Business Plan Free Download

 
Slowly but surely, the free downloads are, well, being uploaded…

The latest is How To Use a Business Plan to Build Your Business which is a brief overview of what you should have in your business plan to make it an effective business and marketing tool.

More on LinkedIn

 
Yesterday I posted some observations about LinkedIn as a social networking option and posed a question, using their Q&A section, about finding a telecommunications service provider in Ventura, CA.

I was quite surprised at the response. I received three from individuals with specific suggestions and three from vendors. I don’t know how this rates in comparison to others’ experience, but it tells me that there’s activity on the network and that there are folks out there who are willing to offer their advice and assistance. This is a very good thing.

And, as I do more research and make a final decision regarding my telecom needs, the six suggestions I received – yes, even the vendors! – will be at the top of the list.

This leads – rather indirectly – to an observation on social networking, marketing, business, and life in general:

You really do get out of it what you put into it.

Regardless of what your marketing strategy is, you have to work at it and make it a part of your daily routine. Even the best plans don’t execute themselves. Someone needs to be calling on prospects, writing blog posts, updating the website, or sending out press releases. And it’s a lot of work. It’s easy to put it off, but doing so will jeopardize the long-term success of your business. Even sustaining your current business level requires the infusion of new customers.

LinkedIn Groups

Taking advantage of all social networking has to offer requires time and commitment to set it up and keep it going. But as I found with my telecom question, there is an active network out there to tap into.

One of the best ways to do that on LinkedIn is with Groups. LinkedIn presently has seven general categories for groups with a total of 283,994 individual groups. So, you can probably find several groups that meet your needs.

If not – and I find that hard to believe – you can always start your own. Creating your own group is a simple one page fill-in-the-blank process on the “Create a Group” tab on the “Groups” page.

LinkedIn offers a very professional, business-oriented option for social networking, which may mesh nicely with your business model. Even if it’s not your primary social networking channel, it’s definitely worthwhile to belong and be active.

Negotiating the Bureaucracy Maze

 
As I get closer to launching my online art gallery, I’m having to face another personal demon: government bureaucracy.

Yes, I’m terrified of the IRS (but who isn’t?) and just about every other government agency you can think of. I even hate getting my driver’s license, and now I have to go head to head with the maze of Los Angeles city and county agencies, state agencies, and the federal government.

Fortunately, since I have no choice about it, I’m learning to overcome my fear through “exposure therapy.” And, to help save you some of the trauma, here are some things to keep in mind with your business.

Federal Income Tax – These guys never make it easy. You’ll almost certainly have to pay estimated tax for your business. According to IRS Publication 505, you should pay estimated tax if (1) “You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax…” and “You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of: a. 90% of the tax to be shown on your 2009 tax return, or b. 100% of the tax shown on your 2008 tax return.”

See what I mean? Am I the only one who had to read that several times before it made any sense?

But don’t trust me. Click on Publication 505 – Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax to download a PDF of the document for your convenience and reading pleasure. You can also access this, and loads more entertaining reading, at www.IRS.gov.

State Requirements – With the Feds out of the way, it’s time to move on the state requirements. These may also include income tax, depending on your state, but it will almost certainly include sales tax. Each state has a Franchise Tax Board – or its equivalent – and you’ll have to be in their good graces before you can start selling anything.  And, remember to check for other state requirements.

Local Requirements – Then you’ll probably have to deal with the local authorities. I’m fortunate, because mine will – at least for the time being – be a home-based business. I’ll only have to worry about a business license. If you have a brick and mortar establishment, there are all kinds of zoning laws to take into consideration, any of which could impact how and where you do business.

Banks – And don’t forget  your local bank. You’ll need some kind of checking account and – if you’ve never done this before – be prepared to pay extra for a business account. You get charged for even the most basic services if you’re a business. Of course, this may vary from bank to bank. But, don’t expect the nice folks where you have your personal accounts to give you a deal on a business account.

By the way, websites for all levels of government have lots of useful information to help you through the process, so don’t despair.

When you look at all the challenges there are to setting up and running your own business, it’s amazing anyone does it. Then I remember, I’m the best boss I’ve ever had and I will never, ever fire myself!

Integrating Your Brand Image into Your Website Design

 
If you’re building your website from scratch, integrating your company’s brand into the design is pretty straightforward. However, if you – like me – are relying on templates provided by your website host, it’s a little more challenging.

Of course, this assumes that you’ve created a brand image for your company. For those of you that haven’t, here’s a brief branding tutorial.

Essentially, your brand identity is the physical representation of “who you are” as a company, as communicated by every facet of your business, especially those that are “customer facing.”

The primary purposes of branding are to differentiate your business from the competition and to make it memorable in the minds of your customers.

Your brand should be consistent with the image you have of your company – whatever that may be – and it should be integrated into all areas of  the company from stationery and business cards to email blasts. Whether you’re conservative and old-fashioned or high-tech and trendy, the type styles, colors, and images you choose should reflect and reinforce that image.

The most obvious application of branding is in the graphics your business uses. For example, Wells Fargo has specific colors for its logo and promotional materials. It has specific type fonts and rules on when and how they are to be used. It has an image bank of photos and line art along with guidelines on what to use and how to use it. It even provides training for employees and vendors on how to support the corporate brand.

While you may never reach the level of brand awareness of Wells Fargo, Nike, or McDonalds, employing proven branding techniques consistently and over time will help your company stand out from the competition and be memorable in the minds of your customers.

So, if you’re looking at website templates – as I am now - be sure to pick one that either: (1) already reflects your corporate brand through color and image selection, or (2) can be modified to do so.

This may sound a little silly if you’re just starting out and aren’t really sure if your company will even survive, but careful planning – your business plan and marketing plan – and effective implementation – branding, advertising, public relations, and promotions – will go a long way towards helping you succeed.

Plan to Keep Product Development Moving Along

 
With everything that goes into starting and running a business – even a small one – it’s easy to get so wrapped up in the new, exciting things that you let something slide.

The solution is to develop a comprehensive business plan to begin with, along with a schedule for implementation. Of course, then you have to remember to check it regularly so everything stays on track!

Fortunately, my product development lapse was not a major one. Since I’ll be selling my own art in my online gallery, there’s a bunch of it lying around, ready to be promoted. But, I’m also planning on selling limited edition prints of some of my work. And, after doing initial research on vendors, I hadn’t followed up on the details to make sure everything would work as I’d planned.

Turns out, at least one of my assumptions was incorrect – the time required to make the prints – which will adversely affect production and delivery times. For example, it takes three to five days to make a print and I had assumed one or two. I plan to wait until I have my first order for each print to produce the entire edition, so my planned production and shipping time from receipt of the order – at least on the first print – has gone from my projected five to seven business days to a minimum of seven to ten business days.

While this isn’t an insurmountable problem, one of the basic rules of customer satisfaction is to under-promise and over-deliver. I certainly don’t want my customers to be upset because their prints don’t arrive when I say they will.

To resolve it, I’ll do two things: (1) Manage customers’ expectations by changing the shipping information on my website to allow for the longer production time, and (2) Locate secondary vendors of the same quality to ensure I have a backup if there’s a problem like an unusually large volume of orders.

Implementing the first is easy, since I haven’t even created the website yet. With the second, although I don’t anticipate a lot of orders, it’s good to be prepared and I might even find someone faster and better to become my primary supplier.

Every business will have problems, but the better you plan, the easier it is to see them coming and minimize them.