• You haven’t had any customers – so you don’t know their likes and dislikes.
• You haven’t had a year of sales – so you can’t review any patterns and see the trends
• You haven’t had tough clients who want refunds and returns – so you can see what the strengths and weaknesses are of your product or service.

Yet every start-up business book or Entrepreneurship 101 course focuses on this area – Who is the client base or group of customers that your business is going to focus on?  What is your niche?  What is the area that you’ll be known for in the market place?

Focus?

How do you focus when you are first starting your business and you don’t know what people are willing to pay for?

It’s tough.  But here is my recommendation – just get started selling.

That’s often the last thing that most people do. They start writing the plan.  They start get the operations together – office location, marketing materials, buying the domain name.

All of those things are good. But they don’t translate into the bottom line.

I suggest you should start with the bare minimum product or service that you can develop.  Don’t worry if it’s not the greatest.  Just get started.  Figure out what people what and more importantly what they will be willing to pay for.

You’ll find the thing that people really want – which is often far for the idealized original version.

So get started today and identify what’s the thing that people are REALLY willing to pay for?

Related articles

• Easy Tips and Tricks for Your Business Plan’s Market Analysis(sweetbusinesses.com)

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• Choosing your target market(aditfindit.wordpress.com)

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Basically, there are three key statements you need:

• the balance sheet,
• the income statement
• and the cash flow statement.

All three of these are critical to the financial lifeblood of your company and they will  determine the growth of your business.

A balance sheet is a document which contains what your business owns or its assets.  It also highlights the things you owe to your creditor or the liabilities. It is important to keep track of what you own, and what you need to pay for to avoid further problems.

On the other hand, income statements, also known as profit and loss statements, are documents which contains information if your business gained profit or not in a certain period of time.

The statement you’ll probably refer to the most is the cash flow statement.  It contains information that links the balance sheets and the income statements. Its main purpose is to determine the movement of cash in your business. This is actually the most important among the three because it informs you if you still have enough cash in your business to pay for your expenses and investments on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.

Before, it was such a daunting task to keep track of these things – you need to face tons of papers, calculate and input numbers manually, etc. But today, thanks to technology and various developments in the business industry, you can keep track of these financial statements simply by using online tools which are highly accessible.

If you are not yet familiar with these tools – don’t worry!  They are easy to use and pretty simple to learn by yourself or with the support your accountant.  The trick is to spend time using them and getting comfortable with them in the initial stages when your learning curve is high.  Once you use them more regularly, it will become simpler and simpler to use and a great time to outsource them to a bookkeeper.

Sure, you may hire an accountant to monitor these statements for you since they know much more about the numbers and how to analyze them. However, it is still important that you at least have a good understanding about the basics of your businesses’ accounting and financial matters. It is also better if you personally know what is going on with your business, especially the numbers, so that you will know whether your business is smooth sailing or is already nearing the verge of bankruptcy.

Ever dreamed of having your own business and eventually be included in the growing number of respected CEO’s all over the world? Then, you must be prepared to write a business plan.

What is a business plan?

Basically, a business plan is a blueprint for any kind of business one wants to pursue. It is a document containing detailed ideas, as well as goals and strategies, which will be implemented in the business later on. Writing a business plan is similar to finding a way to the success of your business and planning how you can reach it eventually. It is as vital as any other document you need to secure for your business, whether you are seeking for loans and investors or not.

Why is it essential?

How well it a business plan is written and how sensible its contents are can surely determine if your business will be successful in the future. Consequently, deficiencies in one’s business plan, can greatly affect the performance of a business. That is why it is essential that an aspiring entrepreneur be dedicated and guarded enough in writing such.

Another reason for making one is to prove that you are serious in starting a business. This reason is particularly useful when you will be availing a loan, seeking investors, attract partners and recruiting employees. A brilliant and attainable business plan can surely make them feel confident that you will never let them down.

A business plan will also make you prepared to face the difficulties of running a business in the long run, like a road map which will lead you to your desired place. This is better than having no plans at all and waking up each morning wondering what move should you do next. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small business plan you need to make, it still needs thorough research and utmost dedication.

Writing a business plan will require you some research and through this, you will be able to study the market, as well as the competitors, therefore making you armed to create effective strategies.

If you are still new in the field and needs guidance in writing your plan, you can take a look at a sample business plan available in the internet through various business plan resources site. Free business plan outlines can also be accessed by anyone who is interested with it. Indeed, creating a business plan has become less stressful with the help of online business plan sites.

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However, as months pass, the buying behaviors of your target customers have probably changed.  Whether you didn’t know them well in the beginning (naturally!) or their habits have changed (i.e reduced spending during time of a recession), you will need to spend some time researching and understanding how your customer makes buying decisions.

Here are some of the categories to consider:

• First determine what are the range of ages and the typical gender of your customers.  While I know it’s not nice to “stereotype”, you probably have an average that most of your customers fall into and this will help you better understand their buying habits.

• Next review their educational background, average income, employment status and marital status.  While these details seem personal, they can help you formulate strategies to attract this group

• For example, someone who purchases their cooking oil based on taste (i.e extra virgin olive oil) rather than cost (i.e corn oil) will probably have a higher income status and reside in upper income communities.  Consider offering products and services based on their motivations – why they buy, how often, where they shop, etc.
• Or let’s look at the differences between a buyer who is married with children or single. Due to their different lifestyles, they have different buying behaviors.  The busy mom might be more inclined to shop online for convenience while the single buyer in the same income category is more interested in entertainment and travel.   Both individuals will probably prefer different brands.

Consider also which form of media they get most of their decision-making information.

• Television,
• Print newspapers (yes there are many who still use them!
• The internet?

Knowing this will help you target your marketing dollars and campaigns in the right places where they can be easily seen.  Consider also micro niches within these categories – the different cable channels, social media and the sections of the paper that will attract more consumers to buy your product or avail of your services.

For example, if most of the people prefer the internet, become an expert with social networking sites, blogs, and web pages that your customers frequent.  (And that’s key – make sure it’s where THEY like to go – not you!)  If they spend more time in watching TV, what are the television shows and artists that capture their attention?  While you might not be ready for big budget prime time television, you can certainly find out about discounts available on local and regional channels for small business ads.

You can collect such information about people by conducting surveys to your customers. It is also advised to put such information in a customer profile so that you will be able to keep track of the patterns of their buying behavior.

Keep in mind that people’s buying behavior also depends on the season or time of the year. For an instance, if you are a clothes shop owner, you should expect people buying more jackets and sweaters when the winter season comes and when the summer is in, people usually look for clothes which are thin and not too tight. School openings also trigger many students to buy clothes they can wear for school, especially those who are in college. Make sure you know these trends and seasons so you will be able to market your product and services accordingly.

Changes of buying behaviors are surely inevitable, but if you really know who your target customers are, you can easily cope up with such changes and keep your business to be smooth sailing.

That is the reason why you should ask an expert for some advice and feedback.

As a budding start-up, you may have at least a small network of people who are also in the same industry as yours. It is also a good move to ask them for advice about the business do’s and don’ts. You can also have them take a look at your business plan and ask them what they think about it.

• Is there something missing?
• Is it too overloaded with unnecessary things?
• Should you expand on any sections?
• What happened when they launched their business?

Be willing to seek out several people for this advice and be respectful of their time and interest – whether they are able to support you or not.

But if you have enough funds, you can actually hire a paid adviser.  Do your due diligence and ensure they are reliable and worth the money you’ll be spending.  I would recommend seeking out referrals and testimonies from clients to help you vet their work.

What are things you could consider?

1. Choose someone who you can easily contact and talk to. They should be easily accessible and share their business hours and methods of contact.
2. Find out their area of expertise.  Their expertise will determine if they can offer effective pieces of advice.  Also know how long has s/he been doing it or they have already put another business into success.
3. Set clear goals of what you want to achieve.  If you are paying for their services, make sure you have a specific tangible that you are aiming to accomplish in your discussions.

Since you are just starting out, the first thing you should consult with your adviser is your business plan.  Whether you have finished it or not, start with what information you do have as part of your first conversation.  While you may think that your plan is perfect; there may be things that you overlooked which your adviser might be able to offer suggestions.  Often it’s hard to have an independent perspective on your own plan and an adviser might be just the ticket to help you see the flaws.  Better to pay someone up front a few $100 than to spend thousands in errors and lag time.

Simply put, it’s important to ask them for feedback as you can’t check all angles of the plan yourself.

As you move further along in your business, you may decide to keep your adviser or seek out others.  An efficient and reliable business adviser will surely be an asset to a business regardless if it is the country’s top company or just a new small company which is just starting to make itself known.

I was home recently answering email when the electricity suddenly shut off.  Thinking it was just my apt, I went to the fuse box and flicked the switch.  No response.   I poked my head out of the window and realized that the entire block had also lost electricity as lights, ACs and other noisy engines had shut down.

I panicked and  immediately shut down my computer to avoid losing my work.  But in the midst of closing everything – I came to a realization.  If this event had not occurred, would I have been able to prioritize my “things to do list” so effectively?  No way.  I had a list of emails to respond to, people to follow up with and tasks to complete.  But most of it was busy work.  Why wasn’t I prioritizing my time to bring in new business and gain additional sales?

While I don’t recommend having a black/brown out to teach you this lesson, I recommend thinking in this manner to see what you are spending your time on.  Are you  trying to start too many projects?  Run too many events?  Keep too many balls juggling in the air?  If you are like me and many typical entrepreneurs, you probably have more ideas than hours in a day and need to ensure you are focused on what brings in money on your bottom line.

So I spent the time without electricity thinking if I only had 2 hours of time on my computer – what would I do?  What activity would result in maximizing my time in generating revenue…rather than my endless list of operational tasks?

I came up with a list that included:

1. Outsourcing a graphic design and writing project on www.elance.com.  Sure,  I could probably do the work myself.   But I’d rather spend a few bucks an hour than lose the potential to develop a large sale.  It works out cheaper – even with the additional time I need to spend managing the outsourcers.

2. Partnering with event professional www.lizkingevents.com for an upcoming workshop.  Rather than managing all of the operational details (like registration lists, advanced PR and confirmation), it is more efficient to get help and hire an expert in this area.

3. List 50 sales prospects to contact this week and set up emails/call for outreach.  This task I often push back on my Daily Things to Do List – citing the need to put out more “fires” like my above examples.  But if include it higher on my list and seek ways to outsource more projects, it will provide greater opportunities overall.

Entrepreneurs,  it’s time to put down the endless list of operational tasks.  They are important but focus your energy and your time on generating sales and maintaining revenue projections – rather than just the “busy” work.

Let me know what you are re-prioritizing for your company after reading this post!

You might still be wandering around or lost if you didn’t have the instructions!

So if you have been avoiding writing a plan (thinking it will take too long) or revising your first business plan, rethink it and consider the business plan as your company’s GPS. 

The plan is really a tool used to guide you in your daily operations and will help you keep your eye on your long term destination.  (Having used to GPS to drive from New York to New Orleans I can attest a GPS can go a long way!)  And if you happen to hit a pocket of traffic, you can use the plan the same way you readjust on your GPS and find an alternate route. Plus it never hurts to have everything in writing if you want to seek funding.

Perhaps you want to launch a new product.  Spend some time identifying competitors and costs to build the product.  On a daily basis, you can monitor your competitors online and through social media to see where their ongoing strengths and weaknesses are.    As well, you’ll have a benchmark price in mind when you need to negotiate with vendors for inventory.

Use the business to guide your daily, quarterly and annual operations.  By spending some time planning on the front end, you’ll gain time in the long term and guarantee that you’ll be much closer to hitting your sales goals at the end of the year!

Developing a company strategy can be time consuming, awkward to develop without a team of great thinkers, and harder to implement as you are managing some of the day to day tasks on your plate to get income coming into your company.

But telling your story.  Now that’s a great “strategy” that any entrepreneur could develop and use to their benefit.

So what’s your story?  What’s your reason for existing?

If you haven’t thought about it, I recommend that you consider three factors when developing your company story:

1. Where did the idea come from?

2. What vision do you have for the future?

3. Interesting customer or experience that many could relate to

Tell us what happens when you consider these ideas below.

While it might be tempting to set up a New Year’s Resolution list that is 10 yards deep by 10 yards wide – I recommend that you pick 4 or 5 areas that you want to work on in your business – and go long with it.  (Clearly I have been watching too many football games these days! lol)

But in all seriousness, focus on only a few very specific goals for 2011.

• If you have been planning to write a business plan  – but can’t get past the first page – set your goal as writing your first draft plan for 2011.
• If you haven’t started your business – start selling a few of the products or services as test within the market place while you write the business plan.   Make your goal to sell to 100 customers and write a draft plan.  (Hint, hint – that is the best way to write the plan.   Get real customer feedback and get real numbers for your first plan.  You can always come back annually and revise)
• If you have been operating a business for several years without a plan – set the goal of writing your first business plan for the 2011 year.  It is one of the most critical tools you can use to set your business up for success.  Don’t worry if you are not applying for financing or venture capital.  Use the business plan as a roadmap for the goals you want to achieve in 2011 and the strategy your business will use to get there.

Pick three – maximum four business goals for the year.

Write them down.

And break down the steps needed to complete them.

Set up time-lines for each step – taking into account your busy seasons and the anticipated curveballs that you know life will throw at you in 2011.

Then tell 1 or 2 other entrepreneurs who are in your accountability circle what you are doing and use them as a feedback loop for when you have completed individual goals.

If you are interested in learning more about goal setting vs goal achieving – take a look at Darren Hardy from SUCCESS Magazine (one of my all time favorites).  He has an excellent series on serious goal achieving and how the Law of Attraction really works

Take into consideration the events and life circumstances that you do know about into your planning.  But set some goals that will make you proud as you look back

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