| How to Write a Business Plan |
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| Written by Brenda Keener | |
| Saturday, 27 October 2007 | |
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Page 1 of 3 A business without a plan is like a ship without a rudder – ultimately it will run around aimlessly without clear direction. Writing a business plan for your startup or new business will also help focus your thoughts, and those of your team, towards the goals that your new enterprise needs to achieve. The first step towards writing your plan, whether it be for an existing enterprise or a new startup, is to do your homework. What you need to identify first is the one critical thing that makes your product or service stand out from all the rest. This is called your key competitive advantage You will need to identify the need that you fill, and see how people have been filling it before your product was available. This is an easier task if your product hasn’t yet hit the market, but is still challenging as you will have to prove its potential worth to your prospective investors. Verify your assumptions by doing a comprehensive competitive analysis in Excel format that lists every possible solution, its pluses and minuses, and its cost. You will need to do a lot of research to complete this step, but don’t rush it as it is creating vital information that will determine the direction of your company. Next, you will have to size your market. The total number of people already filling the identified need in one way or another is called the “Market TAM” or “Total Available Market”. This is usually identified both in units, and in dollars (or in other relevant currency). The segment of this that your product can address is called the Market SAM& or Served Available Market&. This is usually determined by first segmenting your market – slicing it up into smaller areas that have one thing in common, and determining where you play. Segmenting your market and choosing key segments to target is extremely important, as no one can be all things to all people. This is an often overlooked part of business plan development, and marketing in general. Markets can be segmented by demographics, geography, features needed, and specific application or any combination thereof. |
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The Importance of Incorporation??Thursday, 03 July 2008 | Joe Doyle Those wanting to start a business or entering into a business venture initially have an important decision to make: “Incorporate or not to incorporate, that is the question?” Those creating or running their own business have four basic structures to operate under. The entity can operate as a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC or a corporation. These structures will be discussed in a bit more detail below.+ Full Story | The Pros and Cons of a Business PartnershipMonday, 23 June 2008 | Shawna RuppertThere are great benefits to be reaped from starting a business from a partnership rather than a solo perspective, but there are limitations as well. When deciding on whether or not to start a business as a partnership it is important to carefully weigh the pros and cons to see if this is going to be the best option for your company’s success. + Full Story |
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Every thriving business is held buoyant by a team that works well
together, and the only way a team becomes successful is if they're
motivated to succeed.
+ Full Story | Becoming a business analystMonday, 26 May 2008 | Jill Marshall
Are you a technical buff? Consider
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need not be channeled into separate careers.
+ Full Story |
| Efficiency RatiosMonday, 26 May 2008 | Sunil Tinani
Is the company employing its assets
efficiently? Or, are they being underutilized much to the
shareholder's agony? Here is how you can find out:
+ Full Story | Profitability RatiosMonday, 26 May 2008 | Sunil Tinani
These ratios measure how skillful a
company is at generating profits.
+ Full Story |
