Category: business startup

  • When Your Mission Stinks….

    When Your Mission Stinks….

    When Your Mission Stinks…. Having worked in consulting to both for profit and non-profit organizations over the last decade, one of the time honoured truths that I often see, is that very often, mission statements stink. While this may seem like a harsh statement, consider the weight and importance we place on mission. Your mission,…

  • Business in a Slump? It’s time to Growth Plan

    Business in a Slump? It’s time to Growth Plan

    Develop A Business Growth Plan It seems like all we do is plan.  We write business plans, strategic plans, marketing plans, and disaster recovery plans. We plan our businesses to death.  In the early days of your business, your need to plan less. Personally, I am a planner by nature. Planning is how I organize…

  • Business Plans for Newcomers – Part 1

    I cannot tell you how many times, I have heard of newcomers turned down for loans simply because they could not produce a business plan. In our lending systems, as covered in a past blog, it is customary to ask for a business plan. In many cases, lenders will not even look at your business…

  • Demographics for Small Business: market segmentation and counting customers

    The last couple of entries have focused on stories of entrepreneurs who have either not cared about customers or who believed that the entire world was a prospective client base. While these strategies may work for some entrepreneurs, generally speaking, we need to have some understanding of the size of the market and what we…

  • Demographics and Your Business Plan

    The term for some of you may conjure up images of university classrooms and painful modelling excercises. For others, the term might imply some kind if research to do with population, but most certainly nothing to do with your business plan. What if I told you that demographics should form the basis of your ENTIRE…

  • Part III: So Who Needs a Business Plan?

    Part III: So Who Needs a Business Plan?

    So Who needs a business plan? These days, if you are seeking financing of any form, you probably require one. Do you need a business plan to ensure the success of your business? I would say no. Don’t get me wrong, business planning can be a very valuable exercise. For some personality types (you know…

  • Part 2: Why Businesses Fail

    Part 2: Why Businesses Fail

    Since 1980 onward, business plans have become standard staple in lending and investing. They provide, or so their supporters will argue, a standardized way to look at a business. Business plans require entrepreneurs to actually “plan” and they are the road map an entrepreneur uses from start-up through to a full -scale operation. So why…

  • Do I need a Business Plan? (Psst … You May Not) Part 1

    Do I need a business plan? I cannot tell you how often I get this question. Early in my career, I was an avid supporter of Business Plans. Not the business plan itself perse, but the planning process. Planning, in itself is crucial to the success of a business-or so I thought. However, over the…