Managers in your company are using the plan primarily to remind themselves of objectives, to keep strategies clear, and to monitor company performance and market conditions. Do the individual parties really know what is most important to them? Basically, you are using a service instead of your own employee(s) to do a specific task. Second-stage financing is used to expand the operations of an already up-and-running enterprise, often through financing receivables, adding production capacity, or boosting marketing.
Why sales is the only skill you really need
Do
that which you
can do best. Without
small businesses, there
would be no big businesses. Managerial
decisions are future
oriented, and an interactive business context limits the value of linear extrapolation from the past. Without
customers, everything else
is irrelevant.
The Business Plan That Wins Customers
When
you finally discover
that the problem with your people is not them, but you, you'll realize that good people alone won't solve your problems. They
ll want, above
all, to make sure you can pay your bills, so be sure to include adequate cash flow forecasts and other financial reports. A
local auto mechanic
could hold clinics for their customers every quarter on how to keep cars running in tip-top shape. In
other cases, you
may not know when you bring someone on board what the future holds, but you believe she has what it takes to become a key employee.
Decide to make building your net worth and wealth a part of your everyday business plan.
It
can also give
up-and-comers the idea that you offer training and advancement. They
are growing faster
than they can afford. Angel
investors used to
be a difficult group to find. It
is the company
owner's net stock value in a business or the financial net value of a business.
True experts know more than they know they know
Off-site
seminars and workshops
can be excellent training opportunities as well, but make sure the programs offer more than just listening to an instructor. Fix
a big dial
two feet or more in diameter in some prominent part of your store, and announce that when a customer has traded an amount equal to the total figures on the dial you will present him with a watch. After
this has gone
on for several years, and the financier has backed some percentage of those plans and seen how events have turned out, he or she becomes very good at weeding out plans with inconsistencies or overblown projections and zeroing in on weaknesses, including some you d probably rather not see highlighted. Various
policy measures have
been conceived and generously funded based on market models.
The entrepreneur must be willing to invest enough of his own money into this project to convince investors he is serious
In
the publishing business,
I know of no less than six positions actually yawning for the men to come and fill them--not clerical positions, but positions of executive authority. Value
measurement is problematic
as value is embedded in relationships and networks and therefore difficult to separate out. Saying
things a bit
differently the second time often helps uncover misunderstandings. Rather
than spending all
of your marketing money taking out ads or sending out brochures and flyers that say HIRE US!