Setting Up a Business Plan

[Val]

Becoming the owner of an existing frame shop happened practically overnight for me. I walked through the door the last day of November last year, the owner looked up and said "Val, wanna buy the frame shop?" I said "-er...yes". He said "Really?" and I said "I think that's why I'm here" (a little voice led me there!) He wanted out by December 31st, and so it happened. I was immediately plunged into framing and haven't had a chance to set up my business plan since..

I know how important, imperative, in fact, a business plan is, and I MUST do this NOW! I will have some time off in the next couple of weeks and that's my top priority.

So...how do I go about starting/completing a business plan? What all goes into one? I need some guidance here. Help... graemlins/help.gif

[Jerry Ervin]

I know that I will get slapped for this but here goes....


The two most successful people I know are business owners. One of them builds commercial buildings. The other owns a heating and air conditioning company. Neither of them have a "business plan".

In service type industries like we are in you just don't need an overall plan unless you are going to borrow money from a bank.

Having said that, having a marketing plan is very necessary. Spend your time deciding how you will market and advertise what you do.

[Val]

Oops, I accidentally posted this on Warped. Will someone please put it where it belongs? Thanks.

Jerry, what's the difference between a business plan and a marketing plan? Don't laugh, it's probably quite obvious, but seems fuzzy to me.

I will be applying for some business grants (not loans) in the near future, and will have to have a formal plan for that. I feel I should have one anyway. Maybe your successful friends didn't have one, but maybe thay're much more business savvy to begin with. I'm not, and my main goal is too become that...business person first, framer 2nd. Or I most likely kiss goodby what I've worked so hard for.

[Jerry Ervin]

Not so long ago Betty hooked us up with a link to free books from I believe was Fortune magazine. I'll look for that link. I received a "bundle" of books on many different topics. One of the books went to great detail on how to write a business plan. All it cost was shipping.

You can go to www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.html (http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.html) for a good start.

Here are some samples http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm


A marketing plan is simply a schedule and budget as to how you will over the next year promote your business.

[trapper]

I agree 100% with you on that one Jerry..for what ever that is worth :)
If we were to disagree at all it would be on who we know as the most successfull business men.
My top two are
1/ salesmen
2/ The owner of the place that the salesman works for. ( sells for ).
I don't recall the exact statistic here so I won't even try to quote them .
A high percentage of the nations goods are sold by salesmen, and out of that only a small percentage are very successfull. Something like 10%.
So it stands to reason based on that is the only one who might make more money than is the owner of the product. Now imagine if your the owner and the salesman..Well it sounds good on paper anyhow..:)

[B. Newman]

Jerry, those free books came from Entrepreneur magazine. The most siginficant book I've read from it is "Knock Out Marketing." By far one of the very best books on marketing I've ever read - even surpassing the Guerrilla Marketing series!

Disclaimer: I have no degree of any type, let alone a business degree, so others (many others) can give you more info on business and marketing. All I know is what I've read, and what I've done. "Grass Roots Business" you might call it. But... here's my 2 cents. (And yes, it's already adjusted for inflation!)

A business plan is "Determining where you are. Deciding where you want to be, and then determining how you'll get there."

A marketing plan, is a horse of a far different color!

A marketing plan (in it's simplest form) is looking at your budget and determining what (marketing-wise) you're going to do, who you want to reach, and when you're going to do it.

For instance, first of all you NEED a marketing calendar. Look at a full year calendar and, plan a full year. That way, there are no "marketing emmergencies" such as , "Oh my goodness, Mother's Day is next weekend, I need to get my Mother's Day flyer out tonight!!!!!"

If (for instance) you're going to do newsletters, plan the topics for a full year - either monthly, semi-monthly, quarterly, whatever - plan roughly, what you want them to say.

The Guerrilla Marketing series are best for creating the marketing calendar. That Knock-Out Marketing book is best for the ideas of what to do within that calendar.

Hope this helps.

[Jerry Ervin]

It was almost two years ago. Wow how time flies.

http://www.thegrumble.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000724#000000

[BrianInOmaha]

Val,

My Wife and I did the same exact thing you did....jumped in the pool then learned how to swim. We completed our business plan about 6 months after opening. It is a tool that I really can't explain the purpose for us but we are happy we have one. Every once in a while we refresh ourselves on our purpose and vision...rather than keep it in our busy heads, it's on paper. We did a yahoo search on "business plan for an existing business" and found a great 29 page document that showed us the way.....business for dummies is also a great read. Our love and passion is framing, however it is a business and the more tools you have in your tool box, the better.....good luck!

[Jaci]

Before we bought our shop last August I wrote a business plan. The marketing plan was a part of the business plan. A google search wil come up with a lot of sites that have free software to help you out - especially with the financial predictions.

I found a lot of info on the PPFA and Decor web sites. I got demographic and population info from our County website. I also got traffic counts, etc, from the County website. It was all very informative. I'm glad that I did it.

I have rolled it now into a budget and marketing plan. I keep fine tuning it. It helps me to make decisions - knowiing where I am at financially compared to where I projected I would be at.

Hope this helps,
Jacqueline

[Val]

Thanks Brian and Mrs. Brian!
I'm not new to framing, but like you, definately learning to swim, as far as the business end is concerned. My first shop, years ago, had no business plan at all. I was very young and naive and thought all I had to be was a good framer with a passion and love for framing. That worked for several years, but I wasn't a good business person and it ultimately failed. I don't want to make that same mistake again.

Thanks for the suggestions about the yahoo search and Dummies.

Betty , I will try the Entrepeneur magazine thing, and hope those books are still available, free or not.

Please keep the suggestions coming, everyone! Don't stop now! I'm just gettin' started!

[Val]

Hi Jacqueline
I guess you and I were posting at the same time. Thanks for your suggestions also. I hadn't thought about the County website. Good one.

See? I just love The Grumble! Where else could I get all this help?? And so fast!

[Bob Carter]

I agree with Jerry that there will be exceptions to the rule; we have some very good exceptions right here. JRB is my favorite "bootstrapper", so it's not essential

But, here are afew reasons why a good "plan" is advisable for most:

It makes you commit on paper your ideas, your committments, your, well, plan

It gives a baseline of thought

It provides others the opportunity to critique your ideas

It forces you to formalize (at least in your own mind)some systems

It requires that you put some dad-gummed data on paper tjhat will probably require a little research and effort

The worst things to do is to create a plan and never let anyone critique it and not go back and review it periodically

Jerry mentions his two examples and I'll bet the are great entrepreneurs.

I'll also bet they have all the stuff I spoke of in their cranium. For the rest of us, a written form might be a little safer

[CAframer]

BTW, one element of a business plan that's often forgotten is an exit strategy.

[Jim Miller]

Originally posted by CAframer:
BTW, one element of a business plan that's often forgotten is an exit strategy. This reminds me of entering a marriage with a prenuptial agreement. That seems like an unfortunate mindset. Starting a business is a lot like a marriage. If you are absolutely, positively, 100% committed, you will make it work. If not, well, then maybe it will and maybe it won't.

When I started ARTFRAME in 1988, it took me six months to make & revise the business plan, because I had to risk it all. If the business had failed, I would have been on the street again, and this time my loving wife would have been there with me. Not acceptable.

For the first year our revenue, gross profit and net profit figures were all within 5% over the forecast. No surprises. For the five year plan, our forecasts were too conservative - but that surely beats the alternative.

Some things are better if they're spontaneous and unplanned. Business is not one of them.

[David N Waldmann]

Originally posted by Jim Miller:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by CAframer:
BTW, one element of a business plan that's often forgotten is an exit strategy. This reminds me of entering a marriage with a prenuptial agreement. </font>[/QUOTE]Depending on what CAframer was referring to, it could also be equated to going through marriage/life without a will. Surely there will come a day when you stop running your business, either by choice or

[CAframer]

David's comment is indeed the point I was making...

Jim said " Some things are better if they're spontaneous and unplanned. Business is not one of them.

I couldn't agree more...

Having a clear strategy for how you want to end your involvement with a business has nothing to do with having a negative or "unfortunate" mindset. For example you may want to develop the business so that you can run it passively in retirement with a trusted manager handling daily operations. Or you may want to maximize it's resale value and then sell it. Or you may want to involve family members. Or maybe something else. Any of these eventualities will benefit from forethought and planning, and a clear articulation of strategic intent should be an integral element of a business plan. As I said, this is often overlooked, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

[Maria Nucci Designs]

Val,

First, don't be overwhelmed.

When I did my my plan, (just 6 months ago for a new start-up), my immediate goal was pleasing the bank's requirements. I got the loan.

In the process, I did some VERY valuable research on demographics and competition. Following that, a hearty meeting with the accountant fined tuned the whole thing.

Now if I run my busines like the plan, I'm golden!

I used a good piece of software which simply required me to "fill in the blanks" in both Word and Excel documents.

It's a bit generic, but it was very alterable and worked very quickly.

I'm looking forward to reviewing/changing the plan soon.
If you do it right from the beginning, those reviews should be insiteful.

Keep in mind, it's not written in stone. It's meant to adapt to the current conditions.

[Jim Miller]

Originally posted by CAframer:
... Any of these eventualities will benefit from forethought and planning, and a clear articulation of strategic intent should be an integral element of a business plan. As I said, this is often overlooked, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Good point, CAframer. I was so intent on making it go that I forgot it's important to make it stop some day.

[Bob Larson]

I planned long and hard on my business plan, which not only pointed out things that I was going to have to learn, but also made me look long and hard at where I was going to get enough money.

Basically, I bought a copy of Business Plan Pro (www.paloalto.com) for $100, and after I went through that, I called up my local SCORE counsellor (www.score.org) and had him take a look at it.

I'm not bragging, because it was the help and advice that I received that made it good, but my business plan is now used as an educational example (I even got paid to give them the right to use it)

The counselling was free, the software was $100, and I was paid $500 for the copyright, so I *made* $400 by writing a business plan.

I also learned a lot and planned for a lot, did a lot of research, and was able to receive a hefty loan to get started, based on my business plan.

So, to make a long story short, I totally recommend making a plan, and if you promise not to try and sell it, or share it with anyone else, I'll e-mail it to you, if you'd like to look at it.

[Mitch]

I did a lot of research on writing a business plan. I looked at three outlines provided by score and several on the Internet. But - I found gold when I found the Business Plan Presentation (and also the marketing plan presentation) in the presentation templates of PowerPoint. I now have my "plans" on my notebook. The outline given really appealed to me because it seemed to fit the framing industry. It is easy to write, change and share. And on a notebook your plan really impresses anyone that you share it with. You can add pictures, tables, links or even quotes from your grumbler peers. A slide show presentation on PowerPoint in the hands of your banker might get you what you ask for! The ability to change and add at any moment makes your business plan a working document rather than a historical dream.


Mitch

[Bob Larson]

Originally posted by Jim Miller:
Starting a business is a lot like a marriage. If you are absolutely, positively, 100% committed, you will make it work. If not, well, then maybe it will and maybe it won't.I do and don't agree with this. Just like a marriage, you're only one variable in the equation. Yeah, it takes a definite commitment, and if you're not ready to give it your all, it's going to take more than you're prepared to give, but sometimes, absolute commitment isn't enough.

Then again, though, just like a marriage, if you refuse to let it die, it won't - you could still be in business even though you're bankrupt, have no customers, have three other jobs, and your wife lives in another state, all because you don't know when to give in.

But the statistics are much better for businesses that plan ahead - something like 25% more likely to succeed, which is part of the reason why banks and lenders always want to see your plan (would you lend money to someone who didn't have a plan, or didn't know enough about it to be able to write it down?)

That's not to say that it's a necessity. Part of the reason why I went into business for myself was because I have a bunch of friends and relatives that are business owners, and when I started writing my business plan and asking for advice, I got a lot of blank looks from the ones that I thought would be the most help, since they seemed to know so much about business.