Business Planning
After coming up with an idea, discussing it with friends, family etc. and deciding that you think it is a runner, most people decide “I need to write a business plan!”. Lots of ideas dont actually get much further than this point for 2 reasons 1) It is easier to talk about something than to actually do anything about it and 2) People become intimidated by business plans and get confused and frustrated by templates, how to guides etc.
First things first, business plans are a good thing, they are essential if you are looking for any source of funding, they are useful as a business management tool to give your business some direction and they are amusing to look back on and see how wide off the mark you were.
The first business plan that I wrote was a pretty exhausting experience, my business (an internet cafe) was actually already up and running at the time but I was looking for a grant and the enterprise board required a business plan for this. I spent hours online looking up advice, I even bought a few templates off some American website. By the time I was finished the plan was like war & peace and I was sick to death of it. Whether anyone ever read it I don’t know but I did get the grant. A few years later I was with a successful businessman who was approaching the bank with a business plan for his third shop. I remember being surprised that the plan was no more than 10-15 pages simply presented, he was looking for a substantial sum of money at the time. He received the funding, shop number three in the bag.
The second business plan that I completed was done and dusted in a day or two. I think that I had to struggle through business plan number 1 to get an understanding of the process and to make the rookie mistakes along the way. So why so easy second time around? basically I knew what I was talking about (as obviously did mister 3 shops!). If you are taking ages with a section of the plan it may be because you dont really know what you are talking about, which is perfectly understandable if you have not set the business up yet. You are trying to sound knowledgeable about something that you are guessing about.
The best advice that I can give you is to be clear, concise and stick to the crux of the business. The idea is this, It will make money because of this, Here are the sums to support that. A short well presented business plan will have a much higher chance of being read and if the banks ever decide to lend again you never know you might actually get the money you are looking for.
How to price a product or Service? – Starting a business In Ireland
Going through Dublin Airport the other day I noticed this “special offer” sign… wow an Irish brekfast for only ¢11.60!
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Warren Buffet – Great quotes to get you thinking when starting a business!
I am enjoying the autubiography of Warren Buffet at the moment (reviewed in our book review section). It tells the story of how he accumulated his fortune at a relentless pace.
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Sage Business Planning Software -help starting up a business
Getting started is often the hardest part of any task. When looking at taking the leap into setting up a new business it is essential to have a road map i.e a business plan to help you along the way. How can you lead if you don’t know where you are going is another way of putting it.
Sage the software people have launched a free business planning tool that is really user freindly and is perfect for helping you to get going. The programme which can be downloaded at www.sage.ie/sage-planning-for-business is as good as some of the business planning software that you normally have to pay for. I presume the logic behind offering the programme for free is that the planning software can integrate with the Sage accountancy packages when you have set up your business.
My only difficulty with this programme was downloading it in the first place, maybe my laptop is to blame but I had to jump through hoops to finally get the programme installed. This may not be Sage’s fault but I must admit it did try my patience a bit.
Features & Benefits
It’s easy to use:
Flexible input options tailored to your experience
Questionnaire helps you identify key tasks
Worked examples show you how things should look
It’s easy to manage your time:
Tasks grouped into logical business areas
Diary, tasks and planning tools to help make the best use of your time
Keep all your information in one place
Fill out your business plan as you go
Format your business plan using templates provided
It’s easy to manage your finances:
Understand and manage your cash flow
See how much you need to take to cover expenses and be in profit
Works with Sage Instant Accounts
Do your research, and get off the doorstep…a blog by Dr Peter Stafford
Many of us who listen to politicians mentioning what people “on the doorstep” are telling them, wonder which doorsteps they’re canvassing.
Politicians have a strange ability to pick doorsteps owned by people who want to tell them how great they are. Second hand reports from the doorsteps give politicians great ammunition when facing a hostile interviewer. How many times have we heard a cabinet minister say “actually, the issue of the missing money isn’t an issue, Pat/Miriam/Holy Father. The people on the doorstep are telling me that I’m doing all of the right things and they want me to keep on as minister.”
An unverifiable anecdote masquerading as fact is great when you’re a politician being interviewed on drive time radio but it’s no use at all for a start-up business person who wants to know if anyone likes his product. Politicians have incredibly selective hearing and it’s only by tuning out the sound of all of the doors which are slammed in their faces and by ignoring the angry constituents who vow never to vote for them that they’re left with a group of loyal fans whose welcoming doorsteps give them the self-belief to keep on working.
Many small businesses fall into the category of tuning out opposition and ignoring people who aren’t interested in their product. They think to themselves “actually, people aren’t saying that I’m flogging overpriced tat six months after the trend has moved on. The people on the doorstep are telling me that my product will change their lives and they’re willing to pay twice as much for it.” Survey sample? One person.
Good businesses need good research. They need proper analysis of the facts, not an unverifiable anecdote from a loyal supporter. Not only do businesses need to know who will buy their product and how much will they pay for it, but they need to know what external factors are likely to have an impact on sales. What’s government doing to regulate the field? What’s happening to the economic context in which you’re making a sale? Is there a societal consequence to your business?
Bill Clinton ran an election campaign on the simple statement that it’s the economy, stupid. The economy will dictate everything. The economy will decide how many clients you have and how much money they have to spend on your product. It will dictate how much the government will tax you on your product (and, if you’re lucky, any profits) and it will dictate whether competition from home or abroad will gobble up your business.
At the time of writing, the stockbrokers and financiers are beginning to make their economic forecasts for 2010. Ireland will, depending on whose forecast you read, emerge blinking into the sunlight of strong economic growth, or spend next year in the darkness of prolonged recession. GNP growth (% per annum) is not an abstract number, created by economists for the amusement of economists (although if you go for a pint with a group of economists, you’ll find it is) but it matters enormously to the start-up business Do you want to start your company in a recession? Is there merit in waiting? Will the forecast for the economy help you persuade the bank to finance your endeavour? Have you factored the tax implication of the change in the economy into your business plan?
Personal anecdotes from potential clients and customers will undoubtedly help you hone your business model into one which can maximise customer loyalty. Politicians, economists and stand-up comedians all use focus groups.
But the input of potential customers needs to be grounded in fact, and all start up companies should be spending time listening to the financiers and the economists talking about their projections for the economy. This doesn’t mean you necessarily need to read the Financial Times every day. Indeed, one of the great secrets of economics is that nobody really reads the Financial Times; they just look at the adverts for expensive watches and cry for their lost millions. The pink pages of the paper blot away the tears.) But using good, well-networked research support can help put some facts in place which will make an enormous difference to your business plans.
Why? Well, for one thing, the chances are you already have a better understanding of the macroeconomic context in which your enterprise takes place than anyone else. Donald Rumsfeld (who, as a politician, is probably guilty of using doorstep anecdotes in place of the Financial Times) said of the Iraq War in 2002 that there are “known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know.”
In six short, but bewildering sentences, Rumsfeld summarised the need for solid research, well presented. And that’s exactly what I’m trying to help Irish businesses do – find out what they know and what they don’t know, but also what they think they know, what they think they don’t know, and sort it, and fill in the gaps.
There are countless books about how to keep your home clutter-free. There are – dotted around different sections of the bookshop – more books about how to keep your mind, your career and your spirituality clutter-free. But there is a task to keep the flow of information in and out of your businesses clutter free. How do you compile and use all of the information you know about your business and how can you use it effectively? How do you summarise it into a report you can give to your bank manager, your PR Company or your shareholders? How can you fill in the gaps in your knowledge without becoming cluttered with more useless information?
The answer is by taking some time to find out what information your company lacks, and present what you do know convincingly. My aim is to look after all of that for Irish companies – streamline and maximise the usefulness of what you know, and present you with what you don’t know. Grounded in fact, stripped of clutter, presented clearly and convincingly, your company will be on better footing than any politician, blinking under the studio lights as he launches into another tale from the doorstep.
Dr Peter Stafford
peter.stafford@gmail.com
+353 (0)86 150 2891
twitter: @peterstafford
