Planning. Plans. Business Plan. What's this all
about then? Everyone you talk to and everything you read about starting
up and running a new business says the same thing.
"You need to write a business plan," your adviser,
accountant, bank manager and the local business know-all you see
in the pub keep telling you.
OK, sure you need a plan, and yes, you will need
to write one in order to have one, and even better, you'll get plenty
of advice and find loads of guides to writing one knocking about
on the Internet (you can even look at ours, A Guide to Writing a Business Plan).
But that's not exactly what you need to hear, that
you need to write a business plan to start up or run your business.
This just doesn't mean anything. It's too vague, meaningless, unfocused.
What you need is a business plan, or any other type
of plan for that matter, such as a marketing plan, sales plan, search
engine traffic plan or whatever, that you can USE FOR A PURPOSE.
A plan should help or enable you to do something with or in your
enterprise to achieve one or more very specific business objectives.
And this is the key. Ask yourself initially, why
exactly do you need a plan? What's it for? What exactly are you
trying to do, and most importantly HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO IT? And
how can you make sure that it happens?
Then you can think about writing it down, and start
planning to achieve something.
Whatever your own situation or objective is, here's
your simple slap-in-the-face business plan formula. Planning is
about recognising where you are now, identifying where you want
to get to and what you want to achieve, and... the crunch part...
how you're going to do it.
The problem is probably with the word "plan" itself.
Too many of the people that advise you put the emphasis on your
plan as a noun, the "thing", the actual document, rather than your
active planning, which is more about what you are going to "do"
with your business, or achieve in your market.
Planning is about doing things and confirming, illustrating
or articulating details about how you will achieve targets and objectives.
People who plan will, far more often than not, be more successful
than those who don't, because of the level of discipline they end
up introducing and implementing in their business activities.
Whatever your reason for writing a plan, or planning
your future business activities, you might find it interesting and
revealing to look at some other words and terms that relate to the
meaning of "plan". This may help you focus your ideas, thinking
and approach to devising your plan.
A plan can mean many things and could be any or
all of the following:
- an aim
- a plot
- an ambition or wish
- a direction or way
- a purpose
- a course
- an outline
- a blueprint
- an intention
- a picture
- a system
- a proposal
- a prospectus
- a view
- a project
- a design
- a process
Get the drift? Look at these different terms, which
mean the same as plan or are a part of planning, and use the ones
that best fit what you are trying to do and will help you communicate
your plan to your intended audience.
Whether it's to persuade someone to invest in you,
to lend you money, to enter a new market, to build an e-commerce
website, to paddle across the Atlantic, or whatever your plan is
for, it should articulate not just the what but the when, why, where
and how you are going to achieve your objectives.
Weekly
business tip
How to research your market
A few weeks ago, we told you about the importance
of competitive intelligence - that is, the importance of thoroughly
researching who your competitors are and what they're up to, in
order to figure out ways to distinguish your own products and services
from theirs.
Another key aspect of effective market research
is to get to know the consumers you're targeting, and to use this
consumer research to develop a winning marketing strategy.
Too many small businesses don't know how to do this,
or don't do it carefully enough. A bunch of statistics can look
totally meaningless unless you know how to use them to your advantage.
But if you know exactly who your target customers
are, and are armed with up-to-date demographic information on their
age, location and spending power, you can create tailored marketing
campaigns that pinpoint this niche market, rather than wasting your
precious budget on huge mail drops to customers you know little
about and which, as a result, get a low response.
The trade association for your sector will be one
of your most valuable resources when you do this type of consumer
research. It should be able to provide you with consumer and business
research statistics that have been collated for your specific industry.
A couple of weeks ago we gave you some good starting points for
locating your trade association - here they are again:
There are other great places to look for consumer
research. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Check out the information available for free
from the Office of National Statistics (ONS - click on http://www.statistics.gov.uk). The website is easy to
navigate and contains information on population, employment figures
and spending patterns, among other things. Particularly useful
for the type of research we're talking about are the results of
the 2001 census, which measured the demographics of England and
Wales and gives you valuable household information that can help
you identify where your target customers live, who they live with
and what they do for a living. See http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001 to view the results.
- The ONS also produces regularly updated studies
of economic activity, including household spending and disposable
income levels that can tell you how much money your customers
have got and what they're likely to spend it on. Go to http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nscl.asp?ID=5919 to view
the latest stats, and see http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=836&More=N
to view a summary (updated every year) of demographic trends in
different regions of the UK.
- Also available from the ONS is a series of downloads
on useful topics, such as this one on family spending patterns
in 2001. It provides employment figures, which can be a great
way to judge the economic climate of an area. Go to http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_social/Family_Spending_2001-02_revised/Family_Spending_revised.pdf
to download it.
- Results of the 2001 census in Scotland can be
viewed at http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk and demographics for Northern
Ireland at http://www.investni.com/index/locate/lc-key-facts/key_facts_-_demographics.htm
- Local information publisher http://www.upmystreet.com provides a detailed analysis
of your postal address, covering educational facilities, the property
market, transport provision and classification types. These can
all be useful when building up a picture of the health and wealth
of a particular area.
- Similarly, http://www.icnetwork.co.uk and http://www.british-towns.net cover the UK's major cities
and counties, providing business and news and details of the range
of services on offer.
- The neighbourhood search offered at http://www.checkmyfile.com/Guest/NeighbourhoodSearch.asp
gives free information on any UK postcode, including household
and lifestyle information as well as local demographics.
- Particular nuggets of information can be brilliant
additions to your overall research. For example, details of the
availability of broadband in a particular area can help you judge
how fertile a climate it offers for businesses. Check out BT's
current figures at http://62.172.198.79/broadband1/where_i_live/index.asp
- International demographics can be compared at
large central data source http://www.nationmaster.com and the site also enables
you to do more detailed searches on particular countries. Use
the free tools to generate your own graph on a number of relevant
topics, including gross national income and income distribution.
- Finally, we're working on our own local area
profiles, covering the UK's metropolitan council areas in terms
of demographics, economic activity, and business opportunities,
so we'll keep you posted on our progress.
New
business idea
Each week we provide you with summaries of some
popular or emerging business ideas in the UK.
Here is this week's idea:
Just
one word
Regularly improving your vocabulary is not just
about learning a new word and its meaning. It will improve your
general knowledge and make you feel and act smarter in all sorts
of personal and business situations.
Do you know the meaning of the word 'debenture'?
a) an unsecured loan
b) a bond or acknowledgement of debt
c) a deposit on a large purchase
d) a solicitor's expenses
Answer at the end of Bulletin.
Did
you know?
Google
explains gobbledegook
You can find definitions of unfamiliar business
terminology by using a nifty feature on Google that allows you to
find out what the word means without having your search results
inundated with all the websites that feature the term. Type into
the search box:
define:your mystery word
and Google will present you with a comprehensive
list of definitions. Give it a try - but don't cheat on our weekly
word quiz!
There's a new procedure for PAYE and NI recovery
Employers may no longer be liable to pay tax and
National Insurance Contributions (NICs) that they fail to deduct
from employees' wages under new regulations introduced by the Inland
Revenue. The onus will now fall on employees to pay any contributions
that have been under-deducted.
Meanwhile, don't forget the final date for submitting
PAYE returns for the end of the tax year to the Inland Revenue is
19 May.
For further information, go to:
http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/bulletins/tb70.htm#d
The future is VOIP
Or at least, that's the theory. Voice Over Internet
Protocol (VOIP) is a system that allows you to use a broadband connection
to make free calls over the Internet, leave a voice message with
a document attached, or connect up everybody on your IT network
by telephone. A rash of VOIP applications have been launched over
the last month, and the Government has published a layman's guide
to this cost-cutting technology.
To get the guide, go to:
http://www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk/cms/resource/file/VOIP.pdf
Sasser worm hooked
German police have caught the author of the Sasser
worm, the latest virus to wreak computer havoc worldwide. But it's
only a matter of time before the next outbreak, and a recent survey
by virus buster Sophos revealed that small businesses are wasting
money on anti-virus software by not keeping it up to date. Most
business owners know that computer viruses exist, but think it will
never happen to them, or don't understand how they can protect themselves.
Sophos has published a free-to-download booklet aiming to demystify
viruses and give business owners practical tips on keeping their
computers safe.
To download it, go to:
http://www.sophos.com/sophos/docs/eng/comviru/viru_ben.pdf
Worth
a visit
Beat red tape
If, like thousands of other small businesses, you're
battling your way through miles of red tape and struggling to understand
how various laws and regulations apply to your enterprise, then
you should check out the Red Tape BUSTER. We've produced this indispensable,
plain English guide together with Lexis Nexis, one of the world's
largest legal publishing firms, to help you cut through the jargon
and beat red tape headaches. It includes practical guides to every
major piece of UK business legislation, as well as alerts to tell
you when new laws are going to come into force.
Check out:
http://www.ukredtapebuster.com
The meaning of all those acronyms
It's hard to keep track of the number of acronyms
and abbreviations that exist in business, including financial terminology,
marketing terms and of course IT jargon. Find answers to the ones
that fox you at this website, which has over 346,000 definitions:
http://www.acronymfinder.com
Dream gadgets of the future
What will be on your desk or in your pocket in 2014?
Find out from NextFest what gadgets and gizmos businesses will be
able to take advantage of in future, including predictions for the
future of wireless communications technology. Have a look at:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/next.html
Worth
a read
If you find it difficult to write sales messages
on your website or in mailshots that sound convincing, then this
book might be able to help. It provides a thesaurus of snappy words,
phrases and slogans that have been proven to make a difference in
successful selling. The category-by-category layout makes it the
perfect reference tool, and the 62 different ways it lists to say
'exciting' are worth a look on their own. Check out:
Just
one word answer
The answer is b) debenture means a bond or acknowledgement of
debt that makes provision for payment of interest at fixed intervals.
Be careful, though, because in the US, debenture refers to an
unsecured fixed-interest bond backed by general credit rather
than specific assets.
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The EnterQuest Team
This
information is meant as a starting point only. Whilst all reasonable
efforts have been made, the publisher makes no warranties that the
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