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Business Planning: Make New Month’s Resolutions, Instead of New Year’s Resolutions
Jan 5th
The Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig commercials are already on the air, and so are the ads for gym memberships. The start of a new year motivates people to assess their lives and try to improve. Weight loss company sign-ups peak in January and fitness centers are always full at the start of the year. This usually lasts until mid February when people lose focus on their self-improvements or get depressed when changes don’t seem to come fast enough.
The problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that people are not always realistic when they set them. You cannot expect to run in the New York City Marathon if you have never even attempted a 5K race. When people do not establish realistic goals, they inevitably set themselves up for failure and frustration. Any trainer will tell you that it is important to set achievable goals and build off initial successes.
The same principles apply when setting business goals. A 20 percent increase in revenue is rarely possible without creating a viable plan for achieving that type of growth, and it usually comes repeatedly in smaller increments.
January is always a good time to stop and reevaluate your business’s successes and disappointments during the previous twelve months.
• How many new customers did we get?
• Was our marketing successful? What could we have done better?
• Did we have cash on hand to weather the slow periods?
• Are we poised for growth next year?
Now is the time to set your goals for growth in 2012. My advice is to make new month’s resolutions instead of New Year’s resolutions. Establish short-term goals and see if you can reach those targets. It is much more effective to build incremental growth. Instead of saying ‘I want to increase my business by 10% this year, shoot for a one percent increase each month. There is no need to be intimidated by your own numbers. Run a monthly P&L statement to take the pulse of your business.
If you have expansion plans, make sure you are properly funded to achieve them. The old adage, “‘It takes money to make money” still applies in 2012. Can you service an increase in business without increasing your manufacturing and storage facilities or expanding office space and hiring new employees? You have to invest in new employees before they prove profitable. In order to increase staff, you have to be able to pay them even before the generate revenue.
The news has been brighter of late for small businesses seeking credit. There are an increasing number of options — credit unions, non-profit lenders, government programs — for budding entrepreneurs. Even the big banks seem to be loosening the spigots. If you are looking to borrow money in order to grow your business in 2012, keep these things in mind.
Increase Your Credit Scores
Anyone who has applied for a business loan in the past year will tell you that lenders are now more diligent in their background checks. If you are looking for financing, it is important to know that lenders make decisions on small business loans based on a combination of your personal and business credit history. So if you have personal credit card debt, pay it down. Likewise, if you are sitting on invoices that are 90 or 120 days past due, pay them as soon as possible to get those blemishes off your books.
Improve Your Record Keeping
Having accurate financial records is not only a good practice, it is a requirement if you want expansion funding. Sales revenues, tax statements and other proof of the soundness of your business are crucial to securing capital. Financial institutions base their decisions on such data. Keeping accurate records also helps you to better forecast the firm’s position in the future.
Pay Your Estimated Quarterly Taxes on Time and Do Not Procrastinate on Annual Returns
Getting hit with a large bill on April 15th causes unnecessary strain on a business and cuts into your cash on hand for daily operations. If you have been paying your quarterly estimated taxes all along, you are less likely of having to scramble to pay the IRS when your 2011 filings are due. So make a resolution to pay the proper amount of taxes on a quarterly basis so that you avoid a big bill at the end of the year.
Cut Your Cost of Capital
You may be paying too much for your current working capital. Lenders may be charging lower interest rates now than they were when you borrowed money previously. You can either refinance with your current bank or shop around to find someone who will give you a lower rate. Biz2Credit has helped a number of companies such as Iselin, NJ-based Silicon Alley Group, lower their cost of capital, which ultimately frees money up for business expansion and new job creation.
Take the time now to assess your business and plan for the year ahead. But do not wait until next December — when it will be too late to make changes for 2012 — to do it again. Review your financial statements monthly and try to forecast the future revenues and expenses. This will help you to achieve your monthly resolutions to grow your business incrementally all year long.
Business Goal Photo via Shutterstock
Business Planning: Make New Month’s Resolutions, Instead of New Year’s Resolutions
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Is Your Business Planning to Hire in 2012?
Dec 21st
American Express OPEN recently took a look back at its past 10 years’ worth of Small Business Monitor surveys, with a particular focus on hiring. The resulting new report, Trends in Small Business Hiring: 2002-2011, hones in on business owners’ responses when asked whether they plan to hire new full-time or part-time employees, cut staff, or keep the same staffing levels over the next six months. The survey used a “net hiring score,” subtracting the percent of firms that plan to cut staff from the percent planning to hire.
Here’s some of what they found:
Overall, small business owners tend to “hold the line.” No matter what the economic situation, over the past 10 years the percentage of entrepreneurs who are planning to add employees has consistently surpassed the percentage planning cutbacks. This doesn’t surprise me, as entrepreneurs who work closely with their teams are likely to do everything in their power to avoid layoffs.
The bigger the small business, the more likely it is to hire. Over the 10-year period, companies with 20 or more workers, or sales of $500,000 and up, were consistently more likely to plan to hire than other groups.
That’s also not surprising, but what is more unexpected is that the smallest companies—those with under 10 employees—were far more likely to fall in line with the hiring average. In contrast, companies with 10 to 19 employees have consistently been the most volatile. In Fall 2006, Fall 2007 and again in Fall 2010, their hiring plans fell far below the national average. Why? Perhaps these companies are in the “growth pains” stage of business where it’s often difficult to judge hiring needs.
So what’s the current outlook? In the Fall 2011 survey, 31 percent of business owners surveyed were planning to hire new employees while 9 percent planned to cut back, for a net hiring score of +22. American Express OPEN notes that while regional differences in hiring have lessened since the 2008 recession, industry differences have increased.
The Fall 2011 survey reports a net hiring score of +28 score among small manufacturers, +26 among business/professional service firms, +17 among retailers and +17 in all other firms.
How do small businesses’ hiring plans compare to those of big business? In the most recent Manpower Employment Outlook Survey of global companies, 14 percent of U.S. employers surveyed expected to add staff in the first quarter of 2012, while 9 percent planned to cut, for a Net Employment Outlook of +5 percent (or +9 percent if seasonally adjusted). Some 70 percent planned no change, while 7 percent were uncertain about their hiring plans. This 7 percent was an increase from 3 percent in the last survey and was a historically high level of uncertainty.
What does it all mean? Whether you’re a big business sitting on unprecedented amounts of cash, or a small entrepreneur with far less room for error, employers are still fearful of hiring in this uncertain economy. Still, small business owners are significantly more optimistic about hiring, showing that their reputations as job creators and engines of the economy are well deserved.
Hiring Photo via Shutterstock
Is Your Business Planning to Hire in 2012?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Effective Planning Is About What to Leave Out
Dec 19th
Effective Planning Is About What to Leave Out
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Today my staff and I are taking the entire day to create a strategic plan for the coming year. The process, and its ongoing nature, is something I call Commitment Planning. This is a practice that I highly recommend, but perhaps not for the reason you may assume.
But first, the rules
- No one has a specific role today
- Let brainstorming be brainstorming – possibilities and ideas
- Be present
- Be judgmental tomorrow
- Remember, you are planning for the entire year
And, then my requirements
- Food and drink should be awesome
- Leave lots of time and space for physical movement
- Make it easy to capture everything
hirotomo via Flickr CC
Lots of companies completely neglect the need for planning and some that do it consistently view it as a way to determine new things they want to address in the year ahead.
To me, the greatest benefit of any planning session is to decide what not to do.
There’s always more to do than you can possibly get done and what happens all too often is that we give a little attention to a lot of things and effectively water down what should be our priorities.
When we plan the right way, we look long and hard at what makes us money and (hopefully) find ways to focus on doing more of that better, rather than thinking up more of something to divert our attention.
I recently hired my own business coach and one of the first things we’re focused on is getting me to stop doing things that don’t make sense and start spending more concentrated time on my highest payoff activities.
This idea holds true for entire organizations as well and one of the best ways to get to the heart of what’s holding you back is planning.
The first planning principle you must embrace however, is that the goal of the process is to help you limit what you are going to do and do well. Instead of creating a laundry list of wants and dreams, your charge in the planning process is to create a very small list of objectives and goals grounded in the overriding purpose of the business. Everyone in the organization then must commit to this list. From your small list you can carve out a requisite number of strategies and tactics that support these business objectives.
In fact, your aim is to create a total plan outline that fills no more than one sheet of paper. (No 6pt type allowed.)
Note also that we’re not spending the day to make a business plan or create a marketing plan – plans aren’t the secret, planning is. It’s the continuous process of planning, acting, measuring and planning that moves the organization in the direction of its goals.
Using and teaching a continuous planning process like this is one of the ways you empower your staff to know they are taking right action on the most important things at all times and knowing this brings a confidence that in itself is a commitment generator.
Commitment planning is a management style that frees your people to be creative instead of forcing them to be bound by a process only system driven activity.
Planning is not a one-day event or even year-end activity. Sure, there may be certain time bound planning periods that occur naturally, say at the end of a quarter, but the real way to keep commitment alive is to live it through a creative process that allows everyone to focus on the things that matter most.
Ben McConnell, coauthor of the Church of the Customer Blog and principal of management consulting firm Ant’s Eye View, has written about a planning process he calls OGST (Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Tactics.)
What I love about McConnell’s framework is that he uses each of these planning words in ways so simple as to actually create a useful set of definitions for these ridiculously misused terms.
Go get this visual representation of OGST and I think you’ll see what I mean.
As you can see, a planning process like this can help the kind of simple clarity that is so often missing in the “what should we do next” business management style. We borrow heavily from McConnell’s framework add some of our own magic to help put the focus on results and bust through constraints.
No matter what exact process you use for planning, with a one page plan full of your committed priorities in hand you can analyze any idea in about two seconds and determine if you should pursue it or dismiss it. Focusing on your strengths and finding ways to turn them into even greater assets is how individuals and organizations realize their potential.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
A Simple Vision: Planning for the New Year
Dec 14th
Vision is the ability to plan for the future based on everything that you have learned so far. But if you don’t know what you want, then it’s hard to plan for it — regardless of intellect or ability.
What do you want? We’re facing the new year, again. And I can’t help but wonder – are you any closer to that dream?
Simple Questions
- Did you hire the people you thought you needed? Did you train or retrain the team that you already have?
- Did you expand or enhance the products or services that you offer? Have you improved your bottom line with better marketing?
- Did you launch that business? Did you let go of something that doesn’t work?
- Have you positioned yourself to move forward, even if it’s baby steps? Did you learn something new that can advance your business? Have you prepared to execute it as soon as possible?
Vision is simpler than we think.
It’s seeing the future — based on what you saw yesterday, what you see today and what you imagine for tomorrow. And if you have the foresight to benefit from the team around you, then you are really on to something.
Planning doesn’t have to be complicated, but it has to take place — consistently. And you don’t have to wait to the new year to do it, but you do have to do it — religiously, because “shooting from the hip” may get you started, but it can’t sustain a business beyond your lifetime.
What do you see, do and expect?
Vision is not only the ability to see, it’s also our strategy for doing something about what we see, and our right to expect a new future because of those actions.
Take the time to jot down your three biggest lessons from this year. Be aware of how you learned those lessons. What price did you pay to know what you know?
For some, these lessons will be top of mind.
For others, you’ll have to dig a little. To help you unearth your hidden lessons, record your three biggest successes and failures of the year. You can learn from everything, so write them down, because even the mistakes carry insights if we pay attention.
Beside the failures, write down what you learned and three things you can do to keep them from happening again.
Beside the successes, write down
- what you learned,
- the actions that you will imitate in future projects, and
- three things you can do to make it better the next time around.
This exercise is a jumping-off point.
If you discover the lessons, you can build something stronger in the new year — one day, one deliberate action at a time.
Vision Photo via Shutterstock
A Simple Vision: Planning for the New Year
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Financial Planning Manuals
Oct 3rd
A holistic approach to financial planning. Fly with the Eagles – 38 Steps Beyond Financial Survival and other titles. We all need these manuals to plan for our financial needs. Join now and enjoy the profits.
Financial Planning Manuals
Clever Teleseminar Secrets Training and Planning Kit
Jun 16th
This complete teleseminar training and planning packet gives you a step-by-step system to plan every detail of your next successful teleseminar series! Use it to build your list, create a product to sell, and establish credibility in any niche!
Clever Teleseminar Secrets Training and Planning Kit
More Small Business Planning Tips
May 20th
How important is the small business planning process? What form should it take? These are just a few of the questions likely to arise with the inexperienced entrepreneur excited to start a business and make their mark. But, hey, planning is usually part of the process in one way or another. Here’s a glimpse at how small businesses handle planning in many different parts of their operation, but first:
Basics
Do you even need a business plan? It might be a good question to ask before you start the planning process. But, truth be told, a better question might be, what form should your planning taking? For example, have you done solid market research first to better understand what form your business should take? Don’t stay in your apartment generating ideas and business plans. Get out there and test your plan. The New Business Idea
Why bloggers need a business plan. You’ll need a plan in business no matter what the size of your venture. A business blog is just another kind of business, not an exception to the rule. Getting started and just hoping everything will turn out alright is not a reliable strategy. Instead a strong, well-researched plan will yield success over time. blogworld
How To
A plan to go green. Sometimes planning in business is also needed when implementing a major change…like going green with your small business. The decision is not only a responsible one and good for the environment. It can save your small business some serious money as well. But as you can see from the post above, it’s also an involved switch that requires planning to implement properly. Get Busy Media
Building a solid defense strategy. You can count on the competition or someone else out there with an ax to grind eventually deciding to take a shot at your company or reputation. But what will you do when someone attacks your brand and do you have a plan in place to handle that eventuality? It may be impossible to anticipate all threats to your business, but having a plan to at least address the issue is a step in the right direction. Inc.com
Resources
Resources improve the planning process. Information is a key component of any good business plan and having those resources simply, quickly and inexpensively available is important too. Our sister site, BizSugar.com, introduces a new resource center you may want to consider. We hope you find it helpful. BizSugar
What’s your social media business plan? Social media is no longer exotic, this post from Bryan Cochand would have us understand. Business owners who understand its uses are making money and seeing great expansion. But if you’re one of many business owners still waiting to dip your toe in the social media waters, you’ll need a plan to get a small business online marketing campaign up and running. New Biz Blogger
Strategy
No matter what your projections, they’re probably wrong. The one place where small business plans fail, particularly in the beginning before a company is even making money, is in the world of projections. And most projections seem to be over optimistic, according to a recent study. This shouldn’t discourage small business owners in any way from making the best forecasts they can as part of the planning process. But being skeptical about even your own financial projections is also a good habit. BNet
When business plans change. Sometimes the business you begin with is not the one you end up pursuing. The trick is to know when (or if?) to change direction, change your plans and change your outlook. Sometimes it isn’t a very easy choice, but it’s one small business owners and entrepreneurs must face every day. So how do you know when to change plans and when to stay the course? Read on for some insights. Inc.com
Finance
What investors expect from your business plan? This does not apply to all small business owners, of course, but the classic application of the business plan remains as a means of attracting investment capital. And if this happens to be your purpose too, then it would be best to know what investors want. Here are ten essentials. Startup Professionals Musings
The building blocks of better projections. Though we all know (see above) that financial projections can be among the trickiest things to conjure, they may be necessary depending upon your plans for your business. Certainly when planning to sell or attract investment, projections will be expected. But how can you forecast more accurately and credibly to avoid obvious problems? Here are five steps to get you started. Open Forum
More Small Business Planning Tips
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Small Business News: Small Biz Planning Session
May 4th
Small business strategy is important for success. Here’s one small business planning session that should help you better understand, striving for victory never really ends. Hopefully, the links below will show all of us a better way to be our best and make our small businesses better in the process too. Enjoy!
Essentials
Five online business strategies. Nowadays, so much of small business strategy involves the Internet that it’s almost impossible to discuss one without the other. Here are five big-time SEO strategies for your small business to make sure your online marketing accomplishes its mission, generating more business for your brand no matter what your business’s size. TNW
Afraid to raise your prices? May be you’re looking at things the wrong way. With a tough economy, rising inflation and, depending on where in the world you live, increasing interest rates, your costs will certainly continue to increase. How long can you afford to allow such increases without compensate for them in what you earn. The alternative. You may be effectively lowering your prices instead. The Sydney Morning Herald
Strategies for marketing locally online and off. With a whole new trend in local search marketing on the horizon, local businesses, especially those that can’t deliver services online, must combine high tech local online marketing with a dash of old school techniques to keep a local customer base growing and coming back for more. The Milford Daily News
Trends
Entering a $425 billion market. Yep, that’s how much the U.S. government spends annually on goods and services. It’s a market that small businesses can not only enter but use to swiftly grow a small business with a large solid cash flow. Learn more about how to get in on this great opportunity for your small business by reading the story of a small business owner whose done it. Inc.com
Tax time is over. Time to start all over again. It is never too early to start thinking about next year’s taxes especially if you own a small business. To avoid paying more than your fair share, it takes plenty of planning. Don’t wait until the last minute. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your accountant can fix things at the end of the year. Begin planning for next year’ taxes today. Fox Business
Techniques
A post-social media strategy for business marketing. It’s ironic that once every brand (or almost everyone) is using social media to market, it won’t be useful in quite the same way as it was in the beginning. That’s why it’s always important to measure results and go with what works for your business and not simply the latest fashion. Plan your marketing to suit your brand and customers no matter what the medium. You’ll see how it suits your best interests in the end. Business2Community
Marketing with your business’s image. Having the right image, the right brand, is essential to building a successful business regardless of size. Creating that image does NOT mean misrepresenting your brand, but it may mean cleaning up the message you project. Here are some ways you can improve the perception of your business and brand. SmallBiz Marketing News
How-To
What is a living business plan? And how can it benefit your brand or business? If you don’t know, be sure to visit the post by business coach Ellen St. George Godfrey including steps and important diagrams for creating a living business plan of your own. Consider it an important part of your strategy for your present or future entrepreneurial endeavors. Business changes. Why shouldn’t your business plan? AbilitySuccessGrowth.com
Boosting your brand and reputation through teaching. Developing and exhibiting expertise is an important part of building your brand and attracting a client base. What better way to do so than to teach others about this expertise so that members of the community, including potential customers, can see your knowledge and ideas. Check some of the other suggestions for sharing your expertise in the link above. YFNCG
Resources
Resources for developing your strategy. Not only starting up is covered in this post full of resources but how to create a strategy for success once your small business is up and running. You’ll seriously want to bookmark this link for future reference and plenty of information too use down the road. The Solopreneur Life
Small Business News: Small Biz Planning Session
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Business planning system
Apr 29th
Every business, whether offline or online, needs a business plan for success. Decide where you want your business to be and determine how youre going to get there. Includes ebook, formatted Excel spreadsheet, worksheets and bonuses.
Business planning system
The Future of Event Planning and Social Media
Oct 4th
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We spoke with some social-savvy movers and shakers in the event planning world, and asked them what’s working for them now and… |
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