Goke Ilesanmi asked:
To be successful in business, you need to conduct research and write your business plan. Attempting to start a business without a (well-composed) business plan through feasibility study is like a stranger going to an unfamiliar terrain without prior direction. Or better still, it is like a ship without a rudder (which controls its direction). It is in the light of this that the publication of this text entitled “Seven Step Business Plan”, written by Ms. Sheila Holm, a respected business-management expert is a welcome addition to business management literature.
Holm says before preparing this text, she had cycled and recycled clients to every bookstore to work through every business-planning book option. She adds that the clients purchased many books but still wanted more help. Holm discloses that to make it easy and affordable for more business owners to receive help, she started conducting a series of seminars to help owners and their management teams develop their business plans within a seven-step format based upon their dreams and goals.
Holm says the outline of the seminars developed rapidly into a seven-step, one-page form for quick and easy review while updating the business plan according to each change and adjustment to the goals.
The author educates that having a business plan adds value to the bottom line of a business. She adds that this text removes the learning-curve requirement, stressing that she knows you can increase the productivity and profitability of your business when you write your own business plan.
Holm says whether you have not yet written a plan, you have paid a consultant to write a plan, or you have proceeded with your business idea before writing a plan, you are absolutely in the majority. She submits that the truth however is that no other owner, director or team leader can articulate your business idea better than you can, stressing that planning is the key to success and profitability.
Structurally, this text is segmented into seven chapters. Chapter one is entitled “structure”. This author educates here that immediately in your own words, you should begin writing a statement about “how it is around here” according to how you are going to proceed with your business. Holm says many owners, even after they open the doors and operate their business, proceed without a clear statement about their business: how it will meet the needs of customers or how their business relates to the industry. The author adds that their dreams and goals are not in writing or in focus yet.
She stresses that clarity is helpful and has a positive impact upon your bottom line. This author adds that if you want more profit, then you need to gain clarity and if you want more clarity, then you need to schedule a little more time to walk and/or work through the planning process with her.
According to Holm, businesses develop in phases, so it is important to begin the planning process by identifying the part of one or more phases, or stages of development, of the business process your business represents. The author discloses that your business may be at a point where you want to add a phase to your existing plans or it may be an idea that you want to sell to someone else. You may want to purchase a developed product in order to market and distribute it, or you may be starting a business that will include all phases of the business process, expatiates Holm.
She says this stop is a major decision point since it will match your expertise and passion with the type of business you should pursue. In her words, “So, take a moment to get comfortable and get a firm picture in your head of yourself as the owner of the concept or product in one or more of the key phases of the business.” Holm also discusses idea; development; location; production; marketing and sales; distribution; and repairs or redevelopment in this chapter.
Chapter two is based on the subject matter of placement. Here, the author says the biggest mistake owners make is to think they have the most unusual business idea. Holm stresses that she is always concerned when a client says she should hurry up and develop a business plan before someone else steals the idea.
She reveals that ideas are out there and we do not have the market cornered on any idea. The author adds that only very few people with ideas will proceed and develop the ideas into a tangible entity, a business that will become part of the marketplace. She stresses that you are the exception to the rule.
The expert submits that now that you have set out to pursue your idea, it is important that you continue to follow and recognise the needs of the market that initially inspired you. She explains that if you understand the placement of your business within the industry, it is as important today as it will be that every day you are in business.
In Holm’s words, “Too many businesses forget to stay current regarding the trends within the industry and the business, market in general. The business process is a fluid process, so do not plan on making a decision regarding placement and then setting your business idea into a concrete base and forcing it to hold up to this statement for more than a few weeks. This is why I absolutely recommend reviewing the Seven Step Business Plan form each month.”
She illuminates that this phase of planning your business is a good time to meet and interview experts. On the aspect of customers, Holm says if you think everyone is your customer, take a second look at the facts about your business and what it will provide to the community. The author educates that defining your customers will assist you in the process of matching your business with the top competitors in your industry She adds that you have to know your competitors and how they are doing business within your industry.
“Begin with the title ‘Competitors’ on a page of your notepad. Add names to your list each time you identify a business in your industry. Expand your list and add all related businesses, increasing the scope and parameter of your search. This list will also help you gain an objective view of how the various businesses affect your business and your industry,” educates this expert.
Chapter three is on the concept of leadership. Holm says the most important statement you can make about your business is the statement you make about yourself and your involvement within each phase of the business. She adds that the statement you make about each member of your leadership team closely follows the importance of the statement you make about yourself.
According to this author, your leadership ability is critical as it is your ability to inspire others. Holm emphasises that leadership skills and abilities develop into the team strengths that are going to be evident in the business structure and help sell the business to each customer, vendor, employee, and business. “Remember, you are not able to be all things to people within the team. Each leader plays a specific role, and the team’s strengths and support in areas of weakness will define the overall strengths of the business,” guides the author.
The business management expert educates that when you detail your involvement, you should ensure that you align your statements with the phrases you have written to describe your business today and your plans for the future of this phase of the process. She adds that this statement will need to remain flexible in order to complement the plans for each aspect of the business as you continue to refine them.
In chapters four to seven, Holm analytically X-rays concepts such as purpose and highlights; vision and mission statements; operational and marketing plans; and financial and profit plans.
As regards stylistic assessment, the report card of this text is in blue. For instance, a lot of textual and graphical illustrations are used to reinforce the understanding of readers. The book is also very educative in that the chapters are further broken down into many sub-segments to achieve simplicity and easy comprehension on readers’ part. Holm includes one-page fill-in-the-blanks form representing a prototype for a typical business plan to guide readers. What’s more, the language is simple.
However, a technical error is noticed in the text. This is the omission of a hyphen in-between the first two words of the title of the text “Seven Step Business Plan”. Omission of the natural hyphen has grammatically deprived “Seven” and “Step” from becoming a nominal compound modifier to the phrase “Business Plan”. It is structurally supposed to be “Seven-Step Business Plan”. Without a hyphen, one will also be grammatically compelled to add an “S” to “Step” because of the cardinal word “Seven”.
On the whole, the text is a necessary companion for (prospective) entrepreneurs, business managers, etc. What else would you expect me to say if not that “it is highly recommended”? Get a copy of this book today and learn how to write a business plan so that you can achieve business can succeed.
Adrian F Alexa asked:
Business books have greatly increased in number in the last few years as more and more difficulties are appearing each year in the pursuit to open a good business and keeping it over water level so that it will not eventually sink. To be as direct as possible the main purpose of business books is to help anyone that is interested in opening or running a business. This way the business books that are available on the market today are separated into two distinct categories: the books that are focused on offering solutions on how to open a new business and how to get passed all the difficult processes that have to be completed while doing so, and the books that are focused on beefing up your managerial skills so that you may keep your business running just as it is doing so far or even improve on the way you are managing.
Business books that are focused around the process of starting a new business will offer you valuable tips on how ti make original ideas stick and seem appealing to the majority of the consumer population and also tips on how to get passed all the processes that have to be passed before greeting your first customer. Bureaucracy, financial problems, approvals and proper infrastructure are subject that are covered in detail by these books and will give you all the tools necessary to make it through the long run. These books can also be found as business books on CD so that you may listen to them and imagine that you are having a pleasant and fruitful conversation with one of your friends on how to start a new business and what to watch out for when doing so.
Business books that are focused around managerial education have the tendency to dig deep into your personality and show you basic guidelines on how to become more confident in your own powers and abilities and how you can use the gifts that you already have in order to rule over your employees in a positive manner and also receive a bundle of positive results at the same time. Subjects such as strategies, confidence, communication, office relations, promotions, new business ideas, sales and more are covered by these books however each book covers only one or two subjects at a time. There is not a book available on the market right now to cover all the important aspects of managerial education… it would have to be several thousand pages thick.
In the case that you are not sure regarding the book your must purchase you can always read some free book summaries that can be easily found on the web. All that is left for you to do now is start reading.
Jacob Bainton asked:
Business expansion and diversification is a crucial driving force for many companies including the relatively newer ones. In the modern world of finances you will find an array of banks and finance companies ready to extend a ready to access business debt that may otherwise seem tempting.
And often people fall for it. If the business venture or the expansion plans meet with success then there is no harm that can be possibly caused.
However, there are times when plans do not meet plans and they collide and crash. Opportunities may not be forthcoming and thus profits may not yield in the same way you may have planned it. It may seem like a failure most business venture has to face at some point of time or the other.
The problem arises in the event when you have an even a number of them that need to be repaid. The pressure mounts with banks and finance companies sounding alarms about EMI payments and even initiating moves for business liquidation.
Business Liquidation
It often happens that debts, if allowed to continue for long, lead to a liquidation of company properties and assets that are there. There is a rush that is created in order to repay all the mounting sums of funds taken from financiers and banks.
However there are ways and means by which the same can be avoided and even rectified.
If you have incurred one or more loans for your business and in the face of unsuccessful ventures you may seek assistance for business debt help. This is a way of reducing your metal stress and getting a professional help to plan out a process of repayment that will be in your favor.
These help agencies and companies even negotiate deals of repayments for you with banks and companies to seek time and relaxation of several clauses in your favor.
This is an aspect of help that is crucial. Their consolidation refers to a regulation in the number and types of debts that are there. In this way a debt help advisor can guide you to take an appropriate loan among many others that will cover and pay up all your dues with prior debts that were taken.
In the end the company will be left with only one debt to focus and on. This can be given full and top priority when it comes to timely payments and due dates. Such consolidation is often a very important step that has its advantages to save companies against liquidation.
You may seek business debt solutions in different ways – liquidating your assets to pay up or continue the trade and even pay your loans with a debt consolidation process. But the latter is a method by which you will not have to let go of your dreams that soon.
William Feins asked:
The words inspirational and business do not usually appear in conjunction, unless to illustrate the term, oxymoron. Why is that? It’s an interesting idea that seems simple on the page, so why shouldn’t these ‘exclusive’ terms live together in the boardroom? The companies that seem to find that elusive marriage, and make it work, tend to be the stuff of legend.
I’ve recently finished two books that, without question, are about business and are equally inspiring. One is a veritable CEO bible entitled, “Up the Organization”, by Robert Townsend which is not new, having first been published in 1970, and the other is only several years old, by the former executive creative director of advertising legends Saatchi & Saatchi, Paul Arden, entitled, “Whatever you think, think the opposite.” What they both convey is a renegade approach to business that really stems from a healthy questioning of the prevailing corporate culture – and it doesn’t matter a stitch that one is 40 years old and one is 3.
The Arden book is an interesting melange of creative self-help and a kind of collection of Oscar Wilde-esqe aphorisms and proverbs like, “People who create work that fashionable people emulate do the very opposite of what is in fashion”, or “Most people are reasonable, that’s why they only do reasonably well.” To take these two quotes out of context, might make the book seem cocky and glib, but it isn’t. What it does do is challenge you to engage with your inner rebel and push for action beyond the realms of what we, as humans, seem to be constantly regurgitating: the safe path of reason that usually fails to get us beyond the cul-de-sac of the business world and into the creative one. Both should feed each other, but often don’t.
The Townsend book is an equally potent brew of wisdom and humor that has been a business bible for years. It’s written for the manager in mind but could equally sit next to Khalil Gibran or J. Paul Getty on your shelf, which is to say that it’s philosophical and pragmatic, and also very funny. The overall feeling that Townsend is trying to convey is that every business organization needs to be less bureaucratic and more human and intuitive in the process. What will come out of this is a more successful business! To sum up his ethos, is a quote in the book from Lao-Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, “To lead the people, walk behind them.” Both are great books and a welcome change from the usual airport business book boredom, and certainly an inspiring break from The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.
Alon Farnendo asked:
There are many instances where business enterprises and ventures have not continued to see the light of day owing to liquidation and bankruptcy.
The cause of such a situation occurs when you do not understand the viability of a project and thoughtlessly invest funds in it. Moreover, the situation is further aggravated when the same money comes from a business debt that is taken at a high rate on interest from a bank or a financier.
This is also caused when even a profitable business venture meets unsuccessful results due to fluctuating economies and market conditions.
So, what can one do when there is a business debt of more and more loans incurred? This can happen at a time when the company establishment has no promising returns to fall back on in any other sector as well.
Business Liquidation
One of the main fears of company owners and business management groups is the possibility of business liquidation that looms up on the horizon in such situations.
There are many instances of international companies and multinational corporations liquidating assets to pay dues to their financiers and shareholders whom money was taken.
However, there are instances where a crisis situation has been dealt with the aid of business debt help and considerably rectified.
Business Debt Help
What is a business debt help and who can give it?
There are several companies and agencies that are specialized in the field of business debts and their repayments. The method of debt help is that there are plans and options that are given to a company by which they can handle their debt repayments better.
This can considerably diffuse the tension and hype created around the stature and capabilities of a company in the market. This can also affect their share prices and stock market listings considerably.
The loans will have to be paid but the methods of repayments and the relaxation of the time period with a grace period are facilities that business debt help company can help you with.
Business Debt Consolidation
The term business debt consolidation refers to a rearrangement of all the loans that are incurred in a way that would make the process of repayment a more convenient one for the company.
At a time of increasing pressure there are difficulties to cater to different loan payment installments with different rates of interest and clauses as well.
Instead, if there is a single loan taken with which all other loans are cleared there will be a single loan alone for the company to concentrate upon. It will be easier to give it top priority and arrange for its repayment installments on time and in full amount.
The process of business debt help is to initiate a process of revival for companies that run into huge and varied debts with banks and finance companies. There have been business liquidations in the past which also has been an eye-opener in many ways.
With aid and professional expertise there will be scope for the company to get rid of its ailments and begin a whole new chapter of success and strength.