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Ya Gotta Have a Plan
Written by: Rodger BlakerArticle Overview: EVERY business must know who their best customers are. EVERY business must have a marketing plan, a budget, and an R&D team. EVERY business needs a business plan that is current and reviewed often.
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Ya Gotta Have a Plan
I recently heard about a remarkable woman who has built, and nearly lost, a great business. She launched it in the mid-nineties with little more than a dream and a few dollars in her "hobby" account, and quickly built it to almost 17 million dollars a year in sales. Unfortunately, her sales have dropped off by half of what they were in earlier years.
This terrible loss has nothing to do with the "dot-com" depression or the economy. It has everything to do with the fact that she never made the shift from doing it all herself to being the leader and manager of a thriving business.
Without a plan and an organizational chart, she continues to be the driving force behind every sale, every decision, and every innovation. She works horrendous hours, sometimes even packing and shipping orders herself on the weekends! Sometimes she micro-manages; at other times she pulls back so dramatically that instead of delegating, she abdicates. No wonder her employees are frustrated and her business is falling apart!
EVERY business needs an organizational chart! EVERY business, even a child's lemonade stand, needs to know who squeezes the lemons, who handles sales, and who does the accounting. Sometimes, in a micro-business, it may all be done by the same person, but each ROLE is distinct, separate, and specialized, and this should be recognized and documented.
EVERY business must know who their best customers are. EVERY business must have a marketing plan, a budget, and an R&D team. EVERY business needs a business plan that is current and reviewed often.
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Article Tags: accounting, budget, business plan, d team, depression, driving force, economy, innovation, lemonade stand, lemons, marketing plan, micro business, mid nineties, million dollars, organizational chart, remarkable woman, shipping orders, thriving business
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If you can finish off the Business Plan and think about your strategic direction or how you are going to use your product to convince people it's a great idea, it will set the foundation for your programming project. You see, when you are looking for funding you will need a Business Plan and Strategic Plan that will convince companies to invest into your new idea.
Has anyone achieved this idea before using another industry besides health and fitness that you know of?
You should also design some mockups as a "preview" for your programming project. This will also help reduce your programming costs as everyone will know exactly what you want if you have detailed mockups already completed including any functionality you require.
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