Intro to Biz Planning – Aug 11

The Challenge – Update

A few days ago we  set a goal at Roundpeg. We want to attrack 1,000 fans to our Fan page by August 1. To acheive our goal, we are testing a variety of techniques, including creating a custom welcome page, sending invitations to friends and family and posting updates on twitter.

Like any marketing campaign, it would be crazy to wait till it was over to see if it was working, so every day, we  check our stats to see if what we are doing is working.   Then we can adjust the strategy if we need to.

So how are we doing?  See for yourself:

We had a nice spike when we kicked off the contest but our traffic has leveled off since then.  Now we need to look at some alternatives but with three weeks to go to the deadline, there is still time to make effective corrective action.

The same approach will work with your marketing campaigns:

1. Set a Goal
2. Develop a Strategy
3. Execute the Strategy
4. Measure the Results
5. Adjusts and Start Over!

Want to see how this turns out?  Be sure to become a fan, and watch our page for updates!

The Challenge is On…

As a business plan consultant, I routinely talk to small business owners about creating actionable goals.  To achieve these specific  and measurable targets you need to do more than just talk about them. You need to have a plan in place and actually measure your progress as you move toward the goal.  It really helps if you share the goal with others.

So, I am following my own advice!  At Roundpeg, we have a goal.  We want to have 1,000 fans of our Facebook Fan page by Aug 1. I laid out the challenge to my team at our staff meeting on Tuesday.  Together we came up with plan, which included inviting friends, developing a custom landing page, and  an incentive.  If we reach 1,000 fans by Aug 1, we will have a company pool party on Friday, Aug 6.

We are tracking our progress, studying which activities have the greatest impact, and updating our score daily.  While it is not the only thing we are working on ( that would be crazy) everyone knows where we are against the goal, and every member of the team is playing a role.

Interns Dan and Heather collaborated  on our new Welcome Page.  DJ TBreezy ( alias Taylor Brough) has the most Facebook friends, so he is in charge of personal invites.  Jay, Allison and Kelly are working on keeping the conversation going on Twitter and Facebook.  When Emily returns from vacation, she will be in charge of widening the PR circle.

And the good news… it’s working!  On Tuesday morning we had 86 fans.  just a few minutes ago I checked and we have 222 fans.  We still have a long way to go, but we have a plan, a common direction, and a way of measuring the success of our actions.

While this is a great study in goal setting, you may wonder, does it have a business application.  The answer is yes!  I have been researching Facebook as a tool for small business and there are some compelling reasons to get serious about Facebook.  While I personally prefer Twitter, I am seeing more and more postive information about Facebook, if it is used correctly:

• Studies show the average value of a Facebook fan is $139
• More than 90% of the business owners responding to our survey have a Facebook profile
• About 50% consider it their primary social media tool.

So we will be on Facebook.  Look for us there!  Become a fan, check out our blog posts, photos and contests.  But don’t forget to come back here as well.

Losing to Win

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal had a headline that disturbed me: “[Business Plan] Competitions Might Not be Worth the Effort.” It goes on to tell the stories of disappointed entrepreneurs who didn’t place in the money at business plan competitions.

Some would say  they lost because they walked away without a dime. But I strongly disagree: business plan competitions are critical in helping new business owners achieve their goals. Not only does it provide impetus for them to sit down and actually write a plan, they can also receive invaluable feedback from the judges. As Mike Miller, chief executive and founder of NxtMile LLC said in the article, “It will be nice if they write you a check, but more importantly, they may see an opportunity that you have missed.”

Miller is right. When entering a business plan competition, think of any money you may receive as an unexpected bonus. Go into it with the attitude that it will give you a chance to refine (or create) a business plan, and get constructive criticism from experts. Anything else is just gravy.

For all of you aspiring entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas, the Entrepreneur Advancement Center will be holding its first ever business plan competition open to the general public. Visit www.goentrepreneurs.org, or check back here for more details. Lorraine will be among the judges, and I know she would love to read your plan.

Small Changes Will Move You Forward

As we emerge from one of the longest recessions in the last 50 years, many small business owners are unsure how to approach their business.  What changes should you make to turn your business around and accelerate their growth. Some of the most valuable changes you can make ere operational in nature.  For example:

1. Focus on Customer Generated Revenue – This seems kind of intuitive, but the author suggests instead of looking for a loan go looking for more sales to fuel your growth.
2. Use online invoicing and payment solutions. – Here the strategy is to accelerate payments to you.  Although I pay a fee to process a credit card, it is nothing compared to what it costs to chase an invoice after the project is complete.  Practice asking your clients if they ” want the miles” referring to the mileage points they receive when they use their credit card, as away of encouraging them to use their cards to pay you.
3. Invest in technology - Upgrade computers, enhance software. Don’t spend frivolously, but  don’t try to run your business with antiquated technology.
4. Manage costs, but when you invest ahead of your competitors – While everyone else is still cutting costs, now is a good time to invest a little.  It won’t take as much to leap out ahead as it would if everyone was spending.

What else would you add to this list?

Seth’s Spin on a Business Plan

I think business owners need a plan.  Of  course I write them for a living, so some people will say  I am simply approaching every project with the same hammer.  I don’t agree.   While plan outlines may differ, the process of thinking about your business is fairly straightforward.

In a recent post,  Seth Godin shared what he believes to be the appropriate outline for a busiess plan. It contains only five sections:

• Truth – What is happening in the market
• Assertions – What you think you offer
• Alternatives – Possible outcomes
• People – Who will make it happen
• Money – How much will you need, how much will you make

While not as complex as other models I have seen, I think it hits the highlights.

What about you?  What are the critical elements of your business plan?

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Want a more detailed outline?  Check out our free small business plan outline, and simple eCourse.

Countdown To Launch

Getting ready to launch a new product or business?  This valuable check list comes from Mark Hayward , in a guest post for ProBlogger.  Although he was talking specifically about launching a blog, many of the steps in his check list are equally appropriate for any new businesses.

1. Define your customer – This needs no additional comment.  If you don’t know who you are trying to reach you can’t begin to build a plan to reach them
2. Location – Ok, so he said : “Determine if you’re going to create a blog within your business website or on its own.” But the point is still the same, where you choose to locate your business is important, and it will have an impact on the rest of your business operations.
3. Keyword research for domain name.   – For me the dominant theme here is the research.  Don’t guess or assume you know, let the facts guide your plans
4. Choose a blogging platform and select a design or theme. – For a non web business this translates to finding the right tools, designing a logo and branding
5. Register your social media accounts. – This is true for every business, from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and Google local search, you have to be finable on the net.
6. Measure ROI - As you make investments in marketing and infrastructure, be sure you know how you will measure the contribution of each investment
7. Draft at least 10 posts in advance – Don’t rush to launch.  Take the extra time on the front end so you are prepare for what you are getting into.
8. Spend time in forums - Spend time networking with peers and competitors to uncover best practices – If you are here in Indy – the new Rainmakers: StartingPoint group may be a great place to start.
9. Reach out to Key Influencers – Find mentors, advisers and coaches.  Just because you own your own business does not mean you need to do it on your own.
10. Draft a web optimized press release - Again, this is something every business should do.  Not sure what the release should look like?  Check out our samples

Is this all you need to do to be ready to launch your new business?  No, but it is a start.   To pull the elements together, you might want to write a business plan

Small Business at the Core of UK Economy Too!

Small businesses are the core of UK economy as well as American, In an article on Microsoft small business, I discovered that just like here in the US, the majority of small businesses in the UK do not have business plans.

• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) plan to create two million new jobs over the next 12 months
• Research conducted by Barclays indicates that small firms predict an annual growth rate of 8.5 per cent.
• According to the study, SMEs in Southampton are most optimistic about their fortunes for the coming year,
• According to the latest statistics from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, SMEs together account for 99.9 per cent of all enterprises in the UK.

Can You Pivot?

When faced with changing market conditions, aggressive competitors or superior competitors, what do  you do?  Do you continue in the same direction or can you pivot?  Change your strategy, maybe even your core product offering?

In a recent post, Seth Godin makes a compelling argument for why Kindle needs to pivot, changing from a premium product model to a low cost leader in the face of overwhelming competition from iPad.  He says:

The only way to get authors and publishers to embrace this device is to sell 20,000,000 of them. You either become the best and only platform for consuming books worth buying or you fail. And the only way to create that footprint in the face of an iPad is to make it so cheap to buy and use it’s irresistible.

Small business owners often get stuck, married to a concept because it was where they started, but time and time again we see successful businesses pivoting.  For example from a presentation by Kristian Andersen, I learned:

• Flickr started out as a game
• YouTube was a dating site
• Paypal was going to beam money to Palm Pilots

What about you?  Are you stuck?  Has the market moved away from you, like the shift from ice blocks to refrigerators. or is there simply better competition?

At roundpeg, I started out with the idea of training managers to build successful teams to implement effective strategies.  There was no market, so I pivoted, and took my planning tools to small business owners.  If I hadn’t pivoted, I would be stuck at a desk job somewhere.  I am glad I can pivot!

Strategic Planning: My Newest Adventure

At Roundpeg, we hate being put in a box. Every one of the VP’s has an area of expertise (Taylor has been called “the Picasso of Graphic Design” and Allison could use her writing talents to make a police blotter poetic.) However, we all relish the challenge to try and learn new things to round out our skills.

I love marketing, and while web design is fun, I have a passion for creating an overarching business strategy which looks at the “big picture.” Obviously, in school, I learned the theory of how to craft a business strategy, but the application of that theory is something I can only learn through real-world experience.

Luckily, Lorraine is allowing me to help develop a client’s business plan. I’ve had a chance to see all of the theory I studied in college put into action as we work through the details of a fairly complex business model.

The client came to us because they hope to get a bank loan to buy a building which will house their wellness clinic. The plan is further complicated because they will also be selling a line of private label products through the clinic and in an online store. Sorting through the plan for each segment of the business and working with accountant Larry Marrietta and Attorney Matt Griffith to fill in the legal and financial aspects has allowed us to develop a document the client will be able to take to a bank, but more importantly also use to run their business.

So far it’s been a great experience. It’s a lot harder then they made it seem in school, but incredibly rewarding to help a client realize their vision.  I’m really excited to see the finished business plan…and know that I had a hand in creating it.

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Need Help Getting Your Plan Started?

• Check out the next session of  Lorraine’s FREE Intro To Biz Planning Seminar on Aug 11.
• And if you are more of a work at home type: Download a Free Outline

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