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The Business Plan The Financial Aspect

 

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. - Henry Ford

 

The Business Plan:  begin by drawing up a business plan for your new venture - yes! it's a business, and you must plan ahead in some detail to ensure your success.    Write your plan down, you will find that you will change your plan often as you discover newer, better ideas and methods to drive your business - incidentally, a good business plan is being revised all the time.   List logically the steps that you are going to take to start and to build your business  ( it doesn't have to be a 50 page comprehensive document, it's for your reference only!), set a time frame for each step but keep it flexible to allow for the unexpected.   Write down your objectives for the day, week, month etc. in logical order e.g. don't spend hours designing a web site if  your existing web page editor doesn't have the built-in functions that you need for  your intended theme, design or structure. You'll either have to revise or limit your web site design, or get a new editor.     Effective time management set yourself a daily agenda - get the tedious, time-consuming "have to" tasks out of the way first (email, advertising?) and then spend time on creativity - how to grow your business, new techniques and strategies, research, automating and streamlining your business, and so on.   Productive time make sure that the time you spend working the business is productive - the easiest trap to fall into is to be distracted, particularly on the Web. Your time is money!  What do you think you're worth per hour?   If you don't achieve your goals for the day, list the uncompleted ones for tomorrow, don't be hard on yourself - remember, you're doing this to make money and also to enjoy doing so!    If you make a mistake? so what! - we all do! - don't spit the dummy and berate yourself. Take it in your stride, - you've probably just learnt something valuable.   List the resources that you'll need and use to build and promote the business,  i.e. hardware, software, training, advertising, e-mail address/s, search engines, contact lists, autoresponders, web site/s, newsgroups, FFA's and so on.    You'll find ALL of the above resources in this site, except-  sorry! I can't provide the hardware.   In a nut shell:   Set your Goals and Objectives   (long-term and short-term)   Establish Deadlines - be realistic and flexible   Create your Business Plan in some detail    Avoid time-wasting activities   Avoid contact with negative people  (losers)   Associate with people who share your goals and values (winners)   Listen only to people who are more successful than you   Keep a mental image of what you want in your life active in your mind   Repeat affirmations when you start your day - (I will succeed in what I am doing!) Post a picture of your dream house, luxury car or holiday etc. above your work area as a constant reminder of your visions.   Enjoy what you are doing, remember, this is what you have always wanted to do!   Maintain a positive cheerful attitude and exude confidence and success     Stay Focused  - it just won't happen without your continual commitment    Always be courteous and project professionalism   Assist others whenever possible - just common courtesy, and you never know when the favor can be returned - as a sponsor it is your obligation   Stay abreast of the the latest developments in your field   Finally - Be PROUD of what you are doing - ignore the knockers and skeptics, the marketing industry is by far, the world's largest reputable industry. Whatever form of marketing you're in, be it network, MLM, online, etc. be secure in the fact that there are many truly successful people who have created substantial incomes from marketing! Two ways to handle the skeptic - flash your largest commission check and then, ignore them.   You may have heard this story before, but not long ago Donald Trump made an appearance on the David Letterman show. Dave asked him what he would do if he lost everything and had to start over from scratch. Without hesitating Trump said he would find a good network marketing company and get to work. The audience started to hoot and boo him. He looked out at the audience and dead-panned his response: "That's why I'm sitting up here and you are all sitting out there!"    The financial aspect:-   How much finance will be required? Home businesses have the advantage of low start-up costs and low-cost operation, also some tax benefits, but you will still have to commit some money for start-up costs if you don't already have the basic essentials to operate, you will have on-going operating costs which will not be covered until you start generating income. BUT - look at it in a different context - if you were to start a new traditional off-line business that would generate the income that you plan to achieve, how much would the start-up costs be? $100,000? - perhaps more!    Create a budget and show your fixed costs (costs that will not generally change e.g. your monthly charges from your ISP, monthly membership fees for paid programs, rental or mortgage for your home-office) and non-fixed costs (costs that will vary depending on how you intend to drive your business, e.g. paid advertising, modem line, new software, membership entry costs for paid programs etc.) Compare your projected costs against your working capital and projected income. Is there a large gap? Can you afford to go ahead with your plan as it is, or do you need to revise your business plan and marketing strategy, if for example, you initially can't afford paid advertising or a paid program, flag it for the future.   A good rule:- re-invest some of your profits back into your business if you want your business to keep growing. Be conservative at first, establish a healthy bank balance and invest gradually in paid-advertising, automated submission software etc. - any of the many tools that will drive your business and streamline the tedious, time-consuming tasks of your operation. You will then have more time to concentrate on planning and marketing strategies and to enjoy your new lifestyle.   In summary: Plan ahead!  Analyze the nuts and bolts of your intended business before you jump in and perhaps waste a lot of your time and get burnt in the process. Here is a hackneyed, worn-out, tired old phrase that has always stuck in my mind because it's so true:    "people don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan"