Need to write a Business plan? Make it ‘smart’ and ‘lean’ and save time whilst keeping it focused.

GOING GLOBAL

The Critical Success Factors of Entrepreneurship

Last week was Global Entrepreneurship Week and it got me thinking, what makes a successful entrepreneur and who are these people anyway? According to Wikipedia ‘entrepreneurship is a process of identifying and starting a business venture, sourcing and organizing the required resources and taking both the risks and rewards associated with the venture’.

This makes it sound as if it is purely the domain of the business owner. However, in this day and age you can actually be a self-employed or employed entrepreneur. The latter is often referred to as intra-preneurship. This comes from someone with the flair and skills to identify and develop new ventures within a business. A growing number of businesses are now looking for entrepreneurial skills within their employees. Why? Because it is the skills of the entrepreneur that create success and business growth in this highly competitive global marketplace.

What is needed more and more is the development of entrepreneurial skills within our education system from an early age right through to higher education. Where more educationalists facilitate the development of an environment where creativity, individualism, risk taking and personal ongoing development are managed and encouraged.

For the self-employed entrepreneur it is their ability to identify a new idea, product or market and take the risk to start their own business, which sets them apart. However, I have seen from my own experience of mentoring managers in the workplace that buried within most people are entrepreneurial skills just waiting to burst out.

For the successful development of entrepreneurial skills an environment needs to exist that nurtures this. Whether it is from friends and family or from managers and leaders, without the right nurturing, positive and thought challenging environment entrepreneurship will never blossom.

I remember once mentoring a young man with a brilliant business idea. He had the passion required of entrepreneurial success, he was willing to take a risk, he had the skills and knowledge of the industry, he had done the research and knew his market and he had the personality and flair to be able to develop the business and sell the product. So what held him back from becoming an entrepreneur? His family! Their fears were so great that they surrounded him with negativity to the point that he lost all confidence in his idea and own abilities.

So the first critical success factor for any global entrepreneur or intra-preneur is the environment. It needs to support and encourage risk whilst at the same time managing it. The second is the ability and encouragement to look for and seek out new opportunities – keeping an eye on the changing market is vital here.  Thirdly you need to have the flexibility and desire to embrace change. The digital revolution is upon us and if we do not embrace it then we lose an essential component for today’s entrepreneurial success. Finally, the personal desire to constantly learn and grow and the environment in which to do this is vital to entrepreneurial success.

For the UK to compete successfully in this rapidly changing global market we need to embrace and encourage the blossoming of these entrepreneurial skills buried deep within so many people. Unlock this potential and success is inevitable. 

Start believing and stop doubting 

by Guest Blogger Sarah Flay

Today I’m giving you three for the price of one. We are looking at self confidence, self esteem and your limiting beliefs.

I’m going to share with you one of my biggest facts about business. YOU are the success in your business not the actual business. So if you are struggling to believe in your success we’ve kind of got a problem. So let’s take a look at these three areas and how to fix the problems.

Self confidence
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”
Arthur Ashe

Now let’s not confuse confidence with arrogance. Confidence doesn’t have to mean loud and proud either. All self confidence is, is knowing that YOU CAN DO IT. Some of the most confident people are actually not the ones shouting the loudest, they are the ones getting on with whatever they’ve set their minds to. Its that inner knowing that you’ll achieve what you set your mind to. If you don’t have the confidence to follow your dreams, then your dreams will sit out there somewhere in the big wide world untouched. Everyone has worries that they aren’t able to achieve their dreams but its about making a start and taking the first step towards something. It’s usually the first step that is the hardest to take. Usually confidence comes from achieving something so set yourself something small to achieve and every time you achieve your small goal set a bigger one. Keep going until you finally begin to have the inner confidence to go after the big dreams!

  Self esteem
“Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.”
Thomas Carlyle

In order to be successful at anything in life you need to feel worthy of that success. The biggest reason people fail is not because they’re no good or they lack the skills, more often than not people disqualify themselves because they don’t  feel good enough to succeed. Your self esteem is a vital component to your success. If you aren’t worthy of a good life, who is? What have you done that is so bad that disqualifies you from having good things happen to you?  Begin to break down your self esteem barrier by finding one small thing about yourself that makes you worthy. Are you kind? helpful? hardworking? There is plenty of good things inside of you all you have to do is start finding them.  

Limiting beliefs
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt

If you don’t believe in yourself who the heck is going to? No one in your life has the obligation to believe in you. The only person who should believe in you is YOU! It’s time that you stopped listening to others, and looking at the past and start thinking that you can do whatever you put your mind to.  I was told at 23 I’d never work again and ten years on I proved that person wrong by starting my own business and not just one of them. I started TEN!  Everything you can or cannot do is down to you! If you could do anything in life, what would you do? Now start doing it and leave the limitations behind!

Today you need to start believing in your business and you as the owner. Take ownership of your goals and watch that business turn around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By Guest Blogger Sara Flay

Sarah’ business, New Perspective is all about taking a fresh viewpoint on an idea or a situation. She offers realistic ways to reach goals, find new clients and generally make the business come to life. She knows what it’s like to have no clients and an almost non-existent cash flow! The work she produces is focused, targeted and actionable from day one. Check out her website to find out more www.newperspective.biz

Great Advice for Start-up Businesses

DEVELOP YOURSELF TO GROW YOUR BUSINESSES

I was working with some clients recently, helping them with their business planning when I realised that there is one glaring omission from every business plan and template I have ever seen – there is nothing about CPD (Continuing Professional Development). Whilst accountants, solicitors etc., have CPD required by their professional bodies, business people are on their own.

With so much free training for start-up businesses (especially in Wales) it is a wonder that they do not develop the habit of seeking out training to keep their learning and business skills growing. Sadly many do not. Why is this? In my opinion it is because people do not readily value what they get for free.

The mind-set seems to be one of ‘get some free training first’ then just develop the business. Many get so bogged down with the ‘doing’ of the business that they believe they have no time to do any later.  Others don’t want to pay for training as they still expect it for free!

This is a sad reflection on business as a profession. Surely it is even more important, if you are running your own business, to keep increasing your skills and knowledge. After all, there are a million and one things to learn especially if you are a freelancer or sole trader.

Wouldn't it be useful if all business plan templates included a section for CPD? Here are my ideas of what would be included.

1.      An individual skills analysis SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) - covering all areas of the business and technical requirements.

2.      Research findings for required courses and the costs – Also including low cost/free training such as books and YouTube tutorials.

3.      A prioritised list of skills needs – Prioritised both by need and cost.

4.      A scheduled action plan of when the training should go ahead.

5.      A post-training evaluation  Reviewing the effectiveness of the training in terms of skills transfer to the business (2 – 3 months post training)

Without this level of planning and evaluation time and money can be wasted on training that does not support business growth.

Also don’t forget that training events are a great place to network and do business. So even if the training is not as good as you had expected you may pick up a great lead!

10 FINANCIAL TIPS FOR SECURE BUSINESS GROWTH

 Statistics show that 70% of businesses fail due to poor financial management! It is the top reason for business failure. When starting any business or freelance working it is important to build sound foundations for the business. Top of the list should therefore be financial management.

The problem is that many people do not, early on in starting a business, take a serious inventory of their personal and team strengths and limitations. Without this, a lack of financial management experience or skills is often overlooked and the need for training or bringing the skills into the business may be missed.

Business expansion can be just as a risky a period as start up where financial management is concerned. Keeping a firm hand on the cashflow is crucial for both start-up and expansion.

So here are 10 tips to help you build a strong financial platform for your business:

1.      Get the training you need to improve your financial management skills. If you head the business and have someone else managing your finances it is wise to understand what they do so that you can at least monitor the finances and profit margins.

2.      Find a financial mentor to teach you the ropes. Make sure they are experienced financial managers and that you trust them with your business information.

3.      Set up a bank account at a different bank to your personal account. This gives you more flexibility and options if things are financially tight in the business.

4.      Develop sound cashflow projections and profit and loss for your business based on sound financial information from research of your product, service and market.

5.      Review your cashflow projections weekly to ensure you are on track with your sales, marketing and expenditure.

6.      Create a remedial action plan where you are not meeting the targets of your cashflow projection by increasing your sales action and reducing costs.

7.      Keep on top of your accounts. Do them routinely every month so that you have accurate records to assess against your cash-flow projections.

8.      Keep a monthly track of your profit margins especially when you are expanding or taking on staff. Without realising it your profit margin can be lost even when turnover is high.

9.      Set up a savings account and put 20% (40% if you are VAT registered) of all income into it every month. Do not consider this as spendable income. This makes sure you have money on hand to pay the Tax and VAT and you will earn interest on it.

10.  Instead of a savings account, if you like a bit of a flutter without the risk of losing your savings, then invest in premium bonds. I averaged a 6% return on my premium bonds when I used to do this!

Top Tips on how to create a successful freelance business

The Law of Attraction - Is it Growing Your Business?

Over the years I have noticed two trains of thought on the issue of ‘giving’, in the business community, those for it and those against it. ‘Giving’ of your time and services for free is definitely on the increase and in my opinion a great deal of it has to do with the digital world we are in. With growing numbers of open source platforms and business collaborations more and more people are learning what it really means to ‘give’. They are discovering something wonderful – the more you give, the more it comes back to you in so many different ways. This is what’s known as ‘The Law of Attraction’.

So are you in the ‘old camp’ (never give anything away for free), the ‘new camp’ (giving and collaborating regularly) or do you have a foot in both camps right now?

I know businesses and organisations that see it as a weakness in business to give anything away for free. Many of them use hard sell techniques believing this is the only way to grow a business. This viewpoint makes me wonder if their business is actually growing or stagnating. Because they never give, they have no concept of the ‘Law of Attraction’ and its’ amazing effect.

What I now see in the business world is a growing number of ‘givers’ who prefer to do business with other ‘givers’. This was highlighted for me recently. When I landed this job as The Business Incubator Manager at The University of South Wales I had been self-employed for almost 30 years. It was hard for me to tell all my network of business friends that I had ‘jumped camp’. Silly as it sounds, I felt like a traitor!

What I had forgotten was that I was networking with ‘givers’. They were all thrilled to hear my good news and overwhelmed me with their offers of help for the graduate start-up businesses I would be supporting at The Business Loft. They even offered help knowing that they are not allowed to ‘sell their services’ to the start-up businesses they are mentoring.

The true test of a ‘giver’ is not in the offer of help but in the action they take. 

Just recently, when I was launching a new pilot programme at The Business Loft – Hot Desk Mentoring – I emailed all 67 of my networking friends who had offered their services as volunteer mentors for the start-up businesses. To my amazement the response from these wonderful ‘givers’ was so instantaneous that within 48 hours my Hot Desk Mentoring Programme was fully  booked until Christmas! Now I have a waiting list of wonderful people who want to be Hot Desk Mentors next year.

So thank you to all the wonderful ‘givers’ in my life who make so much more possible for everyone.