Your Business Plan – PART II of II
Every successful business starts with a Business Plan plus Every business owner needs someone outside of their business that they trust and respect to assist them in keeping focused and their business goals.
Before you start building your internet business, here are some serious questions that you should ask yourself.
In Part I, I discussed the importance of the following business issues in regards to building
- Business Plan:
- BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
- LEAD GENERATION – PROSPECTING PLAN
- KNOW YOUR COMPETITION
- KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET
- WHAT PROBLEMS WILL YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE SOLVE
- BRANDING YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS
In this Part II, I will discuss some of the more personal qualifications necessary for you to be successful in your Home Based Business.
Like Jim Gray, I am sure that every day you are deluged with internet business online marketing plans by hoards of “Internet Guru’s giving away a simple business plan guaranteed to make you rich overnight using their special lead programs designed to trick you into purchasing their special internet programs.
The first question that you should ask yourself is “If they can get rich that easily and that quickly using their program, why are they trying to sell get rich programs to you and me?” Why don’t they simply use their own program and make billions and leave us alone? The answer is quite simple. They only get rich by selling us their phony programs.
Just so you know there is no get rich quick internet business programs in existence. If you think that you will get rich quick with very little skill, effort, time and misery, then you soon will find your self badly mistaken and possibly deep in debt.
When setting up your best business plan, you need to give serious consideration to the type of business that you plan to operate online and then find programs that offer your clints a high quality product that are in high demand such as:
It is important that you do your best due diligence to find and become involved with only those internet business programs that:
- have a very high quality product,
- strong management team,
- strong suport system,
- good commission program,
- long history of integrity, and
- programs that you either have some previous experience in or have a very high level of interest to keep you motivated during the highs and lows of your new business. You should also have a good mentor for your business.
In addition to the above, before you start building your internet business, here are some serious questions that you should ask yourself:
What is your Business Vision?
You should have your business purpose/vision clear in your mind of what you want your business be like in the next 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years. Where do you want to be with your business at each of these benchmarks? Clearly, if you have no vision, then you will lack motivation and direction. Like a ship without a Master you will drift aimlessly and you will surly end up bankrupt similar to the ship which will eventually wind up wrecked on the rocks.
What are your Business Strengths and Skills?
Have you taken the time to sit down and actually write out your business strength? What special skill set do you possess that makes you confident that you can manage your own business? Your special skills are what will affect the whole concept and strategy of your internet business. If you think you can bluff you way through without any skills, you will soon find that you have made a big mistake.
All businesses, both internet and brick and mortar, require that the owner/manager be qualified and possess certain skills depending upon the type of business you plan to open. Just because you are a hard worker and know one specific skill, does not mean that you will be successful in running your own business. Finding this out after starting up a new business could mean disaster for your business and your pride.
What are your Business Goals?
What is your goal that you feel necessary to accomplish to achieve your business vision? You need to be very clear on what your goals are so that they are measurable and attainable. Each goal should have a sub-set of actions necessary for you to reach your goal. To be achievable, your goals need to be written down and verified each day, week, month and year to make sure that you are on the path to achieving them in a step by step manner. Failing to meet a goal is not necessarily a disaster. It is simply a road bump requiring you to rethink your plan and to develop a new strategy to achieve that goal in another manner. The mark of a great business manager is his/her ability to be flexible and to manage these types of problems to keep your business headed in the right direction.
What is your Business Strategy?
Having goals is important for your business success, however, without a strategy to achieve these goals means certain failure. When you set your goals, you need to define specific action steps as to how to achieve the sub-goals so-as to achieve the main goal.
What technology is needed for your business?
In some respects most businesses will need the same types of equipment. For example, most offices are pretty well equipped the same way with the exception of quantity of fixtures and number of employees. You will need phones, desks, chairs, computers, copiers, fax machines, and etc. However, depending upon the type of business, your needs may differ to some great extent. It will be your responsibility to decide which technology is appropriate to your business.
Do you provide a high quality product and service?
Generally businesses provide either a product or a service, however, in many cases, you may be providing both. Even if you are product orientated, you will still need to provide service to your customers so that you can benefit from your customers return business. What products do you want to offer to your customer? You have to make sure that the product or service that you offer to your customer are ones that they want and need and that are of a high quality.
Have you identified the type of customer that needs your product and/or service?
Not everyone in this world has a need or desire for your service or product, no matter what you are selling. Therefore, you need to identify the type of client or customer that best fits the use of your business. What kind of customer will you need? An important function of you or your manager will be to find good quality customer leads. A good quality lead is the one who’s willing to buy your products and or service repeatedly.
Are you well versed with detailed, quality information?
It makes no difference if you are selling a product or providing a service, you need to be an expert in your field. Your customers will have questions and if you can’t supply them with the correct information in detail, then you will lose creditability and eventually your customers.
Do you have a business mentor/coach?
Every business owner needs someone outside of their business that they trust and respect to assist them in keeping focused and their business goals. Who will mentor and watch your business growth for you? Sometimes you need more than just advice and consultation to grow your business. In some situations, you may decide to get a personal full time business coach to help you grow your business.
Finally, are you really qualified to run a business?
Running a business is not all fun and excitement. There are many risks that you will be taking. Often you will be subjected to mixed emotional experiences ranging from excitement to depression due to the normal ups and downs of all businesses. So before you go any further, ask yourself, are you qualified. Do you have the guts, passion, patience and the endurance to build and manage a business in good times and bad times?
If you find your self hesitant in truthfully answering the above questions then I strongly urge you to slow down and give more serious consideration as to whether or not you really want to start building an internet business.