One thing we haven't touched on too much throughout the training is the Break-Even Point. There isn't too much use to re-inventing the wheel where so many outstanding resources exist online, but I'll list of few notes then some links below.
- point that you break even
- using fixed AND variable costs
- BEP moves
- watch your fixed costs
- watch slope of revenue vs variable
BEP = total fixed costs [divided by] contribution
or
BEP = total fixed costs [divided by] (selling price - variable costs)
(sorry readers, can't quite figure out how to get blogger to underline or insert mathematical symbols like divided by)
http://www.accountingcoach.com/online-accounting-course/01Xpg01.html
http://www.12manage.com/methods_break-even_point.html
If you are struggling with your calculations, contact your local Community Futures office and ask for an appointment with the business analyst. These people have exceptional skills at assisting entrepreneurs explore their business idea and develop sound plans.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Session 7 Part 4
This clip features great advice from local entrepreneur Frank Tucek of Fuzo Woodworks & Design.
Session 7 Part 3
Part 3 features info from Bruce Hall, district manager of Canadian Federation of Independent Business(CFIB).
Monday, March 21, 2011
Session 6 Part 1
A few words from Alaina Wells of Lethbridge Vehicle Licensing and Registry on what options are out there for registering your business name.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Session 5 Part 3
For part 3 Mark continues with his bookkeeping lesson. He takes us into the books of fictional entrepreneur "Martha".
Session 5 Part 2
Part 2 has Mark Barber of Community Futures teaching us the finer points of bookkeeping.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Session 5 Part 1
For your review, here's a recap of session 5. The March 9th lecture was titled "Finance 101". In part 1 we'll here from Tyson Dyck of Bridge insurance.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Session 4
Normally I like to post a edited version of the lecture for you guys to review...Sorry to report that due to technical difficulties we are unable to post one at this point. We'll keep working at it. We hope to have it posted soon.
Friday, March 4, 2011
AWESOME RESOURCE LINK HERE!!
Check out this awesome resource centre.
There's a fabulous Business Plan Template you can use to work on your competition submission:
http://cflethbridge.com/tr_documents.php
Ok, I can never resist referring to Dragon's Den. Here's a great clip of DD judge and successful entrepreneur Jim Treliving giving tips on making your pitch:
http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/videos.html?ID=1827813527
There's a fabulous Business Plan Template you can use to work on your competition submission:
http://cflethbridge.com/tr_documents.php
Ok, I can never resist referring to Dragon's Den. Here's a great clip of DD judge and successful entrepreneur Jim Treliving giving tips on making your pitch:
http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/videos.html?ID=1827813527
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Submission Requirements
By now, participants should have the first parts of their business plan together.
The business plan is the crucial element of your submission but, to keep things fair, there are some elements you must include to pass the pre-screen.
You can find all of this info on pages 16-18 of the Participants Handbook.
I'll tell you exactly what will be perused during the submission requirement pre-screen:
1. INFO PAGE
-Business name and contact people name(s)
-Address
-Phone & Email
-List of employees (if applicable)
-Submission date
2. FORMS
-Participant Registration & Agreement
-Non-Disclosure Agreement
-Submission Checklist
3. TABLE OF CONTENTS - keep it easy for the screeners to navigate through your plan.
4. BUSINESS PLAN - the screeners use a scoresheet based on the elements of a business plan. For optimum scoring, use the following categories in the respective order when putting your submission together for the CEC:
-Executive Summary (1-2 pgs)
-Product/Service (1-2 pgs)
-Market Analysis (1-2 pgs)
-Marketing and Sales (1-2 pgs)
-Management Team (1-2 pgs)
-Manufacturing/Operations Plan (1-2 pgs)
-Implementation Schedule (1-2 pgs)
-Opportunities and Risks (1 pg)
-Financials (4-5 pgs)
-The Offering (1 pg)
5, FORMATTING - because CEC is a competition there are certain constraints on how your plan is presented. We want to keep it fair and, to do so, we need every submission to conform to the same application style set here:
-Font: Arial, 11pt
-letter-sized, white paper; 1" margins
-no more than 20 pages from Executive Summary to The Offering
-page numbers and business/concept name in the header or footer on every page
-NO COVERS OR BINDINGS (we are striving to keep this as 'green' as we can, so while those presentation materials are definitely more professional looking, scrapping them helps us with storage and reduces waste, as we remove these items and discard them)
-CONTACT INFO!
About Appendices
You may find the 20-page limit...limiting. You are not the first to say that you don't have enough room to get everything you need in only 20 pages.
Appendices are a tough thing for me to talk about. On one hand, submissions should stick to the under-20 rule, but on the other hand I know how important data and information is.
What I tell participants every year is to submit your business plan according to the rules, then attach the appendices (make sure you include info in table of contents).
There is no guarantee that screeners will read the appendices and keep it under 10 pages.
Also, submissions won't be returned. However, all competitors will receive their screeners scoresheets (provided they passed the pre-screen) for the feedback.
We require 15 plans to proceed with the competition. Usually, we receive between 15-20...not bad odds, eh?
Hard copy or electronic copy?? Well, the handbook says "and/or", emphasis on AND!
The business plans are going to screeners electronically and it's best for convenience, timely and totally green. However, we've all heard horror stories about emails getting lost (and probably been through one ourselves), so take the extra step and drop a hard copy off at your local partner Community Futures office just to be safe.
Deadline is Friday, April 29, 2011 at 2:00p.m. MT.
I have set aside large blocks of time throughout April to go over competition submissions with participants prior to deadline, so please feel free to contact me (after the training sessions are complete). I strongly, strongly recommend you contact our office before the deadline.
SIGNED, ORIGINAL copies of the three forms are required!
The business plan is the crucial element of your submission but, to keep things fair, there are some elements you must include to pass the pre-screen.
You can find all of this info on pages 16-18 of the Participants Handbook.
I'll tell you exactly what will be perused during the submission requirement pre-screen:
1. INFO PAGE
-Business name and contact people name(s)
-Address
-Phone & Email
-List of employees (if applicable)
-Submission date
2. FORMS
-Participant Registration & Agreement
-Non-Disclosure Agreement
-Submission Checklist
3. TABLE OF CONTENTS - keep it easy for the screeners to navigate through your plan.
4. BUSINESS PLAN - the screeners use a scoresheet based on the elements of a business plan. For optimum scoring, use the following categories in the respective order when putting your submission together for the CEC:
-Executive Summary (1-2 pgs)
-Product/Service (1-2 pgs)
-Market Analysis (1-2 pgs)
-Marketing and Sales (1-2 pgs)
-Management Team (1-2 pgs)
-Manufacturing/Operations Plan (1-2 pgs)
-Implementation Schedule (1-2 pgs)
-Opportunities and Risks (1 pg)
-Financials (4-5 pgs)
-The Offering (1 pg)
5, FORMATTING - because CEC is a competition there are certain constraints on how your plan is presented. We want to keep it fair and, to do so, we need every submission to conform to the same application style set here:
-Font: Arial, 11pt
-letter-sized, white paper; 1" margins
-no more than 20 pages from Executive Summary to The Offering
-page numbers and business/concept name in the header or footer on every page
-NO COVERS OR BINDINGS (we are striving to keep this as 'green' as we can, so while those presentation materials are definitely more professional looking, scrapping them helps us with storage and reduces waste, as we remove these items and discard them)
-CONTACT INFO!
About Appendices
You may find the 20-page limit...limiting. You are not the first to say that you don't have enough room to get everything you need in only 20 pages.
Appendices are a tough thing for me to talk about. On one hand, submissions should stick to the under-20 rule, but on the other hand I know how important data and information is.
What I tell participants every year is to submit your business plan according to the rules, then attach the appendices (make sure you include info in table of contents).
There is no guarantee that screeners will read the appendices and keep it under 10 pages.
Also, submissions won't be returned. However, all competitors will receive their screeners scoresheets (provided they passed the pre-screen) for the feedback.
We require 15 plans to proceed with the competition. Usually, we receive between 15-20...not bad odds, eh?
Hard copy or electronic copy?? Well, the handbook says "and/or", emphasis on AND!
The business plans are going to screeners electronically and it's best for convenience, timely and totally green. However, we've all heard horror stories about emails getting lost (and probably been through one ourselves), so take the extra step and drop a hard copy off at your local partner Community Futures office just to be safe.
Deadline is Friday, April 29, 2011 at 2:00p.m. MT.
I have set aside large blocks of time throughout April to go over competition submissions with participants prior to deadline, so please feel free to contact me (after the training sessions are complete). I strongly, strongly recommend you contact our office before the deadline.
SIGNED, ORIGINAL copies of the three forms are required!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
