Common Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid.....

In the last 8 years I have been involved with business planning, in between this time, I have seen all different styles and fashion of plans change a lot, but the fundamentals remain fairly constant. As a recap to what you've already been told, your business plan should tell a compelling story about your business, explaining who, what, when, where, how and why. A business plan should be focused and clear. It is not about the number of pages or style of the cover, however; a basic business plan should not exceed 22 to 25 pages. To help you craft a plan that hits all the right notes, here's a list of some of more common business planning mistakes you should avoid:

1. Don't put off writing a plan. Do not wait until you have enough, don't wait until you have the right people, and definitely don't wait until there's an urgent reason you suddenly need a plan. Instead, just just do it now. Recognize that you need a business plan and that your first step is to prepare your first plan.

2. Don't confuse cash with profits. There's a huge difference between the two. Waiting for customers to pay can cripple your financial situation without affecting your profits.

3. Don't dilute your priorities. A plan that stresses three or four main priorities is a plan with focus and power. People can understand three or four main points. A plan that lists 20 priorities doesn't really have any.

4. Don't overvalue the business idea. What gives an idea business value is not the idea itself but a business that's already built on top of it. It takes employees having shown up every morning or actively representing and participate in company, phone calls being answered, products being built, ordered and shipped, services being rendered, and customers paying their bills to make an idea a business.

5. Don't confuse a plan with the act of planning. You need both to succeed. And your planning process doesn't end when your plan is done. The value of a plan is in the implementation it causes, and implementation starts the day you settle on the main points of your plan.

6. Don't fudge the details in the first 12 months. By details, I mean your financials, milestones, dates, responsibilities and deadlines. Cash flow is the most important, but you also need lots of details when it comes to assigning tasks to people, setting activity dates and specifying what's supposed to happen and who's supposed to make it happen.

7. Don't sweat the details for the later years. This is about planning, not accounting, and you're only guessing the future in a system full of uncertainties.

8. Don't write too much. Keep your business plan short and focused on your main priorities.

Five important tips before you start!

1. The business plan should tell a compelling story about your business, explaining who, what, when, where, how and why.

2. Your plan should be focused and clear. It is not about the number of pages or style of the cover.

3. The plan should define specific business objectives and goals with general parameters to guide the organization.

4. Writing a business plan should force logic and discipline into a business.

5. A good business plan is a living document. It should be updated regularly.

For more details on a basic, extensive or financial plan, please visit WWW.LRCONSULTINGENT.COM and contact one of our consultants TODAY!!!

Bill Gates…...The Ultimate Realist!!

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this!


Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school.


He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.


Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity..

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listenin g to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Basics of Business Credit....The 4C's......

What are the 4 C’s that companies look for? A business’s creditworthiness is ultimately determined by what are known as the “4 C’s of Credit” -- character, capacity, capital and conditions -- most of which can be found explicitly or implicitly in a company’s credit report.

Character includes factors such as: size, location, number of years in business, business structure, number of employees, history of principals, appetite for sharing information about itself, media coverage, liens, judgments or pending law suits, stock performance, and comments from references.

Capacity assesses the ability of the business to pay its bills, i.e., its cash flow. It also includes the structure of the company’s debt—whether secured or unsecured—and the existence of an unused lines of credit. Any defaults must also be identified.

Capital assesses whether a company has the financial resources (obtained from financial records) to repay their creditors. In general, this portion of the credit report is the one most closely reviewed by the credit analyst. Heavy weighting is given to such balance sheet items as working capital, net worth and cash flow.

Conditions consider the external factors surrounding the business under consideration - influences such as market fluctuations, industry growth rate, political/ legislative factors, and currency rates.

A credit manager or loan officer will answer these questions by locating and reviewing:

1. requests for credit information
2. customer supplied information
3. bank information
4. trade information

These factors are also taken into consideration by other service providers, such as insurance companies to set premiums. More than ever, companies are using automated decisioning, which means they input scores and ratings that summarize the 4 C's into a financial model to determine the risk of doing business with you.

Partnership for Community Action, Inc....

Thank you to all of the entrepreneurs for the interviews including CEO of The Urban League Nancy Johnson, TEC Director Mark Parham, and Commissioner of Dekalb County Larry Johnson!

CLICK HERE to view interviews and video footage of graduation.

We also want to thank Executive Director Reginald Davis, LR Consulting's photographer, video production dept and Partnership for Community Action!

The Risk and Rewards of Business Ownership.....

When were really excited about doing something, we sometimes forget or ignore the downside of it. However; it would be very foolish to ignore the risks of going into business!

Failure. The emotional stress of failure can be very hard to handle.

Loss of money. You may have your own money at risk.

Long hours. You may have to work 60 or more hours per week.

Family problems. Your family relationships are likely to suffer unless you can find a way to balance your personal life and your business life.

Bad timing. Sometimes, its just not the right time to start a business. In that situation, its better to put it off for a while, than to let unresolved problems in your life threaten your business success.


Now lets look at some rewards of starting your own business!

Independence. The ability to be your own boss is a very powerful incentive.

Money. The financial rewards can go far beyond what one can expect from a normal job.

Pride. The experience of making idea work transforms many people, and gives them a real sense of self-esteem.

Fun. Running your own business presents opportunities for fun, excitement, and creativity that many businesses can't offer their employees.

Four Stages of Business..........

Starting A Business

Starting a business is one of the most exciting journeys an individual can take. Over ten million people each year consider starting a business. As a result, more than three million new small businesses are started annually. Entrepreneurship offers numerous rewards, but it also presents many challenges. Understanding these challenges and careful business planning can help a new business succeed.


Managing

The success of any business is closely related to how well the business is managed. Good management is the root source of business growth. Managing your business should not be considered an academic exercise. Rather, it is the real-world application of strong leadership, a positive attitude, solid business knowledge, and good people skills. It is the ability to influence and make decisions; and it is the ability to inspire and lead others. Acquiring good management skills is essential for the success like putting money in the bank.


Marketing

Few things are more exciting than expanding a business. Whether you want your business to grow in size or remain small but successful, growth is critical. Business growth assumes you have made it through the early start-up phases and are now ready to expand. It is a period where you can spread your wings and look for new business horizons. However, like earlier stages of development, growing a business requires solid preparation, steadfast commitment and a willingness to take calculated risks. There are many resources that can assist you in expanding your business.


Exit Strategy

Exiting a business is a reality that should be considered and planned for during the early stages of a business. Such preparations will require development of contingency plans for events that may never happen. Planning for getting out of a business is just as important as the planning required for starting a business. A solid, well thought out exit strategy can save time, money, and a great deal of frustration in the future.