Investment Recovery Benefits
Recovering the highest value of assets not needed by a company is called investment recovery. The idle assets are identified and then re-used or disposed of as surplus – retrieving considerable value in the process. In every organization, assets are always present. Machines or facilities are purchased but through time, they wear and tear to the point that they can no longer be used. This is where investment recovery comes in. In doing this process, there are important principles to consider. These things are important for companies to know because they can be very useful to the environment in terms of asset disposition.
The first essential thing is the principle of re-using equipment. Idle equipment can be reused internally. Through an effective investment recovery program, surplus equipment can be kept out of the landfill instead of purchasing a new one. Reusing any idle equipment reduces depreciation, insurance costs and capital. Instead of disposing old equipment, a company can recycle it by converting oils and save valuable chemicals; which can generate income and preserve resources. Hazardous waste and disposal costs can be reduced.
The second is reconditioning. One example of this is the reconditioning of toner printing cartridges. They can be refilled and rebuilt and a business could save more money rather than purchasing a new one. In the investment recovery program, pumps, motors and valves can also be saved and put back into service by doing some minor repairs. Reselling is also a good option for a business’s excess inventory. This reduces loss and increases the company’s income. In some idle assets, lube oils, metals and spent solvents can be reclaimed and this has a good effect on the environment because it reduces waste, improves operating costs and preserves natural resources. In some instances, spare parts and unwanted materials can be sent back to the manufacturer for cash. In order to increase return of capital and lower the tax base, it is better to remove excess assets. Continue reading
Things You Need to Know About Cash Flow
A healthy cash flow іѕ thе lifeline οf аnу business. In order tο brеаk free οf day tο day financial worries, іt’s best tο understand thе importance οf cash flow аnd hοw іt works. Bу understanding thе basic rules οf cash flow, уου wіll hаνе thе ability tο operate уουr business thе way уου hаνе always wanted tο. Below аrе 8 “rules οf thumb” whеn іt comes tο cash flow.
Cash іѕ King
Tο рυt іt simply, nο cash means nο business. Understanding thе basics οf whеrе уου money іѕ coming аnd going іѕ whаt саn keep уουr business afloat whеn times аrе tight. Keep a watchful eye οn уουr cash flow bесаυѕе іt сουld mean thе dіffеrеnсе whісh direction уουr business іѕ headed.
Don’t Rυn Out οf Cash
If уου want tο gο out οf business quickly, thеn rυn out οf cash. Mаkе smart decisions ѕο thаt уου aren’t left without аnу cash. Again, nο cash means nο business.
Don’t Procrastinate
Avoid putting οff thе work уου саn dο today until tomorrow. Doing уουr work οn time wіll enable уου tο keep аn ассυrаtе cash balance іn уουr accounting system.
Gеt Informed
Dο уου know whаt уουr cash balance іѕ rіght now? If nοt, уου need tο know. Yου саnnοt mаkе thе best decisions fοr уουr business іf уου don’t know whаt уουr account balance іѕ οr іf уουr account balance іѕ inaccurate. Continue reading
Find The Best Annuity Rates
There are many working men out there who are not aware of how to anticipate their retirement. They think it will always be fine because it will not happen until the next ten years or so. Actually, that is a wrong thing to do or have in mind because there is a need to anticipate the retirement, and what can be done is by going for annuity rates. Annuity rates are basically the amounts of money returned back to the person who has paid deposits to a certain financial institution long before the retirement. Different institutions have different rates to offer.
Therefore it is important to do a research on companies for the annuity rates that they have to offer. Of course, the higher the rates, the more money to receive back. Annuity is simply like insurance or also like an investment. People are investing in depositing their money in the hope of getting the money returned and added with interest or rates during their retirement. The interval of time to receive the money is up to each individual whether they want it weekly, monthly, or yearly. So, there is a serious need to talk about all the details with the company before agreeing to what is in the contract.
The Six Minute Book Summary of The Sassy Ladies? Toolkit For Start-Up Businesses by Michelle Girasole, Wendy Hanson, And Miriam Perry
Executive Summary
The Sassy Ladies’ Toolkit for Start-up Businesses is a very relevant, useful tool for anyone interested in being her (or his) own boss. The book takes the idea of starting a business and breaks it down into steps. The authors use the metaphor of a journey to aid the entrepreneur in starting down the road.
The book starts off having the prospective business owner visualize a variety of things. She should visualize herself performing the job she has chosen and where that will get her in her life. It also encourages the use of positive thinking and has her change negative thoughts to positive affirmations. In each chapter there is encouragement, bolstered by pertinent advice.
Throughout the book and at the end of each chapter there are exercises to maintain focus to accomplish the task at hand. The questions posed at the end of each chapter ask not only to state what was discussed, but how the business owner will apply the ideas put forth, to her particular endeavor. The exercises require a good amount of thought and provide a practical means to accomplishing each individual step. Approached properly, performing these exercises would seem to make the business start-up process almost fool-proof.
Not only do the authors offer advice, they have quotes of other successful women in business throughout the entire book. At many points the authors give their own personal opinions on a topic, many times differing from one another greatly. The other women business owners reinforce the ideas the authors are conveying and expand on them to foster a deeper, more precise basis of the information offered to the reader.
Charts are used extensively throughout the book. They offer information in a format that is easy to read and allow for simple comparison of information given. The charts offer information about an item, along with a basic description, resources to find out more about a given topic or item, and the pros and cons of the item.
Appendices are used for many of the chapters. These provide examples of the ideas put forth within the corresponding sections. A sample email is provided in one appendix that could be used as a template for correspondence the business owner would use to contact potential business associates or clients. In another appendix, samples of simplified financial statements along with explanations of them are useful for the new business owner to gain a better understanding of the economic position of the business.
Resources are listed at the end of every chapter. They provide the reader with the ability to further research things that are most relevant to her needs. The resources include websites, movies, videos, books, magazines, articles, and products. With each resources listed, a brief synopsis is given to clarify what that resource has to offer. The Sassy Ladies website is a resource used in all the chapters; each web page has more in-depth information on the chapter’s subjects. They also provide links to more worksheets and exercises that could be helpful.
The book was well written and very well organized. It took the reader through each step of the process, explaining in detail the actions that should be taken at the appropriate time. There was constant encouragement along the way. The authors have found success through trial and error, and in this book, pass along knowledge and insight gained from their own journeys.
The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from The Sassy Ladies’ Toolkit
Managers should have a positive outlook and encourage the same in those they manage.
With regard to the above, managers should know how to make use of negativity. A negative remark should be used as a challenge or it should be used to give the manager insight as to the potential weakness(es) of a plan.
A manager should always be aware of the competition. Whether the manager is a top level manager at a large corporation, viewing the competitive forces within the market, or a candidate for a position within the firm, attempt to know as much as possible about the competition.
It is always in the best interest of the company to have a plan of action. Whether it is a five year plan or a daily to-do list, planning is essential.
Contingency planning is also essential. There are so many things that can go wrong; anticipating what can be done to counteract, circumvent, or directly address problems should be considered.
Organization is absolutely required. All aspects of business require some degree of organization, but two key areas are workspace and time management.
All businesses have weaknesses and so do the individuals who manage them. It is best to discover and be aware of weaknesses and compensate for them in some way. What a manager cannot do for herself can be done by others who are more competent at performing the task.
There are many new and emerging technologies that could be put to use to the manager’s advantage. There are, however, some drawbacks to many of them, and the manger should be aware of these also.
Networking is important. Having a group of business acquaintances is extremely useful in the business world.
Realizing that “No” should not be considered a dead end. It should be taken as an opportunity to be creative and discover new ideas or avenues to accomplish goals.
Full Summary of The Sassy Ladies’ Toolkit
DREAMING ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS
Define what the dream is.
The business owner should identify some ability, product, or specialized knowledge that is marketable.
She should also identify the values that she desires in her business and her life.
Focus on making the dream a reality.
Practice visualizing the dream.
The business owner should imagine herself in her business, performing the required tasks.
She should see the benefits that she will reap from being her own boss.
She could be in control of her time.
She could have more quality time for her family, because she has allowed herself the flexibility to do so.
Think positively about the plan
Negative self-talk should be avoided. Change phrases from, “I can’t do this”, to, “I’ll learn and try my best”.
The business owner should surround herself with supportive people who encourage her to attain her goals.
The business owner should perform exercises that properly place her on her desired path. She could do this by answering questions like, “What small things can I do consistently to keep me on the road I’ve chosen?”
DETERMINING THE FEASIBILITY OF YOUR BUSINESS
A customer base should be identified early on in the business planning process.
The business owner should aim at a potential target market.
Decide whether the business should sell consumers or provide its services to other commercial entities.
The business owner should research similar businesses in the market, against which she might be competing.
Determine competitors’ pricing structures.
Make note of the market’s openness to new entrants.
Note positive and negative characteristics of competitors and decide which to mimic and which to avoid.
A pricing structure needs to be established.
Identify fixed costs that the business will incur, such as rental expense and utilities
Identify variable costs per item or per unit of time.
Determine a mark-up that allows for profit.
Identify negative feedback and use it to the business’ advantage.
By receiving any negative feedback, the business owner will be able to address shortcomings that she may have overlooked.
Test the business idea by polling family, friends, and colleagues.
An “elevator pitch” should be created.
A basic overview of the business that should take the approximate amount of time it would be spent on an elevator ride. The speech should not be too long because most listeners will lose interest quickly. She should practice the pitch on people close to her who she trusts to be honest and offer suggestions for improvement.
PLANNING YOUR BUSINESS
An action plan should be created to establish the course taken to establish the business.
Decide what needs to be done within the coming year.
Narrow down the “year list” to decide what should be done within the month.
Take action today on an item you have planned to do within the month.
The business owner should take steps to be better informed and prepared to go into her chosen field.
She could enroll in a course that teaches general business principles.
She should subscribe to journals and other publications that relate to her field.
She should attend networking events to gain understanding of local business conditions.
The business owner should create a viable business plan.
She should write a mission statement defining the business’ purpose.
She should include any experience and credentials she has.
The organizational structure (i.e. sole proprietorship, LLC) should be included in the plan.
WORKING FROM YOUR HOME OFFICE
The business owner should establish a base for operations. In the beginning, that would most likely be a home office.
A dedicated office space should be established. This could be a spare room, a
The impotance of Global business for any business organization
Global Business
Nature and Trends: -growth of the global economy and changes in markets (financial/capital, labour, consumer)
Globalisation is the movement across nations of trade, investment, technology, finance and labour. In the business world globalisation refers to the process of businesses becoming transnationals and locating and conducting their operations in many countries.
The process of globalisation, assisted by the technological revolution in communications and computers, is radically altering the shape of the world markets, as well as the nature of business and everyday life
Globalisation has two main components:
The globalisation of markets – refers to the combining of once separate and distinct national markets into one huge global marketplace
Globalisation of production refers to the practice of many businesses to purchase their inputs from around the globe as well as the tendency to manufacture components in low cost locations
Growth of the global economy
As globalisation continues, flows of finance, labour and consumer products between countries will increase as these markets undergo structural changes
Many businesses must become global players just to survive. Australian companies are now forced to compete with foreign suppliers as well as attempting to sell their products overseas
Changes in markets
Finance is now more mobile and flows relatively easily between countries, especially since the 1970s when many countries phased out their controls on foreign exchange trading-as a result it has increased
In 2005 total world foreign exchange trading was estimated by the Bank of International Settlement to be 85 times the value of world trade and growing
Capital flows to countries where investment opportunities are greater, therefore developing economies do not have much capital inflow
Changes in labour markets
Due to political barriers, the flow of people between countries is now more restricted and has not been ‘freed u’ to the same degree as other markets
The movement of large numbers of temporary migrant workers has been very important in EU and Asia
The growing D for highly trained employees means that those people are increasingly mobile
Changes in consumer markets
Countries are achieving cost savings by specialising in products they can produce efficiently (comparative advantage)
The results in cheaper prices on the world market and generates increased sales in existing markets
Improved tech. + comm. Allow businesses to reach much larger markets and take advantage of economies of scale-internet
Trends in Global Trade Since World War II
The last 50 years has seen growth in merchandise exports, which are domestically made products sold to consumers in another country
1945 to 1960-US domination of global trade
Europe and Japan suffered enormous damage and US businesses faced little competition
US corporations were the main suppliers of inputs for the rest of the world and US brand names and products became recognized around the world
1960 to 1980- Japan and Europe re-emerge
By the end of the 1950s Europe and Japan had largely rebuilt their industries and were ready to recommence selling to the rest of the world although US businesses still dominated the economy
During this period some Australian manufacturing businesses began to adopt more of an export-oriented business philosophy although they were still reluctant to undertake an export program apart from the traditional commodities such as wool and wheat
1980 to present- the global marketplace
The process of globalisation accelerated from he early 1980s and the integration of the world’s markets has dramatically altered the nature and pattern of global trade
Three geographic regions now dominate the world economy, producing and consuming the majority of the world’s production of goods and services. These regions are:
-The European Union
-The United States
-Japan
Drivers of Globalisation
Role of Transnational Corporations
Transnational corporation (TNC) is any business that has productive activities in two or more countries and which operate on a worldwide scale
A TNC attempts to combine the benefits of economies of scale with the benefits of responding to local conditions
TNCs conduct a large % of their business outside their home country
TNCs have their greatest impact on globalisation through the movement of goods and resources between nations – accounting for over two-thirds of global trade
In a fully developed TNC, finance, assets, technology, information, employees, patents, goods and services all flow freely from one country and one subsidiary to another.
Global Consumers
Global consumers enjoy similar needs/wants as IT allows for the spread of world culture e.g. television commercials are shown across the globe promoting particular brands.
Impact of Technology
Due to improvements in transport and communications the world has become a smaller place and with each successive technological development, the globe shrinks in size
Information technology (IT) is at the heart of modern organisations and is a driving force for global change
Advances in IT allow an increased flow of ideas and information across borders, so customers learn about overseas-made goods
Global communications systems make it possible for businesses to coordinate design production and distribution worldwide
The cost of global communications is declining and the tools of IT are becoming easier to use
Role of Government
Govts. Have reduced barriers to trade and I
Australian governments have been active in trade liberalization talks, especially through regional negotiations.
Governments around the world support integration of the worlds markets as a way of delivering future economic growth.
CERTA, CAFTA
Deregulation of Financial Markets
Deregulation is the process of removing government regulation from industry in order to achieve efficiency through greater competition
FDI – investments made for the purpose of actively controlling companies, assets or property outside a business’s home country
Deregulation has led to opportunities for increased FDI, supporting globalization
Financial flows are now more mobile b/w countries due to the globalization of equity markets and floating of exchange rates
Interaction between Global Business and Australian Domestic Business
As the process of globalisation continues, Australian businesses face increased competition as well as increased opportunities
Many TNC’s which operate in Australia have done so since the 1960s and therefore networks and relationships are well established.
The multicultural makeup of the Australian workplace provides personnel with language skills and who understand and appreciate cultural differences.
Governments and numerous consultants provide advice, financial assistance and contacts to encourage export-oriented businesses.
Australian companies which have successfully gone global include those in the areas of building materials, recycling processes, banking, wine, tourism, education, bioengineering and a host of SME’s across a wide range of products and services.
Global Business Strategy
Methods of International Expansion
Export
Exporting occurs when a business manufactures its products in its home country and then sells them in foreign markets
Exporting is the first stage for most businesses in their expansion strategy because it widens their potential market, allows them to test the willingness of foreign consumers to buy their product and carries much less risk than other forms of expansions
There are 3 different methods of exporting:
Indirect exporting is when a business sells its products to a domestic customer, who then exports the product. The domestic customer then assumes all the risks of distribution, sales and transportation
Direct exporting is when the exporting business sells its products to an intermediary or customer in another country
Intracorporate exporting is the selling of a product by a firm in one country to a subsidiary firm in another.
The main advantages of exporting as a method of overseas entry are:
It is relatively inexpensive, especially compared to established production facilities overseas
t provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience, although this would depend upon the exporting method selected
The main disadvantages of exporting are:
Overseas countries may use a number of barriers to trade which could result in an increase in the prive of the exported products
High transport costs may make exporting uneconomical, especially if air transport is involved
Overseas agents or intermediaries may not do as good a job as the business itself
Foreign Direct Investment
There are 3 methods of FDI
Greenfield strategy:
The Six Minute Book Summary of of Big Vision, Small Businesses by Jamie S. Walters
Executive Summary
What is success? According to Webster’s online site, it is a favorable or desirable outcome. In most businesses, success is often measured by how big or large a company is, but Jamie Walters dare to think differently. In her book, Big Vision, Small Business, she goes in detail about strategies for small businesses to stay small, but remain vital, healthy, and rewarding. The objective of this book is to redefine success, no in terms of revenue and numbers, but in ways that affect and change our communities.
In today’s culture, we tend to give success a materialistic value. “The bigger the company’s payroll or revenues, the more it consumes, then the more successful it – and its leaders must be.” Many of our small business make contributions and positive changes to our neighborhoods, cities, and even our country. According to Walters, some of the smallest businesses offer opportunities through ideas, lifestyles, innovations, and different practices, many things large corporations cannot or even will not. She’s not necessarily saying that one, small or large, is better than the other, but there are different strokes for different folks and for her small is better. She believes big vision small businesses have four “keys” to being successful.
The first key is about engaging in inspired visioning and planning. This key outlines the twelve priorities of big vision, small business. It also answers questions like “How do you, as a business owner, want others to experience your enterprise?” and “How does your business affect your community?”
The second key helps a business owner determine which definition of growth suits them. They should decide what to expand, and when to expand; this is solely their decision. But when deciding, they should be very careful, aware, and considerate of their vision, mission, and external environment. Disadvantages as well as advantages should be a major toll also.
Building and maintaining right relationships is the third key which includes the “golden rules” for right relationships. Relationships, no matter whom it may be with require commitment and strong communication skills. Developing right, healthy relationships helps a company in becoming successful in the long term.
Lastly, but not least, the forth key explains why wisdom and balance are two major components of a big vision small business. It also advises small business owners to use history, their spiritual or philosophical beliefs, common senses, and knowledge of competition, their money, and risk of failure.
In conclusion, Walters believe big is not always better and success should not have a price tag attached to it, but should be measured by the way you affect people’s lives. Success should flow from passion and effort, and how well one accomplishes the big vision; keeping the vision in mind every step of the way.
Full Summary of Big Vision, Small Business
In today’s culture, we tend to give success a materialistic value. “The bigger the company’s payroll or revenues, the more it consumes, then the more successful it – and its leaders must be.” Many of our small business make contributions and positive changes to our neighborhoods, cities, and even our country. According to Walters, some of the smallest businesses offer opportunities through ideas, lifestyles, innovations, and different practices, many things large corporations cannot or even will not. She’s not necessarily saying that one, small or large, is better than the other, but there are different strokes for different folks and for her small is better. She believes in big vision, small business.
What is a big vision, small business? According to Walters, BIG VISION is a primer for small enterprise owners to create an ethical, visionary enterprise that is consistent with their values and lifestyle priorities.” Having a BIG VISION encourages small business owners to build a business with meaning, not just for profit or a quick dollar. The BIG VISION is a mixture of values, ethics, and philosophical and spiritual beliefs. It states the business mission for being, and bridges personal life with public lifestyle. Having a BIG VISION is and should be the foundation of small businesses.
Walter interviews with many small business owners gave her the conclusion that there are twelve priorities of the big vision small business. They are:
Mutual benefit—Big vision small business owner’s prerogative is to ensure that they and those they do business with benefit rather than having a “zero sum approach.”
Right livelihood—in small business big vision, right livelihood refers to our desire to do meaningful work, conducted in a mindful way that contributes positively to the community, or at least does no harm.
Right Relationships—Relationships to big vision small business owners are no for “image- boosting.” Some ensure this by committing to provide benefits to employees, forming healthy relationships with customers, or by making their place of business family friendly.
Giving back to the community—Big vision small business owners choose local causes or charitable organizations to help out and make a difference in the world.
Aspiring toward high ethical ground—ethics and integrity are extremely important with BVSM owners, whether it “means admitting a mistake,.. paying your taxes and other bills on time, or turning away business for which you’re not optimally suited…”
Creating a respectful work environment—BVSB owners provide respectful environments for both employees and customers by providing benefits, flexible schedules, family friendly policies, and many other things to show that they care.
Viewing a healthy bottom line as a means rather that the end—“This might mean that a visionary owner works mindfully to find a healthy balance between service and revenue generation.” A business owner must be passionate about their business, but handle their finances correctly.
Fostering health and wellness—Some business owners may feel that helping people get and stay healthy is their goal and main purpose for their business.
Promoting awareness and self- responsibility—Many small business owners offer information to raise awareness and often go above –and – beyond the operating necessities of their business.
Fostering a different way of working—This means simply being different, not typical. Many big vision small business owners strive to have a competitive advantage in what they do.
Putting forth a higher level of quality—Offering the highest quality work regardless of the client’s revenue category should be every small business owner’s goal. They should remember that their work is still a reflection of them.
Connecting one’s business and spiritual philosophies—“Unifying work with one’s spiritual or religious life is the ideal goal to be achieved.” Being a small business makes it easier for one to apply wisdom gained from contemplative life to the everyday use.
After reviewing her twelve priorities, Walters came to the conclusion that there are four key issues- vision, growth, relationships, and wisdom. These four key issues inspire big vision small business owners to “keep focus as they manage, and sometimes struggle with, day- to- day realities of running a vision-inspired business in today’s fast paced, mega- competitive, hyper-materialistic world.
Key #1: To Live Large, You Have to Vision Big
In big vision, small businesses, one must have a clear concept that guides their company. Having a BIG VISION takes a great deal of visioning and planning. A clear vision and allied action plan holds a key place with small business ownership. The vision and plan should be personalized and helps the business to evolve. “There needs to be a hunger, a fire inside which fuels your passion to achieve an important goal, regardless of your ability level.” Walters elaborates that having a strong vision or purpose and encouraging employees to achieve that mission can lead small businesses to a high level of performance.
How does vision differ from mission and core values? Vision, mission, and core values are often interchanged incorrectly and misused. Big vision, small business owners should start the visioning process by knowing the difference between these words.
Walter explains that a vision is the “act or power of anticipating that which will or any come to be.” In many businesses, the vision is put together with no real intention to transform or grow. A vision should be vivid and imaginative, something to hope for, and be inspired, excluding limitation and expectations of others.
A mission answers questions likes “what are we doing to make our vision possible?” and “what should our day to day work be?” Whatever our vision may be, our mission is the path to that vision.
Core values are referred to as the values we hold which form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves. Figuring out these values is the code of belief that allows one to begin working on their mission and visions.
A company’s vision, mission, and core values unite to form the big picture of what a company wants to be. This visioning process serves an important purpose: to help, get a clear vision on what it is exactly that is being done, and why one chooses to spend quality time doing it. This process should also reflect many experiences from their personal life,
Business Environment
Business Environment
Imagine yourself a new businessman, what are the objectives of business that you will keep in mind, if you have to launch a new business. In business, not every good idea succeeds. The dot-com experience showed that even if you get millions to fund your business, your business could still fail if all the elements for success are not present. Selling pet food on the Internet is a dumb idea; hence, it is no wonder that Pets.com perished. WebVan.com closed one of its warehouses, after learning that delivering groceries 80 miles away from a distribution center is not such a bright idea after all.
So what do we need to do to successfully jumpstart a new business? I think here are six steps to launch a new business successfully.
1. Provide a benefit.
A new business stands a greater chance at success if it is responding to a need of a consumer. Our potential customers will buy our products or service if they see that it provides some benefits to them. We must be able to respond to their “what is it for me” question.
As a new business owner, our main task is to understand the difference between the features of our business and the benefits it provides. For example, if we are in the business of selling baby gift boxes, the feature and benefits are:
Feature: Baby toys, books, CDs and videos not found in department stores
Benefit: The customer will be able to conveniently find in one location the baby gift items she or he wants.
Remember, customers buy on the basis of the benefits, and not the features of our products. This is what we are going to use as our main selling proposition, or what we will highlight to convince people to buy our products and services. By understanding the business and its benefit to consumers, entrepreneurs can differentiate their business and create niches in the market where they can enter and survive long enough to build
2. Determine the fit with our market.
Before we can start marketing our new business, we first need to determine our target market. That’s right: not everyone is our customer. Some people erroneously think that they should sell to everybody, and that targeting will limit the scope of their pool of potential customers. Wrong! The purpose of defining our market is to make our life easier and increase the effectiveness of our promotional activities. We can’t strike anywhere: we need to focus our energy and money.
To identify our market, we need to look at our market data and personality attributes of those whom we think would most likely buy our products. Aside from the demographics of our potential customers (age, gender, income level, geographic location, etc.), we also need to determine lifestyle factors. Are there any special interest activities that they belong to? Are there any social factors and cultural involvement that govern our customers? How do we think our market will use our products or services?
3. Right timing is everything.
Some new businesses are way ahead of their times. We may have a brilliant idea, but if the market is not ready for our products, the venture will fall by the wayside.
If we have a product that is so new in the market, be prepared to take on the cost of informing the buyers. Since they are not familiar with your products, show them how it will benefit their lives and demonstrate how they can use it. Infomercials, while costly, are very good vehicles for very new products.
4. Be ready to support our business.
One business reality is that we need money to earn more money. We need resources to allow us to buy equipment, supplies, procure or manufacture products, package our products well and market it. Will our existing capital allow us to buy all the assets that we need in our business? How are we going to finance our inventory? If we are starting online business, do we have the resources to create our site and pay for its upkeep? If our business does not show a profit within the year, do we have the money to support yourself?
When starting a new business, we need to consider three major expenses and plan for them accordingly: our living expenses, direct costs and overhead. Living expenses is the “salary” we must produce to support our self and our family. Direct costs include supplies, materials, and others that we need to produce our product or deliver our service. Overhead is the cost of running a business, and it covers marketing, utilities, office furniture and equipment.
Sure, we can start a business even with little cash, but we need to be extremely creative in stretching our money and be prepared to compromise the growth of our business. We will have no choice except to build our business gradually.
However, having money is not enough to assure success. The dot-com woes, especially, showed that we can burn millions and millions of dollars only to end up a failure. Digital Convergence, for example, got 0 million of funding for investors to distribute Cue Cats barcode readers for free yet laid-off most of their staffs after their business model showed to be unsustainable. The key is to use whatever money we have — smartly.
5. Develop a blueprint for success.
We cannot go into a business unprepared. It is important to have a plan. Think of going to business like going to war: we need to develop strategies to help us overcome our enemies. Without thinking through what we want to achieve and how to get there, you are a sitting duck waiting to be clobbered.
Starting a new business entails a thorough and objective analysis of both our personal abilities and the business requirements. We need to have a clear strategy for marketing and the production aspects of our business. If we are a retail store, we need to have a plan in terms of procurement and sourcing. For all the excitement of a new business, we need to know where and how we will get the funds to finance our business. Do we have the available resources to make this business a success? And a million other details.
A business plan is essential. Even if we do not want to write it all down (especially if we do not have investors), the process of preparing a business plan allows us to think through of every aspect of our business. It makes us think about the viability of our business and helps us avoid costly mistakes. When starting a new business, we base our projected performance on a set of assumptions. If we have a plan, we will be able to test our planning assumptions and create fall-back measures in the event that real life proves to be vastly different from our initial visions.
If we think through our business well, we can discover problem areas early on and initiate efforts to correct the problem. Remember, the business owner with a realistic plan has the best chances for success.
6. Market, market, market.
In this world dominated by hype, we must be prepared to publicize the business or its chance for success will be slim. Unless we are a nationally known name with built-in clientele or our business is located in a prime location, we need to promote customer awareness for our business. If we’re on the Web, we cannot expect to just sit in a corner and expect people to stumble on our site.
Our marketing plan should revolve around three goals. The first is to inform customers what we have. We can do this by letting customers know what we have for sale, either through press releases for possible publication in print and TV media, brochures for our customers and leaflets distributed in your neighborhood.
The second goal is to persuade potential customers to do what we want them to do – buy from us. If we’re in e-business, we do this by writing a very good sales copy on our site including testimonials from satisfied clients. If we have sales representatives, they could do the persuading in our behalf.
The third function of marketing our business is to remind existing customers to come and buy again. If we are a Web marketer, we do this by sending a regular product updates, special offers and promos to customers’ emails. As a smart marketer, we know that we need to hold on to our existing customer base as it is much harder (and more expensive) to get a new customer than to sell to someone who already knows our product and the quality of our customer service.
Developing a business strategy and then launching it can sometime be overwhelming but if we have the right tools, focus and fortitude then the launch of our business strategy can be successful. As a business owner, having a business strategy in place is very important to our online and offline efforts to grow our business.
Some of the essential parts to a successful launch of a business strategy are:
Create a solid foundation with a vision statement. This will help us keep in mind the goals and objectives for our business.
Build on our foundation with a mission statement and a list of goals. Once our foundation is in place then all we have to do is add on the things that will compliment our vision and help to keep our business growing.
Assess our industry and competitors. Having a thorough knowledge of our industry can help us determine who our competitors are and how to make ourself standout among those in our industry.
Monitor our success. Always make sure that you have included a way for us to be able to determine the level of success that we