that “you always get for what you pay” tends to apply here. Ultimately these changes while providing some improvement in the professionalism of recruitment companies and online job boards over time will not change anything at all concerning the type of vacancies advertised. Advertised vacancies will always be peripheral. Candidates who have the most successful careers are always those who are proficient at managing their own career management strategy. It is true that we cannot all aspire to be the CEO of Microsoft, General Motors, HSBC Bank, or Mittal. But we can still ensure that we at least have the opportunity to achieve as much as we can with our careers and we will not achieve this if we are reactive by nature and if we do not take personal responsibility at some point for our own career development. After all an individual’s career development surely constitutes a core activity, not a peripheral one!

Selling A Business To A Competitor

Maximising value when selling a business can often mean selling to a customer or competitor and with the current market conditions as they are the return of the trade buyer has made this situation even more likely. Competitors are often the ones who are prepared to pay the best price, but this raises a number of tricky issues and careful management of the sale process is critical to achieving the right result.

Research, research, research
The value of research cannot be underestimated s, with the initial research playing a major role in the sale process and final outcome. The first step when selling a business is to prepare a list of likely buyers. Potential candidates need to be identified by in-depth research of the market the business for sale is currently operating in. This includes speaking to the major players, using the contact networks of the advisors and shareholders and utilising the international networks of corporate finance specialists to determine whether the likely purchaser will come form overseas. The next step is to agree a shortlist of parties to approach.

It is important to understand the strategies of the potential buyers, in particular their M&A plans. Some of this information will already be in the public domain but pre-screening buyers is an important step. The pre-screening process will involve speaking to, or meeting with, potential buyers to reach an understanding of their specific plans. This may even extend to asking questions relating to the area of the business that is for sale though not disclosing who the client is at this early stage

Understanding the key selling points of the business for sale and matching these to the strategies of the potential buyers is critical. There are key questions that need to be addressed at this time. Who is the business worth most to and what are the potential synergies available to the buyer – both sales driven and cost driven? Is there a gap in the potential buyer’s strategy, in terms of their product lines, market segment or geographic coverage that could be improved by acquiring the business that is potentially for sale. Which competitors would find the clients business attractive to buy, perhaps because it would rather own it than compete with it?

Lastly, it is important to understand the key individuals who drive the potential buyers business. Are they longstanding players? Perhaps they have a track record of buying and building businesses. Will they be able to gain support within their organisation to get a deal done?

What we often find is that the ultimate buyer is one of the first names on our list of potential buyers because it tends to be a competitor or a customer who ultimately sees most value in acquiring a business.

When Catalyst worked closely with a heating and plumbing equipment supplier the buyer was its major competitor.

The deal was quite a delicate one because we had to let the other side look at the details of the business but we could not reveal everything in the first instance. It had to be handled extremely sensitively.

The business was finally sold to its major competitor the outcome being a successful result for the vendors of the business who achieved an excellent price. The fit of the business with its major competitor made perfect sense but it was important to ensure that an advisor we understood the sensitivities of the deal without losing the buyer.

Tactics
In a transaction such as this you cant rush in and declare your hand too quickly when you are selling to a competitor and the same applies when selling to a customer. The first step is to prepare a tightly worded confidentiality letter which protects the client from potential buyers using information they learn from their discussions with you. This would include preventing them from using such information to target staff and customers, for example.

it is also imperative to hold back sensitive information until the last minute. Customer information is one such area, as it is vital to head off any attempts by the acquior to approach the customers of the business that is for sale until late on in the sale process. It is also at this stage that it will be important to make sure that there is a synergy between the two businesses. It should be clear that the two cultures are going to be a good fit and that all of the key individuals will be happy in their new roles.

How Steeple Analysis Evaluates External Business Environment

STEEPLE analysis considers various external factors that can influence business performance of a company. This tool is often used to identify those factors that can influence business or organization. There are seven areas that STEEPLE analysis takes into consideration.

Thus, STEEPLE analysis deals with political, economic, social, environmental, legal, ethical and technological factors that have both positive and negative impact on the company or entire industry.

Why is use of STEEPLE analysis recommended for businesses? This is a very good way of analyze and external environment in which the company is operating. Moreover, STEEPLE analysis can also offer suggestions on how to respond to challenges and solve problems, if any.

One of the most common mistakes in use of STEEPLE analysis is separate consideration of various factors. They are all interrelated and thus have to be analyzed in complex. Besides, one should come up with suggestions and answer the question What does it mean for my company? Response and counter actions are required.

Such factors can generally present strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities in various external environments every company is bound to operate in. This article will offer a short overview of the seven external factors that can influence business performance as well as focus on pros and cons of STEEPLE analysis.

Social factor often includes demographics, social and labor mobility, changes in lifestyle, balance of work and life, education and fashion, health and welfare, poverty levels, work security and living conditions, as well as income distribution. In other words, this is information related to social trends.

Technological factor studies new developments and discoveries, speed of technology transfer, use of energy, the impact of IT Technologies on business, Internet progress, spread of mobile technologies, average spend on IT etc. Every company should keep up with technological progress.

Economy is all important, especially for companies operating in the international market. This factor studies monetary policy, government spending, taxation issues, inflation, exchange rate, unemployment policy, general economic situation, customer expectations and purchasing power etc.

Environmental issues are very hot these days, as people came to understand they have to take proper care of nature. This factor addresses global warming, carbon emissions, climate change, environmental regulations and legislation, green agenda etc.

Politics is inseparable part of social processes. This factor studies political situation, results of elections and possible consequences for the business, governmental decisions on regulation of business relations etc. Very often political decisions are made to normalize economic situation in the country.

Every company is operating in a certain legislative system, and thus should comply with the applicable laws. Legal departments of companies must pay a special attention to corporate governance, and international trade regulations, legislation on competition and monopoly etc.

Ethical constituent is very important as well. Client confidentiality, business ethics and reputation are very important factors to consider.

Among key advantages of STEEPLE analysis are focus on external factors that influence company performance and ability to respond to certain challenges. Some business analysts claim that STEEPLE analysis only underlines something that is already known, and this viewpoint has also its supporters.

Be The Boss With An Online Business Management Degree

If you’re a natural born leader, or you like the idea of being in charge, a career in management might provide a great fit. As in practically any field, education is the key to climbing the corporate ladder in business. Earning anonline business management degree could help you to find a rewarding career where you’re the boss. Many people are unhappy in their current job, but lack the time and motivation to go back to school and would benefit from online learning. An online business management degree program can qualify you to work in top business positions and earn a competitive salary.

Why Online?

Business is an area particularly rich in opportunity for advancement. Often though, working professionals who have full-time jobs and other responsibilities do not want to abandon them to return to school. Earning an online business management degree is convenient, and the nature of online education allows students to continue working or taking care of a family while they earn additional credentials.

In addition, in today’s highly technology-driven society, developing advanced computer and technology skills can give one candidate an advantage over another for a job. Coursework for an online education platform is completed online from your home computer. Because of the opportunity to make a lot of money and gain authority, the business world is extremely competitive. The additional skills and credentials gained through an online business management degree program can provide the extra push that a student needs to succeed in a career in business.

Here are 10 jobs you could have with an online business management degree:

1. Office Manager

A career in office management is pretty self-explanatory. An office manager oversees employees and makes sure that the workplace runs smoothly day to day.

2. Human Resources Manger

A company’s HR department creates the connection between a company and the outside world. Management within the department controls tasks like recruiting and hiring, and they also implement or change company policies. This particular position is the head of the department.

3. Management Accountant

Rather than being employed by an accounting firm, management accountants work in-house for a company. They record and analyze a company’s financial data and use this to help strategize a better financial plan for the business.

4. Retail Store Manager

Traditionally, many stores were run by an experienced salesperson that was promoted to a management position. But today, many stores choose to hire college graduates to oversee employees and the daily operations of a retail store.

5. Operations Manager

A business needs someone to oversee its daily operations. Like general management, operations management participates in practically every area of business function and acts as an authority to employees.

6. Human Resources Generalist

Like human resources management, a human resources generalist is in charge of supervising operations within a company’s HR department. This person also plays an important role in determining company policies and solving issues that employees may have.

7. Business Analyst

The main responsibility of a business analyst is to make sure that a business operates efficiently. They dictate work flow among employees and create opportunities for new profit opportunities by analyzing business functions.

8. Financial Controller

A financial controller is generally the head of an accounting department. This person controls things like audits, profits, and budgets in larger companies that house these departments internally. They are responsible for producing accurate and critical financial reports.

9. Marketing Manager

Within a marketing department, a manager determines a demand and develops marketing strategies for meeting it. They also monitor trends to develop marketing opportunities and oversee other actions of the department, such as implementation and reports of marketing strategies.

10. Financial Analyst

A financial analyst observes and studies trends in the stock market and analyzes them to make smart business decisions. They advise a business on how to spend its money in order to maximize revenue.

If you’re already working in business, an online degree can help you move into a management position. Online degree programs offer a nontraditional but convenient and flexible means of learning and developing new, useful skills. Enrolling in anonline business management degree program can be the best career decision you ever make.

Business Analyst In Insurance Domain

The right balance of information and technical knowhow is needed for a Business Analyst to successfully complete his job in any sector. This dictum applies to the Insurance sector as well.

A Business Analyst should be well versed with the information that is needed for any Insurance professional to work in the Insurance domain. Since he has to analyze the processes and then help in the development of essential software for the projects in the Insurance sector, he needs to have both the information required of an Insurance professional and the technical knowledge required for the establishment of software designed for this sector.

Insurance as is known is generally divided into three major divisions: Life Insurance (dealing with safeguarding life and the risk of mortality and critical illnesses), General Insurance (dealing with the risk of damage to immovable property, motor, cargo, marine, household, and fire insurance), health insurance (dealing with risk of illness and disease, and thus covers reimbursements, medical claims, operation of panel doctors, cashless hospitalization, co payment etc.) The level of knowledge and range required is different in each stream and hence a Business Analyst has to have a certain demonstrable understanding of the workings of the particular streams in the sector and also desirably, adequate level of experience in the sector.
Functional Knowledge of Insurance applications is also essential, like new business, channel management, policy servicing, claims management, underwriting, reinsurance and finance. Along with knowledge of the business processes of the particular client company, a brief and thorough understanding of the requirements given by the regulatory authority of the Insurance industry is also mandatory. The terminology is varied for the Insurance sector, with changes even within the sector, for the different streams of the sector. Knowledge of these unique terminologies will help the Business Analyst to understand the client who is the end users expectations and he will be able to draft them better into requirements efficiently.

Once functional requirements are known, the technical knowhow is also essential for any good Business Analyst to communicate to his software developers team about the client users expectations from the project. The Business Analyst should be aware of the basic MS- Office tools like Microsoft Word, Ms PowerPoint, MS Excel, MS Visio, MS Access, and MS Project). These help in collating data and presenting it in proper format. Then knowledge of relational databases is also important for understanding the technicalities of Querying and Support. Basic programming languages that are used by software developers should also be known to the Business Analyst so that he can understand the developers problems or point of view. These programming languages could be ASP, Dot Net, JAVA, J2EE, XNL, HTML etc.

In addition to these, knowledge and experience in insurance business applications, content management systems, portals, data warehousing tools can give any Business Analyst that extra edge over others standing next to him.
Thus, its quite clear that a Business Analyst in the Insurance domain needs to know both sides of the coin the knowledge of insurance business processes and the relevant Insurance software packages.

Government Business Financing In Canada Canadian Govt Loans Deliver

Government business financing in Canada – While many entrepreneurs have heard of Canadian govt loans they have not fully understood his business finance offering. Let’s ‘ unbox ‘ the program and discuss the merits and applicability of this loan to your business – and that applies to start ups, franchises… in fact any business tha is under the pre-requisite 5 Million in revenues. Let’s dig in

Established by the federal gov’t many years ago the Small Business Financing program is dedicated to helping new , young, and growing businesses access the financing they might otherwise not receive.

The uniqueness of loan is that the majority of the loan is ‘ guaranteed’ to Canadian banks which offer the financing. At the end of the day it’s the govt commitment to encourage Canadian banks to lend to new and smaller businesses. Naturally one of he benefits to the government is the overall economic stimulus in employment, taxes, etc.

In recent years upwards of 7000++ businesses access the loan annually – for billions of dollars. The accessibility of the loan is augmented by the fact that Canadian ‘ bricks and mortar’ branches are on every main street in Canada. (Truth be told the challenge is not finding the right bank, it’s finding the right banker).

The ability to get approved for a govt small business loan in Canada provides realistic access to capital for businesses who otherwise cannot qualify for ‘ traditional ‘ loans. Yet the actual offering of the program is just that – a traditional term loan at attractive rates, great amortizations, and even the ability to pre-pay without penalty.

Many businesses who utilize the loan are either new, or in some cases purchases of businesses, including the very popular ‘ franchise ‘ segment.

The requirements of the loan are pretty basic – the owner must have reasonable good personal credit history, and must be able to contribute a minimum of 10% or more of permanent capital to the financing in question. The loan can only be used to finance 3 separate asset categories – equipment, leasehold improvements, and real estate. (The latter, real estate is rarely used in our experience as commercial mtges are more suited to this type of finance need).

As important to understand what the loan does to is what it doesn’t offer. You cannot use proceeds to refinance existing loans or for working capital/line of credit needs.

Other key aspects of getting approved include a good business plan, a cash flow forecast, and basic info on your business location, previous business experience, etc.

If you’re looking to ‘ unbox ‘ government business financing in Canada seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist in making Canadian govt loans a realistic part of your new or existing business venture.

Stan Prokop

How To Run An Ameriplan Business Online

Starting an Ameriplan business is a very popular opportunity right now and many people are interested in giving it a try. Opening a restaurant or another traditional business can cost thousands of dollars and requires a business license; along with a great amount of knowledge about the field you are getting into. Ameriplan is cheap to start and doesnt require a license, so its a great way to get your feet wet in personal business. They deal with discount health and dental programs, so there is a great need for what they provide. This all sounds great, until you actually get started and realize that you have no idea what to do next.

There are thousands of different ways to advertise and most people stick to the basics, like flyers and business cards. Finding customers is the most difficult part of any business and success or failure depends on your ability to find them and close the deal. The most common way that beginners get customers is to go get them one by one, but when you advertise they begin to come to you. Everyone is familiar with the internet, but few people know how to run their business with it. Like regular advertising there are thousands of ways to advertise online, and finding the way that works for you can launch your business to all new heights.

I cant possibly describe all the ways to advertise online, so instead I will describe some of the ways that worked in the past. The best thing to remember is to go where the people are, but most other IBOs havent gone yet. Years ago, an IBO named Bill Bertha began using Pay Per Click advertising on Yahoo and Google and made a killing. He paid for a sponsored result spot under the Ameriplan keyword so that when people went to a search engine and typed in Ameriplan they found his website right at the top. To this day he has signed up more members than almost anyone else ever has, but other IBOs eventually caught on to this method and its no longer cheap or easy to try this.

Craigs list and other free classified ads were big for awhile, but now they are flooded with spam and other business opportunities. One of the ways that I have seen recently is to purchase a banner ad in your local area online newspaper. There are still many opportunities to use this method if you are willing to pay for the banner ad but as soon as you have to compete with another IBO in your local area, the price will go up. Another way that still works is social networking sites like the many work at home mom websites. On these websites, many people come together looking for good ways to make money from home and save money on their families benefits. Finding new websites where future entrepreneurs come together will work perfectly for people just getting started, and they are free to talk to people on.

As old ways of online advertising go out of style, there are always new ways replacing them. Millions of people are currently obsessed with sites like My space and Twitter, but its only a matter of time before someone figures out how to use them. Having a good feel for where people are flocking to on the internet can give you the upper hand, but if you dont use the internet much you may want to stick with what you know. Advertising in the real world always works, but the internet changes every day. If you see a good opportunity to advertise your Ameriplan business online, jump on it because it may not work tomorrow!

Deadly Principles Of Business Planning. You Must Know These

Whether you are running, or planning to run, an offline or online business the traditional basics of achieving business success apply. For instance, it is well-known that a business that has no plan is almost certain to fail. No matter how small a business is, it needs a plan. A business plan compels you to think before you act. It compels you to find out about your business area before you start; i.e. to research your business area or to establish its groundwork.

A business plan forces you to think hard about your competition and how you are going to beat them in the market. It forces you to establish whether your business idea is worth pursuing. Why start a business that is going to fail? Isn’t that stupid?

A business plan forces you to establish the expected costs and revenues of your business, and hence to determine profitability. Why run a business when, at any time, you cannot tell whether or not the business is succeeding? If you don’t know your costs or your revenues you cannot compare them together to tell whether your business is succeeding or failing.

An online business is no different from an offline business, when it comes to business planning. It needs a business plan! Yet, how many newcomers do we see trying to make it online without even understanding the concept of business planning? Is it then a surprise that too many fail?

This article discusses 12 fundamental principles that you must understand and use in your business planning if you are going to run a successful business. The principles are as follows…

1. The Requirements Principle

A business plan must comply with the requirements of funding bodies. This is particularly key when you are applying for funding, but is also necessary when you are not applying because the compliance act itself makes the business plan rigorous. Funding bodies always have requirements that a plan must meet, and some of these are: technological innovation, presence of technical risk, and presence of commercial potential.

2. The Objectives Principle

A business plan must have clearly defined objectives and it must accomplish those objectives. A business plan is a strategic business document, and fundamental to any strategic planning process is the need to have objectives which the formulated strategies must aim to accomplish.

3. The Motivation Principle

A business plan must have clear motivations which highlight its importance. The motivations of a business plan are the reasons for completing the plan. These reasons tell us why the plan is important.

4. The Background Principle

A business plan must be the work of someone with a relevant background (the founder, for a start-up business), and the plan must comply with its authors background. A business plan should be prepared by the person or team who is going to run the business. For a start-up business, this is critical because the planning process prepares the owner for running the business. If the planning is delegated to someone else then it is unlikely that the owner will understand the plan sufficiently to be able to implement it. In these circumstances, the owner abandons the plan and does his or her own thing with deleterious consequences for the business.

5. The Detail Principle

A business plan must be sufficiently detailed to inspire confident action when executing the business; yet it must be flexible. A detailed plan is easier to implement than a superficial plan. A detailed plan suggests that the plan has been thoroughly researched and thought over. Detail inspires confidence in the owner of the business (assuming that he or she prepared the plan). A detailed plan should be flexible to accommodate changing times.

6. The Conservatism Principle

A business plan must be conservative. This means that it must always underestimate revenues while overestimating expenses. The reasons for this are underpinned by risk. A business is always executed under uncertainty… we never have all the knowledge we would like to make business success certain. An immediate consequence of this is the tendency to underestimate cost, only to find that we run out of money at critical times of a business’s execution. We also have a natural propensity to overestimate revenues… to dream!

7. The Cash Balance Principle

A business plan must always have a positive cash balance. A negative cash balance means that you plan to run out of money… to be insolvent! If you cannot realistically get the cash balance positive, without padding figures, then this is a sign that the business idea is not worth pursuing.

8. The Insolvency Principle

A business plan must guarantee against insolvency… against running out of cash. There are four ways to do this: conservative estimates so that the business always outperforms its plans, detailed cost identification to minimise omitted costs, contingency planning to accommodate forgotten items, and a positive cash balance throughout the plan.

9. The Risk Management Principle

A business plan must manage risks by convincingly dealing with uncertainty, reducing it to as close to zero as possible. This is simply stating that a business plan must be thoroughly researched, including desk research and field research. The more thoroughly a plan is researched the more it rests on sound facts, knowledge, and understanding, and the less the uncertainty and risk associated with the plan.

10. The Evidence Principle

A business plan must rest on supporting evidence, and guess work must be minimised. Sound evidence increases the reliability of a business plan and reduces the risk associated with it. And the less risky a plan is the more likely it will guide a business to success.

11. The Rigour Principle

A business plan must be rigorous complete, correct, and reliable. This means that the plan must be derived from a systematic process that attends to all the issues that must be addressed. In particular, the plan must not be rushed. The issues must be sequenced and dealt with, each at the right time.

12. The Collaboration Principle

A business plan must be founded on collaboration (not confrontation) it must satisfy the collaboration principle. This means that a business plan must be based on the works of others. It must not be opinionated. It also means that a collaborative, rather than a confrontational spirit, must exist in any business planning team if the results of that team are to be worthwhile.

Final Remarks

This article has discussed 12 killer principles of business planning that any plan must satisfy if it is to be taken seriously. Five of such principles are: requirements principle, objectives principle, motivation principle, background principle, and detail principle. These principles are a must for anyone running an offline or online business. If your business is failing it is more than likely that your failure to comply with one or more of these principles is to blame.