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Posts Tagged ‘business plan’

You wouldn’t ask a newborn baby or toddler to go out and earn an income would you? Instead you would nurture and care for them until they are old enough and mature enough to stand on their own two feet. Starting a new business can be a bit like that. I’m a firm believer that you need to let it grow a little before you start depending on it too heavily to meet your financial needs. But what do you do if you have no other options, if you started your business because you were part of layoffs?

Why you need to Balance your Financial Needs

Trying to grow a business while depending on it to meet your financial needs can be very stressful.  You will be constantly juggling cash flow and trying to keep just one step ahead of paying bills. Not everyone has a strong financial base when starting a new business. In fact, most people don’t. But you need to find ways of earning a little extra income, even if it is working part-time, to take some of the financial burden off the business.  That stable income, no matter how small, can make a big difference in how you approach your business. It can give you a huge psychological boost to know that you have your most important responsibilities covered. Instead of stressing about where your next week’s income is coming from you can start working on strategies that will consistently grow your business.  Then in time as your business becomes more successful, you can start to depend more on it for your income.

So much of it is about timing. There will be a time when you quite literally have to burn bridges. If you have a specific goal in mind with your business, such as working only three days a week, or taking it online, then at some point you have to take that leap of faith. Sometimes it may mean turning away business and other sources of income and that can be scary. But it also spurs you on to make a success of things. Ideally your business should be well established and on track to meeting your goals before you take these kind of steps.

Helpful Tips for Balancing Financial Needs and a New Business

•    Draw up a budget so that you know what you need to make in order to meet your responsibilities.
•    Try to establish how much time your new business will need out of your work day, and if there is a possibility that you can schedule in some part-time work.
•    Have some sort of stable income – it needn’t meet all of your financial needs but it should provide a base to work from that is greater than zero.
•    Have a clear strategy in place so that as your business grows you can start to put plans in place that shift your focus away from part-time earnings and full-time into running your business.
•    Be aware that timing can be key and is an important part of balancing financial needs with growing a business.

Starting or growing a business is not easy. It requires a lot of determination, effort and investment. Trying to balance all of that and at the same time depend on the business solely to meet your financial needs often just adds to the burden. Earning part-time income to ease a bit of the financial burden is a good way to fast track the growth of your business. It helps you to focus on growing your business rather than stress about how you are going to pay the bills. Because of the time and discipline involved in balancing more than one job, when the time comes to implement bigger strategies in your business,  you will have the confidence to take that leap of faith.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Most people think of their business assets in terms of things they own, such as buildings, office equipment or machinery. That’s how an accountant would measure your assets.

To me though, your assets are the things that you currently have in your environment that you could leverage in order to achieve your goals.

It’s important to list out what your assets are. This will help you to realize that the path to your vision, from where you currently are, starts right here.

Start by thinking of your assets more as resources than possessions.

Two of the best assets you can have in your business are people and products.

People
The people that are assets for your business can be grouped into a few different categories.

Your Team
If you have a team of people that work with you, they are a big asset. They are your resource for getting your business going, your products developed, your articles written, your website up and running. Joint venture partnerships are also an asset by helping to increase your exposure.

Your Clients
Any clients that you already have are definitely a tremendous asset. If your vision is to double or triple your income next year, your existing clients are the people that will help you achieve that vision.

Don’t doubt this. If you think you don’t have enough clients or that they wouldn’t be interested or willing to pay as much as you want, those are excuses and obstacles. I guarantee that a percentage of people from your existing client list will be the same people who can help you achieve your revenue goals next year. Maybe not directly; maybe not even as clients. But they are excellent sources for referring business to you, and are also your best case studies and testimonials.

Your existing clients are, without doubt, one of your best assets.

Prospects
Your prospect list is an asset. I am a big proponent of building a list, and have done this for years because it is such an asset in my own business, and will be in yours.

If you’re experiencing a lean period, you can always mail out to your list. Do a special offer to generate some income. Some of those prospects are bound to become existing clients, making them an even greater asset.

Products
Products are an essential asset that can help you achieve your goals. If you don’t have any products yet, you may need to consider creating some. Like your team, they go a long way in generating business and revenue. Create a hard copy or downloadable recording that can serve as an independent, self-supporting source of revenue.

The path to your business vision starts with what is currently around you. There are most certainly opportunities and possibilities in your immediate environment that are tremendous assets to you, and could well be the starting point of this being a dream year for you.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Are you the same person you were ten years ago?  How about five years ago?  Most of us, in fact, probably all of us in sales, marketing and training are going to say no.  Why?  Because we know how valuable personal growth and development is, we know that every year our skills, our knowledge and each and every experience help us grow.

Is this something we can measure?  Can you put a finite number on your personal development through the year?  We all know we need to set goals and targets in business.  It keeps us forging ahead to find the perfect path to our target.  But it’s so typical that we forget a key process while we’re setting these targets – and that’s our personal growth, experience and development through the year.

In the past, I’ve taken my target revenue, let’s give a nice round figure of one million, and set my monthly revenue target as 1/12 of my annual target – 83,000.  But what I’ve found over the past few years is that it just doesn’t work out in that manner every month.  Not only does it not work out on a monthly basis, but it didn’t break down into four nice, neat equal numbers quarterly either.

But here I was, worrying about making that monthly target and being disappointed when I didn’t.  It took me a few years to realize, it’s not going to work out perfectly for you each and every month, that’s not how life works.  It’s not going to work out perfectly for quarterly results either.  In fact, I noticed that my first three quarters were ramping up to a fourth quarter that accounted for nearly 50% of target revenue.

Why was that happening?  We don’t know our perfect path to our target when we set it.  In fact, if you know every single step you’re going to take to make your sales goal, you may want to ask yourself if you’re playing it too safe.  What happens throughout the year is that the path becomes clearer while we’re growing, learning and developing.  During that first nine months we’re making connections, creating opportunities and gaining the experience that make that fourth quarter the time when it falls into place.

That’s been my personal experience, the quarters tend to fall in the revenue lines of 10%, 15%, 25%, and 50%, respectively.  Take a moment to look back over your past few years and see if your quarters haven’t been doing the same.  If they have, why not work them into your plan?  Instead of focusing on meeting your monthly goal, perhaps that time would be better spent in looking forward to find more opportunities.

What you absolutely do not want to do is become too blinded by making the numbers work as you planned.  If you see one area of your business taking off, but another area is suffering – which do you nurture – the successful aspect or the suffering aspect?  Well, if you focus on the suffering portion, are you doing so at the expense of the successful side?  What I’m saying is, you need to have some flexibility in your plan.

I guess the question many have at this point is how you go about getting 50% of your target in the last quarter.  The answer is “I don’t know.”  You don’t need to know right now.  You need to know in the third quarter, you need to know before you get there, but not right now.

While your numbers may not work out through the year in perfect divisions, stay true to your goal – many of you have heard me say it – be firm on the what, but flexible on the how.  Don’t forget that the how includes your personal development.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com