Tag: small business planning

7 ways to wind down your year in entrepreneurship

Another year is drawing to a close, and whether this means a busy or slow time for your small business, it’s important to look back at your year and plan for what’s coming next.

7 ways to wind down your year in entrepreneurship

  1. Review your 2022 business goals. What worked well and what didn’t? In 2023, do more of what worked in 2022, and evaluate the things that didn’t.
  2. Develop a strategic plan. This roadmap for getting from point A to point B can help your business immensely. If you don’t have a strategic plan, we’ve got a free one-page business plan template you can download at our website.
  3. Take a close look at your marketing, human resources management, financing and operations. Is there anything you could do better? Get working on some ideas to become more effective.
  4. Read up on new ways to reach your audience. Social media and marketing are always evolving, so it’s a good idea to make sure what you’re doing still works for you and your business. As a starting point, check out our tips for generating brand awareness on a small budget!
  5. Tidy up your contact information. Remove old contacts and duplicate records, and update current contacts in your professional networks.
  6. Update your productivity and technology tools. Download updates and templates and make sure your current apps are still benefiting your business.
  7. Clean up your files! Delete old files. Get rid of spam emails. Back up your business records or hire a company to do it for you on a regular basis. Set up a good online file folder system so you don’t have to scroll through three months of emails to find something your accountant wants.

We know the holidays are a flurry of activity, but take some time to look back at your year in small business, and get yourself prepared to hit the ground running next year. All the best!

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What does a business plan contain?

We’ve talked before about business plans, and why they’re so important for a successful small business. But what exactly does a business plan contain?

Even though each business plan might be a little different, the overall structure will include some core elements that stay the same, regardless of the type of business you might start. Only the length and focus of the business plan might change, depending on the audience.

The standard business plan format

  • Cover page and table of contents.
  • Executive summary: A one to two page description of the whole business plan.
  • Description of the current situation: Basic company information like what the business is about, what products and services you’ll offer, your management team, type of business organization (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or co-operative), and what your goals are for the future of this business.
  • Description of opportunity and market: Who are the buyers, who are the competitors, what are the competitive advantages? A market consists of a group of current and/or potential customers with the willingness and ability to buy goods or services to satisfy a particular class of wants or needs. You should explain how many customers will buy, what they buy now and how much they buy.
  • Description of the marketing and sales strategy: Explain your marketing strategy, which is usually a combination of four strategies: product, price, place, and promotion.
  • Basic facts on the financials: Cash flow projections, income statement, balance sheet, and funding requirements.
  • Risk analysis and possible exit strategies: Because of the many assumptions about an unknown future, most people will agree that there’s tremendous risk in any entrepreneurial venture. A serious business plan needs to account for this. It needs to include statements on the risks associated with the business, and on the actions the entrepreneur plans to take if issues occur.
  • Conclusion and appendices: Résumés, other sources of information, and any technical descriptions necessary for the reader to better understand your business plan.

Some basic business plan rules to follow

The content of a business plan is important and there’s a lot of information to include. It’s also important to keep the length of a business to between 10 and 40 pages. Brief, focused, and concise. Also, follow basic rules of grammar, punctuation and style. Information should be clearly organized, and logically presented. Make the executive summary as strong and compelling as you can, because most people will quickly judge the venture on that portion of the plan.

Why a business plan is important

The real value of creating a business plan isn’t having the finished product in hand. The value lies in the process of researching and thinking about your business systematically. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research if you aren’t sure of the facts, and look at your ideas critically. It takes time now, but can help you avoid costly, maybe even disastrous, mistakes later.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s one of the most important things you can do in a small business. It helps you work out the kinks and reorganize things early on, before you’ve spent all your money and time setting up shop.

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The power of “WOW” in your small business

Tourism Calgary has a great marketing idea. They’re asking Calgarians to share their WOW moments – send in photographs of their most vivid experiences and memories about living and working in the city. The campaign, called Capture WOW, is aimed at attracting visitors by sharing the viewpoint of local residents. Brilliant. I like to get my information firsthand whenever possible because hearing from real people is, well, more real. It’s one of the reasons we ask entrepreneurs who’ve taken our training to share their experiences by sending in a testimonial.

Entries in Capture WOW include photographs of breathtaking glimpses of the Rocky Mountains, floating on a raft through the heart of downtown, fans braving the elements at the Heritage Classic and the serenity of Fish Creek park – the largest urban provincial park in Canada.

So what does this have to do with you and your business? Everything. Imagine it’s a few years from now. What “wow moments” will be in the picture your customers are sharing with others? Will they be talking about the time you went the extra mile for them? Or perhaps how they recommend you to all their friends because of your quality product? What’s going to set you apart, make you special? What WOW is going to happen?

The time to think about the landscape you want to create is now. Write down the picture you see, your postcard from visiting the future. It might read something like this: I see customers thanking me for the difference I’ve made in their lives. I see a wall of testimonials in my shop from satisfied clients who keep coming back. I see myself accepting the Chamber of Commerce award for best new business in town (wow!). I see my company sponsoring several little league teams because we can afford to give back. I see our webpage appearing at the top of the search list (Super wow!).

Write it down, don’t be shy. Visit often.

Hats off to Tourism Calgary – and to you!

 

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