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3 Effective Tips in Reaching Success in Business Management Services

In every field of business, you need to consider every steps, decisions, and strategies you make. You must have an overview of the outcome you want to have. Your business management services must be effective and productive in all sorts in business. Achieving success is one of the best achievements of every business. This will lead them to a bright future in their service business management. For these, people will look on your business as the best business that provides greater opportunity customers.

For you to be able to make your business management services successful here are some tips to implement.

Tip #1. Hold on your goals by reaching with a business plan

Nowadays, when you look at every business, it is fast changing due to the people’s inventions of new technologies and other updated internet skills. The environment and climate of business change. The rapid pace of business is necessary because people should be benefited with all the offered products and services in business. In order to make all these things to happen, business owners should know how to set up their goals. They also should know how to plan for it. If ever a business has their set up goals, they will be motivated. In that way, business will become successful. Remember that you can help in the growth and production of your goals by setting it in your mind. This is how you should hold on to your goals. And eventually, you will see good and positive results in the future.

Importance of planning

It is necessary that their business services management should set out a plan that demonstrates every direction of their business or company. Planning is never that difficult if you know how to assume a project or development you will want to in the future. For example, you will have a plan that is intended for three to four months and you should consider this as a short term goal. However, in business management services, it is better to prepare a plan that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time- bounded. These are the considerations in doing your planning so that you can easily reach what you want to. Business management consulting services also take these considerations for them to easily produce a positive outcome.

Tip #2. Having a good supervision

Business management services should have a good supervision and guidance if you want to make a difference on it. Having a good business supervision means you will have a clear identification of our set up plan and you can also know how fast you want your business to grow in a given period of time.

Tip#3. Manage your employees in your business management

Employees are the good foundation of in every sort of business. They have the most tasks that are performed mostly everyday. If you want to have an excellent business process management services, you will want to make it sure that you have also a good management with regards to your employees. You should know how you can be able to cope up with their attitude and behavior. You must also train them well in the productivity of your running business.

With all these tips, you easily reach success in managing a business. There are business development consulting firms who can help you in taking necessary actions in your business. Remember that you have to be knowledgeable enough in your business management.

21 Secrets to Franchise Business Success

1) Evaluate your tolerance for risk

Opening a new business is a scary prospect. There’s a lot of personal, professional and financial risk to consider. It’s natural when contemplating such a profound step in your career to look at ways to manage your risk and increase your chance of success.

The Small Business Administration conducted a survey that found 62% of non-franchised businesses failed within 6 years. A separate study by the United States Chamber of Commerce found that 97% of franchises were still open after 5 years.

The research conducted by these independent third party organizations clearly demonstrates that choosing a franchise business carries significantly less risk than starting a business on your own.

2) Work with what you’ve got

Making a list of your strengths is easy. But when launching a business, it’s also important to make an honest assessment of your weaknesses.

Before you get to work selecting a franchise, take the time to develop a list that honestly depicts your strengths and weaknesses as a potential business owner. Then use this profile as a tool to help with the decision making process.

Ask franchise owners questions about the duties they perform, and compare the job requirements to your profile. If the business has the potential to be a good fit, the skill sets required to run the business will either be skills you already have or skills you can learn quickly. If this is not the case, it’s best to keep looking.

If a certain aspect of a franchise has a steep learning curve but the business is otherwise a great fit, you may want to consider hiring someone experienced with that position. If this is the choice you make, be sure to include their salary and benefits in the financial business plan.

3) Remember to run the business

Many potential franchisees make the mistake of thinking they’re limited to buying a franchise in their current field. In fact, this might be the worst way to go.

Some franchises will not allow someone skilled in a particular industry to buy a franchise in that industry. For example, a mechanic may not be allowed to purchase an auto repair franchise. Skilled technicians sometimes find the transition from hands-on work to management work difficult to make, and are tempted back onto the floor to do the job they’re familiar with.

The problem with this is that you grow the business by running the business, and what a franchisor wants to see on the bottom line is growth. A business owner needs to be out networking, marketing and interacting with customers. If there’s too much work on the floor of an auto repair franchise, then the owner – even if he’s a highly skilled mechanic – needs to hire more mechanics.

Basic business skills are transferable to any franchise. If your current position involves universal roles like sales, marketing or accounting then your franchise options are practically unlimited.

4) No business is recession-proof

There’s no such thing as a business that can’t be impacted by a faltering economy.

There are, however, certain industries that are considered recession “resistant.” These are generally products and services people can’t do without no matter how much they’re cutting the budget.

The good news is there are hundreds of great franchise opportunities in recession resistant industries. The following are just a few examples:

Top recession resistant industries: Food · Automotive · Healthcare · Medical·Clothing · Education

Recession resistant franchise industries: Fast food restaurants· Automotive maintenance, parts and repair · Weight loss and fitness · Resale shops and discount (dollar) stores · Education (tutoring) and child care

5) Objectively evaluate professional advice from personal sources

Friends and family have your best interests at heart, and their advice comes from a place of love and concern for your well-being. No one would suggest making the personal, professional and financial commitment to launching a business without consulting your loved ones.

But friends and family are not subject matter experts and their advice can – intentionally or not – discourage a new business venture. The people who love you worry about what could happen if you fail, and their instinct will be to protect you from the risk.

When it comes to the final decision whether or not to proceed with purchasing a franchise, of course you will carefully weigh all the advice you’ve received. The key is to rely most heavily on the advice offered by industry professionals.

6) There’s no such thing as a free lunch

There are countless “free” franchise brokers and consultants out there claiming to offer unbiased information on franchise opportunities. They will work with you to assess your needs, and use your professional profile to help make recommendations on franchise opportunities that may suit you.

The problem with these services is that they get paid by the franchises for selling franchises. That means they are naturally only going to show you options they’ll get paid for. And in the case of high profile franchises that may offer them 2 to 4 times the average commission, there’s a real risk they may steer clients to those businesses whether they’re a good match or not.

These broker services may have access to detailed data on several hundred franchises and they can be a great source of information. Just be cautious about their recommendations, and get a second opinion before investing your money.

7) Tune out the hype

Never before was the adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” more applicable. You’re going to hear a lot of hype – good and bad – while assessing potential franchise opportunities.

Between marketing blitzes and human nature, it’s easy for success stories to spread like wildfire. Think about the guy who lost weight eating Subway – that story is so pervasive it’s become almost impossible to separate the allegory from the restaurant in the public’s perception. The hype surrounding that marketing campaign will have an impact on potential Subway franchisees for the foreseeable future.

It’s also natural for people to look for something to blame when things go wrong. Because of this there are also going to be negative, emotionally charged franchise stories in circulation. However, keep in mind the nuanced details that created such situations are never discussed; only the attention-grabbing outcomes.

No one is suggesting you completely ignore these stories, because hidden beneath the hype there are likely valuable lessons to learn. Learn from them what you can while keeping in mind what they are: unique situations with complex back stories that probably have no bearing on your success whether or not you choose the same franchise.

8) Look beyond the big brands

Sometimes it’s easy to forget there are thousands of franchise opportunities out there, because the big name brands get all the attention. When you’re in the early stages of your search, it’s a good idea to bypass the overblown marketing of the huge franchises and make an effort to learn about the “no-name” franchises in your industry of interest.

There are quite a few advantages to lesser known franchise brands. For instance, they are often cutting edge concepts that can get a lot of marketing attention. Lesser known franchises haven’t yet saturated your local market. And they’re usually less expensive to start up, which means less financial risk.

Of course, you may be looking for the security and benefits that come with a big name franchise. Criteria such as national marketing campaigns, standardized employee training, management support and strong purchasing power may be at the top of the checklist for what you’re looking for in a franchise, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re not interested in being another instantly recognizable box in another strip mall, then a ‘no-name’ franchise might be for you.

9) Look beyond the price tag

Just because a franchise is more expensive does not mean it will be more successful.

It’s important to evaluate every aspect of a franchise – financial projections, monthly franchise fees, franchiser support levels, issue response time, customer base and marketing, to name a few. The price tag is a factor to consider, but should not be the sole criterion for evaluating the quality of the business opportunity.

Once you narrow down your preference to a particular industry, conduct due diligence on 2 to 3 franchises in that industry. Gathering adequate information on several comparable franchises will allow you to make an informed decision.

10) Comparison shop

Once you decide a franchise is right for you, keep looking.

If you decide to purchase a franchise of Coffee House A, then it’s time to start looking for reasons not to buy it. Build a list of questions, and then go talk to owners of Coffee House B and Coffee House C.

Be blunt – ask the competing franchise owners why they feel their business is better than Coffee House A. Ask them what made them choose B over A and C. Ask them if they would recommend you buy the same franchise, and don’t stop digging until you’re clear on the why (or why not) of their response.

Build a spreadsheet comparing the details of the franchises. Include data such as the benefits offered, financial commitment required, estimated monthly expenses, commercial lease requirements and franchise fees.

If your franchise preference stands up to the scrutiny, then you’re on the right track.

11) Contact current and former franchisees

The best way to find out if a franchise is right for you is to go behind the scenes and ask a lot of questions.

Before making a buying decision, prepare a list of questions. Contact at least five current franchisees and make an appointment to discuss your interest in the business. Whatever else you discuss, be sure to ask the questions you prepared.

Try to arrange an all day job shadow session with at least two current franchisees. This will allow you to observe the daily operations of your potential future business without committing to personal financial risk.

Contact several separated franchisees to learn about their experience. Understanding their reasons for getting into – and out of – the franchise can impact your decision.

12) Do your due diligence

All franchises are not created equal, and it’s your job to sort them out. The information is out there – all you have to do is go get it.

Conducting due diligence on a franchise opportunity should include:

· Check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints

· Check with the State Attorney General for complaints

· Speak with the franchisor

· Request a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)

· Attend a discovery day with the franchisor

· Make at least 10 calls to current and separated franchisees

· Make appointments to meet franchisees and visit the operation

· Job shadow a franchise owner (or owners) for at least a day (longer, if you can)

· Repeat as necessary

The purpose of due diligence is to reduce your risk. All the steps are necessary, but the most important step is interviewing and job shadowing a current franchise owner.

Some franchise owners will allow potential franchisees to spend weeks at their business learning the ropes. They may be willing to share detailed financial data, and can confirm or refute claims made by the parent company. A franchise owner can answer questions the franchisor may be legally bound from discussing. You may be able to make assessments about your own management style or potential business location by observing theirs. Visiting operating franchises in the course of due diligence may be the single best method for evaluating your potential success with a franchise opportunity.

13) When the time is right, hire a legal and financial team

Getting expert advice on the legal and financial aspects of a potential franchise purchase is essential. Some buyers skip this step to save money, but this is not the place to cut corners. The relatively small fees a lawyer and accountant charge pale in comparison to the enormous financial loss you’ll incur if the business fails.

Bringing in the legal and financial experts too soon in the purchase process can also be a mistake. Their professional opinions are necessary and valuable, but their advice can be expensive and potentially counterproductive in the early stages of your search. It’s crucial to remember when seeking their input that they should not choose the franchise for you.

Bringing in an accountant too soon can mean paying for them to run Profit & Loss data on every franchise that catches your eye. This onslaught of numbers can cloud your judgment, particularly if they’re taken outside the context of in-depth, due diligence research on each business.

Bring in an attorney too soon can mean paying them to review the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) for every franchise that strikes your fancy. Studying detailed franchise information at such an early stage with a legal advisor who doesn’t understand your personality, lifestyle and professional preferences can be detrimental to your search. You could end up inadvertently being talked out of the perfect business.

Waiting to bring in legal and financial advisors until your franchise choices have been narrowed down dramatically is not just cost effective. It’s the logical way to use the team’s expert advice to your best advantage.

14) Feel the fear and do it anyway

The best way to manage your fear of buying a new business is to manage your risk. The best way to manage your risk is to learn everything you can, then proceed according to what you’ve learned.

Start the process with no intent to purchase. That removes the chance of getting so excited about business ownership that you take an irrevocable leap with the first prospect you research.

Above all, ask yourself “can I picture myself doing this all day?” If the answer is “no,” then be grateful for what you’ve learned and move on to researching a different industry.

The research and due diligence processes get easier with practice. It may take a few attempts to find the perfect franchise, but your efforts are not wasted. By actively engaging in the search, you’ve made yourself familiar with the process. And there’s no fear in the familiar.

15) Go it alone

Business partnerships are appealing on the surface because the idea of splitting costs, liability and workload is tempting. But it’s nearly impossible for any two individuals to work together as much as necessary to launch a new business without problems developing.

If it is a financial necessity to form a partnership in order to purchase your franchise, it’s crucial to define the roles each partner will play well in advance. If at all possible, try to structure the partnership so you own 51% and have the power to make binding decisions for the business.

Entering a partnership is not to be taken lightly, and should not be done without consulting your attorney.

16) Lease, lease, lease

Most franchises provide detailed specifications on the type of commercial real estate required to launch the business, and many will assist with the search for an appropriate property.

Leasing a commercial property is nearly always preferable to purchasing one. The capital required to purchase a property is better reserved to fund operating costs for the first few years. It’s also preferable to sign short lease terms with options to extend rather than committing to a long lease term.

Because many commercial leases include taxes and assessment fees buried in the fine print that can cause financial problems for your business, it is very important to have your attorney review any commercial lease before you sign it.

17) Don’t forget you’ve got to eat

One of the most common mistakes people make when working up a financial business plan is forgetting to pay themselves. This simple oversight is at the root of a lot of failed businesses.

In a perfect world we would all have enough in savings to go a year without a paycheck, and everything a new business makes could go right back into making it stronger.

The reality is we’ve all got bills to pay. It’s important to be honest and thorough when estimating the salary the business will need to pay you. Cutting yourself short will create enormous problems, especially if your fledgling business can’t afford to give you a raise yet.

This is one area where decisions you make for the business directly impact your personal life. The franchise isn’t going to do you much good if your heat’s turned off and the bank is foreclosing. Taking extra care with this critical detail could someday save more than just your business.

18) Consider alternate financing options

In the current economic climate, strict lending standards are making it harder than ever to get a commercial loan issued. When loan approval is a problem, it is worth considering your 401(k) or IRA as a resource for purchasing your business.

These self-directed retirement structures do permit individuals to actively invest their retirement funds into a business without taking a taxable distribution or incurring early withdrawal penalties. A successful use of this financing method offers the chance for a greater potential return on your money than the original investments.

Using your retirement funds to purchase a business is not to be taken lightly. But if done right, having your own business could be the best retirement plan of all.

19) Lead by example

If you’re not working hard for your business, neither will your employees.

At the end of the day, the only one who cares if your business succeeds is you. This is not the time to kick back and count the money. In fact, that attitude is the quickest way to ensure that soon there won’t be any left to count.

Even the most diligent business owners may forget that employees can’t see through the office door. They have no idea you’re calling customers, ordering supplies, writing a marketing plan, reviewing applications and trying to find a way to cover next week’s payroll. For all they know, you’re taking a nap.

When an employee sees a manager coming in late, leaving early and taking long lunch breaks they think the worst. They don’t understand that you came in late because you attended a 7 am referral group meeting. They have no idea that your lunch ran long because you were signing a deal with a big new client. It doesn’t occur to them that you left early so you could attend a Chamber of Commerce networking function.

Communication with your employees can help them see you’re working as hard as they are. Share your growth projections and help individuals set goals to meet them. Bring key employees to client meetings. Send high performing employees to networking functions in your place. By giving your employees a role in growing the business, they’ll take pride in supporting your success.

20) If you don’t love it, don’t buy it

Confucius said “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

If you wake up in the morning and dread going to work, your franchise will not be successful. It’s as simple as that.

The beauty of franchising is the endless variety of options – there’s literally something for everyone. You just need to devote the time and effort to figuring out which one will make you hop out of bed every morning, happy to be doing what you love.

21) Use every resource at your disposal

Investing your personal, professional and financial future in a franchise opportunity is a big decision. Use every source of information you can find, and compare the data to make sure you’re getting the whole story.

Build a Successful Marketing Plan – 15 Key Business Success Factors

Every marketing plan needs to include an industry analysis. Why? Because it is of critical importance to understand the industry you operate in, and to identify and track your performance to key business success factors (KSFs) for your organization.

Understanding your industry and identifying your KSFs will help in building a successful marketing plan; one that is based on measurable progress and results. A key success factor is an element of a whole that affects your business’ ability to do well in your market.

Most businesses focus on between three and five of the most important (to their business) success factors. From time to time, or year to year, these key success factors may change, as the industry or the market changes.

15 Examples of Key Business Success Factors (and this is not a comprehensive list) are:

Number of new customers per year;
Number of lost customers per year OR the number of customers retained (it is important to understand and measure the potential customer lifetime value for each customer on a regular basis);
Hire and retain excellent employees (measured by employee turn-over, job vacancies, customer satisfaction);
Successful new product introductions (measured by sales and costs);
Successful promotional programs (measured by sales and costs);
Good/healthy financial indicators: for example, working capital, acceptable ratios (in particular debt to equity ratios), profit margins, cash flow, receivables and more;
If in the manufacturing industry, high operating capacity utilization;
Strong supplier network;
Strong distribution network or channel;
Successful product positioning;
Low cost structure;
Niche product/service – track the number of competitors entering and/or leaving the niche. Is the cost of entry into the market high or low?
Market leader or follower or challenger, and is your relative market position and why? Are you able to support that position if under ‘attack’?
Product differentiation: Do you have technology or service advantages that others can’t easily copy? How unique and differentiated is your product or service?
Time to market: is your product or service able to be delivered quickly and easily; from the first point of contact to the time shipped and subsequently invoiced?

Once you have identified your specific KSFs, build strategies around those factors and integrate those strategies into your marketing and business plans to ensure business success. Develop measurement programs to help you track your progress against your success factors. You also need to assess your competition and see if your competitors’ key success factors are similar or different than yours (depending on your strengths and weaknesses and your marketing and business strategies, they might be very different). One way of comparing and assessing is to do a competitive strength analysis; find out what your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses are and build your competitive strategy accordingly. (A sample swot analysis can show you how to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that your business faces.)

For example, if retaining your existing customers is a key success factor, your business objective must be to grow sales with your existing customers. How do you do that? First, do a customer satisfaction survey to assess how satisfied your existing customers are (or aren’t). Then determine what needs to be changed and what you need to focus on. Make sure that you understand how your customers chose between competitors: is it price, service, quality, knowledge, reliability, relationships, or all of these factors? What product or service attributes are most important to your customers? What is the unique difference between your product or service and your competition’s product or service (from your customer’s perspective)?

Once you have identified your key success factors; built measurement devices to track them; assessed and compared your competitors’ KSFs – and the industry’s; built your strategies and objectives into your marketing and business plans(phew!); you need to act! Build your business on these key success factors.

The 4 Major Components of Business Growth & Profit-Building Success!

Your business can be broken down into 4 segments or component parts.

I call these as the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of a business.

Through extensive research and study of the most successful businesses worldwide, I have likewise determined that there are 4 common focal points found in a successful strategic plan for Business Growth and Profit-Building. These common focal points, or 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS, are interrelated and can be made to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.

When you clearly identify them in your own business, and then strategically harness their power to function cohesively, the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS can produce EXPONENTIAL business growth. And that kind of business growth leads to an increase in bottom-line profits!

So what are these 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS to a successful strategic plan for business growth and profit-building?

Let’ briefly explain what these 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS are, and what they have to do with developing a strategic plan to successfully grow your business and increase your profits.

The 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS

MAJOR COMPONENT 1 is your business’ VISION, GOALS, & MISSION.

When you consider your business’ VISION, GOALS, and MISSION, your chief aim is broken down into 2 parts. First, you must carefully analyze and clarify what direction your business is currently heading in right now. What is your VISION for your business? What are your personal goals and business objectives? And finally, what is your Mission for your business? Do you have these 3 clearly set out? You need to in order to start seeing real growth in your business.

Second, you must determine whether you need to change course to develop the business growth you want and the increase in profits you need. Having clarified your VISION, GOALS, and MISSION, you will then know in what direction you want to steer your business to generate the business growth and increased profits that you want.

As you work through and implement any business growth plans, keep referring back to MAJOR COMPONENT 1, your VISION, GOALS, & MISSION.

MAJOR COMPONENT 1 is the guiding direction for your business, just like a compass pointing to “True North”.

MAJOR COMPONENT 2 of the business growth and profit-building process is your Business Operating Systems, Management, & Training.

I liken MAJOR COMPONENT 2 to the engine that drives a car. When you consider MAJOR COMPONENT 2 in your own business growth plans, you accomplish 4 things:

1. You undertake a review of your business’ engine; that is, your staff and contractors. How can they play a positive role in growing your business and increasing your profits?

2. You consider your hiring practices. How they can impact your successful business growth at the front end…, when you hire others to join you.

3. You evaluate and design your management and training processes to support the business growth that you are striving for. And,

4. Most importantly, you strategically develop the specific operating systems that your business must have in place to effectively and efficiently run your business; whether you, the business owner, are there on the job, or not.

Are you driving a sputtering jalopy or a precisely tuned race car? MAJOR COMPONENT 2 answers that question.

Once you’ve got MAJOR COMPONENT 2, your business systems, running smoothly, it’s time to start filling up the tank.

MAJOR COMPONENT 3 of your business growth plan is Strategic Marketing, Lead Generation, & Lead Conversion systems.

When you consider MAJOR COMPONENT 3 in your business growth plans, you must analyze your systems for servicing your current customers and clients, for identifying and obtaining more of your Ideal customers and clients, for marketing to your unique target market, and for converting more prospects to bring in more sales and increase your bottom-line profits.

Finally, a successful business growth and profit-building strategic plan must never leave out the all-important topic of MONEY.

MAJOR COMPONENT 4 of your business growth plan takes a hard look at Financial Position, Cash Flow, & Reporting.

In MAJOR COMPONENT 4, your primary focus is to review the systems that you have in place to know where you’re at financially, to handle your money, to control it, and to keep it coming in. What changes do you need to make in your financial operating systems to ramp up your business growth? Where is your money? How is it being spent? Do you have operating systems that you have designed and put in place to control expenses and costs? Is your money coming in consistently? What Cash Flow “production” strategies are unique to your business? Are there any other “production” strategies that you can implement immediately? Are there any other ways that your business can “manufacture” additional Cash Flow?

Well, there you have them.

Those are the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of a successful strategic plan to grow your business and increase your profits.

First comes knowledge. You have it.

Now, must come action!

So it’s time for you to take action.

ACTION STEPS:

Follow these 4 steps and get your business growth plans roaring like the powerful sound of a race car crossing the finish line in first place!

1. Write out on a sheet of paper each of the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of your business as outlined above.

2. Analyze each MAJOR COMPONENT in comparison to your present business operations.

3. List the focal points lacking in your business compared to each MAJOR COMPONENT.

4. Come up with just 1 action that you can take to improve in each of the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS.

If you’ve completed the 4 action steps, then you’ve got some momentum going. Constantly focus on the 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS of your business. Keep working on improving in these 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS.

Because if you do, you’ll be developing a successful and proven plan not only to grow your business, but to increase your profits as well!

This article is an excerpt taken from the MasterMind Business Growth System, as written by noted Business Growth Expert and Attorney, Miguel Mendez, Jr., Esq.

Advantages of Drafting Business Plans for the Success of Your Business

It is important to define the goals of your organization before you want to make it successful and writing business plans is the best way to create a roadmap to identify the goals and the steps required to grow your organization. An organization plan also acts as the financial blueprint for starting and profitable running of your organization.

The plans will distinctively explain how your organization is going to function and, how it will be managed, capitalized and marketed. An organization plan includes the executive summary and financial projection supported by relevant documents. Rather than starting your organization right away, relying upon business plans gives you a better understanding of your new organization in the marketplace, allowing you to compare it with the competitors and gives distinctive benefits in that sense.

For most of the independent organization start-ups, money may be scarce and knowledge is available to them in abundance and it is their key strength. Even when you are not going to market your venture, creating plans is going to help you sell your ideas successfully to the investors. For example, if someone asks you the market for your idea, you would be will prepared in advance.

In its simplest form, your plans will clearly define your organizational goals, identify your organizational goals and also acts as the resume to your company. The plan will help you allocate all the available resources efficiently, manage all the unforeseen problems and make correct decisions in regard to every aspect of your organization.

Your business plans are also important when you are considering going for a loan. Your business plan will provide organized and particular information on your company and this is crucial to your loan application. In addition, your business plan will also extend the scope of information offered to your employees, especially sales staff, to your suppliers and partners. The crucial part of this information is your organizational goals and operations.

When you venture into the marketplace, it would be required to present your plans to different people. Your plan is going to be your professional document so make sure that it is detailed as well as concise. It is this document that is going to generate the trust of your investors in your idea and it will help you present your sales pitch. If raising money for your organization is a priority, you cannot think of proceeding without well drafted business plans.

Automobile Business Plan – Four Steps to Success

Like other business plans, the contents of an automobile dealership business plan cover four primary steps towards success. These steps are “opportunity”, “capacity”, “activities”, and “results”.

Opportunity

The industry, customer, and competitive analysis in your business plan proves the opportunity. This should identify that customers in your local market are in need of a dealer of the type you’ve chosen to be because competitors are not fully serving their needs, or because their demographics are changing (more population, richer, poorer, more families, etc.) The opportunity could also be that a certain combination of services by your dealership could improve on what competitors are currently doing. The overall industry situation should look ahead to how the car sales market will be doing six months, one year, or more in the future, when the dealership will actually be open.

Capacity

The experience of the management team, your license as a car dealer, and the financial resources the partners can bring to the table cover the capacity of the entrepreneur to jump on this opportunity. Funders reading the business plan expect that there will also be an element of cash missing from the entrepreneur’s capacity at the moment. Otherwise, they would not be reading the plan in the first place.

Activities

Marketing and operations plans cover the activities the company will engage in to bring in car buyers (and car sellers if you are a used car dealer as well), and run the business as efficiently as possible. As a small car dealer, consider how you can make up for this lack of scale, and the cost savings that come with it for dealer chains, through creativity and hard work.

Results

Finally, the projections of business success and financial section of the plan show the results that you and investors should expect. If results take into account the full costs of the methods you’ve described, and include adequate compensation for staff and key team players, readers will be less likely to question elements on the cost side. If your revenue projections are based on reasonable, researched assumptions about the car buying behavior of your local market, then readers will be more likely to accept this side of the projections as well.

Starting a Startup Business? Choose the Right Business Consulting Firm for Success

Being your own boss is the dream of many and lately, the instinct seems to be taking the world by storm. People are now more inclined to start their own firm, it seems to lure many people and running an own business shows the larger than life picture, however, the reality is a bit different. As an entrepreneur willing to start a new business you need to understand the market, do the need analysis and many researches before executing your plan. You might be budding with business startup ideas but mere planning will not help you succeed, rather you need a right plan of action to succeed.

The upsurge of small business consulting firms has proven to be a panacea for startups. They offer the consultation and startup mentoring services which work as a guide for entrepreneurs to successfully implement and execute their business plan. Not only it supports the Business Startup Ideas but provides feedback to improve the business plan which helps in removing bottlenecks usually faced by startups.

Why do you need startup mentoring?

There is no denial to the fact that many startups fail in their nascent stage, and they may have a number of reasons for the same, the likes include entrepreneurs being naiveté and lack of supportive startup ecosystem, lack of funds, poor market conditions and much more. But, the most important factor that most of the startups miss is a lack of guidance, inspiration, and feedback from small business consulting firms and no startup mentoring. It might sound absurd to a few strong-headed entrepreneurs to take the support of a mentor to execute their business plan but these firms are a must to make your business successful.

Startup Mentoring – your ultimate supporter and motivator

In the lead to succeed, most of the entrepreneurs break rules or make mistakes which they are not even aware of, these mistakes, however, can adversely affect their business. Also, many times as an aspiring business builder you find yourself stuck in a situation where you don’t know how to proceed. Startup Business Consulting firms and mentors work as a savvy guide who constantly provides you feedback.

Initially, you may be having a lack of confidence but with the mentorship of a good startup mentor, you can move ahead with confidence and without hesitation.

How to find the right startup consulting firm or a startup mentor for your company:

You are entrusting your faith and vision on a person who will be your mentor or support or guide, hence, it is very important that you have a strong relationship with them and at the same time, it’s important that your startup mentor’s or consulting firm’s vision should coincide with yours. A good startup has the following qualities:

An expert-level experience
Already a successful entrepreneur
Are patient and action oriented
A harsh critic yet supportive

Before moving ahead and getting associated with any firm or person, as an entrepreneur you should check for the aforementioned qualities.

What does a good startup mentor do?

A good startup consulting firm or a mentor will:

Listen to your concept and give honest feedback
Will give you time and talk through your areas of difficulties. Since they carry with them good amount of experience, they also share their experience which helps you understand your problems and come up with right solution
They are action oriented and hence, always suggest practical ways on how to start a business by making optimum use of available resources

Takeaways-

You must accept the fact that it takes a village to become a successful entrepreneur, of course, your vision and idea is important but what’s paramount is its right and timely execution which only comes with the right support system. The upsurge of companies like Virgin startup is a move to support and guide the newbies in the business world to succeed and survive.

Business Plans: The Key to Success and Growth

Are you planning to open a small enterprise? If so, you should read and follow the tips and suggestions mentioned below.

Opening a small company is not that easy due to the numerous processes you need to undergo and factors to consider. Before you start your task, you need to formulate your own business plan and to know its significance.

What is a business plan?

It is a vital tool to all types and sizes of business enterprises. It serves as their calling card and compass that guide businessmen in whatever actions and endeavors they pursue. It serves as a communication tool in selling, marketing, advertising and investing. It serves as the foundation of your company and the key to short-term and long-term success.

When meeting with investors and lending companies, it is your business plan that do most of the talking because it presents your business concept and ways of achieving your goals. Because of its importance, you have to craft and to formulate an effective and efficient business strategy. When formulating your own plan, you need to include your projected sales, monthly expenses and projected sales. You need to include the type of location you are looking for and ways of marketing your products and services.

If you want to open a store or retail shop, you need to plan how to promote your products. Do you want to have a walk in store? Do you want to sell your items via the Internet? Do you want to enable Internet ordering? What types of delivery methods you want to follow? These are some of the questions that you need to answer to formulate an effective business strategy.

Importance of business plan:

It helps you clarify your business prospects and development
It provides a logical framework on how you can develop or how you can pursue your business strategies.
It serves a benchmark on how actual business performance can be reviewed and measured.
It serves as a basis for discussion with investors, lending companies, banks and shareholders.
It serves as a framework which your company or business enterprise must operate.
It acts as the key in raising additional sources of funds or finances.
Things to consider when writing a business plan:
You must clearly define your target market.
You should determine your business requirements in relation to levels of detail and contents.
You need to map out the structure of your business proposal.
You should decide the probable length of your plan.
You must identify the main issues that need to be addressed within your plan.

To formulate an effective plan, you need to think, discuss, research and analyze. Always remember that two heads are better than one, thus, you need to convene and discuss matters with shareholders and business partners.

If you have difficulty formulating one, you can always hire a profession business planner or business consultant to do the task for you or make use of free business templates found in variety of business planning sites.

How to Make Money Online: A Virtual Assistant Business Plan Is Important to Your Success

A virtual assistant business plan can help you determine the direction that will give you the best possible chance of success. Virtual assistants are independent contractors who perform a variety of tasks and services remotely. If you work as an assistant, writing a business plan will help you define your objectives and assist you in keeping your daily tasks well managed.

Benefits of a Business Plan

If you want to effectively promote your services and achieve your career goals, then you need a plan for your online business. A virtual assistant business plan can help you establish priorities and find new job opportunities. It should also give you a clear picture of your goals, competition, budget, services, and targeted audience.

Writing a plan for your business is a great way to increase your self confidence and organize your ideas. A business plan shows you where you need help and guides you into the direction you want your business to go into. It also outlines your vision for the future of your business and enables you to identify problems early on and take appropriate action. By creating a plan, you will be able to look at your business ideas objectively and persuade others to invest time and money in your services.

How to Write a Business Plan

The Internet is an excellent resource for finding a business plan template. A standard plan should include the following sections:

• Summary
• Company description
• Services
• Objectives
• Strategy and implementation
• Market analysis
• Financial analysis

It should answer four simple questions:

• Why does your business exist?
• What are your goals on long term?
• How will you get there?
• How much will it cost to achieve your goals?

Your objectives should be measurable and realistic. The plan you write should have a logical structure and present a well thought out idea. You also need to identify your potential customers and show how they will benefit from using your services. A plan that covers all aspects of your business will help you advertise your skills more effectively and find new clients who are interested in what you have to offer.

There is no single formula for creating a business plan. Make sure you understand what makes your business unique and then search for ways to achieve your goals. Your plan should outline potential opportunities for your business and help you implement your sales strategy. Identifying your objectives will make you a better assistant and help you grow your online business.

Google Search Engine Optimization – My Own Road Map For Internet Success

One of the most profitable marketing techniques I’ve used for my businesses is without any doubt search engine optimization.

Since venturing into SEO, I’ve encountered much success for my websites. At first when I saw the top 10 websites in Google for a popular search term in one of my markets, it was kind of dream for me. I knew what they did to get there but I knew there was hard work to be done. But certainly it was achievable.

I have to admit it was a kind of obsession to get my website in the top 10 placement because I knew once I am there I will receive targeted traffic and sales for a long time to come. That thought just keep coming in my mind.

All I know is I have to take action right now and I was also really motivated to attain my goals. I know getting search engine traffic is passive and that to profit from passive traffic, I have to start promoting my site right now or else it will take more time to get those coveted rankings.

And once I’ve worked on my search engine rankings, I can leave it aside and concentrate on other aspects of my business but also look for other ways to promote my business. One fundamental thing you should always remember is to FOCUS. Focus on one marketing strategy and keep at it. Give it all you can before moving on to the next one. If you try to do too many things at once, it’s very difficult to find success and you will most likely fail.

The day will come when you will do a search for a keyword phrase that you have been working on and to your surprise, you’ll see your site in the SERPs(Search Engine Result Pages). This will just prove that what you’re doing is working. I’ve been there and I can tell you that you will feel proud and happy with such an accomplishment. It’s an amazing feeling. It’s kind of you don’t believe you are really there.

If you want to achieve those top search engine rankings in Google and other major search engines, educate yourself well and learn the search engine optimization strategies and techniques that work because you won’t be wasting your time and time is so precious in search engine marketing. Have a plan like what you’re going to do everyday to achieve your objectives ie doing some valuable link exchanges with related and relevant websites, article writing, directory submissions, text link advertising.

Link exchanges are not useless. In the past, they were the major ways to get top rankings but now they have been a bit devalued but still they are worth getting. Why? Simply because related and relevant links will bring direct traffic to your website and will help your link popularity too. They will help you in rankings automatically but less as compared to several years ago. Well just focus in getting targeted links and you will be surprised how much traffic you can get just with links from related and relevant sites. Even if one day, reciprocal links are completely dead, those links will still be of value in terms of direct traffic. So don’t get reciprocal links just for search engine ranking benefits and for a boost in link popularity. Article writing should be an ongoing process for direct traffic and automatically, it will help your link popularity. Directory submissions will give your site a solid foundation for link building and can make your site stable in the rankings. Concerning text link advertising, if you can afford it, it’s worth it. Just advertise your website on relevant and related sites and if they are high traffic sites, you can get good traffic and potential business. There was a discussion about paid text links and that Google might detect those in the future and maybe devalues them and here is what I have to say.

I think this would have happened sooner or later. Google might detect paid links depending on some criteria. Suppose a website is new and is getting a bunch of high quality links eg sites with good link popularity, high PageRank, high traffic, this might raise a red flag like this site is buying links. But that as well, it can be getting good links due to article submission.

Whatever happen in the future concerning paid links, I believe if you have to do it, do so such that you are getting targeted traffic from those links and websites alone and bypassing PageRank and backlinks. But first, check that website’s alexa ranking to get an idea of its traffic levels(the lower the number, usually the higher the traffic) and check its rankings for its primary keywords in the major search engines as an additional plus because you can have high traffic websites which don’t depend on search engine rankings. They can depend on other traffic sources. Now if you were to check the rankings, a top 10, a top 20 and even a top 30 is worth considering. The website’s homepage html title will usually contain the primary keywords. By knowing the alexa ranking and search engine rankings, this should give you an idea whether it’s worth advertising or not. This alone can justify your investment.

If there is good return on investment, why bother about the search engine ranking benefits from that link. Even if you don’t get any benefit, you won’t care as long as you’re getting business from your text link advertisement. You might need to test which sites bring you results or not. Advertise for a month with one or two good sites and see if there is any improvement in traffic and business. You can know which site brings you more traffic via your traffic logs. You will see visitors coming to your site from another website. If you’re getting traffic but no business, you have to work on your conversion and tweak it. You can have different business models like selling your own products, affiliate products and generating money from AdSense for instance. Here as well, focus is important. Don’t try to give too many options to your visitors or else they can get confused and leave for good. You need to test which business model is more profitable and lucrative for your Internet business. Testing is absolutely crucial in Internet marketing.

I don’t think there is anything wrong if you purchase links on relevant and related sites for the purpose of advertising but if you have to do it solely for PageRank and link popularity, you might be affected if Google detects paid links in the future and devalues them. You might not get any PageRank passed to your website and your rankings might not benefit. So what’s the use? You can be advertising for nothing. No traffic, no backlinks and no PageRank. You have just wasted your money. Usually when you go for PageRank and link popularity only and not focusing on the traffic rewards, you will not be too concerned about what type of sites you are advertising on whether they are related and relevant or not. You can just buy links on unrelated and irrelevant sites simply for the sake of getting PageRank and backlinks. And usually, you will go after high PageRank websites. Well this is not recommended at all. Opt for a long term strategy which can produce results time and time again not short term results.

On another note, it’s important to remember that before starting a search engine promotion campaign, it’s fundamental that you have already created useful, quality and original content on your site. You might need to outsource your content creation if you have problems coming up with original content. A website without useful content won’t have much merit for the search engines. Search engines love content and best of all if it’s original. It’s also a good idea to build a solid link structure for your site.

So here you are, to get top Google rankings, create your own Google search engine optimization plan and have your own road map for Internet success. You’ll be glad you did.