THE BUSINESS OF DOING BUSINESS

A Handbook For Success In BusinessBy Ken Lane

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2008 Ken Lane
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-3661-1

Contents

Outline For A Business Plan.................................................................................................Page-1Marketing & Your Business Plan..............................................................................................Page-9Market Planning For Small Businesses........................................................................................Page-11Service Business Marketing..................................................................................................Page-15Placing A Value On A Business You Are Considering Buying....................................................................Page-21About Incorporating.........................................................................................................Page-25Developing A Mission Statement..............................................................................................Page-33An Outline For Promotion....................................................................................................Page-37Pricing Guidelines For Launching A New Product or Service...................................................................Page-39Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Service Marks, & Trade Secrets.............................................................Page-43Employee Confidentiality Agreement..........................................................................................Page-47Non-Disclosure Agreement....................................................................................................Page-53Time Management.............................................................................................................Page-57How to Develop & Keep a Solid Team of Employees.............................................................................Page-61Creating Enthusiasm in Your Workforce.......................................................................................Page-63Employment Rights, Wrongful Discharge, and Sexual Harassment................................................................Page-69Positioning Products & Services.............................................................................................Page-71Recommendations About Advertising...........................................................................................Page-77How to Write Potent Copy For Print, Television, & Radio.....................................................................Page-81More About Advertising Including: Average Advertising Investments and Annual Marketing Budget Worksheet.....................Page-91Advertising Media Compared Including a Media Planning Guide.................................................................Page-97Understanding PR & The Media................................................................................................Page-103Leveraging The Internet To Help Grow Your Business..........................................................................Page-109General Internet Demographics: Are These Your Customers?....................................................................Page-115Should You Outsource Your Web Site or Do It In-House?.......................................................................Page-117How To Attract Visitors To Your Web Site....................................................................................Page-121Publicizing Your Web Site...................................................................................................Page-125Glossary of Web Terms.......................................................................................................Page-127

Chapter One

Outline for a Business Plan

Set goals for yourself and your company. It will force you to crystallize your thinking, taking into consideration everything that affects your business. You will have to analyze, assimilate, calculate, revise, and make decisions about the products and/or services your company provides, and how to make a profit through a marketing campaign. This is called a STRATEGY. There are three questions you should be able to answer.

1. What business are you really in?

2. What is happening in the business environment that could affect your business?

3. How do you organize all the resources you have (human, financial, material, etc.) to meet the business challenges ahead?

4. The plan should be typewritten including page numbers, an index for easy reference, a glossary if you are using words and terms that are foreign to potential investors, and a cover page outlining your intents.

5. The document should be inserted into a binding or cover.

6. Your plan should be approximately 25 to 50 pages long. The length depends on many factors, including type of business, supporting documentation, etc. Again, there is no set rule on the length of a business plan; 25 to 50 pages are simply used as an average.

Summary of the Proposed Venture

This should include the company's goals and purpose, the product features and market potential, capital requested, and technical and operational milestones.

Table of Contents

List the different sections of the plan. Organization of the plan will show something about your ability to organize a company. Management abilities are one of, and probably the most important, "keys" to funding by outside sources. "Anyone can come up with an idea, but we can take the idea and build a company around it."

Statement of Purpose

Outline the company overview, goals and objectives, company strategies, and critical success factors.

Operations Plan

Should include the background summaries of the principals, employee staffing requirements, a company organization chart, a product and service description, the purchasing and production planning overview, and critical success factors.

Marketing Plan

Should include a product and service description (in more detail than outlined in the Operations Plan), a market description, promotional strategy, pricing strategy, distribution channels, business location, analysis of competition and critical success factors.

Financial Plan

It will include the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, sales statistics, staff additions, payroll expenses, capital additions, depreciation expense, debt amortization, accounts receivable, accounts payable, material flow, and detailed expenses. All projections should be based on a five-year time period. The more comprehensive your plan is, the better your chances are of successfully obtaining the financing.

1. The Business Plan Objectives and Goals

A. Description of the business.

1. Type of business.

2. Status of business.

3. Business Form.

4. Why is your business going to be profitable?

5. Have you spoken with other people in this kind of business?

6. What were their responses?

7. What is special about your business?

8. How will you run the business?

9. When will (did) your business open?

10. What hours of the day and days of the week will you be in operation?

11. If business is seasonal, will the hours be adjusted seasonally?

2. The Marketing...