Hello,
Business Planning
Twenty years ago I quit my job to start a business.
Except that I had no idea what I was going to do or how to do it.
It was pretty rash move, seeing that I had a young family to help support.
I managed to get into a Victorian Government Small Business program to learn the basics. One of those was to create a business plan and present it to the other participants.
My plan was useless, made up, and not relevant for my then business idea. That's the problem with business plans.
Fantasy Plans
The business plan I created was a fantasy, based on lots of guesses.
The business plan I created was a fantasy, based on lots of guesses.
- What was I going to sell?
- Who were my customers?
- How did I intend to market it?
- What revenue was I expecting?
- What was my budget?
Cost of Starting Up
Starting a business twenty years ago required an office and wearing a suit and tie. Networking was all the rage so you could corner prospective customers or clients.
Starting a business twenty years ago required an office and wearing a suit and tie. Networking was all the rage so you could corner prospective customers or clients.
It was harder and more expensive to start than today.
Old School Selling
A lot of stress was having to pick up the phone to call people trying to get appointments (cold calling). Statics indicated that around 3 in 100 may be interested. Then the process of selling would start if they showed any interested. That's not to say we can ignore how to sell today.
A lot of stress was having to pick up the phone to call people trying to get appointments (cold calling). Statics indicated that around 3 in 100 may be interested. Then the process of selling would start if they showed any interested. That's not to say we can ignore how to sell today.
One Page Business Plans
Today that's the catch-cry: the one page business plan.
Google ‘One Page Business Plans’ and you’ll get millions of results.
Today that's the catch-cry: the one page business plan.
Google ‘One Page Business Plans’ and you’ll get millions of results.
All suggest variations of the following:
- A vision statement for your business
- How you plan to achieve your vision
- SWOT analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
- Strategies that you can put in place
- Force Field Analysis to a map out of your strategy and what might make or break it.
A better place to start
Start by asking:
What will my business look like in 5 years?
Start by asking:
What will my business look like in 5 years?
Are you looking to create wealth and sell the business to retire, or
Do you want to create a job for yourself?
How might each of these look?
Do you want to create a job for yourself?
How might each of these look?
Creating Wealth
To create wealth and retire, you will need to generate an asset you can sell (the business), and then invest the capital.
To create wealth and retire, you will need to generate an asset you can sell (the business), and then invest the capital.
If you want to retire on $50 000 pa, how much will you need to invest to earn that? Here's how:
If you can earn 5% interest, to earn $50K pa you will 20 x $50k = $1million. (5% of $1million = $50K pa)
If you can earn 5% interest, to earn $50K pa you will 20 x $50k = $1million. (5% of $1million = $50K pa)
That’s requires a different way to look at planning a business.
To create a business worth $1 million may be a struggle on your own, unless you come up with a valuable new software or app. For most of us that's unlikely.
Creating a Job
This is where most of us start. As an expert in your field you have knowledge and know-how. You can get things done, solve problems and more. What you are after is to create something you would love to do; something satisfying.
This is where most of us start. As an expert in your field you have knowledge and know-how. You can get things done, solve problems and more. What you are after is to create something you would love to do; something satisfying.
You will know other experts and potential customers who may want to hire you for your services.
Lean start up model of planning - design thinking
This starts with the customer in mind.
This starts with the customer in mind.
Starting with how you may be able to help them solve their problems and how your solutions will help.
Come up with a guess or hypothesis about what they may want.
Then test this by talking to people in your network to get feedback.
Testing your ideas and assumptions for traction:
- What do they think about what you are offering?
- What is it worth to them?
- What’s the best way to connect, market and sell to your customers?
Your plan is to start with some solutions and potential target customers.
While this may sound simple, it is a process - learning what customers think and using it to change your initial ideas.
If your idea is viable, with some initial interest in buying from you, that's a good signal to start up. Continuing to learn and improve as you go.
Working with Experts
As you know I now work with professional women who are experts in their field. They have knowledge and know-how from 20 plus years of working in their field. They know how to get things done, but often need help and support with the business and marketing side of things. It's taken me 20 years to to build the knowledge and insight to help them.
As you know I now work with professional women who are experts in their field. They have knowledge and know-how from 20 plus years of working in their field. They know how to get things done, but often need help and support with the business and marketing side of things. It's taken me 20 years to to build the knowledge and insight to help them.
I do provide consulting and coaching and do run workshops from time to time
https://wisepreneurs.com.au/consulting-coaching/What do you think?
cheers
Nigel Rawlins
wisepreneurs.com.au
Nigel Rawlins
wisepreneurs.com.au
Please consider linking up with me on Facebook or twitter
https://www.facebook.com/wisepreneurs
https://twitter.com/wisepreneurs
