Question:
Does anyone have any real experience
with business
plan software?
I've read tons of reviews about
all sorts of products available
but I'm looking for someone with
real life experience
Has anyone used this kind of software?
did you like it? which one???
Answer:
Does anyone have any real experience
with business
plan software?
I've read tons of reviews about
all sorts of products available
but I'm looking for someone with
real life experience
Has anyone used this kind of software?
did you like it? which one???
- Has anyone used this kind of software?
did you like - it? which one???
None of them.
They're not worth anything
even if they paid you use to use
them. Instead
Go to your public library and pick
up a book about writing a business
plan. Skim through it to see if
they give a comprehensive example
of what a plan's Table of Contents
should look like. Look it
over. Does it match your business
plan's needs? If you're unsure
about a section title, read the
book's section on it. The
book I like using though it has
a corny title . for its Table of
Contents example is "Business
Plans
that Win $$$: Lessons from the MIT
Enterprise Forum" by Stanley
R. Rich and David E Gumpert (Harper
& Row, 1985 here's where you
can buy it on Amazon.com: ).
Their Table of Contents example
is on pages 32-33. Then you
simply open up a word document,
copy the Table of Contents into
it, and start throwing your business
ideas into the appropriate sections.
And if you want to truly succeed
in business,
what I suggest is you read my standard
advice for wannabe entrepreneurs.
It follows below.
"What I recommend you do is
determine what your sales territory
is. What's its radius? Double
that and add a healthy 10% more
distance then go and talk to people
out that distance that are in the
same business
you want to start up. Literally
drive there. Do not do the
following over the phone or email
or through snail mail. Show
up on their doorstep during the
slow time of their business
day. Tell them that you want
to start up a similar business
at such-and-such location and if
they would consider you competition.
If they say you would be,
drive further away from your proposed
business
location until you find a business
that says you won't be. If you have
to go to a different country, do
so.
If your business'
sales territory is theoretically
the world (i.e., a mail-order catalog
or an online-only business),
forget about the territory stuff
above and simply look for businesses
that are doing business
HOW you're going to do yours but
NOT selling the same thing(s) as
you. For example, if your
business
is a mail-order catalog that sell
special dusters for silk top hats,
go and talk to people that sell
food by mail-order but not anyone
that sells clothes. Hunt for
them, find out their corporate addresses,
and go visit those closest to you.
HOWEVER, do not interview franchisees.
They are following a very
detailed plan on how to run their
businesses. These plans
are very good, but franchisees have
done nothing to write those plans
up and literally just bought them
thus are useless to you and your
pursuit of knowledge. Franchisees
are a murky mutant between an employee
and an entrepreneur. Their franchiser
is the one that figured out how
things are to be profitably done
and the franchisee is just following
suit. As for franchisers,
don't talk to them either or you
will have just given them their
next expansion location. HOWEVER,
this does not mean you shouldn't
consider becoming a franchisee.
It should always be an option
you should consider. Not the
only option, but one of them. But
even if you know deep down that
you'll eventually be a franchisee,
you need to still do the research
I'm laying out here so it is an
informed decision. And if
after doing all the following, you
(still) decide to become a franchisee,
interview ALL the different chains
for your type of business
you want to start up and LOTS of
franchisees in each chain to find
the one that's best for you. But
that's after you do the following
and let's now get back to that.
Once you find a business
that says your two territories won't
overlap, ask if they wouldn't mind
answering some questions about how
to start and run a business
like theirs. Play to their
egos and they'll love to talk to
you. Everyone likes to feel important
and worth listening to especially
business
owners when it comes to their businesses.
Have a list of questions written
out on a notepad, but do NOT write
down their answers. Instead,
bring a tape recorder (yes, put
it right out in the open no need
for spyware and besides it plays
to their egos as their words are
being treated as worthy of being
recorded) and concentrate on getting
as much information out of them
as possible as well as picking up
the other half of the answers they
give in body language. If
they say something you don't understand,
speak up and ask for clarification.
Let them wander off your list
of questions since where they wander
to might be a place you never thought
of asking questions about and should
have been. However, keep an
eye on the questions you've written
down and try to ask them all before
the interview concludes. Of
course, always yield to customers
that come in, but, naturally, try
to continue the interview after
the customers leave so you get answers
to all your questions.
After you've interviewed one owner,
don't interview another but go home
and digest what was said. Listen
to the tape on your way home. Think
it over. Adjust your business
plan accordingly. Adjust the
questions on that notepad and then
on your next free day (or the following
day if you've got both off), head
off in another direction and do
the same thing. Try to interview
at least twenty businesses. A
hundred businesses would be ideal.
Interview the good, the bad,
and the ugly. If you're lucky,
you'll interview one that is going
out of business
or has just went out of business
so you can hear about the dark side
as well as possibly pick up good
equipment, inventory, and supplies
for a song. Likewise, interview
those businesses yo u think are
bad. Keep in mind that since
they're still in business,
they are probably doing something
right if just being the only game
in town for your products/services.
Share as you give. Let them
know what you think is a good idea
and they may tell you their own
gems. Don't get paranoid that
they'll steal your good idea. They
will! Or rather, you should
HOPE they will as that means your
ideas are actually good ones. These
are the individuals that are the
best judges of your business
ideas. However, you'll never
know if your business
ideas are good unless you tell these
business
owners them or blow a ton of money
actually doing the idea and thus
finding out the hard way. Also,
if you're not willing to share,
don't expect them to as well. In
fact, it will likely take you telling
them your best idea for them to
tell you theirs. Also, ask
them to read over your business
plan right there before you. Naturally,
don't leave a copy of it behind.
What one of these business
owners is going to tell you will
be better than ALL the advice from
ALL the business
professors on the face of the Earth.
Even from the ones that are
going out of business!
These business
owners are DOING IT
RIGHT NOW whereas business
professors live in the fairyland
of academia. Oh, and that
smack-down goes the same for SBA's
Small Business
Development Centers (which are manned
by business
professors and burnt-out business
executives) and SCORE (which is
an abbreviation of the Latin phrase:
"Grumpy Old Men Waiting To
Die").
And don't stop doing this after
you open your business.
At least once a month (if
not once a week), visit still more
businesses. And for one afternoon,
make this part of any vacation or
business
trip you take anywhere. In
fact, you'll very likely get more
out of these interviews AFTER you
open your business
than before you did. After
you open your business,
you can really start to talk shop
since you're now currently running
a shop. This worked great
for a little-known starting-out
pizza-parlor owner by the name of
Tom Monaghan the founder of Domino's
Pizza.
Don't forget these individuals after
you interview them. Once you
get home from interviewing them,
send them a nice thank-you snail
mail letter for taking the time
to answer your questions. When
your business
opens, send them an invitation to
come and see it. Ideally,
hold a special Grand Opening dinner
and invite all the good business
owners you interviewed to it. Give
them a group tour of your business
(no matter how small the shop is
even if it is a desk and a computer
in a corner) and then treat them
to a nice meal. I'd recommend
a barbeque at your house/apartment
so it is informal and relaxed. Do
NOT drink alcohol or do drugs at
this dinner. Listen, listen, and
listen some more. You've got
the most valuable think tank right
there eating your hamburgers. They'll
just naturally talk shop and focus
most of that talk on YOUR shop.
The only downer of all this
is that it would be bad form for
you to tape record it. However,
you can put a small notepad in your
back pocket and when someone tells
you something good, whip it out
and write the thing down. It
will again play to their ego and
will actually get the other business
owners there to open up as it plays
to their egos and competitive spirit.
Now if you want to really succeed,
see if the good ones are also willing
to sit on your Board of Directors
(or Board of Advisors, if you don't
want to give them any control power).
The rest of your Board of Directors
should be made up of marketers (at
least have one) and one and only
one accountant. I'd recommend the
board number nine. Your Board
of Directors will help you keep
the big picture in mind and an eye
on the future.
Lastly, if you're not willing to
do the above, you don't have what
it takes to start and succeed at
your
