Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

Running a Business Is Like Riding a Snowboard

A couple years ago I tempted fate by tackling my first snowboarding lesson. I was 51. Though my future was in doubt for the entire incident, I survived. Whether from repeatedly landing on my head or from the hot toddies that followed, I felt compelled to apply the lessons of snowboarding to running a business.

  1. A rider becomes one with the snowboard; an owner gets immersed in the business. Neither business nor snowboard will run smoothly until you learn some skills and tune into the conditions. Until you reach that point you might look like a newborn calf – gangly, uncoordinated and off-balance.
  2. Snowboarding and business are both learned by doing. A bit of theory is nice, but the real thrill comes from getting out there and doing it. No amount of theory compares to a real ride down the mountainside or a day of running your own business.
  3. Fitness and flexibility are important. This seemed quite clear as, from a variety of unflattering positions I observed skilled snowboarders flying over jumps and loving the airtime. Ah yes, I thought, I really should have stuck with the cardio program. It’s also easier to withstand the rigors of business ownership when you’re fit.
  4. Dignity may abandon you at times. Why is it that people love to see skiers and aging snowboarders do face-plants? Furthermore, why is there always a crowd handy to cheer when you blow it and land in a heap? One gains a disturbing sense of humility while skidding to a stop on elbows and tailbone at the feet of the entire T-Bar line up. Make a mistake in business and the crowd will probably laugh – you might too once you get over the pain.
  5. Snowboarding and business are risky. Friends and family get concerned and start reciting horrifying statistics of bruises and injuries. Everybody knows someone who has hurt themselves snowboarding or who has lost everything they own in a bankruptcy. Things don’t always turn out the way you plan. In fact, if you don’t land upside down occasionally, perhaps you aren’t trying hard enough. Your survival depends upon your ability to assess and manage risk.
  6. Snowboarding and business are both manageable. The secret to success is to start by learning the basics, like standing upright and controlling your direction. Until I learned to use the edges of my snowboard, I changed direction by landing on various body parts and by careening off trees and unsuspecting skiers. You bump into some of the nicest people on the hill… and in business.

Whatever else can be said, snowboarding and business ownership will both get you outside your comfort zone and present opportunities to learn.

Ready to hit the slopes of business ownership?  Get started on your business plan today. We’ve got free resources and tools to make your business planning fast, easy and fun.

See you on the slopes!

Ten Ways to Strengthen Your Business Plan

The most important reason to write a business plan is create a roadmap for the entrepreneur or business owner. A business plan can also be a valuable tool for communicating your business idea to others, for example, to secure financing or attract investors.

Whatever your reasons, any business plan will be stronger by following these basic guidelines.

  1. Anticipate the questions readers will have and answer them in your business plan. They’ll want to know about you, your business, and your industry. They’ll be interested in your financial and employment history. They’ll need to know that you understand your customer, and that you know how to makes sales and serve customers.
  2. Forecast sales a bit lower than you think they will be. Smart business planners will intentionally err on the conservative side, showing viability with as few sales as possible.
  3. Estimate expenses a little higher than you believe they might be. The brutal truth is that contingencies or expense buffers are all too often necessary and get spent once the business is in play.
  4. Remove some of the guesswork from your sales projections by gathering items such as signed contracts, letters of intent or some other form of written confirmation that customers are willing to buy your products or services from your business.
  5. Provide a complete set of clear and realistic financial forecasts, and make sure you know them well enough to discuss them intelligently with your banker or investor. Demonstrate your understanding of how money flows in and out of your business, and convey your knowledge with sales projections, a cash flow forecast, and pro forma income statements and balance sheets.
  6. Be frugal. In your business plan, show readers that you make wise buying decisions and that you are sourcing the best products and materials. If you can get by with an older truck, don’t ask for financing for that shiny new one.
  7. Be realistic and factual throughout your business plan. Nothing undermines your credibility quicker than inaccuracies. Where it makes sense to do so, state where the information comes from.
  8. Communicate various ways that you know your business, including, understanding your customers, having a savvy approach to pricing, and knowing how to make the operation work efficiently.
  9. Your business plan needs to communicate your knowledge of the industry you will operate in. What types of goods are sold? Who are your competitors? What competitive advantage will motivate customers to buy from you?
  10. Somewhere in your plan you’ll want to talk about your qualifications, and share information about any business-relevant assets such as your educational background or work experience.

Everything you do to create a business plan will increase or decrease your confidence in the business idea. As your confidence increases you move toward launching the business; if it decreases, you have more work to do.

For most small business or micro-business ventures, the business plan doesn’t need to convince anyone that you’ll be wealthy or retire early. It has only to demonstrate viability, that is, to show that the business will provide you with enough of a salary to pay your monthly living expenses, and hopefully earn a bit of profit as well.

Ready to write your business plan? Get started with our free business plan template or become a member of the Oasis today!

Hone Your Small Business Skills before Tackling Venture Capitalists

While Dragons’ Den is educational and entertaining, I hope the theatrics don’t scare off too many wannabe small business owners.

After being in business for 30 years, I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have to report daily to a job or punch a time clock. I’d like to see more people enjoy the thrill of owning a small business.

Entrepreneurs need to invest the time and effort needed to learn the business trade before attempting to attract investors like the Dragons. And the most effective way I know of to learn about business is to own one. Like every other discipline, the road to success is littered with tough lessons, long hours and a lot of determination.

The Dragons sift through a lot of pitches in order to find a few investment-ready high growth opportunities. For every idea that hits the jackpot, there are several that simply don’t meet the standard set by the investors.

There’s no doubt in my mind that each of the Dragons have earned the right to sit in an elevated chair and cuff the spit out of the gutsy hopefuls who dare to venture into the Den. However, as some of those rejected souls scurry from the set with their shredded egos in tow, I find myself hoping they don’t give up on their dreams. A rejection isn’t necessarily the end of the trail. A “no” doesn’t always mean the business idea is a throw away. It might only mean the idea isn’t enticing enough to tempt these particular investors.

The Dragons come from a wealthy perspective. Most of them already have more money than they could possibly spend in this lifetime. They are seeking partnerships that assure high rates of return. It’s all about money and partnering with great people. They simply don’t need to take on projects or people that are at the wrong end of the learning curve.

Whatever else can be said about the Dragons, they offer an absolute goldmine of business know-how and each episode is a terrific opportunity to learn. Here are three lessons that that stand out with every session:

  1. Investors buy into people. The business concepts and numbers have to work, but ultimately it is the quality of the people that attract or turn them away.
  2. There’s plenty of money available for savvy people with the right ideas. The Dragons are just a handful of investors in a big, big world full of funding options.
  3. Applicants must prepare for the big investment league by starting small. Learn to run a tiny business before tackling a large one.

The marketplace is full of perfectly healthy small businesses that never grow beyond employing the owner and a handful of workers, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Scads of business ideas might not appeal to fire breathing billionaires and yet still be perfectly suited to meet an entrepreneur’s financial needs.

Dream big, but start small—and one day you too might slay the Dragons and walk out of the Den with a pot of gold.

Are You Ready to Own a Business?

While most people like the idea of starting a business, many have no idea what’s really involved, and relatively few will actually take the leap of faith or do what it takes to succeed. It’s not easy to champion a business. It’s challenging to plot your way through the maze, especially if you’ve not done it before. Here are a few questions that will help you navigate the hurdles to opening day.

Are you ready to run a business? For the most part, your business’ success will depend on you. Do you have what it takes to succeed as a business owner? Will the business bring in enough money to support your personal financial needs? Is your family ready to support a crazy, fist-clenching entrepreneur? Are you ready to live with the risk a business will bring? A few moments of reflection will let you know whether you’re on track and what you need to do to prepare to run a business.

Is your business idea feasible? Is your idea really a business or is it just a hobby? Do you see examples of similar businesses in the marketplace? The fact that a business exists or occupies an office doesn’t necessarily mean it’s successful. Business success takes many forms—paying the bills, fair treatment of employees, creating satisfied customers, providing a valuable service to the community, not mucking up the environment, and profitability. Will your business pay you enough to survive and earn a profit? If not, perhaps it’s just a hobby.

Will your concept work in the marketplace? To figure this out you’ll need to develop a business plan, a task best done by the one taking the risk–you. The business planning process will guide you to understand the industry you’re getting into, to clarify which products and services you will offer, to be an authority on your customer’s needs and wants, and to determine whether you’ve got the right attitude and experience to run the business. While it may seem like a lot of work, a business plan is a great way to prepare for the rigors of business and it will definitely save you from making a lot of costly mistakes.

Will your business make money? As you learn about your business, you’ll gather the information needed to forecast your sales and expenses. A necessary part of proving your business case is determining whether or not the business will earn a profit. A sound financial plan should include a sales forecast, a cash flow forecast, and a pro forma (future) income statement. The sales projection tells you how much revenue you can expect. A cash flow forecast clarifies what your expenses will be and whether you need a loan, while the income statement tells if the business will be profitable.

While many people dream of owning a business, only a few are really prepared to jump in. One of the biggest benefits of owning a business is the joy of working at something you love to do. At the end of the day, when the dust settles and all the numbers are in, the most important business question we all need to answer is, “Do you enjoy what you’re doing each day?” If you can answer yes to that question, you’re well ahead of the game. It’s necessary to pay the bills and it’s grand to earn profits, but if you don’t enjoy what you do each day, is it really worth it?

Ready to unleash the small business within you?