Tips to Develop Your Business Plan

Whenever I may come across profiles of the most successful businessmen, and I've always marveled at the discernment of this business. I wonder what made them very successful and rule the world? The business plan, just a passion, grit or resolution or that business? I feel even if made by a businessman, was the emotion and everything, a big chunk of the credit for its success goes to business idea simmered in thoughts. Another thing is the way these people developed a plan of action. Here in this article, we will tell you how to develop one yourself.

Development of business plan

It's not exactly an easy motion, and a plan of action, there are also things countless involved, is essential to the very complicated and boring. Basically, while developing a plan of action, must include an executive summary covering.

* Brief description of the company's history.

* Company objectives

* Description of the company's products or services.

* The labour market plans to compete.

* A convincing statement of reasons wotrikh for business success.

* The expected growth of the company and the market.

* Mention of the core management team.

* A description of the funding requirements, with a line of time and money.

Homework on the product or service

 

Forget the plan of action for some time. Decide what product or service you provide. Otherwise, it is impossible to go ahead and consider what comes next in your proposal. Research on market trends and what products and services will be hit with consumers is essential for understanding the complexities of the plan of action. If you have experience in product or service, then you may become your task easier. In addition, also to think of the name and the public image of your company. They have a thorough understanding of the products and services your company is going to offer.

Money matters

 

Once you're done with the overall picture, and think of the capital, as well as the amount you intend to make of it or to make possible. To be clear about that you will have to chalk and create a financial profile of the company. When you mention this during the writing of the plan, should the current assets and liabilities include your anticipated income and monthly expenditures within six months. And after all this data helps you to select the target sound to your business. Be very careful about this.

Who are the competitors?

 

The market will be as bad as the big world out there. Therefore, you need to study your competitors and how it proposes to deal with the competition, giving you the advantage. You will have to mention that while writing the business plan. Again, this involves a little bit of homework.

Finally, once you're done with all this, put this all on paper. Addressing the above points, and develop them according to the look you've got. Make it crystal clear as you can and start!

At the end of the day, only prayer and hope that saves you time and financier agrees to help with the funds. If you are still skeptical about how to develop a plan of action, have a professional do it for you! All the best!

Read More

How To Lead Your Way to the Top

Starting at work is no longer about Brown nosing and boss. In this tough job market, and companies that promote from within – while this is good in the sense that you have a shot at promotion only because you work there, this also means you must come down through promotional materials.

Leadership skills is the number one thing when employers are looking for management position opens, even more than experience. Inexperienced leader could be groomed for the position, but ineffective leader will be miserably however experienced he is. Polish your leadership skills and put it out there for everyone to see, you will catch the eye of the powers that be, your name just might come in the next Council meeting.

Don't be bossy

Showing off his driving skills does not mean bossing people around. You probably do not have the actual power to your co-workers (yet), so don't pretend that you do. You will come across as a jerk my curiosity, and you'll be on the contrary an effective leader. Think of yourself as a cheerleader, Office Directory, and goalkeeper. Your goal is to make people care about what they do, and give them what they need to do it well and extinguishing that arise along the way.

Learn the art of listening

Don't assume you know what someone else is about to say, and not just repeat what mentally you're going to say next when someone else is talking. Whether in a group or one-on-one conversation, focus on what is being said. Repeat again for speaker if necessary, to correct it in your mind and reassure the speaker to understand the issue. When you reply, do not jump just in terms of empty instantly with procrastination and verbal-if you don't have a good answer ready, say something like, "that's a good question I will look into it and get back to you. This afternoon. "To do so.

Learn to be social work

Everybody knows say about mixing business with pleasure, but there is a fine line approaching them. Gossiping is a no-no, as is the sharing of personal information. Start something shared with a co-worker that would detect you don't want in the Board meeting. On the other side, don't be an emotionless, but leaders must be able to communicate with those they lead, and do your best Android representation will not allow that to happen.

Avoid gossip and intimate conversations, but knowing features. Set calendar alerts for birthdays and anniversaries, and keep the ear has a new baby, who just lost a family member, etc. Send a card or e-mail message on these occasions-short enough to offer congratulations or condolences. People will appreciate the effort, and will promote the idea of you being on top of everything.

Mind your styles.

Chances are you fall somewhere in the middle of the corporate ladder. Often, people make the mistake of only turned on the charm when dealing with someone of higher rank, and abandon the work ethic with the ones below. Error. A bad attitude never impresses either.

A good leader treats everyone with the same courtesy and respect, from the janitor to the CEO. Appreciate the value of each employee in your company, and the recognition that makes each piece of the puzzle. You will be surprised how these lesser degrees on may affect the senior officers, and just being in the middle of the kind that animated the doorman with the name Manager makes you stand out in a good way.

Well authorization

If leadership is the most important feature of cultivation, successful delegation is the most important leadership skill. This is what makes an effective team, drawing on the talents of each to produce an excellent product. Not qualified based on personal feelings or to someone "actually deserves the opportunity"-knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each person on your team.

Your job as a leader is to play up the strengths as well as weaknesses to disappear. If Jane is really great relationships with customers but not so great in tracking expenses, and to make the public "face" of your face more expenditures to Sally, who minored in accounting. Chris has fantastic ideas that need a little bit of the foundations, so pair him up with John, who thinks logically a bit if stodgily. Your team members playing off each other, and fill gaps in yourself. It's a recipe for success.

Read More

Risk Management Importance

Whenever we think about risk, we always associate with the uncertainty and the possibility of something going wrong. Discipline and risk management focuses on the identification and assessment of possible risks and of all identified risks and thus, prepare a plan to meet that, when that happens! There is a lot of misunderstanding about the risk management strategy is being able to get rid of all the risks you can think of maybe. This is not perhaps, even faith with good risk management. Below is a quote from a world-renowned risk management experts largely summarizes the essence of good risk management.

"Good risk management fosters vigilance in times of calm and instills discipline in times of crisis.
"-Dr. Michael Ong

The benefits of risk management process

Benefits implementation of systematic risk management process is long-term and short-term. In fact, every stage of the risk management effort, the right of hazard identification, risk assessment of mitigation strategies, and has its own benefits and are listed as follows.

* Risk identify benefits: identification of risks is quite critical phase of the risk management process. The most obvious benefit is that all risks identified at the start of the project on mitigation strategies. This means, in turn, all identified risks most likely to be likely to be planned without affecting the objectives of the project and the final result. Another benefit to risk is that all the assumptions listed below. Analysis of the assumptions is an important step in removing the potential inaccuracies and contradictions in the beginning of the process itself. Now, the risks need not always be negative. Positive are often stumbled (opportunities that were not part of the original project plan) when you select phase and you can take appropriate action to make the most of this "opportunity". This in turn will have a positive impact on the entire project or business.

* Risk assessment benefits: this stage requires a focus on all identified risks, and assess their impact on the project or business. Evaluation of the planned measures to remove or reduce the risks, is the result of constructive discussion or debate among the various stakeholders. The biggest advantage of this process is that it serves to bring different perspectives to the table and in the process of finalizing its potential solutions, and each person is brought to the same page. This, in turn, brings forth a sense of accountability to all stakeholders (including vendors, contractors, etc.), one of the objectives of risk management. Participate in the risk assessment activity also aims to promote an organizational culture where everyone is "aware" and to appreciate how their performance to be measured and rewarded. In addition, as a result of the cost-benefit analysis, you can review the contractual procedures for pricing, deadlines etc, based on risk factors.

* Risk analysis and evaluation of benefits: a is a subset of the risk assessment process, where each risk is described along with its attributes such as importance and likelihood of occurrence, the recommendation to minimize risk profiles, stakeholders, etc. The risk is all set for a business function or process that the allocation of risk. Changes to policy, emergency numbers etc, are the benefits of a successful process of analysis and assessment.

* Risk of treatment benefit: risk profiles once finalized, graded, and evaluation, the next step for the implementation of the plan. Through internal controls (including policy decisions) and compliance regulations are established reduction strategies at work. Downside risks or threats "do not correspond to shock or surprise risk and opportunity are abandoned because of lack of preparation and planning. Achieved significant benefits to increase operational efficiency and profitability when successful treatment of risks at this stage.

* Risk monitoring and review benefits: risk management is not a one-time activity. The risk of continuous monitoring and review of the risk-management plans underpin a successful business strategy. This activity provides long-term benefits with regard to lessons learned to improve future risk management strategies and the effectiveness of the treatment measures of risk, which will no doubt come in handy for subsequent projects.

Compared with no strategy for risk, interest risk management of the business, in short, as described below.

* Awareness of "high risk": you can avoid the most important threat to business, any failure to identify and plan for risks and communicate across the Board to all stakeholders.

* Save on time and cost: a proactive approach to threats in the enterprise or business through risk management, always leads to considerable savings in costs, and prevent the waste of time and effort in the fight against the fires.

* Discover opportunities: instead of being unprepared for the opportunities identified during the project cycle or business, risk management can help plan and prepare.

* Harvest reusable knowledge: risk management comprehensive attempt with contributions from various stakeholders, experiences, and insights. This collective knowledge, or at least large parts of it, can be reused for future endeavours. One risk management plan can provide templates for successive plans to start from, rather than reinventing the wheel. This is probably the most useful long-term benefits.

Risk management helps in making better decisions in the anticipate threats and opportunities for projects or business. While some of the benefits achieved from the initial stages of the project, often "hidden" benefits surface much later. There is no doubt that good risk management plan is a cornerstone in the success of projects.

Read More

Risks of Change Your Business Management

Change management is a discipline that puts a set of processes and tools to handle the change. Management and leadership organizations today are faced with the rapid pace of change. While accepting this reality and a willingness to change, it is important to be able to predict and manage the risks associated with implementing the change.

What does Change Management Involve
Before we broach the topic of risks, let us understand briefly what the change management process entails. In the corporate setup, change management is initiated to deal with either an evolutionary or a revolutionary change.

* Evolutionary change is a gradual process often managed well due to lack of pressing timelines, for example, a culture shift in an organization.
* Revolutionary change, on the other hand, has to be implemented in a shorter time frame and is usually a one-time effort. This requires people and processes to adapt quickly.

If a company has been through a merger or acquisition exercise, the smaller organizations usually have to quickly scale up to the parent organization's processes. Both types of changes involve overcoming several barriers to change when it comes to their implementation.

If change barriers are not predicted and overcome in a timely manner in preparation for change implementation, it is certainly going to pose some risks and challenges during what is commonly called the "go-live" phase. While each project or program has a different set of attributes resulting in different risk factors, we can derive certain commonalities among them.

We can broadly categorize two types of risks: risks from a cost perspective and other, let's call them "intangible" risks, for want of a better word. You will find several more categories of risks that experts in project management have formulated, however, let us restrict our scope of this article to just these two very broad categories.

Typical Risk Factors

The risk usually cost as follows:

* The delay in achieving the milestones and scheduling goals because of a lack of resources and/or as a result of incorrect timeline estimates

* Budget overruns

* The cost of rework due to lack of communication between the implementation teams or due to some unexpected challenges that appear along the way (and this is especially true for new projects where there was a previous Executive experience, etc.)

* Costs arising from new technology, upgrade technology, or because of a change in regulatory requirements (such as a change in government policy, etc.)

* The costs resulting from the lack of funds and/or human resources (this would include staff attrition, lack of skills on the implementation team, etc).

Other hazards which do not directly lead to the risk of costs would be as follows:

* Resistance to change: the smallest change is known to provide at least a small amount of stress to people. From the perspective of organizational change, resistance to change can be active and passive workers alike. Hostility is a general feeling that needs to dealt with a very sensitive way. For example, layoffs inflate the enormous hostility. It raises feelings that would have a direct impact on the decline, but also the results not only in the power struggle within the implementation teams. While timely, frequent contact and transparent and accurate is the key to this kind of risk, at the end of the day after all the efforts, it is still a real danger.

* Project frozen or abandoned altogether: these are the main risks that proved to be widely prevalent during difficult economic conditions such as recession and currency depreciation. No doubt about it always affects costs as staff morale.

* Project fails to deliver results: imagine if the change has been implemented and has spent millions of dollars, and resistance to change has been handled and dealt with most of the other risk factors. It appears the project has been implemented successfully, but does not seem to be delivering results as expected. Not realized the potential benefits, and everyone is just wondering what was wrong.

Managing Risks during Change Implementation
An effective way to manage the risks mentioned above is to prepare for change implementation in advance and approach it in a systematic fashion. An important activity in risk management is Risk Assessment and Impact Analysis.

Risk Matrix: The diagram below is a representation of this standard exercise.
Risk Matrix

Probability Axis: It is a very simple process where the "Probability axis" denotes the probability of each identified risk. For this, you need to first enlist each risk (refer to the ones listed above) to the smallest detail possible and predict the probability of its occurrence. Now, this would naturally take a lot of experience and expertise but it would be time well spent.

Impact Axis: Next on the vertical "Impact Axis", assign a percentage of impact, in the event that the risk does occur. At the end of this plotting, you would obviously want to focus on the 'red quadrant' on priority. In short, you want to first manage the risks that have a high likelihood of occurring and in the event that they do occur, the change implementation would be affected to a great extent.

Please note that the above risk matrix is not a do-it-once exercise. The matrix should be revisited at regular intervals of change implementation and the risk factors must be reviewed to see if they still exist or need to be moved to a different quadrant. This kind of periodic review will ensure better risk management. Taking timely action on projected risks will ensure greater success of the change implementation process.

Change management process and associated risks and dangers largely differ from one organization to another, and project to project. Can offer a laundry list of risks and risk management solutions for the same reason. It needs to be placed in each scenario. However, to ensure a systematic approach to risk management through identification, assessment and analysis of each challenge during implementation of change management, make it nightmarish experience for all stakeholders. Hope scope article here asserts the fact that successful change management application as a result of a comprehensive process to recognize and mitigate risks throughout the life cycle of change.

Read More

American Airlines Are On There Way To The World Largest Airline, Find Out How !!

Although no official announcements have been made, sources close to the US Airways and American Airlines to the United States that the two airlines had agreed in principle to a merger which would create the largest airline in the world. America filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors for more than a year, airlines need to find some help in order to continue normal operations. If the merger is approved as expected, around 90% of all commercial flights to the United States will control four large conglomerates of the airlines.

Because of mergers in recent years — Delta and Northwest and Southwest wairtran, continental-United-there is virtually no competition to air travel. Most analysts predicted that this will eventually lead to higher ticket prices for consumers, but the price increases will be gradual.

What is more interesting is the question of whether combining two average to weak airlines as a strong one. America already in bankruptcy-and no one claims that "American Airlines" was knocking it out of the Park-how to combine the two companies bring stability? If anything, just the logistical issues have increased, public expenditure management to the new company, and more. With only four primary carriers left the race, seems to be to Excel in the end. In the end, will inevitably consume more efficient operation the three weakest. It should be fun to see how that turns out.

Read More

How to Write Down Your Vision Statement

Talk to any corporate leader will learn they attribute much of its success to an artistic vision statement. The goal which they saw for their companies. Vision statement is the plan that you have officials in the future for your organization. It is a statement that gives you inspiration work better every day, and something that allows you to improve your daily performance and stimulates the decisions in life. Big business heirs believe that without vision statement guide you can be very difficult to plan your business effectively. Very easy to formulate a vision, if in your head, you know what you want your business to accomplish.

Write a vision statement

Refers to any example of a vision statement, and you will learn that generally short-term vision, talk about the foreseeable future for about five years. It sets the writer a specific plan for the future. While generally see the written data to organizations, might be a good idea to have a vision for personal life, well, that can guide you through the obstacles you maintain focus on an end result. Follow the simple steps below to write a vision statement for your organization and your self.

* Before writing a vision statement, it is important for you to study your mission statement. For most companies, this refers to the statement identifies the need for its existence. If you do not understand why you exist, then formulating vision statement can be difficult.

* The most important thing to remember to dream big. Your vision statement may not necessarily be the most pragmatic, but needs to push harder. Make sure that there is some degree of completion that you aim for while being based on fact. It is important you good mental picture in your head to where you can see yourself.

* If you are not sure how to go about the process of writing a vision statement, look at data vision. Study to see how this data was created.

* Before writing a vision statement, make a list of all the goals and ideals of working for your company. You need to know what your goals as an international organization before you can write what you expect for yourself in the future.

* Work with other employees in your organization, ask them where they see the company in the future. Working in tandem with the core management group people learn what looking at the future of the company. Brainstorm about this as a group and come up with a unified vision statement for the Organization as a whole.

* Consider how you want the public and your target audience to view you. Working on five or six of the phrases that match your claims in advertisements, investor documents.

* Once you've actually formulating vision statement, circulated among friends, family and colleagues, even in different companies, who will be able to tell you whether or not effective vision statement.

Once you have formulated your vision statement, you will need to promote and increase the attention you get in different documents. Ensure that your corporate vision statement features prominently in all your internal documents. This ensures that the employees know what the company's goals in the future. Learn to write a vision statement is extremely easy as long as you know what you're trying to achieve.

Read More

How To Make Market Analysis for Your Business

When you’re starting a business, it’s important to take a good, hard look at the market you are trying to enter. This helps you plan your approach to marketing, pricing and general operations, and as such, should be included in your business plan. Once your business is established, periodically re-analyzing the environment in your industry can help you adapt your business to changing attitudes, economies and regulations, and help you sidestep potential roadblocks.

Although the term "market analysis" sounds technical and intimidating, it’s rather simple, if involved. You don’t need an M.B.A. to do this. It’s all about examining your industry, target demographic, pricing structure and competition.

» Industry

Research your industry. Find out how it’s been doing, and where it’s going. Has it dropped off recently? Is it due to economics or new regulations? Is it projected to resume its previous levels? In how long? Is it growing, or is it stable? Get a feel for the difference between steady and stagnant - one is characterized by slow but steady growth, the other by inactivity. Find out if your industry is changing - if everyone else seems to be branching off into niche markets, positioning yourself as an all-around provider may not be the best idea.

» Target Demographic

Who is your ideal customer? Know everything about them. Know who they are, where they live, how much money they have and how much money they spend. The Census is handy for this. If your business is locally-based, it behooves you to know how much of your target demographic leaves the area every year, and how many move in. Once you know the facts, start looking into the intangibles. What do they like? What do they buy? What level of customer service do they expect?

Once you know your target market inside and out, explore other potential markets - they may not be your main source of revenue, but they could prove valuable down the road when you’re trying to eke out every last drop of profit to fund expansion.

» Pricing Structure

In your business plan, you’ll have to justify your prices - your market analysis helps with that. Look at your production costs, overhead, labor, etc., but don’t stop there - look around and see how much everyone else is charging, but focus on those who serve your target market. Does perceived value play a role in your industry? What else affects sales, price-wise? Do you plan to offer discounts? How will that affect your bottom line? How deep will the discounts be, and will they more than make up for themselves by effectively driving sales?

You can’t set your prices arbitrarily. If you plan to charge substantially more than everyone else, what about your product or service makes it worthwhile to the customer?

» Competition

Finally, analyze your competition. Ideally, you will look at what the competition is doing throughout your market analysis, but here is where you put it all together. What makes you think your business will be superior to them? Where are they failing the market? How do you plan to fill that gap? Become intimate with the way your main competition does things - you might learn something, even if it’s what not to do.

Your market analysis can go as deep as you want it to - the deeper, the better. Be prepared to rethink some of your ideas as you find out what’s going on out there. Your business may look great in your head, but it has to survive in a real economy.

Read More

How to Start a Small Business

If you are a person who lives life on his own terms and does not want to get stuck in the 10 to 6 everyday job routine then a business is a great option for you. But it is not that easy. You have to struggle a lot till your business gets a grip and establishes firmly. And by the way, business is like a 24X7 job which you cannot afford to neglect. So think about it only if you are ready to work hard with passion. Then only it will grow and you will be known as a successful businessman. Starting a business is a planned activity be it a small or a big venture. Organizing yourself and keeping an eye for small business opportunities is the first requirement for starting a business and it is advisable to start any venture on a smaller scale, especially when it is your first try as a businessman. To know more about the process involved in starting a small business, read further.

Steps to Start a Small Business

Business Ideas
As someone rightly said that a big business starts with a small idea. It means that you must have great money ideas that can fetch a lot of profit for you. The idea of course should be free of any illegal or offensive things. You must have an idea that will give you a chance to serve the people and cater to their needs. Also it should be commercially viable and practical. Once your vision and aim is clear along with the business start up idea, you are ready to move to the next step.

Business Research
Market research is one of the most crucial steps in starting a business. You must have a thorough knowledge of the sector you are planning to enter in. You also must know about the competition you will have to face, what are the challenges you might face. In short you must have the complete knowledge about the industry you are planning to embark in. This will help you start your business with proper precautions and will help you taste the success a little earlier.

Business Plan
A business plan is very important where you need to pen down every detail of the business including the details of capital investment, type of business, money transactions, small business marketing strategies, advertising strategies, etc. Your business plan will help you understand about how much does it cost to start a small business. It is also essential when you go asking for grants and finance to the investors, lenders, or finance companies.

Business Finance
Once you have a plan ready, you also have to arrange for the business financing. You have to decide if you want to start a business as partnership, proprietor, corporation, or public etc. and accordingly you have to go and visit the lenders. You can also seek small business loans or government grants to start a small business. You can use your savings or take bank loan. It is suggested to consult your financial adviser before you take any such major decisions. But whatever way you choose, you have to submit your business plan to the lenders or associates.

Business Legalities
Once you arrange for the small business finance, you must invest in the location or area where you wish to start a business and complete all the legal formalities associated with that. If your business needs a license or permit then acquire it first before you start. You may have to register for local and state taxes to obtain tax identification, compensation for the workers, employee responsibilities, unemployment or disability insurance, etc. You also have to register your business with a state authority for your identity. These steps will help you determine the legal framework of your business that would help you avoid any legal problems in the future.

Get Started
With right advertising policies and marketing strategies you are sure to start on a positive note. Make sure that you are providing your clients or customers with satisfying services. You can also ask the customers to give their feedback so you can improve upon it. Always maintain the quality of your goods and service that would help you retain the customers. Also have interesting offers for first few days to attract the customers. Once you establish the name and trust among customers, your business will certainly flourish.

With these tips and advices, you are sure to become a successful entrepreneur. Now gear up and start walking towards you dreams. All the best!

Read More

How to Set Up Dairy Farming Business

Dairy farming business is growing by leaps and bounds in developing and developed countries. United States is the second largest producer in dairy production and has around 70,000 dairy farms. This business requires long man hours in which a typical day of a dairy farmer is from 4 a.m to 6:00 p.m where supervision and cleaning is important. Even understanding the current scenario where the dairy business is volatile because of high supply and low demand, has diverted the dairy farmers to move into other avenues.

Land Facilities
While starting an animal husbandry business, it's essential to evaluate land requirement wherein the farmer has to calculate land required in constructing shed, equipment storage and availability for raising fodder. While deciding on location other factors like constructing facilities for cows, having a source of water and proximity to the market are necessary points to be considered while purchasing a land. It's always better to purchase land rather than lease it as the leasing costs can contribute to increased costs.

Machinery
With advent of technology in dairy farming, equipment used in this business are different than they were for past couple of years. Machines for milking, sterilizing and milk storage tanks are available. It's up to the owner to compare the cost of purchasing or leasing it. Also, automatizing the operations with the help of computers is preferred as it simplifies the task of record keeping.

Cattle
After deciding on land and equipment requirement, another aspect is number of cows which the farmer wants to purchase. Deciding on the costs and cow breeds to be purchased will be helpful in understanding the financial costs involved. Starting with healthy cows will certainly help to recover long term costs. Also, while deciding on the numbers consider other factors like medical costs related to cows, feeding costs, cleaning and insemination costs too.

Competitors
It's very important to know about your competitor's working. Getting into a business with the knowledge of competitor's strength and weakness will help you to eliminate future problems. If you are starting a small business setup, it's important to know your local competitors. This information can help you in customizing your strategic plan of exploiting your competitor's weakness and converting it into your strength.

Legal Rules
For any business that you start, you need to comply with the rules and regulations of the particular state. Similarly, while setting up your dairy business it's important to find out about licensing rules, taxes levied on your business and laws about bottling the milk in your premises. Here, it's better to consult an attorney who can guide you or browse the government website for further details. Also, try to get a ballpark figure for the costs involved in insuring your assets. Do understand the terms and conditions attached while insuring, as some costs might have to be borne by the owner.

Franchising
Even though many want to start their independent venture but with excess costs and less return on their investment, franchising is a better option. Franchising helps the new dairy owner to gain experience and expert knowledge on the new technology used. Also, as the franchise is already an established name in the market, the dairy owner will be saved from the hassle of building a brand name. Also, the costs involved in starting a franchisee business is less as compared to starting a new business.

Financial Aspect
As costs of starting a firm is of prime importance, it's necessary for the owner to understand the bifurcation of costs. Typically, an owner will face two types of costs: Fixed and Variable. Fixed are going to be constant and nothing can be done to reduce it but variable costs are going to vary according to the production. Examples of fixed costs like loan repayments, lease payments and insurance premium payments. Variable costs on the other hand include fodder, labor and utility bills. The key for earning profit is that the revenue should be more than costs. There are external factors like economic conditions which regulate the price of the milk. Like in recent times, the price of milk was low and this hurt the revenue of the milk producers. So, financial planning in terms of regulating the costs and increasing the revenue is always a better option.

After considering all these aspects, it's important for the new owner to thoroughly research the business environment so as to start a successful dairy farm. As the dairy industry has already some big players which easily dominate the market supply, it's more crucial for the new entrant to plan strategically for the future.

Read More

Starting a Small Business

Starting a small business, necessarily, has to be a thoughtful step in these times of financial crisis. In order to succeed in starting a small business and running it profitably, you need to bear in mind some very crucial considerations. The best thing about having your own business is that you do not have to work under a superior and report to him. Starting a business can be all about making money, or using your talent or hobby which can serve as a niche in society. In the following content, we have discussed some small business ideas and steps for the same.

Small Business Ideas

The list of small businesses is practically endless, and you will find a lot of good ones in the market. The hottest small business today is food catering services, which is proving to be lucrative. Yoga and aerobic classes are also being opted for, as good small business choices. Housekeeping is another good business that you can go in for. Similarly, you can use many of the small business opportunities such as photography services, calligraphy facilities, tattoo studios, market research services, or daycare centers. These are just some of the best ideas for starting a small business. Let us now get to know more about the procedure.

Steps for Starting a Small Business

Following are some simple steps that you need to follow in the process of starting your own small business.

The very first thing that you will have to do in starting a small business is to decide which one would be most suitable, and at the same time profitable. Consider important aspects of the future, such as, whether there is a demand for your business and would it serve as a niche.
The next step in the procedure would be to make a business plan, considering factors, such as type of business, location, services to be provided, etc.
Start organizing yourself, and carry out some research in the field of business you have chosen. These tips on starting a small business will surely help you in moving further with the process, in a smooth manner. You can even get some useful information from professionals in the same business line.
Now comes the most significant factor of all, which is arranging for small business financing. To collect finances for your business, you do have to contribute a lot from your cash reserves.
If you are falling short of money, you can always avail small business grants from the government. Looking for investors and small business loans would also make your financial position strong.
Now decide on the name of your business; which can be any, except one that no other business has been registered with. Owing to the finances and the kind of business, determine the business structure; whether sole proprietorship, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or a partnership firm.
The next important step for starting a small business is to carry out the business registration formalities and legal paperwork.
If you are not sure about doing the formalities all by yourself, it is recommended to take legal advice from a business attorney. The lawyer will help you in the registration process, business insurance required, and even tax formalities.
The last step in starting a small business would be to arrange a location for carrying out the daily work transactions and business. You can make arrangements to your home, in case you have a big house, or can take a small office on hire.
After all is done, you can then think about hiring few assistants or employees, readying the business facility, and starting your business.

This is a very general information on starting a small business. When it comes to starting a business on a small scale, you should be aware of the state rules and regulations of running such a business. To make the incorporation, insurance, and tax procedures quicker; it is suggested to avail the services of a business attorney.

Read More

How to Value a Small Business

Deciding the valuation of a small business is very important for business owners. This is because there are multiple advantages of doing so. Firstly, the person becomes aware of whether he is getting the expected financial returns from the business he is engaged in. Secondly, it is essential to value a small business for sale to get the right return if the owner wants to sell off the business. Even students of accounting and finance can enhance their knowledge on the subjects by learning to value a small business.

Look at the Profitability
The best way to find profitability of the business is to calculate the percentage of net profits earned by the business over the total turnover in the particular period. The profitability can be calculated by taking a ratio of the net profit and the total income. Remember that net profit is calculated after deducting all expenses, taxes, depreciation and losses from the total turnover. The profitability calculation will help you in valuing your business and determining how sound it is.

Growth in Profits and Sales
You need to find out how much growth in profits and revenues you registered over the years. If the trend is positive, then the business can be sold off at a premium to the current valuation, whereas if it is negative, then the overall business valuation will automatically go down.

Find Out the Liquidation Value
Another way of valuing a business is to find out the liquidation value. This means we need to calculate how much money will be generated by the sale of various assets owned by the company after paying off any debts and liabilities on the business. This method of business valuation is used in all parts of the world.

Comparison with Other Firms
Comparing the situation of the business with competitor firms is also one of the main ways to value a business. You can find out how much valuation the competitor firm is getting for the sale and net profit generated by them and accordingly decide how much you should get for your business by looking at your financial performance.

Strength of the Balance Sheet
The balance sheet is a financial statement prepared by taking into consideration the assets and liabilities of a firm in the whole financial year. So, what you need to look at is whether the company has assets of high present value and whether it has sufficient cash in the books of accounts. A high debt component leads to high interest payments and reduced net profit margins. Valuation will be more if the debt is less or nil.

Looking at the return on investment and asset value is also essential to value a business. By taking into consideration these important things, you will be able to know the financial status of your business correctly. So, think over it and take the right decisions. All the best!

Read More

How to Market your Business using Facebook

Facebook has become one of the best platforms to promote a business in today's world. Every businessman, with a small or big business will look forward to promoting it on this social networking website. Since there are so many people who are competing on this platform, marketing your business here needs precise judgment and planning. Facebook is a place where you can reach out to millions of people and that too free of cost. The advantages of Facebook for business are way to many to be listed out, and this makes us understand why it's so important to have a company profile on this website. Marketing and advertising are two different concepts and it's important you understand the difference properly to start marketing your business. The basic difference between the two would be that marketing will decide how your business will reach people and advertising will decide how your business looks when it reaches those people. This is a very general difference but I hope you can now at least tell the two apart.

Tips to Market your Business on Facebook

Creating a Page
The first step is to create a page for your company, explaining in detail what your business deals in. The information here should be complete and true as the people need to know what exactly it is your business does. When you create this page, fill in all the details so that no part of the business is left mysterious or unknown to the people. This page will be your business card in detail for everyone on Facebook. Though this is the first step, it's the most crucial one.

Tagging
Now that you have created a page for your business, you need to start showing people it exists, isn't it? People are not going to just pass by and suddenly realize that there is a page that they need to visit. To overcome this possibility, you need to start asking your friends to 'tag' your page in their statuses or posts. After tagging, the people in your friend's friends list will be able to see your page. Eventually, a lot of people will come and visit it.

Sharing
Start sharing the posts you put up on your company page from your personal profile page and ask your friends to do the same. If they business is good, people will do it anyway. You can also ask people to share this through messages and if need be, you can hire people who will work on this. On the platform of Facebook, the option of sharing is considered the best way to spread information, so make sure you make optimum use of the same. To share any post, you need to click on the 'Share' button given usually at the bottom of the post.

Invites
Sending invites is another way to market your business on Facebook. Invitations can be sent when you hold an event that is related to your business. The event can be held on Facebook itself. You will come to know the number of people attending and those not attending on the page of the event. The numbers will show you how much your business page is being viewed daily. People may not reciprocate immediately on the page but once you have confirmed information that they have visited the page, there are chances that they might get back later.

Offers & Discounts
When you share your business page with people on Facebook, make a request for them to like this page. The Like option is given on the top right of the business page. Once people like this page, they will be updated about all the posts you publish every single time. To make this option more lucrative, you can put up some offers and discounts which will also be published. People will be tempted to know about the offers and discounts and in that way, they'll visit your business page.

Now that you know how to market your business on Facebook, do it soon and do it properly. Though there are many advantages of advertising on Facebook, it might take you some time to realize these. However, the key is to keep at it and continue sharing. The more you share, the more you increase the chances of making business. Platforms like Facebook are very few, so make sure you make the most of it. Best of Luck!

Read More