Based on several requests and questions on how to write a business plan and the benefits of doing it, I have decided to write this article that is more of a Template.Benefits of a Business Plan
If you are starting a new business, your business plan will help you get your idea off the ground. It will give you an opportunity to consider what goals are realistic and achievable and help you indentify what you can do within your budget. Your plan will be a guide to making your idea a reality. If you own an existing business, having a business plan that is regularly reviewed and updated will help you take control of the direction your business is heading. Your business plan will allow you to make the most of new opportunities and identify potential risks and act before problems occur. What is a Business Plan? A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. Business plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, taxpayer, or larger community. When the existing business is to assume a major change or when planning a new venture, a 3 to 5 year business plan is required, since investors will look for their annual return in that timeframe. Below are some of the components of a business plan. Executive Summary While the business plan’s executive summary is the first thing the readers of your business plan will see, it should be the last part of the business plan you write. You need to have “the feel” for the overall content of the plan before you can begin to summarize it. The purpose of the summary is to provide your readers with an overview of the business plan. Think of it as an introduction to your business. Business Description The business description usually begins with a short description of the industry. When describing the industry, discuss the present outlook as well as future possibilities. You should also provide information on all the various markets within the industry, including new products or developments that will benefit or adversely affect your business. Market Strategies Market strategies are the result of a meticulous market analysis. A market analysis forces the entrepreneur to become familiar with all aspects of the market so that the target market can be defined and the company can be positioned in order to garner its share of sales. Competitive Analysis The purpose of the competitive analysis is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors within your market, strategies that will provide you with a distinct advantage, the barriers that can be developed in order to prevent competition from entering your market, and any weaknesses that can be exploited within the product development cycle. Design & Development Plan The purpose of the design and development plan section is to provide investors with a description of the product’s design, chart its development within the context of production, marketing and the company itself, and create a development budget that will enable the company to reach its goals. Operations & Management Plan The operations and management plan is designed to describe just how the business functions on a continuing basis. The operations plan will highlight the logistics of the organization such as the various responsibilities of the management team, the tasks assigned to each division within the company, and capital and expense requirements related to the operations of the business. Financial Factors Financial data is always at the back of the business plan, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important than up-front material such as the business concept and the management team. Work with this guide and you will be able to create a business plan for your existing or new business. You Will Succeed! – Chinedum Azuh is the CEO of Learning Lab Nigeria and an Online Consultant with U.S.A. Learning Annex. MOBILE : +2348032069925 |
Leslie was born mentally retarded, without eyes, and with cerebral palsy. Vegetable like, he was totally unresponsive to sound or touch. At the age of six months, he was expected to die shortly. A nurse, May Lemke, was asked if she could care for him at home until that time. She did… for more than thirty years.
When May accepted baby Leslie, she accepted him as just that, a baby – no different from others – to be taught and loved. Year after year she cared for him, but there was no movement or response. Even so, she never stopped talking to him, singing to him, or praying for him. Music filled their home… still, no response. She and her husband bought an old, used piano and put it in his bedroom. She pushed his fingers against the keys. With quiet faith, she knew God would someday help Leslie to break out of his prison. She rejoiced when he began to walk at age 16.
Several years later, May and her husband were awakened one night by the sound of Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto No 1. Startled, they arose to find Leslie at the piano with a smiling glow on his face. Shortly thereafter he began to talk and to cry… and to sing. And at age 28, he began to talk in earnest.
Dear reader, I think by now we would’ve seen, heard or read enough to convince us that the only sure way not to succeed is by giving up. I believe in miracles, but I think it happens faster when we decide to hang on. All we need is faith that it will come to pass. There are times our situation will look hopeless, but pause and remember that men and women havepassed through worse situations and still made it to the top.
Man can achieve anything he strongly believes in. I remember reading the story of Prince Albert. Prince Albert of England once visited the laboratory of a scientist named Lyon Playfair. According to Playfair’s biographer Sir Wemyss Reid, as the Prince and Scientist stood near a caldron of boiling lead, Playfair asked, “Has your royal highness any faith in science?”
“Certainly,” answered Prince Albert. Playfair washed the prince’s hand in a special solution and then told him to use his hand to ladle out some of the hot metal. The prince plunged his hand into the caldron and scooped up some in his palm – and he wasn’t injured.
For those of us who are in positions of leadership, give others a chance to develop. Don’t be quick in judging others. Those who do not perform today, with little assistance and motivation can perform tomorrow. Is there someone God has entrusted in your care? Go the extra mile to make it possible for that person to discover his potentials and put it into good use.
The key is in your hands. Use it!
– Uju Onyechere
Many people have challenges deciding on what business to go into in the bid to generate multiple streams of income. Their main concern is what will make money rather than what value they can add to society. Since money is the major driver, there is often lack of effort in creativity, and the tendency is to copy what others are already doing which seems to be making money rather than what they are passionate about or good at. Consequently, when one person charts a new course and seems to be making it, copy cats are not far behind.
There is nothing wrong in copying, if you add value in the process (make it better than the original). However there is something wrong in totally abandoning what you were born to do, in the bid to grab at anything that seems to bring money in the short term. You have to settle it in your mind upfront that starting a business is simply a vehicle for serving the larger society. Everyone has something to give, something others are looking for, whether you believe it or not. The main reason you are still alive is because you are yet to give all you came to this world to give. The moment you pour out everything you came to give, your time here is almost up. There are countless opportunities to make your community, the state and the country better. In a country like Nigeria that lacks even some basic amenities and infrastructure, there are unlimited opportunities to close the gaps, by starting a business that will address one of the countless needs. When you fill a need, people will be willing to give you money for your service. The secret of becoming rich is to serve more and more people. The challenge is to develop the system that will do just that. It starts with knowing what to give, and how to go about giving it. You need to have the aptitude, skill set and passion to be able to give on a sustainable basis, without abandoning ship. What are you good at? Wherein lies your passion? What drives you? What do you love doing so much that you can even do it for free? What annoys you? What gets you upset anytime you come across it? Your passion and purpose may very well lurk within the answers. If you notice something wrong that nobody else seems to notice, or mind, it may very well be your job to fix it. You keep saying, “One of these days, I will ….” What if today is that day, what do you want to do? If failure is impossible, what would you attempt? You can practically build a business around any passion. Money will come. It is simply a matter of time. Simply seek ye first your purpose, passion, gifts, dreams and go for it full blast. All other things shall be added unto you, if you don’t give up too soon. The answers you seek lie within. Stop looking outside. What you are looking for is not lost. -Usiere Uko is editor of www.financialfreedominspiration.com and author of Practical Steps to Financial Freedom and Independence – www.amazon.com/Practical-Steps-Financial-Freedom-Independence/dp/147006832X . |
Most people tend to think that when you are rich, you have a lot of money. You can look rich – drive flashy cars, own houses and be worth hundreds of millions but be broke and struggle to pay your bills or your children’s school fees. I know some people a while back who looked rich but used to shake out their trouser pockets in the wardrobe to look for money to buy petrol for their car. People like this are referred to as asset rich, cash poor. They do not have enough cash.
Most people look for capital gain when it comes to investing. Net worth is based on estimated value rather than actual cash flow hence one can be rich and still be broke, worth millions but at the same time, contending with past due bills. A minor financial crisis can cause them to dispose off their assets at a giveaway price. Negotiating property price with an owner who desperately needs the money is every buyers dream. When they sense the desperation, they lower their bid. The buyer calls the shots. He who has the gold makes the rules.
Cash flow is the lifeblood of every business and personal finance. The moment a company runs out of cash, it is headed for bankruptcy despite projected earnings and profits for that year. You get to hear about terms like “paper profits”, profits not backed by money in the bank. The moment the company cannot make payroll, pay its suppliers and catch up loan repayment, the company is gradually going out of business. In mergers and acquisitions, the cash rich partner dictates the terms. You find seemingly smaller companies acquiring bigger companies or becoming the senior partner in a merger. It is a matter of cash. Smaller cash rich Exxon became the senior partner in the ExxonMobil merger (Mobil was asset rich and cash poor). Here in Nigeria, smaller cash rich Standard Trust Bank (STB) took over asset rich but cash poor UBA and retained the UBA name for brand recognition purposes. It also holds true for individuals. When you are cash strapped, you negotiate from a position of weakness. When there is no dime in your pocket and your bank account, your self esteem suffers, no matter how exotic your automobile or which neighbourhood you live. You live life on the edge, always afraid that something will give. You are not far away from embarrassment.
The real rich invest for cash flow while the poor and middle class invest for capital gain. More often than not, capital gain is outside your control. Capital gain is often a perception driven my market sentiments. Capital gain is on paper, an opinion based on what the market is saying at that point in time. It is only realized when you cash in. Since the value placed on an asset is often an opinion, the reality is that you often get less when you cash in. Opinion is often worlds apart from reality. In the real estate market, the true value of your property is the best offer a buyer is ready to pay. Until you see the colour of the money, you cannot say for sure what your asset is worth. Even in the stock market where published stock prices are not opinions unlike the real estate market, a stock may be this price today, but the moment you ask your broker to sell, the price may drop at the point of executing that order. You can feel on top of the world that you are worth this much, but the moment of truth comes when you actually convert your assets to cash. For household items, the rule of thumb is to assume it is worth 10% of purchase price. This is one of the key reasons net worth is not a true indicator of your financial health. The value you put on your asset is an opinion. When you invest for capital gain, you are investing based on opinions, not facts. The price movement is not under your control. You can only hope and pray that the market sentiment favours your projections. Your financial plan is based on hope.
When you focus on investing for cash flow, you have control over when you exit the investment. You negotiate from a position of strength. If the price is not right, you can afford to walk away and wait for when the price meets your exit parameters for the investment. While waiting, you still enjoy the cash flow from the asset. When you invest for cash flow, you usually get capital gain as a bonus. For example if you own a rental property, you get cash flow from rents, and the property can also appreciate in value. You are not under any pressure to sell. That goes back to the common sense definition of assets – anything that puts money in your pocket, in essence eating your cake and having it. If your investment does not generate cash flow, you are putting yourself in a financially weak position. When you invest for cash flow, you hardly go wrong. Cash flow is king. Do not run out of cash.
– Usiere Uko is editor of www.financialfreedominspiration.com and author of Practical Steps to Financial Freedom and Independence – www.amazon.com/Practical-Steps-Financial-Freedom-Independence/dp/147006832X .
Do You Have a Startup Idea? The 10 Questions Below Will Determine its Viability.
If you have an idea already, it’s important to know if the idea is viable before you dedicate time and resources to something that may possibly not work. Thousands of startups are launched every week, but few survive to tell their story. You don’t want your business to be another statistics of failed businesses. Get the numbers right, find out what can work and what will not work, invest some time to do research about your idea and start it right. These are 10 of the important questions you have to answer to determine if your idea is worth pursuing.
Will Your Idea Solve a Problem Or Meet a Need?
The number one key to success in life and business is to find a need and fill it. If you can identify the problem that your idea can solve, then you have found a viable business idea.
Is Your Target Market Big Enough To Create a Real Business?
To last in business, you need to find out if your idea has a large target market. You need consistent flow of patronage to last in business.
Can You Execute The Idea
Your capacity to execute the idea is of great importance. Do not go into a business because others are doing it. Find out, if you have what it takes to launch the business.
What Is The Simplest version Of Your Idea?
The easiest way to start a business is to make it simple. “And the LORD answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain on tables, that he may run that reads it”. Habakkuk 2:2
What Makes Your Product Different?
Accentuating what makes your business idea different or unique may be just what you need to jumpstart your marketing.
How Much Money Do You Need To Launch Your Idea?
Can you bootstrap your company? Or are you going to need a small business loan? Might an entrepreneur in the family be able to invest, or should you look for venture capital or an angel investor? Money is a big topic for entrepreneurs, and you’ll want to know your options early on.
Is This a New Idea?
There is nothing new under the sun but you can create a new idea from existing ideas. Is your idea new or unique? You must answer this question.
What Opportunities And Risks Do You Face?
The path to success is to identify the opportunities in your business idea and maximize them. Another important factor is to identify the risks involved and evaluate them. You should be able to know if you can handle the risks.
Have You Identified The Success Factors?
Every enterprise has the requirements for success. If you are able to identify these success buttons, you cannot fail.
How Will Your Business Survive And Grow In The Next Five Years?
So many businesses close within the first 5 years. If you can come up with a strategy that can help you last beyond this period, you are ready for business.
Work with these ideas, and your success in launching a new business will be inevitable.
You Will Succeed!
– Chinedum Azuh is the CEO of Learning Lab Nigeria and an Online Consultant with U.S.A. Learning Annex.
EMAIL : learninglab4@gmail.com
WEBSITE: www.learninglabnigeria.com
FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/learninglabnigeria
MOBILE : +2348032069925
God, give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master’s will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God, give us Christian homes;
God, give us Christian homes!God, give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyous with love and song;
God, give us Christian homes,
God, give us Christian homes!It’sFamily month in my church and this has been the Hymn for the month so far.The more I sing this hymn, the more I realize that this is what all my strivings for my family is about. Maybe you are like me too! So I decided to share my interpretation with us. I pray this is a blessing to someone and please share your views too as comments!
A home where the Bible is loved and taught!
I remember going shopping for a Bible with my 5+ plus son. We wanted something in print big enough for him to read and simple enough to read too. We found one! We have since read it, fought about its care and so much! Lagos is hectic so every Saturday we try to read it together and I encourage him to do so too on his own. Baby brother is jealous now and wants to read the Bible like his big brother; I hope I am doing something right. My prayer is that these boys one day will be well taught and read in the Word, living the Word in their Generation and same for everyone who passes through my home.
How are we making the Bible Loved in our home? Do we have long lasting structures to enshrine God’s Word in our homes? We need to evaluate this.
A Home where the Master’s will is sought!
How often do we question the actions in our homes, especially our own actions in line with the Word of God? What standards do we employ in making decisions? How do we correct the wrong we see in our home, in our spouses, children, helps? Are we seeking His will? Can my child or yours see that God’s will is your priority?
A Home crowned with Beauty Your love has Wrought
What kind of home will have beauty wrought by God’s Love? Would it be a home that never had a bad season or a Home that has risen beyond all the pains, hurts, and deaths to become a beauty only the love of God could work out?
A Home where the father is true and strong
Home where daddy has risen above the knowledge of this world and has become a true father haven learnt from the best Father (Jehovah God) about how to be a true Father. A father who relies not on his own strength but lives through the faith in Jehovah God and the work of the cross. A Father who has moved on to be seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus!
A Home that is free from the blight of wrong
Could it be a home that has escaped the corruption in this world because every fabric of the home is tied to the WORD of God? Or could it be a Home where No decision is made without seeking God’s will?
A home built purposely on the WORD of God!
A Home that is joyous with love and song;
Home where the Spirit is in abundance and wells of joy are released from time to time! Dad bursts into singing, children love to sing! Hymns are a source of entertainment! Praise and Worship is not a Sunday –Sunday Event!
This is what every Christian couple should be about! This is the song both husband and wife should sing, asking God for strength to be that person who will allow God work out the answer to this prayer in his or her marriage.
Next time we will continue with the next two verses!
Shalom!
May His peace reign in every troubled home in Jesus name.
Amen!
– Omolola
Henry Houdini won fame as an escape artist early in the twentieth century, challenging and claiming he could free himself from any jail cell within minutes.
One time, however, something seemed to go wrong. Houdini entered a jail cell in his street cloths. The heavy metal doors clanged shut behind him, and he took from his belt a concealed piece of strong and flexible metal. He set to work on the lock to his cell, but something seemed different about this particular lock. For thirty minutes he worked without results. An hour passed. This was long after the time that Houdini normally freed himself and he began to sweat and pant with exasperation. Still, he could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for two hours, Houdini – feeling a sense of failure close in around him – leaned in frustration against the door he could not unlock. To his amazement, as he collapsed against the door, it swung open! It had not been locked in the first place! When Charles Schwab became President of Bethlehem Steel, he made consultant Ivy Lee the following offer: “Show my staff and me a way to get more things done in less time and I’ll pay you any fee within reason.” And in twenty minutes Lee gave him a simple idea. Lee took a three-by-five card out of his pocket, handed it to Schwab and said, “Write down the six most important things you have to do tomorrow and number them in order of their importance. Now put this paper in your pocket, and first thing tomorrow morning, look at item one and start working on it until you finish it. Then do item two and so on. Do this until quitting time and don’t be concerned if you have finished only one or two. You’ll be working on the most important ones first, anyway. If you can’t finish them all by this method, you couldn’t have by any other method, and without some system, you probably wouldn’t have even decided which was most important.” Lee waited while Schwab wrote his list. Then he said, “Try this system every working day. After you’ve convinced yourself of its value, have your employees try it. Try it as long as you wish and then send me a cheque for what you think it’s worth.” Two weeks later Schwab sent Lee a $25,000 cheque for that twenty-five-minutes consultation. He said Lee’s advice was the most profitable he had ever taken. He later credited that lesson with turning the unknown Bethlehem Steel into the biggest independent steel producer in the world in less than five years, and earning him a $100 million fortune in the process. That was an enormous sum of money in the early twentieth century. Was Schwab foolish to pay so much for such a simple idea? He didn’t think so. “Sure it was a simple idea,” Schwab said. “But what ideas are not basically simple? For the first time, my entire team and I are getting first things done first.” Years ago Henry Ford remarked, “My effort is in the direction of simplicity…. All could be much simpler than they now are and at the same time be better-looking.” ‘In simplicity lies genius,’ says Mozart. To your success! – Uju Onyechere |
One of the greatest mistakes you can make is to launch a new idea without testing it. Many people lose thousands and millions of Naira every year on products they did not test before introducing them to the market. It’s true that the life of an entrepreneur is full of risky adventures but what we shall be discussing is how to take calculated risks.
How do you test an idea? How do you find out if people will buy it or patronize it? We shall be looking at several steps you can take before you invest too much time, money, emotion and other resources.
Be Your Own Devil’s Advocate
The easiest way to go about this is to attempt to disprove the idea that there exists a profitable demand for the product or service. If you cannot disprove this preposition, then by default you have reason to bring the product or service to the marketplace.
Seek Out People in the Same Business
A very important strategy in testing your idea is to seek out people who are already doing the same business and ask their opinions of the product or service. In the multitude of counselors there is safety. Share your idea with them and ask for their honest opinions. Don’t be afraid that someone will steal your idea. There are a thousand and one ideas out there for anyone to use. So be perfectly open.
Confirm the Demand
Before you introduce a new product or service to the marketplace, you need to make sure that there is or there will be a solid demand for it. During my speaking tour in Nairobi, I applied this technique. I produced a copy of the Audio CD of my speeches. The following day, I had an early morning program where I told the audience that the CD will be sold based on the demand and it will be available by tomorrow. Almost everyone paid. It was clear that the product will sell.
Check With Family & Friends
Family and friends are very good targets for market research. Ask your family and friends if they would buy the product or patronize the service. How much would they be willing to pay for it? Listen to their questions, criticisms and concerns. If you can’t answer their questions and concerns in a logical and convincing way, it could be that there is something wrong with your idea.
Create a Selling Promotion
A selling promotion is like an advertisement for a publication, a series of sales letters or emails. In the promotion, you would announce the product or service, and also tell people the particular time it will be available. Then you would give prospective customers the opportunity to pre-purchase at a discounted price with 100 percent money back guarantee. The key here is not to make money but to see if your customers or your marketplace will respond to your product.
Use The Seminar Approach
Organizing a seminar for your potential customers could be a great opportunity to test your idea. It will help you to have first hand information on the needs and concerns of the people. Before I published my bestselling book “There is Money in Your House” I had series of seminars with Churches on the topic. And the response from people was amazing. In fact most people were thrilled by just hearing the title. I didn’t need a seer to tell me that the book will be a market success.
Follow these steps to test your idea before you invest too many resources on it.
You will succeed!
– Chinedum Azuh
Connect With The Author On
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/motivationtoprosper
EMAIL: learninglab4@gmail.com
WEBSITE: www.motivationtoprosper.org
When he was only 13 years old, violinist Yehudi Menuhin was invited to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. With distinguished musicians in the audience listening to him, the youthful genius played some of the most difficult compositions by Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms.
The response was so enthusiastic that the management called in the police in case the crowd got out of control. Albert Einstein, who had listened with utter delight to the prodigy, avoided the authorities by running across the stage into Yehudi’s dressing room. He embraced the surprised violinist and exclaimed “Now I know there is a God in heaven!”
If we all learn to autograph our jobs with excellence, beyond personal gains, which is obvious, we end up blessing humanity with it. One thing to observe is that when excellence is attained, that’s when more work should be done. It’s not getting to the top that matters, but staying there.
Many have shortchanged themselves by being complacent. Because they were doing a good job, improvement became a no issue. It can never be good enough.
I remember reading about Royce. Sir Henry Royce overheard one of his engineers telling a colleague, ‘That’s good enough‘. He immediately broke into the conversation by shouting,‘No, it’s never good enough‘. That’s what we are all about here. We are here to make it better and then to make it better than it is today and then better than tomorrow. Never say ‘it’s good enough‘. It isn’t. And that’s what the goal of excellence is all about. It demands an attitude of great expectation. Today the name Rolls Royce is synonymous with what is remarkable, beautiful and fine about something. It is the symbol of quality.
I have on this platform told the story of a man who strives for perfection. Michelangelo stands as one of the towering figures in the history of art. His majestic Frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and his masterful sculptures bear witness to his greatness. But he was a man never content to rest on his laurels. He spent countless hours on his back on the scaffolding in the Sistine, carefully perfecting the details of each figure. When a friend questioned such meticulous attention to detail on the grounds that “at that height who will know whether it is perfect or not?”
Michelangelo’s simple response was, “I will.”
After completing what some consider his greatest work, Moses, the master sculptor stood back and surveyed his craftsmanship. Suddenly, in anger, he struck the knee of his creation with his chisel and shouted, “Why don’t you speak?” the chisel scar that remains on the statue’s knee is the mark of a man who always reached out for more. His ambition was to be the best he could be.
Dear reader, take the decision today to brand yourself with every opportunity that comes your way. It was Aristotle who once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” The key is in your hands. Use it!
To our success!
– Uju Onyechere