* The best way to become qualified is to go to work for someone in the same business.
* Attend all classes you can on the subjects you need, for example: accounting, computer and selling.
* Read all the appropriate "how-to" books you can.
* Don't be afraid to ask questions or seek help from the most successful people in your intended business.
Decision Time:
What could you sell or what services could you perform that would make money and you would enjoy?
To complete this session you should have decided on a business or at least selected a business you think would be best for you. To get the most benefit out of the next eleven sessions you should have a definite plan in mind. Session Two will show you how to prepare your business plan.
WHY PLAN YOUR BUSINESS?
The owner of a small sheet-metal fabrication company once told me, “Why plan? It only gets in the way of what would have happened anyway.” That’s a fatalistic notion often held by managers of small businesses. Too many believe that they’re totally at the mercy of larger competitors. In fact, for many, exactly the opposite is true.
Think of the reasons for your company’s success. You’ll probably come up with a series of traits that are uniquely yours-characteristics that your larger competitors can’t begin to duplicate. That’s why you’re in business.
Of course, you may already believe in the idea. However, you may have to sell it to the others in your company. This ammunition may come in handy.
RECOGNIZING USES OF THE PLAN
For many of us who left corporate America in favor of a smaller work environment, the idea of drafting a business plan may seem offensive. After all, isn’t frustration with all that busywork one of the reasons we left in the first place?
We all have an aversion to doing anything on our job that doesn’t immediately help the situation we’re now experiencing. However, isn’t it also true that a little foresight and action before the fact can help eliminate many of the problems we face each day. Wouldn’t it be nice to anticipate something like a price cut by your major competitor or a rise in the interest rate on your credit line? Of course it would. And with that anticipation comes an organized and effective response. That’s what planning does. Additionally, we prepare a workable business plan to
# Determine where the company needs to go
# Forewarn of possible roadblocks along the way
# Formulate responses to contingencies
# Keep the business on track to reach its planned goals
Planning for Promotion of the Company
Many people associate a business plan with start-up companies. Often our first exposure to a business plan is for the purpose of convincing investors and lenders that we have a viable idea at which they should throw money. That’s not what we’re developing here.
Though the techniques may be similar, the purposes are entirely different. So are the results. Promotional plans are often untested, pie-in-the-sky theories of what someone thinks will work. The goals, objectives, and numbers are usually unproven. Detailed departmental plans for hitting targets are frequently hazy-if they exist at all. Promoters don’t want to burden their investors with the mechanics of execution. That comes later, after the money is in the bank.
Think of a start-up’s promotional plan as concept-driven. It’s more general in nature. The presentation leaves many questions of practical execution unanswered. These plans are fine for their purpose. However, most aren’t intended as a blueprint for running the company.
Planning for Operational Purposes
We’re not creating a promotional plan for a new start-up company. Instead, by using this book, you create a practical realistic planning tool for your business. The emphasis is on integrating the details of what each department within the company does to help the firm reach its overall goals. We want to tell each person in the company the single most important thing they need to do-must accomplish-to contribute to the overall success of the business. Certainly this results-oriented attention to detail can (and probably should) be used for a start-up venture. However, the promoters are right-it would confuse outsiders not familiar with the inner workings of the company.
Our focus is on practical solutions to everyday business objectives. We design these to work in concert with one another. When they do, the company moves from where it is today to where its owners, investors and managers want it to be.
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