Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneurs’

It’s not all doom and gloom – credit crunch winners

Monday, January 12th, 2009

We could be mistaken for thinking the business world is about to end with headlines like these;  Profit warnings ’seven-year high’,  UK slump ‘is worst for 28 years’ and Profits ‘tumble’ at finance firms.

But although the market conditions are difficult it does rather depend on the industry and niche you are in, there are alway winners and loosers with any extremes of market conditions. Here are some of the winners:

Poundland sales rose 24.3% during Christmas including new store openings and they have plans for “significant” growth in 2009, creating 30 new stores and 1,000 jobs.

Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland has reported strong growth in profits as cash-strapped consumers choose takeaways instead of eating out. Pre-tax profits rose 32.7% to £10.9m.

McDonald’s is creating 4,000 jobs in the UK after proclaiming itself more “recession resistant” than most retailers.

Aldi and Lidl enjoying annual sales growth of 19% and 14% respectively in June 2008.

So now is still a great time to start a new business, think about this if you can survive while things are difficult then you will fly when things pick up.

Writing a business plan – part 5

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Business plan key messages

Your business plan must get across the following key elements to potential investors:

  • Product/Service - You must outline the unique selling points of your product or service. It must be clear how this business will stand out from the crowd.
  • Financials – You must show sales, cost and profit projections for the next 3 years.
  • Management Team – You need to show you and your management team have the experience and skills to operate your business in your chosen market.
  • Return on Investment (ROI) – Clearly lay out for the investor how and when they will get return on their investment.

Remember although your business plan is a sales tool it is not a work of fiction and must be realistic.

Writing a business plan – part 4

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

The business plan audience

What you must also consider is your audience, a bit like your CV where you have different versions for different job applications you must have different versions of your plan. We would advice you to start by writing a version of the plan for yourself as this is likely to be the most detailed. From this detailed plan you can extract parts to create plans for other audiences.

As a general rule if you are using a business plan to gain funding then it should be a maximum of 20 pages, anything more and it will not be read.

Who are the likely audiences for your business plan:

  • Banks
  • Government support organisations (business link etc)
  • Potential business partners
  • Potential business mentors
  • Grant providers
  • Business angels
  • Friends & Family investors

All will be looking for slightly different things from the plan so try to put yourself in the shoes of your audience and ask yourself if I was a bank manager what would I want to know.

Writting a business plan – part 1

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Whether you are writing a business plan for your bank manager, business link, the BBC’s Dragons’ Den or for the internets Dragons’ Den at inbizvest.com there are key things that need to be included whatever the intended audience.

Now some entrepreneurs think they don’t need to write a business plan unless someone is asking for one, well you absolutely do need to write it. The process of writing your business plan is key to the success of your business and often brings reality to bear on your idea. Just having it in your head is not enough, in black and white is the only way to really understand how the business will work. The amazing thing is that in your head you have revenue figures and costs but when you put them into a spreadsheet you suddenly realise they are not as realistic as you thought. So if you only do one thing before you start your business write a plan.