Article by Humberto Harper

Growing – or Not Growing -Your Small BusinessSeveral small businesses need to and usually will remain small. Another enterpriseborn small with hope of becoming a giant – sometimes very big. TakeStarbucks, which began as a small Seattle coffee shop, and Apple Computers,which was first headquartered in a garage. When small businessesturn intogiant corporations, it’s obviously not by chance. Behind that growth is a well-thoughtout writing business plan along with the drive and the resources to get there. Butbecoming a big business isn’t for everybody.An entrepreneur who started a stereo shop in a small Illinois town a fewyears back created just the kind of friendly, cluttered, slightly disorganizedplace you’d expect to see in a college town. But the salespeople who workedthere really knew and loved audio equipment, and the business was stockedwith great components at very competitive prices, thanks to the fact thatoverhead was so low. The unbeatable combination of quality, service, andprice soon made the store a huge success – and the owner began to dreamabout expanding into a chain of stores throughout the Midwest.We’d like to say that this idea sounded good on paper, but the owner nevereven put his business plan in writing. He launched right into action, buildinginventory and leasing storefronts without once thinking about how he wouldfind knowledgeable sales teams, promote the new stores, or create an organizationthat could manage the jump from one shop to half a dozen. The laidback,disorganized style worked fine for a single store with a garage-worth ofinventory, but it turned out to be a disaster for the small chain. The lossesfrom the new outlets soon eroded the original store’s profits. Six monthslater, the owner closed up and went back to school, even though he’d alreadybeen through the school of hard knocks.A well-crafted business plan may have helped avoid disaster. But even beforethe planning, the owner should have asked one simple question: Do I reallywant to grow my business?Some small businesses are meant to remain small, and some business ownersare meant to run small companies. In this case, an entrepreneur loved audioequipment, worked well with his sales team, and had a great rapport with thecustomers who came through his door. But he wasn’t particularly well organizedor good at delegating – the two main characteristics he needed to runa larger operationhttp://www.absolutebusinessplan.co.cc

About the Author
Read the rest of this entry

Article by Paul Kopp

1. Executive Summary -Brief information about your credentials and the business you are intending to start and the location.

A.) The Business- What is the business all about? Give full detail.B.) The Customers – Who are the customers you are going to reach?C.) The Management – More about your credentials and experience.

2. Objectives – What are your business goals? What do you need to have done in 1, 2 or 3 years?

Read the rest of this entry

Read the rest of this entry

I going to take over my dad’s business, cause of his illness, and I need help on how to run and plan small wholesale food products distributions. thanks.

Open
Question/Description

“A research study shows that entrepreneurs managing small businesses in Pakistan consider formal business planning a mere wastage of their precious time.”
Do you agree or disagree, support your argument with solid reasons.

(Your answers must be brief)

Article 2 – Business Planning

How to Write a Business Plan that Works!

If you are a new start up business operator then you should have already completed our Feasibility Study which you can grab by visiting our website and you have determined that your new business idea is in fact a viable business venture…Congratulations! Now we carry what you have found throughout your Feasibility Study and move that information into a plan that is going to work for you, every day in helping your drive your business forward towards a profitable success.

If you are a current business owner and you feel you may have lost your direction or you are lacking the ability to drive your business forward, then our business plan is going to change all of that and hand you back the reigns to your business! You will take this plan and implement it and immediately notice results easing the pressure on you as a manager and helping you see the light at the end of that tunnel.

Read the rest of this entry

Free Resources

http://www.businessplandirectory.net/

Twelve things to do when writing your business plan:

Create a framework for the plan e.g. table of contents. Identify possible appendices, attachments etc. Estimate page lengths for each key section. List main issues and topics to be covered within key sections. Assign work programs based on the framework and lists. Draft all key sections in a logical sequence. Check the preliminary draft for completeness and plug gaps. Stand back and take a detached overview of the draft. Let an outsider or adviser critique the latest draft. Redraft, fine tune and spell check. Write the executive summary and plan’s conclusion. Get an independent assessment of the final draft.

Copyright (c) 2008 Schauffler Associates LLC

The heart of any useful business plan – and any plan that attracts financing and partners, is the financial projections section. Most important to those projections are the assumptions used.

TIP 1: BE CAREFUL ON ASSUMPTIONS

Read the rest of this entry

Are you ready for the recession? Here’s how you can turn it into an opportunity to survive and thrive: set up your own online business and create an extra stream of income.

Starting a new online business does not mean that you have to give up your current job. You can set it up doing extra work in your evenings and weekends and keep your income from your current job while the income from your new business grows.

So what do you need to do to maximise the chances of success of your new business?

Read the rest of this entry