Business Plan and Marketing Plan support

[don.cooke]

So - you are really good at doing what you do.. you started a business - now what !

Running a business is made much harder by the other stuff you need in place that can be less familiar - marketing, business planning etc. etc.

Feel free to contact me if I can help you with useful templates, general advice or just a shoulder to weep on.

As well as having a wealth of first hand experience in new ventures - I have a large and helpful set of support networks that I will be keen to let you leverage.

Feel free to ask me for help.

Regards
Don

[brunswickheights]

Hi
I would like some help please................have no idea where to begin
Patricia

[Caroline]

Hi Don

Ive started my Business plan, but im stuck for wording and what and how to put it.

Would appreciate so usefull help and advice

Caroline

[don.cooke]

OK guys.. Great to find an area where i can offer some help and support
skype me on don.cooke5 ..

I have a number of templates that will really help you and would be happy to offer you an hour or two's mentoring.

[brunswickheights]

Dont know how to use it

regards
Patricia
Brunswickheights Collectibles (Powered by CubeCart)
Collecting is the new green!

[don.cooke]

I have contacted you directly.. via your site

You will find skype a very useful and free tool for talking to other forum members - so I we can get you running that too

Regards
Don

[Ray Stewart]

Rather than a formal business plan, I encourage new businesses to create a vision of where they want their business to take them over the next few weeks, months and years.

I find focusing people on a goal helps them take the first step, and then more steps on their journey to achieve the goals.

Why do I adopt this approach? Well, how many of you would go to a travel agent to buy an airline ticket if you didn't know where you wanted to go?? It sounds a riduculous question but you need to know where you are going before you can start anything.

I see so many businesses that started a while ago because the founder was an expert in that area (an obvious starting point) but then find the business isn't going as well as expected but can't understand why.

All it takes is a hour or so chat with me to firm up on some of the dreams the founder had at the start. Then, as if by magic, a series of obvious steps become apparent to get to the dreams.

So, treat your business like you would a holiday. Start with the end result you want to achieve and the steps to get there unfold themselves in front of your eyes.

If you have trouble with the concept, and it is a known statistic that an average person spends more time planning their holiday than focusing on their business... please get in touch and I will talk you through it - with absolutely no hidden agenda on my part or costs. I just hate to see people struggle and eventually give up on a sound idea - just through lack of direction.

Ray

[don.cooke]

Thanks Ray, I think coming out of this are at least two useful points

Firstly .. may sure the plan is realistic and contains short and long term milestones.

Secondly .. once you have a draft - put it by as many folks for comments as you can - and then ask them 'which bits do you not get ?' - this will get you a better and more realistic plan faster and also grow a loyal set of supporters to help you through the stormier waters ahead.

Don

[PiloteMedia]

Part of me thinks that business plans are really old fashioned, the product of management consultants and academics erring on the side of caution. The trained accountant in me (who wont go away despite years of ignoring him), says that a statement of intent can really help focus the mind and make finite money go further.

While I am a huge advocate for finding mentors and using experts to generate business plans and get things moving, I am also becoming a huge fan of sites like Wikipedia, where really good advice is available for nothing.

Just as programmers are being increasingly marginalised by open source code, so too are 'business experts' being reduced to providing commodity services. Of course, we all know that just because someone gives you a free template, you wont know what to do with it, but for some it can save big bucks at the beginning of the business cycle.

Try it, type 'business plan template' into google or directly into wikipedia.

My tip - for what it is worth "If you are going to write a business plan, do it yourself, don't let someone else write it for you." sure ask for guidance, but if you are going to have a document like this, you need to know why every word is there.

[don.cooke]

There are plenty to chose from - try 'free business plan templates' or 'free marketing plan templates. and you will see less - but still a great deal to choose from.

I agree that it is not the template - but you actually having to think it through that adds the value and moves you and your venture forward.

[GeorgeM]

As someone who has had the pleasure of chatting with Don, I'm sure he can offer useful suggestions and advice to someone starting and running a business - as he has successfully done it himself.

And I guess sharing such information is one of benefits of being a member of this forum isn't it ?

[Mat]

Originally Posted by Ray Stewart

Rather than a formal business plan, I encourage new businesses to create a vision of where they want their business to take them over the next few weeks, months and years.

I agree wholeheartedly.

When I first started up, I was commanded by a whole range of "expert business advisors" (none of whom had ever run a business incidentally) that I absolutely must produce an epic business plan full of terribly long words, even if I wasn't seeking funding.

Eventually, after several weeks of trying extremely hard to forge a lengthy document from complex templates which I couldn't begin to understand, I gave up and instead sat down to write an outline of my business and where I hoped I could realistically take it in the future. From that, I began to jot down the steps I felt were necessary to get there, and to back it all up I carried out a bit of research and worked out my numbers. And there it was: My business plan, clear as day.

A business plan is quite simply a tool. It is not a complex document, and needs not follow any set pattern. It helps you to identify whether your business is realistically viable, what you need to do to make it work, and provides a reference point for the future.

[Emma]

How did you get on, Patricia?

[brunswickheights]

To be honest,nothing.
Ebay has just decided to change a whole load of stuff including hiking their prices up. So I have been doing comparisons with their new charges and have decided to upgrade my Ebay shop,plus I am now thinking of opening one in the US Ebay as well.
Plus I am also sorting out ad clicks with Google....for my website.....not sure what words to use yet. Using different sites that give you key words ,so see what comes up the most in my field of sales.
Anddddddd......................of course I have to still buy stock,photo it,write a bit about each item and then list it on my website and ebay.
There's more yet lol...............and I have decided to have a book sale on my ebay site (don't sell books on my website) , so things to do there.
And even more.............but not really me so much,but my son and husband are starting a Solar hHeating business across the South East of England and thats about to kick off soon,but in a much more grander way than me.
So that is really exciting.
Will do the business plan soon.Promise.
Kind regards
Patricia

[Mark]

Sound like you'll be busy!

[Virtual PA Star]

[QUOTE=Mat;1278]I agree wholeheartedly.

I agree too, my business plan consists of two pages and is brief and basically consist of what I want to acheive. an extended shopping list really,

[Paul Simister]

Sounds good to me.

I hate long business plans unless finance is needed.

Try to make sure you make your goals SMART

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant (to your overall vision)
Time based.

I also encourage people to map out a simple economic model of assumptions like leads to be generated, lead conversion %, average gross profit margin, sales lead time, how quickly customers will pay your bills.

Just writing them down helps you to remember what you assumed.

Otherwise the mind plays tricks and you suffer the moving goalpost syndrome as you adapt to realities instead of trying to move reality to your plan.

[FileMakerExpert]

Another endorsement for Don. He has lots of ideas and is a genuinely supportive guy. I'd highly recommend talking him up on his generous offer.

Regards,
Dan