Small Business Project Management: Six Pros and Cons

Growth hungry small businesses today in the UK and indeed throughout the world face the challenge of balancing two competing objectives. Firstly, businesses must maintain and standardise current business processes in order to give your business the chance to get really good at what it does through experience curve effects. Greater business efficiency normally translates into a better customer experience and higher profits. Secondly, businesses must transform business operations in order to survive and compete in the future. How well we are able to achieve the right balance for our business will ultimately determine if we survive and go on to thrive or go the way of so many small businesses into market irrelevancy and insolvency.

You may well be thinking right now what has this got to do with project management? To understand that we first need to understand the fundamental differences between projects and day to day business operations. Whilst many of the skills required to manage your "business as usual" activities are the same as those needed to manage projects, there are some crucial differences. Amongst the most significant differences are that project work tends to be at least cross functional and often cross organisational and every project will be unique in some way rather than following the predictable pattern of business as usual. These characteristics of projects introduce opportunities and risks over and above those encountered in business as usual. In short, projects are riskier than day to day business, and therefore need a different management approach.

Projects are the means by which we introduce change in organisations. All businesses that are making any attempt to adapt to face future challenges have projects. Common examples of projects in small businesses may include setting up a company website, establishing the office in a new location, or implementing a new product but it can be any temporary activity or set of activities that have a specific output associated with it. Businesses increase their productive capacity one project at a time. Indeed, for ambitious small companies looking to grow and expand, the need to initiate the right projects and achieve the desired results is even more vital l than it is for huge national and multi-national businesses

Despite the obvious need for a project management (PM) approach, most small businesses don't bother. This constitutes a huge missed opportunity as effective project management impacts the bottom line. For example, research by the CBP shows that project management improvement initiatives improve project performance by up to 50% for the first project and can continue for each new project if the business offers ongoing project management tools and support. We could emphasise this point further by citing the Standish Group, who in their CHAOS Report conservatively estimates that 20% of money spent on projects is wasted because companies don't have a consistent approach to project management.

Let's take a look at six reasons I often hear from small business owners that choose not to bother with project management and then critically address the misconceptions behind these reasons.

1. Project management practices take more time

Having a process to follow may add time to the duration of an activity. Doing something properly will almost always take a little bit more time than adopting a slapdash approach. However, if you where building a house, would you rather have a quality end result that took a little longer, or would you prefer to have it done quickly but with lots of problems? Given that poorly executed projects can be completely de-rail a small business if they go badly, doing it well is essential, and PM processes help ensure things are done well.

2. Project management eats into the cash that I need to grow my business

A common misconception is that it is hugely expensive to implement PM process. The reality is that there are many free or low-cost sources of advice, techniques, tools, templates and project management services readily available and accessible through the Internet. If done correctly, any small business can implement PM processes, techniques and tools with very little cost. The likelihood is that small business owners are already using software and other tools that can be used for project management. For example, certain email software, spreadsheets, and other common software applications offer good templates for project management, especially if used in collaboration with some of the low cost project management services available for small businesses

3. Project management requires skills that I don't have and cannot afford to hire

Although it does require specialised skills and experience to be an accomplished project manager, these are skills that can be learned over time. To move further up the learning curve faster, it is possible to take a PM course in as little as four or five days. Most small business owners tend to possess the knowledge needed for project management, and courses such as the Prince 2 Practitioner course would build on these skills while introducing the specific theories, tools, and processes essential for project management. Whilst business owners might not emerge from a course as a project expert, they would certainly learn valuable skills to apply to their small business.

4. I don't need the hassle or paperwork of project management.

Every entrepreneur that starts their own business will, at some point, need to do a risk assessment, a marketing campaign or apply for finance. Being knowledgeable in project management and applying associated tools such as stakeholder analysis, communication planning and risk management will not only assist in many of these tasks, but will provide your small business with a competitive edge over competitors who do not approach.

5. Project management will slow me down and I need to stay agile.

Modern PM methodologies all acknowledge the importance of a tailored approach to project management. If your project requires speed, the right methodology can enable you to move quickly. Just as important, however, it will provide you with techniques to understand whether some proposed projects are worth pursuing at all. Rushing into situations without thoroughly understanding your environment is hazardous to the health of any project and potentially to the health of the business as a whole

6. I am an expert in my industry, I don't need project management.

Most small businesses are started by a person who already has some expertise in their industry. This is unquestionably an advantage; however, project management should still be used to convert plans into reality. The main reasons for project failure tends to be poor planning, lack of capital, and lack of management. Project management, while not a cast-iron guarantee of success, will assist the small business in mitigating some of the common risks that so often cause project failure amongst small businesses.

Why Is My Online Business Unsuccessful

Being unsuccessful in business doesn't mean you're a bad person. It doesn't mean you're lazy, and it doesn't mean you'll never be successful. When you're unsuccessful in a business venture, it simply means that the specific business model you are following in that moment is not successful. It means the tools, techniques and strategies you are executing are not working. Unsuccessful business models use unsuccessful marketing methods and publicizing techniques. When your business is unsuccessful, it means you must change what you're doing.

Fact #1 - ANY Online Business Can Be Successful, and ANY Online Business Can Be Unsuccessful

It's a well-known fact that any business can be successful, and any business can be unsuccessful. What it really boils down is:

Do you have the proper tools, techniques and technology to make your business successful

Do you have the drive, motivation and determination to overcome the many obstacles you'll be faced with

Are you confident in your business idea

Did you do the best job you could do at planning and research

As previously mentioned, any online business model can be a success or a failure. So, just because you have an outside the box idea that no one else thinks will work, doesn't mean it will be an unsuccessful online business. The world is over populated with pessimistic people who see nothing but bad outcomes. As an online business owner, it is your job to steer clear of pessimists. They will do nothing but slow you down and hold you back from reaching your goals. Which brings us to fact #2.

Fact #2 - With A Pessimistic Mindset, You're Already Unsuccessful!

It's bad enough to be surrounded by negativity, but if you allow these influences to cause a negative shift in your own way of thinking, you're in deep trouble! One thing you must always remember is your mindset plays one of the most important rolls in the success or failure of your online business. Of course we all become discouraged from time to time. Something doesn't go the way we expected. Something we took months to plan ended up being a dud. Our dream really turned out to be a frightening nightmare. It happens to the best of us. It happens to us all. But do not let these temporary setbacks ruin your outlook on the future success of your business.

Lets say for example, you've just worked all day and you're on your way home from work. You arrive at home, kick back, grab a cold drink and turn on the tv to relax for a while. After watching a few hours of TV, you proceed to hop online to check your email and see whats new. You suddenly realize nothing is being accomplished with your online business venture. It is still in the same unfinished state as it was a month ago. Nothing is getting accomplished. Your idea of a successful online business is not progressing as quick as you'd like. As a matter of fact, it's not progressing at all! Just like rush hour traffic, the online business you originally thought up is now at a standstill. So, what do you do now? Do you let pessimism creep in and sour your mood? Do you prematurely throw up your white flag and quietly surrender?

Challenging moments like these can be pivotal points in the direction and flow of your online business. You may feel as if the challenge is too tough, and that you're not strong enough to whether the storm. The fact of the matter is that you wouldn't be where you are today if it wasn't for your persistence to keep moving forward. So, if you've made it this far, why turn back?

Whatever you do, don't let negativity take full control over the situation at hand. Always remember that dark nights bring bright days.

Fact #3 - We Must Do Homework Our Entire Lives, Not Just In School!

This is a concept a lot of people can't seem to grasp on to very easily. In life, and especially in business life, you must always do you homework. And what exactly is homework?

Taking the time to research successful and unsuccessful business models

Studying the basics of what it takes to have a successful online business

Being able to distinguish between good information and bad information (facts vs opinions)

Quizzing yourself on various topics of business. And if you don't have an answer, go find it!

Doing homework for the success of your business can be done in many ways. Some people may not have the time or patience to research successful and unsuccessful business models. Some of us may not be able to distinguish between good and bad information. Luckily, there are options available. Options such as:

Hiring someone to perform the research for you

Subscribing to newsletters that only feed you factual information

Keeping up with the latest trends and internet publications from reliable and reputable sources

By doing any or all of the above, you're able to save time and accelerate the process of learning both the principles of successful business and the unsuccessful business strategies. These days, hiring someone online can be a quick and simple process. Subscribing to newsletters allows you to sit back and allow the information to flow in directly to your inbox. Keeping up with the latest trends from reputable online sources can be done with a few mouse clicks.

The Common Denominators of Unsuccessful Businesses

By far the most common traits held by all unsuccessful business entrepreneurs:

Being lazy and failing to move forward with a project. Remember: There's a reason the word lazy contains the last 2 letters of the alphabet. When you're lazy, you'll finish last (or second to last).

Creating excuses for everything that doesn't get done. Remember: No excuses, no exceptions!

Unwillingness to change. If you don't change, nothing changes. Period.

Self-Destruction in the form of excessive drugs, excessive alcohol, a lack of sleep, a lack of proper nutrition, etc.. These things only impair your ability to think and focus clearly.

Pressured Into Joining the Wrong Home Based Business For You

One thing that can be really hard when you're looking for a home based business is finding the one that is right for you. Just because a business is great doesn't mean it's going to be great for you so it's important that you find the one that will be the right fit if you really want to make the most money possible. Sometimes it can be hard when you have a friend or family member who is already involved in a home based business of some kind. It can be easy to just want to do whatever it is that they're doing but you need to be careful that you're making these decisions for the right reasons.

If you tell someone that you're close to that you're thinking about working from home they might automatically assume that you're going to want to be in their business. Sometimes you might and sometimes you might not but don't get pressured into joining a business just because you know someone who is a part of it. If you do you might end up not being as successful as you could have been.

The best thing to do is let your friend or family member tell you about their business. Let them give you all the information but don't make any kind of commitment until you're sure that that is the right business for you. Politely tell them that you're looking at a few other businesses before you make your mind up. Hopefully they will be respectful of that and want what's going to be best for you.

How many businesses should you look at? Well that is up to you but my feeling is that most of the time you will know when a business feels right. If you aren't 100% sold on any one business you might want to keep looking. Remember that no business is ever going to be completely perfect BUT there is one business that's perfect for you.

Start-Up a Business by Buying a Business - 'Real Life' Practical Advice Shared

This is a quote from Ray Thomas who started his own business by buying an existing one. He chose to buy a franchise resale for reasons you are about to learn. These are his first wise words of advice and ones that are valuable to anyone thinking of buying a business as a way to start their own business, whether in the UK, North America or anywhere in the world.

"When buying a business, check and recheck your 'due diligence' there's always something that you miss, something that's not obviously apparent when you first start negotiations - don't rush -take your time to understand the business you're buying into"

Ray was very careful in his choice of business. He took the buying process step by step over a number of months. He would like to share this experience, captured in these key points with you.

• Choose a business that relates to your commercial experience and your own business skills

• Buying a franchise resale has a number of benefits. Two of these are the training and support you'll receive from the franchisor; another is acquiring a going concern with an existing customer base

• Get the latest trading figures to see how the business is performing and whether any circumstances have changed since the business was valued for sale.

• Check the customer base to check the number of active and dormant accounts

• Examine the customer profile to see how the business is spread between accounts - if the business is reliant on one or two accounts, the loss of these accounts could dramatically damage your future income.

• If possible, agree a hand-over period in which the previous owner introduces you to the client base and explains the 'back-office' systems and day-to-day running of the business.

• Make a generous provision for working capital to cover running costs - and keep an extra financial contingency for the unexpected.

To understand Ray's story here's some interesting background. Ray trained as a mechanical engineer. This gave him a career long ability to discipline his thinking and develop his analytical and organisational abilities. His outgoing personality and communication skills came into play as he moved into sales. Over time, he became a regional manager with a multinational company, firstly looking after the South West then extended his territory responsibility across to Wales and up as far as Birmingham.

As demands increased without a commensurate increase in his salary package, Ray started to explore opportunities where he and his family would receive a greater return for his efforts by becoming his own boss. He investigated a number of different business avenues and narrowed the options down to franchising. The question was whether to start from scratch with a 'virgin' franchise territory or to buy an existing operation. The other question was which franchise to select

As Ray had experience of the motor trade, at one time being the sales manager of a chain of car dealerships, he examined a franchise involved with supplying garage workshops with tools and another specialising in bodywork repairs. He also explored franchises that were related to his more recent experience in the Health & Safety and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) sector. Finally he chose a business-to-business (B2B) franchise that specialises in the supply and servicing of cleaning and hygiene products.

The franchise head office volunteered two start-up territories within reach of his Swindon base, and one resale franchise in Swindon his home town. Buying a resale franchise meant a higher investment but gave him a fully functioning business with an established clientele and an established reputation.

The Purchase Negotiation

Ray contacted the existing franchisee and spent a day with him to find out more about his territory and customers. The franchisee wanted the business to be transferred to someone who would manage the business well and look after his existing customer base. He'd decided to emigrate to France as part of his own life plan.

On closer inspection Ray saw the business had been losing sales and turnover had slumped in the last year. Another worrying aspect came to light. One customer was responsible for 50% of sales. If that customer withdrew his business the whole financial picture would change dramatically. These important factors demanded a revaluation and price renegotiation.

A revised price was agreed and on 26th April 2010 at the age of 60, Ray Thomas became a business owner. A new, exciting but challenging chapter in his life had begun.

Looking back, Ray would like to share these thoughts with you:

• Put away those rose-tinted glasses when buying a business. They're always things that are not immediately evident when first learning about a business, not because they've been deliberately hidden but more to do with your unfamiliarity with the business operation.

• Try to identify the pitfalls - get expert help to review the company's trading record and customer base.

• Examine in fine detail the basis of any 'goodwill' attributed to the company. Remember that 'people buy people'. It's potentially dangerous to buy a business that has been built mainly on the 'personality' of the incumbent owner. When the business changes hands, customers may not want to keep their business with you.

• Never rest on your laurels. Look for new business every day. It is inevitable that for one reason or other you'll lose customers. You need to bring in fresh business to compensate for business lost.

• Make sure you 'over-deliver' on the quality of service you provide. You may not be able to compete on price these days - but an attentive, professional service not only wins business but builds customer loyalty. You've heard the saying that some people 'know the price of everything but the value of nothing'. Due to cost pressures customers do switch to get a better financial deal but often return when they realise they've forfeited quality, reliability and product performance.

• Create a financial buffer to fund unexpected costs. For us, the rise in diesel prices has hit our van delivery costs. Unexpected events are another reason why you should grow your sales from existing customers and put time aside to contact and win new customers.

Small Business Success Myths Debunked

Many new entrepreneurs a opening small businesses every day. They are many reasons people become small business owners: creative freedom, being their own boss, doing what they love, and succeeding financially.

Unfortunately, many newbies and some seasoned entrepreneurs fall pray to the business success myths, that at best can derail their success, and at worst lead to bankruptcy and other problems. In this article I describe the two such myths, and what you can do instead, to succeed as a small business owner.

Myth I - Success Means Making "6 Figures"

My e-mail inbox is overflowing daily with sales offers for "How to Make 6 Figures" as a coach, consultant, or other professional service provider. These offers are, most likely, in email box as well.

No matter what the pitch is: teaching to do tele-seminars, write a book, use social media, design a website, create marketing copy, develop information products, become an affiliate - it has the promise of the magic "6 Figures." Sometimes to make the offer even more "appetizing" it is combined with the promise of " 6 Figures in 30 days", or 90 days or some other off the wall number.

What is left out is the exact meaning of the "6 figures" promise. Having looked at hundreds of these offers, I believe "6 figures" means $100,000 revenue.

These offers are so widely promoted, it seems that the "six figures" is the magic key to the desires of coaches, consultants, and other service providers.

You may be wondering: "What's wrong with six figures revenues"? There is nothing wrong with making $100,000 or more, as long as you understand that six or even seven figure revenue does not mean you have a successful business.

You can be earning six figure revenue, but your business may:

Not be profitable,

Have losses

Not be paying you salary

Not be set up for further growth

Not be a business, but a self-employment job

You may be sacrificing your relationships and/or your health

This type of "6 figures" becomes very unappetizing.

What can you do, to avoid the trap of the "Six Figure" Myth? Here are the four things you can immediately:

Take Action Now Plan

1. Make Your Accountant Your Best Friend

Every entrepreneur must understand the critical number and their implications for the business. Accounting may not get you excited but in your role as the CEO, it's your responsibility to understand the financial picture and health of your business.Get help from your accountant if you need to and review your financials on a consistent basis.

2. Focus on profitability, not just revenues

Profitability is an important measure of business health. Understand your gross and net profits, by tracking your costs of services sold and your variable and fixed expenses.Understand your profit margins, if possible by the type of product, service you offer. This allows you to select create the mix of products that is optimal for your business.

3. Consider business growth plans

When growing your business, you need to consider whether you want to grow your revenues and/or your profits.When you plan for revenue growth you need to consider the associated increase in expenses to ensure that the business stays profitable.

4. Understand if you have a sustainable business

You may be making six or even seven figures in revenue, but you may have not a business, but a self-employed job.

Business is an asset that can eventually function without you in it. Consider this fact from the very beginning and create the business model that can be not only scaled up, but eventually transitioned to operate with little or no involvement from you as an owner.

Myths II. Businesses Growth By Borrowing

Just when we thought we learned from the mortgage crisis that borrowing without the ability to pay back is a really bad idea, the marketing gurus continue to promote the concept of personal borrowing.

I witnessed coaches tell their clients that borrowing as a good way to pay for their program. They present this as a way to grow the business, suggesting that without paying for their program you will not be able to grow your business.

Honestly, this one makes me want to cry. I have clients and speak to many coaches, consultants and holistic providers who charged $10,000 to $25,000 programs on their credit cards, without any ability to pay it back.

These programs, instead of generating return on investment, put them into deep financial hole. Some had to take another job to pay off the debt. Unfortunately, many couldn't pay back, leading to financial hardships and even bankruptcy.

The promoters of taking on debt say that borrowing is how big businesses grow. This can work, if several conditions are met:

Present the idea you are looking to finance in a written plan to the lender, such as a bank. These lenders understand the potential risks involved and will make sure they have collateral to secure your loan. If they see the idea as too risky, good lenders will not finance it.

Structure your loan in a way, that if the idea does not pan out, you as the business owner is not personally responsible for the debt repayment.

Compare the above scenario to a way a coach or a consultant operates. Instead of borrowing on your business card, imagine a coach, or a holistic provider approaching the lender for credit, like I described above.

What will be the collateral a coach can offer, except for her personal assets. What confidence will the lender have that the loan will be repaid, and therefore what are the chances of the lender approving such loan? Chances of getting a commercial loan for coaches are slim to none.

Getting into personal debt to start or expand your business is one of the most serious mistakes you can make.

Take Action Now Plan

1. Do Not Borrow On Personal Credit Cards

If paying for something in your business requires taking on personal high interest loan, shift your thinking and make other choices. Borrow from a lender only if you have a proven method of getting 2-3 times the return on your investment.

2. Plan for Start -Up and Growth

Most businesses require investment to start up. Make sure you have this money allocated from your personal savings. Understand how much you can invest and how long your business can last with this investment before it starts generating revenues, profits and return on your original investment.

3. Understand The Risks

Realize that when you invest in a business, you are incurring a significant risk and that you may lose part or all of your investment. Stay away from anyone who tells you otherwise.

How To Become A Business Analyst

There Isn't Really A Set Business Analyst Career Path

I feel I should point this out up front. There isn't really a set path to becoming a business analyst. There aren't any (that I know of) degrees in becoming a business analyst. Sure, there may be junior business analyst roles out there, but you still need some knowledge and probably some experience to be able to be a successful business analyst.

If you speak to business analysts you know through work or other connections, you'll probably find that they started in one of two methods:

· Started in a technical role (e.g. development) and moved into business analysis

· Started in a business role (e.g. a business user or manager) and moved into business analysis

When I began business analysis, I was originally a software developer that moved into a more analysis role. This doesn't always need to be the case - you could work in networking or testing and make a similar move. I would think that most of my readers, who are IT professionals, would make the move from technical to BA, rather than from business user to BA.

How To Move From Development Into Business Analyst

Ok, so assuming you're in a software development position (or a similar IT role, such as testing, networking, support, etc), and you want to move into business analysis. What do you need to know? What are your biggest questions and what should you do first?

Well, the role of a business analyst, as mentioned in a recent article, is to determine business requirements to solve a business need, and translate them into technical details that the IT teams can work with. You may have been involved in this before, from the IT side, or you might not have. No problem if you haven't.

You should aim to develop the skills you need in for a business analysis role, such as:

· Communication skills (speaking with people, asking questions, phone calls)

· Determining requirements based on discussions with users

· Writing documents that can be understood by business users

· Industry knowledge

Communication Skills for a Business Analyst

A large part of a business analyst's role is communication. They would spent a lot of time speaking with clients, team members, project managers, team leaders and other stakeholders for a project. Communication skills get better with time, but it's a good idea to practice yours, work on them, determine what your weaknesses are and improve on those as well. Areas such as listening, asking the right questions, speaking to people on the phone, group discussions and negotiation all form a part of the communication skills that you'll need.

Requirements Gathering Is An Important Skill

Learning how to gather requirements is something you'll need to know if you want to become a business analyst. Being able to speak with users, determine what their problems and issues are with current processes, and document them in a way they can be matched to a requirement of a system is something that takes practice and experience.

Essentially, a requirement, or business requirement, is something that a software or system needs to be able to do to achieve what it is being built for. For example, I'm writing this post in Microsoft Word - one of the requirements for building that software is that it needs to save files in a certain format. If it couldn't save files, it wouldn't be a successful piece of software.

Determining priority of requirements is important as well - this would be retrieved from the users that you speak to. To use the Microsoft Word example again, the spell check feature is a requirement, but maybe not a high priority one - the program will still work without it.

Industry Knowledge Is Great For Business Analysis

Knowledge of the industry that you work in is a great way to help your business analysis career. Sure, building an IT system may just involve getting requirements and making something from them, but to get those requirements it helps to know about the industry that the business is in. If the company is in the finance industry, and if you have knowledge of bank transactions and loan processes, it could come in handy for determining requirements. Users have this experience, where IT people don't usually know a lot about the industries if they're starting as a business analyst.

How To Develop A Successful Business Plan

Make Sure You Have A Business Plan

The first point to keep in mind about business plans is... have a business plan! This may seem obvious but is overlooked. Many people start businesses without a plan; sometimes it can come from sheer bravado, thinking "I don't need a plan", or alternatively you might hear "It's all inside my head, that's my business plan". The reality is no matter how much you work with things in your head, no matter how confident you may be and how much you think you already have a great vision for your business, there are so many great reasons why you should get it down on paper.

Most of all if you are seeking funding for your business, it will be absolutely crucial to go along and show someone an actual plan, because there will be very few people who will loan you money on the basis of what's just in your head. So it's pivotal to have a plan and be committed to preparing that document. If you are someone who shies away from planning, or you don't like writing or preparing documents, nevertheless you are going to have to force yourself on this occasion. I say that because it is such a key document for the future success of your business, such a tool throughout its development to return and refer to.

Have An Overall Vision

When writing your business plan it is really important to have an overriding vision of what your business is going to do, what it is going to be, and what you want to achieve. Very often it is tempting to get straight into the technical details, the monetary concerns, financial matters, where you will be sourcing supplies, etc. Now all these things will be vital in your business plan, but it has to be held together by a coherent, broader vision.

Remember the proverbial expression 'not seeing the wood for the trees'? You need to see the 'wood' first, then delve in and start examining the individual 'trees', meaning the individual items which you will be breaking down later. So a great point is to make sure that you have that overarching vision - and if you cannot find one, then maybe it is an indication that you are obsessing on a few technical aspects that do not necessarily make up a whole business as you had imagined it. A business that makes sense and is going to be sustainable in the future is one that has that clear vision within which all the smaller parts contribute to make it successful.

Contextualise Your Budget

Of course your budget will be extremely important. But sometimes people sort of pluck figures out of thin air, not giving it the context it needs in the business plan to make real concrete sense of how that budget is going to work.

So it is crucial that every time you mention financials in your business plan, to really give them the correct context. When I have worked with clients in developing business plans, there has been a budget or amount set aside for example to be spent on marketing, which has been decided a bit arbitrarily. I mean with no real research, no understanding of what that amount needs to be spent on, and what that budget will truly achieve. It seems to have been put there to fill the need to attribute a certain sum to marketing.

Make sure you are researching each point of your budget, make sure that you are giving it context and it makes proper sense within your overall plan.

Don't Make Assumptions About Customers

To be an entrepreneur does require plenty of self-confidence, sometimes almost a bloody-minded determination to make your business work. But this confidence spilling over into thinking that you know what 'the market' wants can be dangerous, without checking that it's true. You need to do your research that the market does ultimately want what you will be offering, whatever products or services you will be selling.

That is a great thing to make sure you have in your business plan, that your business will be built around those real customer wants. Do not make callous assumptions, or statements like "I know what people want", "People are going to love this", and so on. Have you done your research? Do you really know that the people you will be targeting want your product / service, and crucially do they want it AT THE PRICE that you will be offering it at? Whilst confidence in your plan is fantastic, you must make sure that it does not lead you down a blind alley along a path that is not desired by your target market.

Don't assume what customers want, do your research and make sure that is clear from the start in your business plan.

Research Your Competitors (But Don't Copy!)

Every business plan should focus a lot on the business's potential competitors, because research and analysis of the competition effectively gives you plenty of useful information. It may guide you as to where you should be advertising and marketing, or certain strategies to use or ones to avoid because you see they have been used unsuccessfully by others.

I often see people split into two camps. On one hand those who almost ignore competitors in their business plan, because they do not want to think about the issue yet and feel so confident they have a great idea for the market regardless. But I recommend not being overconfident when it comes to competitors. They are still there for a reason, they are still around and in business for a reason, so view them with that in mind.

I teach that you should seek to learn from competitors; obviously never copy another business's idea or what they are doing, but you can absolutely learn from their mistakes or see what they are doing and discover ways to improve it. All of that analysis belongs in your business plan: make sure you have your competitors under the microscope and make sure that is a solid chunk of your plan. That is some of the best research and information you will gather about what will make your business successful in future.

Be Prepared For Risks

It is a fact of life that any new business or enterprise has a degree of risk attached to it. Therefore it is important for your business plan to analyse and calculate that risk, showing how you will engage with it. There is no business plan out there that is risk-free, but very often where the risk is higher then the rewards will be as well.

What should come into your business plan is how you assess it, how you foresee anything occurring that could have an adverse impact and how you would deal with it in the right ways. If you are looking to obtain funding from a bank or people you know, it is essential to show what the risk factors are in the proposed business and how you plan to defend against them.

It could be, for example, the risk of a change in the economic environment - what are your contingency plans for that in terms of dealing with such a situation? There may be many other risks as well specific to your particular sphere of operation, but that ability to plan ahead for all scenarios makes for a robust business plan. When I have received business plans, the very best responses come from people who have looked at the risks and have an answer for every question. What you never want is to throw a scenario at your plan and have to answer "I don't know what I would do in that situation". You want to plan for every possible contingency, and certainly all the major risks to the ongoing success of your business.

Obtain Feedback On Your Plan

When writing a business plan you sometimes end up locking yourself away. You might have unique ideas which lead you to seek some isolation and secrecy, or if you are going to be a sole trader you may only have one person to consult namely yourself. But it is fantastic to try and get broader input on your business plan - whether from a professional, or simply from friends and family whom you trust. I say that because of course you need to be careful with commercially sensitive ideas, as you do not want to pass your plan on to someone in the pub who then starts your idea before you across the road.