Business Plans
Advice News: Epoch: the end of one era – the start of the next
This month marks a major shift in my business life: I’m changing from a solo consultant to joining the full-time workforce. Yes, I’ve been seduced by the Dark Side. They have cookies.
Rebusiness, Andrew Ballard, and this blog will still remain, however from here on in, I’ll be a little more selective in the clients and projects I take on out of ‘work’.
I thought that after 11 years of business in this mode, I’d go back through my archives and tease out some revealing insights from my records, to give you a brief glimpse into the life of a solo consultant.
So sit back, relax, and help me unravel some of the deepest and darkest secrets (??) of the solo entrepreneur. I’ll bring the cookies.
Advice: Mind the gap
I’ve been out and about some local businesses in the past couple of weeks, gathering support for advertising for a cookbook fundraiser for my kids’ school.
Almost all businesses I’ve approached have expressed interest in the project – yet the thing I’ve been struck by is the yawning gulf between those businesses who could instantly identify that a) this was or wasn’t their target market, and b) that the price point was or wasn’t within their marketing budget.
The fact that the majority of businesses couldn’t identify two of their fundamental business metrics (target market/marketing budget) is more than a little scary.
With secure knowledge of these two fundamentals, you can quickly rule in or out the opportunity. In an effort to try to get to this easy-to-decide method of ruling opportunities in or out, let’s take a moment to explore market share, and see if we can close the knowledge gap just a little bit!
Advice: What Happens When You Die?
Don’t panic – I’m not talking medical nor theological here – I’m talking purely about you and your business. If you were looking for the medical or theological aspects, try Wikipedia.org, Google, or even progressbaroflife.com.
The phrase ‘what happens if you die’ is one that I’ve heard a lot in my business. To date, I think every major client has asked me that question at some point in our partnerships. While it’s kinda nice that your clients are enquiring about your long-term health and your ability to cross the road without getting hit by a bus, they actually have a point – what would happen to their business if I dropped off the planet – and what would happen to *my* business, and my family, if I wasn’t around?
Lots of things to talk about, namely: chain of command; systems and processes; and the concepts of proprietary vs open source. Still here? Good. No-one’s getting any younger!
Advice: Plan A: How to write a good business plan.
A business plan should never be an anchor or a dead weight dragging your business down – and it should never be an onerous task to put one together.
The good news is that there are 3 wildly different types of business plans – each one focussing on a different business purpose – and one of these types of plans should suit your needs perfectly, without undue effort.
Advice: Starting Something New – A ‘How To’ Guide
It all starts here: with the tiny seed of an idea. Perhaps it’s extending your current business into a market of a competitor; perhaps your ‘something new’ is to find a synergistic product or service that you can promote alongside your current range, but that cross-sell each other, and boost your total sales figures.