Micro Biz Coach Blog

Lesson 4 - Creating Your Business Plan: Part 2 - Writing the Finance Section of Your Plan

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:30:00 GMT

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Show Notes

Lesson 4 - Creating Your Business Plan: Part 2 - Writing the Finance Section of Your Plan

I.    Today we’re beginning to talk more about how to the Financial Section of your business plan.
A.    Remember this section will come just after the Organization Overview once you have a clear understanding of . . .

    1.    Your general business strategy
    2.    Your general marketing strategy
    3.    Your management team

B.    So, as usual before we get started, I want to know how you are doing with the first part of laying out your financial inventory. This section can be slightly complicated for some which is why we try to break it down to bare essentials. However, please email us at comments@microbizcoach.com or you can comment in our blog as well at www.microbizcoachblog.com if you have any additional questions or concern about your financial section.

C.    In today’s episode, we’re going to go into more detail about the basic components needed for the Financial Section of your business plan. This is the second of a 2 part series. For the micro business, you do not necessarily have to focus on the 3 major financial statements as a larger business would. Particularly starting out, you want to mainly have a good handle on your cash flow. So for our purposes we will review the Cash Flow Statement.

I.   The Cash Flow Statement has 3 major components. We will review each of those components in terms of income and expenses.

1.   Operations
a)   Income from operations would include any income related to operating your business. If you sell cakes, the money you get from selling your cakes would be in this category. If you sell widgets, the money made from selling your widgets would be in this category. Let’s say you offer consulting services. The money you get paid for these services should also be documented in this category.
b)   Operational expenses would then include any money used to pay for operating your business. Again, if you sell cakes, the money you use to purchase your flour, eggs, cake pans, etc. would be part of this expense. Also the money you pay for your facility including utilities related to this place of business would also be in this category.

2.   Finance Component
a)   Have you gotten any loans? These would be documented as income in the finance component of your Cash Flow Statement. You can also include grants in this category.
b)   Finance Expenses would be any expenses paid as a result of obtaining financing for your business. For example, the loan payment you’d make each month would be documented in this section.

3.   The Investments Component
a)   It is interesting that investing for companies is often overlooked. However, if you are a savvy investor for your personal finances, you may want to carry this skill over to your business and generate income from investing company dollars. The return from your investments would be documented in this section of your business plan.
b)   Any money required in order to make your investments or sell your stock would be part of your investment expenses. For example brokerage fees.

4.   Visit us in our blog www.microbizcoachblog.com and send us a quick comment if you want to see an example of a Cash Flow Statement with these entries.

B.   Now, let’s talk briefly about forecasting. For purposes of the micro business owner, we will review forecasting very generally instead of in terms of a financial statement.
1.   Use the tips we gave about forecasting in part 1 to create a forecast of your Cash Flow in 1 year then 3 to 5 years out. This will of course be an educated guess based on industry trends and forecast along with general economic fluctuations.
2.   Forecasting is an important component of the financial section of your business plan because it gives you an idea of income & expenses to anticipate in the future. When you know what to expect, you have a chance to adjust your expenses accordingly to prevent financial disaster. It is also a good guideline to use for deciding when to quit your day job or even if it is possible to quit your day job. More importantly, it allows you to see that whether you need to increase your income in order for your business to survive!
3.   Well, again, you should take a week or two to complete this part of your business plan and stay tuned to the Micro Biz Coach podcast for Lesson 5 of Creating Your Business Plan when we will talk about how to write the Executive Summary.
4.   Drop us a line at comments@microbizcoach.com to let us know how your business planning process is going.

II.   Micro Biz Newz
As you may know, Micro Biz Coach likes to keep you informed about opportunities to win money for your business and here is yet another . . .

Entrepreneur.com Woman of the Year Contest
The rules according to entrepreneur.com:
To qualify, a woman business owner must

    * be a founder of the business
    * own at least 51% of her business
    * be actively involved in day-to-day operations
    * have been in business for at least one full year
    * have 2006 sales of at least $1 million, and
    * have less than 100 employees.
So if you know of someone who fits this bill the deadline for entry is September 15, 2007.
www.entrepreneur.com/womanoftheyear

III.   Micro Biz Spotlight
A.   Today in the Micro Biz Spotlight: Your Coach for Success: Media Training and Success Coaching by Annetta Wilson.
B.   Annetta is a talent coach for on-air journalists at CNN, CBS (WCBS-TV, New York) and has coached for Walt Disney World’s Ambassador program. An award-winning journalist, Ms. Wilson has over three decades experience in the broadcast industry as a television news anchor, reporter, producer, talk show host and writer.
C.   Your Coach for Success offers Presentation Skills Coaching, Keynote Speaking, Media Training, Television Talent Coaching, DISC™ Assessments & Workshop Facilitations.
D.   Visit Your Coach for Success at yourcoachforsuccess.com to get your free copy of a special report, "Three of the Biggest Mistakes People Make in Public Speaking!" That’s Y-O-U-R-C-O-A-C-H-F-O-R-S-U-C-C-E-S-S.COM, YourCoachForSuccess.com.
E.   If you find a micro business you feel is worthy of our spotlight please email us at spotlight@microbizcoach.com. That’s spotlight@microbizcoach.com.

Lesson 4 - Creating Your Business Plan: Part 1 - Writing the Finance Section of Your Plan

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 03:35:00 GMT

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Show Notes

I. Today we’re beginning to talk about how to write the of the Financial Section of your business plan.
A. Remember this section will come just after the Organization Overview once you have a clear understanding of . . .

1.   Your general business strategy
2.   Your general marketing strategy
3.   Your management team

B. So, before we get started, I want to know how you are doing with your Organization Overview. Many of you seem to have gotten through that section with ease. But, if anyone is having any problems with writing the Organization Overview section or have any questions, please email us at comments@microbizcoach.com or you can comment in our blog as well at www.microbizcoachblog.com.

C. So, in today’s episode, we’re going to talk through the basic components needed for the Financial Section of your business plan. And when I say basic, I mean BASIC.

Because people generally find this section to be challenging, we have divided this lesson into 2 parts. Today we’ll talk about the general components needed for the Financial Section and in Part two we’ll get into some of the specifics like creating financial statements.

1.   The first thing we need to understand before we begin creating the different financial statements is what is our actual income. I know this seems like such as easy question. And for those of you who are beyond this step humor me as I walk through the basics.
a)   What are you getting paid for your products?
b)   Do you also offer any services that you get paid for? Well these first two are rather obvious.
c)   Have you gotten any loans? This would be part of income.
d)   What about grants?
Okay, now let’s get into the income people often forget to add.
e)   What about investments?
Has your company invested in other companies that might be creating periodic cash flow?

As a matter of fact some even forget that investment income is possible for businesses. It may prove to be a very good source of cash flow.

What about the interest from your savings account?
f)   What about sale of equipment?
The business cou                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ld sell a piece of equipment that is no longer being used. This is of course income.
g)   And of course any sell of stock would create income. Assuming you’re NOT selling at a loss.

2.   The 2nd basic component of the Financial Section is Expenses.
a)   Anything you have to purchase in order to provide you customer with you products and services. For example, if you build websites, you would probably be charging for
(1)   hosting services
(2)   your time (or your web developers time) to create the site
(3)   any images you had to purchase to use on the site
(4)   Any applications you are using to create the site
(5)   Indirectly you are using internet connection
(6)
b)   Of course all salaries and contract wages paid should be included in your expenses.
c)   Office supplies
Anything you purchase to run your business or company is an expense.
(1)   Cell phone
(2)   Computers/Software – for example Client management software
d)   Leases
(1)   Company care leases
(2)   Office rent

e)   Educational & Organizational expenses
(1)   Books
(2)   Trade organization expenses
(3)   Network organization expenses
(4)   Certification Tests
(5)   Licenses

3.   The third thing you’ll want to consider is what will your income and expenses look like in 3 – 5 years.
The best way to predict these numbers is to look back at your general business, marketing and organization sections of your business plan. In those sections you talked about how things would changes in 3 – 5 years.

Decide what the economic value of these changes are and use those numbers to calculate your future income and expense.

For example, if you are planning to franchise your company you may predict your income to increase in year 3 by an order of magnitude because not only will you be making money from the sale of your products and services, but you’ll also be making more money from the sale of your business model. You’ll also have more expense in this case as you begin to train and develop others to run you franchise business according to the model you have created.

4.   Well, again, you should take a week or two to complete this part of your business plan and stay tuned to the Micro Biz Coach podcast for Lesson 4 Part 2 of Creating Your Business Plan when we will talk about how to write the Financial statements.

5.   Drop us a line at comments@microbizcoach.com to let us know how the business planning process is going.

II. Micro Biz Newz
This past Thursday the house approved $582 million in funding for SBA federal small-business loan and assistance programs. This funding includes money for small business develpment cents as well as loans for small and micro businesses and other Small Business Association initiatives. Visit www.sba.gov for more details.

The funding approved this week includes $80 million for 7(a) loans -- the agency's main lending program for small businesses -- $16.5 million in loans and assistance for its microloan program, and $100 million for Small Business Development Centers, among other initiatives.

III. Micro Biz Spotlight

A.   Today in the Micro Biz Spotlight: annesawyer.com
B.   Annesawyer.com specializes in hats, jewelry and travel.
C.   This company is one of the official hat designers of the Kentucky Derby. The hats have been purchased by some very notable people namely the late Anna Nicole Smith, Goldie Hawn, First Ladies Barbara and Laura Bush.
D.   Go check out some of these fabulous hats at www.annesawyer.com.
E.   If you find a micro business you feel is worthy of our spotlight please email us at spotlight@microbizcoach.com. Or visit us online at www.microbizcoach.com.

Lesson 3 - Creating Your Business Plan: 3 Things to Consider when Writing the Organization Section of Your Plan

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:24:00 GMT

Click to Listen to the Micro Biz Coach Podcast!

Show Summary

Today we’re talking about how to write the Organization Overview Section of your business plan.

A.   Remember this section will come just after the Marketing Overview once you have a clear understanding of . . .
1.   Your market
2.   Your competition
3.   How you will penetrate your market
4.   And your general marketing strategy

B.   So, in today’s episode, we’re going to talk through the basic components needed for the Organizational Section of your business plan. I just want to remind you as we review these different sections of a business plan, you want to extend your planning 3 – 5 years out for each major component.
For example, we will start with how your business will be organized initially, but we will also begin to think about any changes that need to be anticipated as the business grows. Thinking ahead about these things will keep you from hitting a brick wall in mid stream.

1.   Let’s start with Management
a)   In any organization, it is important to have and identify key management. It is no less important in your business. You will need to list key management and give the uniqueness each person brings to the business. A quick list of their background experiences that are relevant to the business will be expected.
b)   List their responsibilities within the business and prepare to list their compensation later in the Financial Overview section.
c)   Okay, let’s take this one step further and think about whether you may need to add key management personnel later. Are their any changes you can anticipate in the business that would merit additions or even deletions in management?

2.   Let’s move to Operations
a)   A major part or organizing your business is defining how it will operate. For example, how will you hire your team? Will they be full time employees, part time employees, contractors?
b)   Will you have external suppliers or will you outsource?
If so, how will you work with these external organizations? Have you researched best practices for your industry in order to find out how or if similar successful companies outsouce?
c)   How can you use technology to make your business processes more efficient? Will you need to outsource some technology needs or do you have sufficient skills in house?
There are several places you can go to outsource your technology and administrative needs as well.

Elance.com
yourvirtualresource.com

d)   How will you deliver products and or administer your services?
e)   How will you handle the ebb & flow of your market from an operations point of view?
For example, do you have the key management personnel in place to handle a 50% increase in business production? Will you need to hire more employees to manufacture your product if the demand increases one hundred fold? What if production decreased by 50% during the winter months? Do you have procedures in place to reduce or re-tool employees and even management during this downturn?
f)   And finally, is there any component of your operations strategy that offer your customers an advantage over your competitors?

3.   The third component of the Organization Section of your business plan is quality. How are you ensuring quality?
a)   Do you have the appropriate insurance for your business?
In some businesses, being bonded and insured is more attractive to potential customers. Appropriate insurances is also appealing to potential investors!
b)   Do you have a board of directors or some form of advisors to serve as your checks and balance for making important business decisions and creating strategy?
The board of directors or group of advisors should have appropriate credentials and their purpose and positions should be clearly stated.

4.   Most of the information needed for this section does not require reference books or manuals to locate. The information needed will come from interviews with prospective managements team from allowing the questions in this episode to provoke you towards clearer thought concerning these areas of business development.

5.   Your challenge may be finding the right peope to serve on your team. Here are some places to look:

Past or current colleagues
Past or current managers/bosses
Friends with appropriate skills or connections
Graduate students at a local college or university
Professors at a local college or university

6.   Well, again, you should take a week or two to complete this second part of your business plan and stay tuned to the Micro Biz Coach podcast for Lesson 4 of Creating Your Business Plan when we will talk about how to write the Financial Section.
7.   Drop us a line at comments@microbizcoach.com to let us know how the business planning process is going.

II.   Micro Biz Newz
A.   Today we’re going to focus on some of the Small Business Awards that are left for this year in case any of you are in a position to apply.
1.   Roanoke VA - 21st Annual Small Business Award Nominations Sought. Deadline June 25
http://www.roanokechamber.org/community_calendar/detail.php?id=464

2.   Amarillo TX - What businesses do you know that have no more than 100 employees...and have been in business for five years as of August 29, 2007...and are locally owned? Deadline June 22
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Ej5iZcBs5VUJ:www.amarillo-chamber.org/PDF/TSBA%2520Nomination%2520Form%252007.pdf+%22small+business+award%22+2007+nomination&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a

3.   Seattle WA –

be a for-profit business or you must be an individual owning a small business;
be located within the Seattle city limits;
employ between 1 and 100 people;
have been in business for at least three years;
have annual sales of less than $10 million dollars;
have a current City of Seattle business license and currently paid City B&O taxes. Deadline, July 18

http://www.seattle.gov/economicdevelopment/sba/mayors_small_biz2007_announcement.htm

4.   New York Tristate - The Small Business Awards will recognize 5 small businesses for their best practices and accomplishments in the following areas (1 in each area):
Human Resources • Marketing • Leadership • Sales • Technology
Awards will be presented to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices to generate competitive advantages, revenue profits and/or long-term value.
http://www.nyreport.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=342

III.   Micro Biz Spotlight
A.   Today in the Micro Biz Spotlight: LEJ Photography.com
B.   LEJ Photograpy offers Wedding, Portrait, and Nature Photography Serving Tallahassee, Florida and Surrounding Areas.
C.   This is an outstanding photography company as evidenced by the photographs found in the LEJ Photography blog:   http://lejphotography.blogspot.com/
D.   For those of you who live or know someone in the Tallahassee Florida and surrounding areas check out LEJ Photography online at lejphotography.com.
E.   If you find a micro business you feel is worthy of our spotlight please email us at spotlight@microbizcoach.com.

Lesson 2 - Part 2, Creating Your Business Plan: 4 Things to Consider when Writing the Marketing Section of Your Plan

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Sat, 26 May 2007 02:03:00 GMT

Click to Listen to the Micro Biz Coach Podcast!

Show Summary

Today we’re talking about how to write the Marketing Overview Section of your business plan.

A. Remember this section will come just after the Business Overview once you have a clear understanding of your business’s . . .
1.    industry
2.    objectives
3.    mission
4.    available opportunities

C.    So, before we get started, I want to know how you are doing with the first part of your Marketing Overview. I am excited, as always, to hear from those of you who have emailed us with your excitement and enthusiasm over finally being able to get your business plans written. If you are having any problems with writing the Business Overview section or have any questions, please email us at comments@microbizcoach.com or you can comment in our blog as well at www.microbizcoachblog.com.

D. So, we have divided this section into 2 parts to preserve the short and sweet length of the podcast Creating your Business Plan lessons. The major components of Part 1 were, Defining Your Market & Researching the Competition. Now you are ready to determine how you will penetrate your market and what your general marketing strategy will be.

1.   Penetrating Your Market
a)   It’s important for you to give yourself a game plan of how you will enter the market for your product or service and make people take notice that you are open for business and ready to compete.
b)   To do this you must ask and answer for yourself three major questions:
c)   First: How will you penetrate or break into this market and claim your share of the target customers?
Now that you know there is a market for your business and you know who the market is, you must decide on the best tactics to use to introduce your business to this target market.

So, you’ll want to give them a reason to look at you for example, will your price be different? Will your promotional strategy be different? Will your product have an edge over your competitors product? These are things you can promote about your business to make it stand out so your target market takes notice.
d)   Second: What percentage of the target customer should you be able to reach with this strategy?
Once you decide how to penetrate your target market you should indicate the percentage of customers that you will attract with that particular method.

Most small and micro business owners will used multiple market penetration strategies that are fairly inexpensive. For example, some may choose to write a Press Release introducing their business. The Press Release would highlight the characteristic that makes it different from the competition.

Press Release Distributors
www.PRlead.com
www.i-newswire.com
www.pr.com

Micro Biz Coach will also write or review your press release for a nominal fee.
e)   Third: What is your 3 – 5 year growth projection?
Now, why would we want to do a 3-5 year growth projection? Well, at least 44% of businesses fail after 4 yrs and many do so because of an incomplete plan. Actually, many businesses start quickly out of necessity or on a whim and never actually create a plan. And those that do have a business plan, have not created it themselves so for all practical purposes, they don’t have a plan because they don’t implement the one that was created for them. I mean haven’t you seen those long intimidating business plans? Most investors don’t even want to read them!

So we suggest a 3-5 year growth projection partly because if you still have strategies for growth at this time it gets you over the common period of down-turn in the lifespan of a small or micro business owner.

The next questions is, how do we do a growth projection? Let’s do some internet searches on the normal growth of a similar company in your industry. Yahoo finance is a good place to go to look at the market trends and analysis of similar companies. You can find this at finance.yahoo.com.
2.   The fourth and final major component of this section is the overall Marketing Strategy.
a)   The first question to answer here is: How will you promote your business?
Do you know the best or most common form of advertising for your type of product and/or service. For example, will you customers benefit from word of mouth promotion or do they need to experience your product (or service) first and aren’t primarily influenced by popularity? Just go back to the data you gathered about your customers to figure this one out.
b)   Second: Will you use the preferred ad method right away or wait until your business revenues increase to a certain amount?
The preferred advertising method is always encouraged as long as there is money I the bank so to speak. However, if you are running off slim pickings (i.e. Finances) you should try all sorts of guerilla marketing strategies first. Large companies have even benefited from some guerilla marketing strategies: the great comeback of the Hushpuppies for example.
c)   Third: What frequency is needed for the type of advertising you will choose?
Each advertising media has it’s own frequency that is most effective for its genre. Guerilla Marketing, by Jay Conrad Levinson is a great resource for determining these frequency rates for different advertising media.
d)   Fourth: When is the best time to employ each strategy?
Because some businesses are affected by the changes in the seasons whether it’s the holiday season or the actual seasons of the Earth. So be cognizant of this when you choose your method of advertising. For example if your selling Independence Day products, you may just want to do some low cost subtle advertising to keep your company name in the mind of your target customer through the off season. You may even choose not to advertise at all.

3.    Well, again, you should take a week or two to complete this second part of your business plan and stay tuned to the Micro Biz Coach podcast for Lesson 3 of Creating Your Business Plan when we will talk about how to write the Organizational Section.

II.   Micro Biz Newz
A.   Enter the Forbes “Boost Your Business” contest – Forbes.com for your chance to win 100 thousand dollars!
1.   Goto boost.perfectprize.com
2.   Submit the name of your business (a small but growing companies) along with a 500 word description of how you would use the money.
3.   How does your business make money, it’s value proposition to potential customers, advantages over competition.
4.   Map clear reasonable chart for growth demonstrating how you will use the 100K to boost you business to greater revenue.

5.   Deadline is May 31.

III.   Micro Biz Spotlight
A.   Today in the Micro Biz Spotlight: BodyEez.com
B.   Body Eez is a multi-purpose gel. Use Body Eez for temporary relief of body aches and pains associated with arthritis, rheumatism, or just tired aching muscles and joints from strenuous activity or overuse.
C.   So it sounds like a good cure-all for weightlifters or other athletes, and definitely the aging population.
D.   Body Eez® is a registered trademark and the product is proven in it’s industry and has been around for over 20 years!
E.   To learn more about this life changing analgesic visit them at www.bodyeez.com. That’s www.b-o-d-y-e-e-z.com.
F.   If you find a micro business you feel is worthy of our spotlight please email us at spotlight@microbizcoach.com. That’s spotlight@microbizcoach.com.

Lesson 2 - Part 1, Creating Your Business Plan: 4 Things to Consider when Writing the Marketing Section of Your Plan

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:00:00 GMT

Click to Listen to the Micro Biz Coach Podcast!
Show Summary

Today we’re talking about how to write the Marketing Overview Section of your business plan.

A.    This section will come just after the Business Overview once you have a clear understanding of your business’s . . .
1.    industry
2.    objectives
3.    mission
4.    available opportunities

B.    Now, you can begin documenting some detailed information about your target customer, your competition, how you will penetrate this market and your overall marketing strategy. Are you ready? Well, let’s get ready to do some planning!

C.    So, before we get started, I want to know how you are doing with your Business Overview. I am thrilled to hear from those of you who have emailed us with your excitement and enthusiasm over finally being able to get your business plans written. If you are having any problems with writing the Business Overview section or have any questions, please email us at comments@microbizcoach.com or you can comment in our blog as well at www.microbizcoachblog.com.

D.    Okay your Marketing Overview will have four components: Defining Your Market, Research the Competition, Market Penetration, and a Strategic Overview. In order to keep the podcast short and sweet we will have a part 1 and a part 2 for this section of our creating your business plan lesson. So we’ll review the first two of these components in today’s show.

1.    Defining Your Market
a)    Who is your market (or your target customer)? In other words, who do you expect to purchase or use your products or services? Is your customer an individual, business or both?

b)    What are your target customers’ buying habits? How do you find your target customers’ buying habits?
Where to find this information:
            **Household Spending: Who Spends How Much on What
            **SRDS Lifestyle Market Analysis in Library

c)    What are the current and future trends of your products or services? Is it a growing market? What area of the country shows the most potential for growth? Is there an international market for your product or service? If so, tell why you believe there is an international market and describe who this market would consist of.
Sometimes finding this information is as easy as doing a google search on your industry. For example, if you are in the travel industry, you can go to google and type in “travel industry outlook.” This search should net you several resources for forecast of the travel industry. Once you get these results, however, you’ll want to decipher through them to find those that appear to be from a trustworthy source.

Where to find this information:
US Department of Labor’s website
Thomson Gale Industry Analysis & Statistics (library reference)
Trade association publications

d)    Identify any factors in your business’s industry that may negatively or positively affect your bottom line. If the effect is negative, explain how your company will be protected from the turmoil.
So for example, you may not have the financial resources to purchase the required amount of inventory needed to get shelf space at the big retail outlets. Well this could be a negative effect if this is the right time to get your merchandise out. But you can protect your business by focusing on the smaller outfitters you have already created a relationship with.

2.    Research the Competition
a)    Find your top three competitors and note the following information: 1. What are their products or services? 2. What do they have in common with your products and/or services? 3. What is their company philosophy? 4. How are the products and/or services distributed?
Sometimes a google search is all you need to research your competitors. You need to know the answer to the other questions to more thoroughly create your marketing strategy. For example, you need to know what distinguishes your business from others so you can inform your customer of this advantage.

b)    What are the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors?
Knowing your competitors weaknesses has an obvious advantage. Knowing their strengths can give you an idea of what you can focus on to build your brand.

3.    Well, again, you should take a week or two to complete this second part of your business plan and stay tuned to the Micro Biz Coach podcast for Lesson 2 Part 2 of Creating Your Business Plan when we will continue to talk about how to write the Marketing Section.

Welcome Podcast Alley!

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:54:00 GMT

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-d4243f858d2c6bbe508e5a1ab6a7556c}

Welcome Technorati!

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 11:17:00 GMT

Technorati Profile

Lesson 1 - Creating Your Business Plan: 4 Things to Consider when Writing the General Business Section of Your Plan

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 23:55:00 GMT

Click to Listen to the Micro Biz Coach Podcast!
Show Summary

Today we’re talking about what to do once you have made up your mind to start a business.

Now, you can begin thinking about how you will structure your business, your business address, whether you need a separate line for phone calls, how will you finance you business, will your business make money.
In essence what we will begin to do is walk you through the various sections of a business plan. We will begin a series of podcast lessons on Creating Your Business Plan. So, let’s get ready to do some planning!
First of all, it’s important for you to understand that there is no absolute outline for a business plan. In other words, you may find different business plan outlines, but the good plans will all contain the same basic information.
For example, a summary, general business info, marketing info, organizational info & financial info. While most business plans begin with an Executive Summary, we will begin our actual planning process in the second section of the Business Plan with what we’ll call, the Business Overview.
Our Business Overview will have four sections: Description, History, Objectives combined with the Mission, and a Strategic Overview. Listen as we explain each of these sections in our podcast.

FYI – Below are some online companies that offer services to incorporate your business. We do not as of yet directly endorse these companies and therefore, as you know, did not mention them by name in our podcast.
o www.mycorporation.com
o www.corporate.com

Check out the Micro Biz Coach Podcast Episode 3 to learn what to look out for when using online companies to set up your corporation!

Micro Biz Spotlight!

www.signsunlimited.com

Visit www.microbizcoach.com for more small and micro business resources.

The One Stop Shop for Small & Micro Business Owners!

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:10:00 GMT

Click to Listen to the Micro Biz Coach Podcast!
Show Summary
Today in our Feature segment we’re going to talk about Micro Biz Coach to give you a better understanding of how we are the small and micro business advocate and why we are the one stop shop for small & micro business owners.

What is Micro Biz Coach?
Micro Biz Coach helps people start, grow & enhance their small or micro business.

Why does Micro Biz Coach exist?
Micro Biz Coach exists to provide advocacy and support for small and micro business community at a price point they can afford.

What types of services does Micro Biz Coach provide?
At Micro Biz Coach, we can assist you from business start-up through the various phases of business development. More specifically, we assist in creating business plans, creating marketing strategies, marketing materials (i.e. designing & building websites, creating logos, press releases, etc.) and a host of other business services.

What types of products does Micro Biz Coach offer?
We offer the latest in technology needs for your new, existing or developing business. More specifically, we offer website hosting, E commerce, domain names, business “how-tos”, business fact sheets, and a host of other business services.

What is the price range of Micro Biz Coach’s business products and services?
Most of our business products and services range in price from $4 to several hundred dollars.

Who can benefit from Micro Biz Coach?
People who benefit from the products & services offered by Micro Biz Coach are multi-faceted. Our company helps 1) those who have an idea for a product or business they want to develop 2) those who have already started a business or created a product and are not getting the results they want 3) those who have started a business or created a product and want to know “What’s next?” and finally 4) Those who have a successful small or micro business and would like to purchase top quality business products and services at a reasonable price.

Micro Biz Newz
A Few facts from the Forbes Billionaire List, forbes.com
A.    a record 946 billionaires
B.    178 newcomers including the first billionaires from Cyprus, Oman, Romania and Serbia – How’s that for globalization?
C.    The new billionaires on this year’s list are 7 years younger than the 67 year old average billionaire
D.    60% of those on this year’s list made their money from nothing which means many of them started with the basics business building questions we’ve discussed today and little or no money.

**Notice how the age of the billionaires in this list, suggest that we are able to build wealth faster. What part do you think technology is playing in this phenomenon?

Visit www.microbizcoach.com for more small and micro business resources.

3 Things You Need to Know for a Successful Business Start-Up!

comments@microbizcoach.com (Micro Biz Coach) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:46:00 GMT

Click to Listen to the Micro Biz Coach Podcast!
Today we’re talking about how to start your micro business, but we’re focusing on what you need to do before you get started.
We briefly discussed the following questions:
1.   What product or service will I offer?
2.   Who is my customer for this product or service?
3.   How will I reach these customers?

Want to start a business and don’t feel you have a skill? Here’s some tips!
Free Web Classes!
o   www.w3schools.com

Businesses to start for hundreds – not thousands, but hundreds of dollars. Here’s a few.

o   Domain Name Broker
o   Web Designer
o   Freelance writer
o   E fax
o   Affiliate Network Publisher

How to find your target customer without spending a fortune?
Start with your local library reference books
o   Lifestyle Market Analyst

Visit www.microbizcoach.com for more small and micro business resources.