We are under way with finance material. Last night we learned the different avenues to raise capital from a senior partner in the top 10 accounting firm MNP. Next week we will address the different financial statements that need to be included in your plan.
Keep in mind that we have a very small amount of time and a very large amount of material to cover. Therefore, a lot of the material will be surface level material. If you wish to delve deeper into some particular subject matter, ask questions during the seminars. I am supremely confident in our instructors, guest lecturers, and other resources at hand to answer your questions. I also can guarantee, that if you have a question, at least one other person has that question as well. Also, it gives the instructors something else to work from other than there slides, and perhaps the real world examples that come out of questions may be very useful to you.
On another note, this blog is designed to be a discussion board. It is dynamic so if you would like to post a comment or question here click "comment" on the bottom of the blog and I will respond as quickly as possible. If you have tried this in the past and failed, I have changed the settings to allow anyone to comment on the blog. So if you have a pressing question or hate speaking in the midst of a group, post a comment on here, and I will respond either by email or the blog itself.
Have a safe long weekend.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Foundation of Success
The author of the best selling book series Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kyiosaki, said, "Education is the foundation of success. Just as scholastic skills are vitally important, so are financial skills and communication skills."
In his books Kyiosaki had two fathers. His own father, a very prominent government worker in Hawaii, well respected and with a big income. However, he never was truly "rich". This dad was awarded for spending money and hiring people. He also had a very close friend who's dad was a smart investor and wise business man. He was truly "rich". He was awarded to cutting costs and maximizing profits. Growing up with both allowed him the unique experience of being able to choose between both lifestyles. He chose his rich dad's lifestyle, he doesn't have a traditional job, but is one of the most successful men in Hawaii. Granted, he started buying land and starting business during Hawaii's tourism boom, but still. The gist of his books is invest in something that will get you where you want to go and invest wisely.
Since reading his books I have realized, almost to late, that if a penny saved is a penny earned...a penny wisely invested is a dollar earned. (I even came up with that saying myself)
You are all investing in your business. This entire Blog Post was building up to this. Invest wisely. If you're financial statements don't work, perhaps you have to revise before going ahead with your idea. Even if you have the best idea in the world, make sure it is feasible. Owning a business is only good if it can support you (and your family). I'm not saying give up, just rework/rethink the details. This is where the mentors come in and if they say this may not work, ask why, don't get mad at their opinions.
In his books Kyiosaki had two fathers. His own father, a very prominent government worker in Hawaii, well respected and with a big income. However, he never was truly "rich". This dad was awarded for spending money and hiring people. He also had a very close friend who's dad was a smart investor and wise business man. He was truly "rich". He was awarded to cutting costs and maximizing profits. Growing up with both allowed him the unique experience of being able to choose between both lifestyles. He chose his rich dad's lifestyle, he doesn't have a traditional job, but is one of the most successful men in Hawaii. Granted, he started buying land and starting business during Hawaii's tourism boom, but still. The gist of his books is invest in something that will get you where you want to go and invest wisely.
Since reading his books I have realized, almost to late, that if a penny saved is a penny earned...a penny wisely invested is a dollar earned. (I even came up with that saying myself)
You are all investing in your business. This entire Blog Post was building up to this. Invest wisely. If you're financial statements don't work, perhaps you have to revise before going ahead with your idea. Even if you have the best idea in the world, make sure it is feasible. Owning a business is only good if it can support you (and your family). I'm not saying give up, just rework/rethink the details. This is where the mentors come in and if they say this may not work, ask why, don't get mad at their opinions.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Finance Templates
If you remember, I said I was going to post some financial templates on the website. I was in the process of drawing some up when I was directed to a website that had everything we will need and more. It is http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html. This website has every financial template that will be included in your plan with explanations and answers to FAQ's. It is more in depth than I was going to go and all around a better format. I encourage you to take a look at them, even if you are not planning on using them, they may still remind you of a hidden cost or a cost you may not have thought of.
I will see you all Thursday for the 4th seminar.
I will see you all Thursday for the 4th seminar.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Legalities
For the last several weeks I have been trying to put into perspective the benefits of our seminars. I have emphasized the fact that you cannot get classes like this except in a university setting, and then it would cost you upwards of $500.
I cannot put into words how valuable I believe these seminars are in developing a solid business plan which is the base for a solid business. However, there are some things that we may not cover because we simply do not have time. Because each industry is different, legal issues are big issues we expect that you will know.
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that Found|Read is an insightful resource I quote constantly. It is geared toward tech businesses but is applicable to any industry.
The last article I read was about a big time case being held in San Fransisco right now. It is at http://www.foundread.com/view/greg-reyes-day-in. Anyways, it made me realize how important it was to "cover your butt", so to speak, and make sure your actions or the actions done on behalf of your company are legal. This applies to every facet of your business. Employment, benefits, pay, incentives, and financial statements are increasingly under review by watchful government human rights/business officials.
Remember, as Eliot Spitzer, current Governor of New York, stated, “Never talk when you can nod, never write when you can talk, and never, ever, put anything in an email.”
On a different note, I have been asked some questions about some business plans. To be fair and to remain impartial about every business plan entered in the competition here are the answers that I gave to the questions.
If you are in doubt about the content of your business plan, have an outline of the bare essentials, it will help keep you on track. If the business is expanding, you need to give your best judgment and weigh the plan between the expansion and the current business. Remember, the judges need both background on the current business and details on the proposed expansion. If you are opening multiple businesses I will answer in the form of a question to get you on track... What is your main business? Are you opening business A to support business B or vice versa. If they are two separate entities all together, I'm sorry, you have to choose only one to enter the competition.
I hope this helps.
I cannot put into words how valuable I believe these seminars are in developing a solid business plan which is the base for a solid business. However, there are some things that we may not cover because we simply do not have time. Because each industry is different, legal issues are big issues we expect that you will know.
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that Found|Read is an insightful resource I quote constantly. It is geared toward tech businesses but is applicable to any industry.
The last article I read was about a big time case being held in San Fransisco right now. It is at http://www.foundread.com/view/greg-reyes-day-in. Anyways, it made me realize how important it was to "cover your butt", so to speak, and make sure your actions or the actions done on behalf of your company are legal. This applies to every facet of your business. Employment, benefits, pay, incentives, and financial statements are increasingly under review by watchful government human rights/business officials.
Remember, as Eliot Spitzer, current Governor of New York, stated, “Never talk when you can nod, never write when you can talk, and never, ever, put anything in an email.”
On a different note, I have been asked some questions about some business plans. To be fair and to remain impartial about every business plan entered in the competition here are the answers that I gave to the questions.
If you are in doubt about the content of your business plan, have an outline of the bare essentials, it will help keep you on track. If the business is expanding, you need to give your best judgment and weigh the plan between the expansion and the current business. Remember, the judges need both background on the current business and details on the proposed expansion. If you are opening multiple businesses I will answer in the form of a question to get you on track... What is your main business? Are you opening business A to support business B or vice versa. If they are two separate entities all together, I'm sorry, you have to choose only one to enter the competition.
I hope this helps.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Seminar 3
Just a reminder that seminar 3 is this Thursday. I am working on mentors for those who wish to be paired with them.
Hopefully everyone has started researching market information as we talked about last Thursday. Another thing to think about and research is competition. We will talk more in depth about this during seminar three, but just to get you started...
There is direct competition and indirect competition. For example, if you were to open a movie theater. Direct competitors are other movie theaters. However, there are other ways people may wish to spend there evening rather than watching movies. They could go to the driving range, go carts, horse races, the list goes on. Those may not be the same business as yours, but they are an equally effective way to entertain one's self for an evening. So... you may be the only one with your product or service, but you will always have competitors.
This is important for raising capital. If you say there are no competitors in your field, you may want to rephrase that to there are no direct competitors in your field. If you simply say there are no competitors it tells the people you are making your pitch to that maybe you didn't do your homework well enough.
This is only one topic we will cover next seminar. I hope to see you there.
Hopefully everyone has started researching market information as we talked about last Thursday. Another thing to think about and research is competition. We will talk more in depth about this during seminar three, but just to get you started...
There is direct competition and indirect competition. For example, if you were to open a movie theater. Direct competitors are other movie theaters. However, there are other ways people may wish to spend there evening rather than watching movies. They could go to the driving range, go carts, horse races, the list goes on. Those may not be the same business as yours, but they are an equally effective way to entertain one's self for an evening. So... you may be the only one with your product or service, but you will always have competitors.
This is important for raising capital. If you say there are no competitors in your field, you may want to rephrase that to there are no direct competitors in your field. If you simply say there are no competitors it tells the people you are making your pitch to that maybe you didn't do your homework well enough.
This is only one topic we will cover next seminar. I hope to see you there.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Marketing
Many people think that marketing is synonymous with advertising. The truth is advertising is only a small part; a single step in a never ending process.
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as:
"the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives."
This is obviously a very important part of planning your business. Therefore, in our seminars there are two weeks allocated for marketing, the 4 P's (product, price, place, promotion), target markets, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, 0pportunities, threats) analysis, market potential, product life cycle, etc. All these things are crucial to knowing the environment your business is currently in and planning for "what if" scenario's.
In our seminar last night one of our speakers mentioned statcan.ca. This is a fantastic website to do some research on your market, its potential, and your place in it. There is another government website that I would like to direct your attention to; Industry Canada. It is a website with fantastic resources that goes more in depth about what we were talking about last night and what we will talk about next week.
Specifically, http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/stco-levc.nsf/en/h_qw00016e.html talks about marketing if your still a little hazy. On the right hand side there is a link that takes you to an interactive worksheet that helps you to assess your strength in the market. One thing the government does is make pretty decent websites for the people needing more business information.
There is tons, literally tons, of information on marketing and examples of anything you may want about business plans, online. This wealth of information does come at a cost. Sometimes it is not a reputable site. Just be aware of this fact. Usually government websites are pretty reliable, so they are a great starting place.
Good luck marketing and I hope to see you next week.
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as:
"the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives."
This is obviously a very important part of planning your business. Therefore, in our seminars there are two weeks allocated for marketing, the 4 P's (product, price, place, promotion), target markets, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, 0pportunities, threats) analysis, market potential, product life cycle, etc. All these things are crucial to knowing the environment your business is currently in and planning for "what if" scenario's.
In our seminar last night one of our speakers mentioned statcan.ca. This is a fantastic website to do some research on your market, its potential, and your place in it. There is another government website that I would like to direct your attention to; Industry Canada. It is a website with fantastic resources that goes more in depth about what we were talking about last night and what we will talk about next week.
Specifically, http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/stco-levc.nsf/en/h_qw00016e.html talks about marketing if your still a little hazy. On the right hand side there is a link that takes you to an interactive worksheet that helps you to assess your strength in the market. One thing the government does is make pretty decent websites for the people needing more business information.
There is tons, literally tons, of information on marketing and examples of anything you may want about business plans, online. This wealth of information does come at a cost. Sometimes it is not a reputable site. Just be aware of this fact. Usually government websites are pretty reliable, so they are a great starting place.
Good luck marketing and I hope to see you next week.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Great Resources
At our seminar last Thursday Craig reminded everyone that research is a key component of the business plan. In my mind, if you do not do research on your business, market opportunity, or target market, you are unprepared. If you are struggling with research the Chinook Entrepreneur Challenge (CEC) website has some great resources at http://www.chinookchallenge.com/Resources.html. There is everything there from sample plans to assistance in financial planning to government research pages (stats can). I have not had the opportunity to browse all 70 websites, but I will direct you to some that encompass what we talked about this week.
I would like to draw your attention to the Business Development Bank of Canada (www.bdc.ca). If you browse it you will find:
You can customize the site to your industry sector
Step by step how to guide to start your small business
Sample Plans
Financial templates (very in depth)
but also....
A self Entrepreneur assessment.
All these things will give you a great understanding of what you are up for.
Also, for research purposes, the government has some excellent statistics. On the CEC Resources site there are over a dozen sites that would help. I hope this gets you started in the right direction. See you at the next seminar on Thursday, June 14.
I would like to draw your attention to the Business Development Bank of Canada (www.bdc.ca). If you browse it you will find:
You can customize the site to your industry sector
Step by step how to guide to start your small business
Sample Plans
Financial templates (very in depth)
but also....
A self Entrepreneur assessment.
All these things will give you a great understanding of what you are up for.
Also, for research purposes, the government has some excellent statistics. On the CEC Resources site there are over a dozen sites that would help. I hope this gets you started in the right direction. See you at the next seminar on Thursday, June 14.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Seminars Started
Seminars officially started Thursday, June 7. It was a success... minus the technical difficulties. I would like to thank everyone who spoke and attended and invite all those who may want to learn more about starting a small business. They are free to all those who are looking to start a small business in the area (See http://www.chinookchallenge.com/Participant%20documents/Chinook2007Handbook/index14.html to see if you are in the CEC area).
These seminars are invaluable, and FREE. We have lined up excellent speakers and seasoned entrepreneurs to give advice and guidance. We also have a mentor program that teams up participants in the Chinook Entrepreneur Challenge to business people in the community. They are their for support and guidance during the business plan writing stage. If you would like a mentor please let me know during the next seminar, June 14.
Some food for thought....
I read a post today on FoundRead.com. It is an amazingly insightful blog site where seasoned entrepreneurs of the very fast paced web industry in Silicon Valley post their thoughts and ideas. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, in the web industry or not, I strongly encourage you to read the articles.
Outcomes vs. Activities by Chris Michel struck my interest. He said that it is critical for founders to know the difference between activities, the means to an outcome, and outcomes. The reason for this is that people, especially founders, should ensure the essential outcomes of your business are complete and stay focused on those outcomes. He states, and everyone can attest to this, that it is easy to get sidetracked and waste a day or two, or more, on activities that are not as important. In other words, it is easy to stay busy, but stay busy doing the things that matter most to your business.
Entrepreneurs especially need to keep this in mind because there are so many things pulling them in so many directions that it is easy to lose focus. For the full story go to: http://www.foundread.com/view/outcomes-vs-activity.
These are some of the things that our instructor, a local business owner himself, talked about during our first session. Next week we will learn about analyzing your business and its opportunities. I hope to see you there.
These seminars are invaluable, and FREE. We have lined up excellent speakers and seasoned entrepreneurs to give advice and guidance. We also have a mentor program that teams up participants in the Chinook Entrepreneur Challenge to business people in the community. They are their for support and guidance during the business plan writing stage. If you would like a mentor please let me know during the next seminar, June 14.
Some food for thought....
I read a post today on FoundRead.com. It is an amazingly insightful blog site where seasoned entrepreneurs of the very fast paced web industry in Silicon Valley post their thoughts and ideas. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, in the web industry or not, I strongly encourage you to read the articles.
Outcomes vs. Activities by Chris Michel struck my interest. He said that it is critical for founders to know the difference between activities, the means to an outcome, and outcomes. The reason for this is that people, especially founders, should ensure the essential outcomes of your business are complete and stay focused on those outcomes. He states, and everyone can attest to this, that it is easy to get sidetracked and waste a day or two, or more, on activities that are not as important. In other words, it is easy to stay busy, but stay busy doing the things that matter most to your business.
Entrepreneurs especially need to keep this in mind because there are so many things pulling them in so many directions that it is easy to lose focus. For the full story go to: http://www.foundread.com/view/outcomes-vs-activity.
These are some of the things that our instructor, a local business owner himself, talked about during our first session. Next week we will learn about analyzing your business and its opportunities. I hope to see you there.
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