Posts Tagged ‘Business Loan’

For any aspiring entrepreneur, building a successful business plan can seem daunting. Many small businesses ask themselves: Do we really need a plan? Well, if you have a business or want to start a business, you NEED a business plan! “Winging it” never worked for any successful business. Even well-established businesses need a business plan, or need to drastically modify their business plan when the situation changes.

The first step to building your business plan is determining your goals and objectives for your business. Visualize where you want to be a few years from now. Do you want to remain a small business, or are you more adventurous? Also, consider your personal goals and objectives. How much work are you willing to put into your business? Is this a business that will provide a livable income, or more of a hobby? What tasks and jobs are you willing to delegate to your employees?

Second, determine what you bring to the customer. What distinguishes your business from your competitor? You must come up with the key attributes of your business that will draw customers to you again and again. Without proper brand development and recognition, your customers will glaze over your website and you won’t have appropriate levels of business to sustain.

Third, consider your budget. How much money will you need to start up your business? Are you going to take out a business loan, or find investors? Do you want to allow investors in on your important business decisions? Also, consider what happens as your business changes and grows. How are you going to spend income? Are you going to re-invest in your business? Finally, how much income do you need to support your personal lifestyle?

When you have these essential elements, you can consider your business strategy. Basically, this is a plan of how you’re going to market, design, and operate your business. In any business plan, you will usually open with an Executive Summary and Business Description. After that, you get to the “meat” of your plan.

The third section of your business plan is your Marketing section. Consider your target audience and how large your customer base may become. Then, consider how you will reach your market (how feasible it is to actually contact your customer base). Will you use website only? Or perhaps television and paper mediums? This will help define your pricing, distribution, promotion and marketing methods. Once you have this section completed, you can see how you measure up with your competitors. You should aim to outperform and outlast your competitors, and draw their customers to your base.

The next two sections are the overall design and operations plan of your business. How will you design your business’ brand? What are your most visible attributes? Also, how many employees do you want, and how will your business flow? Will you delegate tasks or handle most of it yourself? A lot of this section is highly personal and gives you a chance to show your passion about your product or service.

Finally, you must come back to your finances and determine what is feasible for your business. Also, try to examine what your future financial goals will be as the market changes and your business grows.

With a business plan, you can ensure your business has a solid foundation in reality and what you can feasibly expect from your venture. This is essential to business success and will maximize your profits!

Let us help you to build your business plan online. Our business team, online sales, and marketing development planners have all that you need to create a successful plan. Go to Global Web Expressions.

Author: David Marlow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In past articles we have talked about the “road map” that a written business plan can provide for either a new or expanding business. Now, let’s talk about the reasons that having a plan can be valuable for you as a business owner and give you complete preparation for some very positive and exciting developments for your future success.

Applying for SBA Loans Maybe you have never thought about applying for a Small Business Administration loan, but an opportunity to expand your current business has fallen into your lap and you need capital. Where are you going to get it? The SBA would be a very good way of infusing needed capital into your business and give you the necessary resources to maximize your business opportunities.

The Small Business Administration has several loan programs – but one that is very popular is the Low-Doc Loan that will loan you up to $100,000 with the completion of a one-page application. However, you need a formal Business Plan to attach to the application.

Establishing Lines of Credit at the Bank Starting a small home-based business may appear to be easy. You use some of your personal credit cards, buy your computer, phones, a website, etc. But once you begin to grow – success does have its price. That price is sometimes the need for a line of credit at your bank.

If you have been in business over a year, have a good record at your bank with your company bank account (no overdraws, etc.) chances are your banker would love the opportunity of assisting you grow the business by extending you a line of credit. One of the main documents you should have is a Business Plan so that the banker can have a tangible document to take to the loan committee to discuss the establishment of the line.

Attracting Investors for Long-term Strategic Growth After you have been in business successfully, you may decide that bringing investors into the business will give you the necessary exposure to the types of funding that you need to grow your business or put you in the right position for exposure to the marketplace that you are trying to gain prominence.

Even for just the education of prospective investors in your industry or marketplace, a written Business Plan is a must have. No one will invest in a company that does not have a formal plan that clearly communicates the business mission, philosophy, goals, and fully explores the genesis of the idea or history of the organization.

Preparing for Joint Venture Possibilities When your business has gained prominence and success in the industry, often you may be approached by other businesses with complimentary products or services – or you may approach another business owner with the explicit goal of entering into a joint venture to increase your combined companies’ reach.

It is during this time that you would both sign confidentiality statements and exchange your Business Plans to determine the synergies of the organizations.

Preparing for Acquisition or Merger Many times business owners are not prepared when asked if your company is for sale or if there is an interest in a merger. Within all industries is the ability for companies to come together to increase their ability to gain market share and growth.

Unfortunately, the need to sell or merge your company may come from a totally non-business related reason: sickness, change in family circumstances, or even death. In these cases, having a formalized, written Business Plan can help you showcase the company without adding stress to your situation.

In closing — These are all very viable scenarios in the life of a business. Taking the steps early to develop and formalize a Business Plan allows you maximum flexibility in the direction and growth of your company. Once your Business Plan is written, it needs to be updated every few years, but the history and the “bones” of the plan usually stay in tact.

The time to make the commitment to write the plan is NOW – not when you are trying to fill out the papers for a loan, go to the bank, sell the company, or attract investors or partnerships. This early planning and implementation of a Business Plan will give you the valued road map, but also be a corporate tool that can help you get to the next level of your company’s growth and success.

Melissa Vokoun is a successful Business Advisor and Trainer. From 1983 to 2005 she was COO and VP of Sales and Marketing for a national telecom equipment distributor. Her passion for business, working with clients in solving critical issues in the strategic, tactical and operational areas of growth continues. She is now President and Founder of NuVo Partners and Successful Business Advisors. To learn more about the services available, please visit the website at: http://www.nuvo-partners.com or call 847-392-6886.

Author: Melissa Vokoun
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Budgets! There I’ve said it. For some the most hated and feared word in business. But it doesn’t have to be that way. As a matter of fact, a well thought out and constructed budget can be the small business owners best friend. After all, a budget is just a laid out plan to produce profits and profits is what we are all after.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed by looking at a 13 column budget spreadsheet with rows and rows of expenses, just break it down into it’s simplest terms:

Revenue – Expenses = Profits

Looking at it this way, we see there are only two things to control, work on or even worry about, revenue and expenses. The only way to increase profits is to increase revenue or reduce expenses. Our jobs, as business owners of course, is to do both thus accelerating our profits. I know this is business 101, the very basics and sounds so simple but you’d be surprised how many businesses today don’t operate on a budget. Please take the time, or call me for help on this, and write down a simple budget of all of your revenue streams and every single expense you have on a monthly basis. If you still don’t grasp the concept then have your accountant or tax preparer show you how.

Once you have everything written down you use this as a guide to manage your profits. How can we reduce communications costs (phone bill)? Is our graphics printer the best we can do or is it time to get competitive bids (printing expenses)? Can we refinance a business loan to reduce monthly interest expenses? Line by line you look at your expenses and see if there is any thing you can do to reduce them. Don’t forget your revenue streams too. Is there something or some service you sell that could handle a price increase? Is there a new product or service you can introduce to bring in more revenue. Focus on growing revenue and look at each of those expenses line by line and you may be surprised at how much profit you can squeeze out of your existing operation.

Mike Shannon [http://www.shamrockbusiness.com/mike-shannon.htm] is the owner of Shamrock Business Coaching [http://www.shamrockbusiness.com], a coaching practice that helps small business owners increase profits. You can visit Shamrock Business Coaching on the web at: [http://www.shamrockbusiness.com]

Author: Mike Shannon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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According to a general conception, you prepare a business plan only when you are going for a business loan. Yet, the most important motive of a business plan is to find out whether your business idea has a chance to become successful or not. Once you have decided upon a home based business idea, start working out a business plan for it.

A Business Plan Outline

A business plan outline includes the:

• Market Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Management Plan
• Operating Plan
• Financial Plan and
• The Executive Summary

These plans and analysis will help you in carrying out your business within the budget you set for it.

Although preparing a business plan is often an extensive and intimidating task. Nevertheless, the business owner gets a new perspective by the end. The business plan is even though only for banks and for financiers, but it also helps you succeeding in business.

Importance of Research in Preparing a Business Plan

• The research must be the core element of every step you intend to take. Start researching through your business plan to guarantee success in it.
• Abandon it, if you find after your extensive research that it cannot be a good plan.
• Choose another home business idea and work through it again.

It is not a bad idea to go through with at least three business plans. Again it is good to research and work out before you find the business idea that flourishes into the successful business you want to run.

Consequently if you want to start a home-based business, overlook the home-business ads on websites or in newspaper. Indeed, there are no shortcuts for starting a successful home-based business. The business plan steps given above, end up with an idea that actually has the prospective to succeed along with the money and the satisfaction you have been dreaming.

I am maintaining a website Small Business Bible which has everything you need to know to run a successful small business.

When starting a business it is significant that the owner has a sound knowledge and prepared for any challenge. Small Business Bible is a site intended to guide starters and experienced entrepreneurs who plan to initiate a new home based business or a small business firm. This site provides comprehensive, easy to understand information on how to start up, maintain and solve problems in small business. Each section of the site has a variety of articles related to specific areas of small business and includes little known tips and pieces of advice for business owners at any stage.

Author: Maria Patel
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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