Realistic appreciation of business environment, its market and business are of paramount importance for company management to form the right company strategy and derive the right decisions. Personal emotions however frequently interfere, blurring the view, and affecting managers’ ability to judge reality.

April 6, 2009, an earthquake, hits L’Aquila, Italy, killing over 260 residents, injuring over 1,000 and leaving 28,000 homeless.

Out of numerous personal tragedies, which the cameraman brought to our homes, two less severe stories shed light on our perceptions of Reality.

The camera shows a family, parents and two girls, lucky enough to leave home on the disastrous day in order to visit friends, standing shocked in front of their house. What used to be their home is now only a heap of stones. Their apartment is buried deep under the walls and columns piled one on top of the other.

Their entire wealth is buried. Precious belongings, photographs, things they are attached to, will never be restored. Their faces express the pain, despair and hopelessness of people seeing their world collapsing before their eyes.

The camera shows another scene on our TV. The background looks the same, another pile of stones quite similar to the first one, but here a rescue team is trying to save a child buried under the heap.

The cameraman focuses on the hands of the people trying to clear a path for the little girl. She is slowly pulled out, and eventually finds herself in the arms of a rescue team member.

Out of nowhere, the father of the girl appears on the screen. He embraces the little child carrying her to her mother who stands nearby. The father, holding his little daughter in his arms, seems to be the happiest man ever lived; the mother sheds tears of joy.

Eventually, both families find themselves in the same position. They have been thrown out of their homes, both saved their family members, and both have to start rebuilding their lives.

The first family is in despair, they seem not to know where and how to go on. The horror, which the second family did go through, however, until they could hug their daughter again, and the relief felt when the girl was rescued, made them lucky. They are not miserable any more. They seem to evaluate the lost property as a minor incident.

The future will probably look different for both families. Although, the situation seems similar, each one has a different prospective. Each one has his own truth, which is hundred eighty degrees apart.

The first family being a victim, the second is in luck.

The second family will probably be much sooner on track again. The wounds will heal very slowly for the parents of the first.

“All our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death”, says Macbeth in Shakespeare’s play. There is not much we can do when we are in sorrow. It takes time until we become accustomed to the situation, able to repress emotions and evaluate logically our next steps.

But many fall in the trap where emotional experience, does light the way. Many managerial decisions are based not on logical evaluation of present condition or long term future strategy, but on embedded emotions, prejudices, rules of thumb, loyalties, promises and old habits. Past experience does affect our decisions causing us to deny reality.

If you were a newcomer to your company:

Would you continue to distribute your products in the same territories, with the same reps?

Wouldn’t you eliminate the product lines that do not contribute?

Would you continue to push the new “promising” idea, in spite of negative market feedback?

Would you continue with the same managers in the same positions?

Would you continue with the same customers, all of them?

Would you continue to manage other operations the same way?

If you are the founder, or if you manage the company for years, the company probably reflects your character, beliefs, commitments and personal connections.

If you do accept the idea that major changes are required, consideration should be given whether you should lead the transformation. Help from a consultant or a manager able to devote the required time may be preferred. Even so, whoever is in charge should be given authority, or at least a sincere attentive ear.

Everyone knows they need one.  Everyone plans on writing one, eventually.  But not everyone does it.  Why? Because it’s so easy to put off and it’s such a chore.  I’m talking about writing a business plan.  Many business owners put more effort into planning their vacations than they put into planning their businesses.  This is a shame because an entrepreneur with a business plan is much more likely to succeed than one without a plan.

With just a little effort, you can plan the business of your dreams complete with desired level of income, time off, and emotional satisfaction.  The key is the business plan.  Let’s take a look at some of the mistakes we tend to make with business plans and what you can do to overcome them.

Mistake #1 – Putting it offIt’s easy to hang up an “Open for Business” shingle and then dive right into the busy-ness of day to day operations of your business.   Things are going well and you think “Someday I’ll get around to writing that business plan” or “I don’t need that business plan after all”, or even “Who says you need a business plan to be successful?”   Years later when you want to buy a building or expand operations you find out that the bank or investors want a plan, but you don’t have one.

Don’t put it off.  Having a business plan helps you to solidify your future, anticipate problems, and plan for success.  If you’re always running on adrenaline, putting out fires, and playing catch up, you probably need a business plan.  So just do it.  Block time on your schedule two to three hours a week and just get it done.

Mistake #2 – Not a big enough vision

Think BIG when creating your long term vision.  This is your opportunity to design a business that far exceeds your current situation.  I’ve seen far too many boring, limited, and going-no-where visions.  Think in terms of the ideal and put yourself in the future.  What would you most like to be doing in your business?  The grunt work?  The annoying stuff you’re doing now?  Of course not.  You are the face of your business.  Your job is to meet the clients, close the big deals, and rake in the dough. 

What kind of revenue do you want in your business?  Think BIG again.  And don’t say 20% better than now.  What are the possibilities five to ten years from now?

Mistake #3 – Weak goals

A business plan without detailed goals is like a ship without a rudder.  The business becomes directionless without a purpose.  You, as the business owner must have goals for every facet of your business.  What I often see is a 5 year revenue goal, but no monthly and yearly goals to lead up to the finale.  I see very few business plans with client goals, professional goals, and personal goals.   How many new clients do you want each month?  What are the revenue goals for your products or services?  What information products do you want to produce in the future?    Having goals in life is what drives successful people.  What are your goals?

Mistake #4 – Not focusing on Marketing and Branding

It’s really easy to get into statistics, theory, and hyperbole in a business plan.  I say “Show me the money!”  What are you going to do to bring in the dough?  Any business plan worth the paper it’s printed on should have a significant marketing and branding section. Take a look at your vision and decide what marketing actions you need to take to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in five to ten years.

If you want to stand out in the crowded marketplace, you’ll also need to create a strong brand and continue working on it going forward. Invest in yourself and get a professionally designed corporate identity complete with tagline, website, four-color business cards, and the like.  No one wants to do business with someone who doesn’t look professional.  So get rid of the dull boring business image and kick it up a notch.

Mistake #5 – Not working the plan

Why do you write a business plan if you are going to put it away in a drawer somewhere?  You need to keep the plan visible.  You need to review the plan on a weekly basis.  You need to be asking yourself “What now?” at least weekly.  You need to make sure you are getting results.  No matter how brilliant the plan, you must take action to get results.  You do this by reviewing your plan, checking the marketing activities for results, and asking “What bigger projects do I need to tackle to get closer to the big Vision?”  Then you ask yourself if the direction needs to change.  If so, it’s time to re-write your plan.

Traditional thirty-page business plans are not always useful for entrepreneurs.  They can be overly technical and may not provide the accountability needed.   I have created a business plan system for entrepreneurs and independent professionals that may fit the bill: The Two Page Mini Business Plan™.  This system incorporates Goal Setting, and heavy Branding and Marketing with My Success Book – a built-in Daily Action Planner to encourage accountability and results.  This may be just the system you need to get where you want to go.

 

©Copyright 2008- Suzanne Muusers – All Rights Reserved  

 

Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long it is printed in its entirety including the about the author information.  Please leave all links active, do not edit the article in any way, and include the copyright statement.

THE BEST FUTURE BUSINESS AT GOLDQUEST INTERNATIONAL.

LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INVESTMENT! NO MLM, NO SCAM, NO SPAM.

Right now, I would like to talk about THE BEST LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY towards FINANCIAL FREEDOM for all of us. Our slogan is TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) and our mission

is RHYTHM (Raise Yourself To Help Mankind).

THIS IS THE SIMPLEST BUSINESS CONCEPT I HAVE EVER SEEN, IT IS DEFINITELY NEITHER MULTILEVEL MARKETING NOR PYRAMIDING SYSTEM. Does it sound intriguing?

Let me tell you how this works, and most importantly why it works. Please read this carefully to find out how to get started. I’m not really really exaggerating too much here, you’ve heard all the “get rich now” claims and you’re sick of seeing them! This is NOT a GET RICH QUICK business, but YES it is a GET RICH SURE business for all money seekers. The passive income offered by the company is $250-$60000/month. It sounds too good to be true when I first look at

the numbers, but I can’t choose not to believe because I have witnessed that this is already happening to many people if you follow the simple instructions below faithfully. DO NOT FORGET THAT YOU WILL NEVER BE BY YOURSELF BECAUSE I HAVE A VERY STRONG INTEREST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PROGRAM WORKS FOR YOU.

For those of you who are curious and interested to try, this is how you can get started:

1. Go to http://questnet.com

Welcome to Gold Quest International! GQI is a five-year-old company whose core business is retailing of fine art gold products. They have heir corporate headquarters in Hong Kong, and have operational offices in eight countries worldwide.

2. Register on the questnet.com by giving IR ID NF161362, Place an order for any one of the products offered online. You buy the products once and you will get the lifetime licence free of charge which you can even pass it down to any of your family members. The licence enables the company to recognize you as a valued customer and endorse you the right to start the business. You will not lose your licence even though you have sold the products at EBAY or other places. As long as you have the licence, you will be able to receive bonuses/checks from the company. ONE TIME CASH OUT, LIFETIME CASH IN.

3. After you become a customer of this company, you will be able to introduce the business to at least 2 friends or more if you like (one on your left, one on your right). Think about it! In your whole life, are there 2 persons whom you can trust? For sure, there is. We are not required to introduce to as many people as possible unless we really want to. It’s not demanding right?

4. Tell the referrals below you to do the same. You can copy this article, and send it to your friends or newsgroups.

5. Keep in touch with the referrals below you through email so as to work together as a powerful team. You can check out the names of the referals below you by accessing the geneology section of the website using your TCO# and password.

If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to send an email to [ rythmindia@gmail.com ] The business plan can be viewed at http://www.aturdoorstep.com , Once you have completed all these steps, you are officially part of a global business that enables you and your heirs a lifetime of residual income. You can carry out the business anywhere, even when you go outside of your country, as long as there are internets and banks.

WHEN WILL YOU GET YOUR CHECKS?

The commission is $42/transaction. You will always get yourself $42 for every transaction that takes place below you whether you refer directly to A and B or indirectly by A and B to C, D, E, and F. You will get your first checks of $250 whenever there are 3 on the left and 3 on the right. You can get this done whenever you wish, so you decide how far and how fast you want to go.

Unlike multilevel marketing:

• We are not distributors, we are customers instead.

• We are not selling, we are just making reference. What does reference means? For example, after watching the latest movie at the cinema and you feel satisfied, will you reference it to your friends? It is for sure that you will tell your friends to watch the same movie too. You’re happy to share a good experience that you’ve seen, heard, or read even though you’re not paid. Likewise, I am telling you here now that if you really want to earn a big amount of money flowing into your account, this is the right company.

• There is no membership or annual fee, we just need to become a customer once and that’s it.

• The commission does not get lesser as the level gets further away.It’s the same for all levels, $42/transaction.

Unlike pyramiding system:

• We are not constricted to forced matrix because pattern does not matter. You can choose where you want to place your friends under you.

• We are not obligated to recruit as many people as possible; we just need to introduce the business to 2 people (1 left and 1 right).

• People who are below can get richer than people above

• People who don’t do their work don’t get to enjoy the rewards because the checks are only paid whenever 3 on the left are balanced

by 3 on the right.

You can do this on a part-time basis. All you need to do is just get 2 people to become your business partners. If you believe you have 2 people whom you can trust in this world, I would suggest that you don’t put this off. If you believe you may not have 2 people whom you can trust, I would suggest that you don’t ever take up this opportunity. We are looking for PIONEERS, THE FIRT BELIEVERS,

GOLDQUESTERS!

THIS IS ALMOST RISK-FREE, BECAUSE YOU CAN GET BACK YOUR INVESTMENT IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT OF YOU DECIDING TO QUIT WITHIN 6 MONTHS.

You need to respond to this if you are interested, please get back to me as soon as possible so that I clear all your possible questions and doubts. GET TOGETHER, KEEP TOGETHER, AND ACT TOGETEHER.

Please, take a few seconds of your time to forward this to your

friends. Thank you

May we become partners in Success!

Sincerely yours,

Sudhir

Referral NF161362

http://www.aturdoorstep.com

For many entrepreneurs the creation of a business plan is the biggest hurdle in the development process of their fledgling enterprise. There is a mystery, almost a dread in many people when discussion of a business plan requirement is first broached. They conceptualize a boring, dry, painful experience and many would like to avoid this step if at all possible.

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that qualifies, quantifies and narrates a commercial opportunity. It is that simple to state, more difficult to execute, but anyone can customize a business plan that gets results. The plan must have an exciting Executive Summary. Like the opening scenes of a movie, or the first chapter of a book, the writer must set a hook.

Typically, active investors, angels, venture capital groups and investment bankers are deluged with business plans. Screeners typically read the document before passing along to decision-makers within the firm. However, very few move a business plan along the decision making food chain precisely because the Executive Summary lacks excitement, punch or sets a high level of anticipation about what is inside the document.

Having written hundreds of business plans for clients I can attest that creating a plan that works is, well, work. No two plans are alike. The plan must be customized, well researched, structured and direct. I receive more than 500 business plan submissions annually in my consulting firm. Less than 1% have commercial potential as written. Many describe products, services, retail or new business development ideas that otherwise might be exciting. However, the plan does not convey that potential.

One of the worst things to evolve from the arrival of the internet is the ability to download a business plan template and write the document by filling in the blanks. The template itself is not problematic, I use a self-developed template when I customize plans. The problem is that many entrepreneurs do not have the writing skills, the research in hand, know the keys that turn on investors and thus, take shortcuts. Filling in the blanks without sweating the details and doing comprehensive research results in a document that will not be read and an opportunity that will never launch.

Rule number one in the development of any commercial opportunity: shortcuts equal failure!

I am a self-taught business plan writer. If I can do it, anyone can. In reality, however, most people just want to expose their opportunity to investors, licensees or potential partners. They don’t have writing skills, do not know the types of research necessary to support the plans sales model, need help in creating the marketing strategy, and will never be able to narrate financials. Where can they go to create and exciting business plan document?

The following are resources readily available in most communities. Many are free.

Many colleges, community colleges and universities have developed small business incubators. They attract additional state funding, as small business growth and development are keys to job creation and an increased tax base. Take advantage of this community asset. Students, graduate students and professors are often available to direct your efforts. Ten years ago there were only a handful such programs. Today, over 1000 schools have some version of an entrepreneurial program.

Many states, regional and local governments offer business development programs. They have retired business people and mentors on hand to support, guide and train prospective entrepreneurs and guide business plan creation. There is no charge for utilizing this service, after all, your tax dollar supports these programs.

SCORE, the Service Core of Retired Executives is a Federal Government sponsored initiative. Thousands of retired, experienced business people make themselves available to evaluate commercial opportunities and direct the development and launch of those deemed to have potential. They are often intimately involved in creating business plans.

The Ewing Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, MO is devoted solely to the development of entrepreneurial development. Mr. Kauffman started, nurtured and developed Marion Labs from a tiny drug local company into a multinational, multi-billion dollar powerhouse. He also owned the Kansas City Royals baseball team. His devotion to developing and promoting the entrepreneurial base of the United States resulted in creation of the foundation that bears his name.

Seek out a consultant. Typically consultants charge a fee, just like lawyers, accountants or plumbers. The advantage of an experienced consultant is that they write business plans for a living, will be strong writers, able to properly direct or perform research, narrate financials and differentiate a commercial opportunity by creating an exciting word picture. Always seek references and talk to several before deciding on a consultant.

Why Do I Need a Business Plan?

You might not. You might not need a deeply customized business plan if you are seeking to license or sell an invention, a patent or a prototype product. In this situation, the potential licensee would take your work product and develop a plan that fits their internal organizational needs.

However, if you are attempting to fund a start-up business, self-market a product or buy a small business you will absolutely need to create a road map. That road map is your business plan. The map is not linear, there will be curves and setbacks, but by quantifying, qualifying and narrating a well- researched, customized business plan you are much closer to success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that Africa is becoming one of the world’s best business venue, competition might get tougher. All types of businesses will need a more intense and effective business modeling to keep up with the heat of the battle. Doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa will become harder to bear because of the rise of more foreign investments.Competition in Africa’s business sector is expected to become tighter. This is all because of the growing number of investors being invited by the region’s overall growth. Countries with large economies were the premiere investors in Africa. One of them is China which focuses on oil, mining and infrastructure business. But as always the first one to come is the one who gets much of the advantage. This is why Chinese investors are making the most of the moment while everything is still fresh and hot. China is one of Africa’s best business partner right now. With their wide spread investments, the continent is helped out to cater the needs of Africans. United States is also one of the primary investor in Africa. These two countries are perceived as two banging stones in African business and in the global economy.But as experts said, no business in Africa will be cornered or get left sagging in their respective industries. Africa has a very competitive natural resources, enough to sustain the life of any African business. Plus, the large population of the continent is a great prospect to become consumers. The consuming behavior of most people are also improving. More people are introduced to innovations. Slowly but surely, Africans are embracing them to make their daily living better. A tighter competition can only be a disadvantage for businessmen if they don’t know how to abide it.On a brighter side, competition in Africa’s business environment will spur growth on the continent’s different sectors. It will stimulate progress through innovation and greater productivity. More production means more supply. Like in food business, if there are more ventures on food production, people will never run out of sources. Lesser rate will suffer from hunger. ICT is also one of the most improved sector. Majority of the population of the whole continent is seeking for something that will make their life more convenient. Anywhere you look at, you will find someone asking for a change. What Africa needs is more investments on their ICT, agriculture, education, health services, infrastructure, etc.. You can be the one that they are looking for.Competition just needs to be fair and everything else will end up positive. Competitors are not there to thwart you from achieving your goals. There’s nothing that can stop you from getting what you want if you badly want it. Problem can come in the form of poor management and ineffective decision making but can be resolved through business consulting.

Although no business investment comes with a guarantee of success there are things you can do to reduce the risk involved.  Professional investors generally consider the same factors to be important in all investment decisions.  Before making any investment you should ask the following questions.

How long has the company been in business?

If a company has been in existence for a long period of time then there is a good chance that at the very least your investment will be secure.  However companies with long standing histories do not necessarily make the best investment.  Often newer companies can provide greater returns on investment although at the same time carrying a higher amount of risk.

How much experience in the industry does the management team have and how successful were the managers in previous business ventures?

A key factor in the success or failure of any business is the quality of its management.  When deciding if a business is worth investing in you need to try to evaluate just how well managed the business is.   One factor you may want to look at is the previous track record of the management team.  If they have a record of managing successful businesses in the past then it can be a good indicator for future success.Additionally a management team that has a lot of experience in the same industry can be a good thing to look for.

Do you know enough about the industry to be able to evaluate the company and make a wise investment?

Does the company have a realistic marketing plan?

For a company to be successful in most cases it will need to have a solid marketing and advertising strategy in place.  When evaluating if a business will make a sound investment you need to be sure that it has a good marketing plan.