Posted by Cash Miller on June 8, 2010 under Accounting, Business Planning, Management | 
Running a small business often involves creating a number of different plans and projections to see where you plan to go and how you’re going to get there. But an often overlooked method of planning is what is sometimes termed as revenue planning. To help explain what I’m talking about I’ll start off by telling you what revenue planning is not. It is not financial forecasting and it is not an estimate of future cash flow. Revenue planning is in a category all by itself.
Now I’ll explain what revenue planning is at least as I see it and to make it easy I’ll provide an example. At one time I ran a manufacturing business that catered to the needs of casino’s and restaurants in Las Vegas, Nevada. We had a large established clientele with a constantly evolving work schedule. At any one time we had dozens of job orders that needed to be fullfilled. Being that I am a very visual person I have always used multiple white boards to help me keep track of things. If it’s in front of my face I’m less likely to forget something. Typically I had 3 or 4 white boards always hanging on the walls of my office and one of them was always dedicated to my monthly revenue.
Every month I had two number I worried about the most. The total value of the work orders we had lined up and the amount we actually were able to bill or clients by the end of the month. The first number told me if we had enough work lined to reach our sales goals and the second was our finals sales for the month based on work we had completed. The first number though represented our revenue plan.
So our revenue plan was the total amount of potential billings we had for a certain period of time and also where the work was coming from. On my white board I would write our monthly goal at the top. Underneath I would list each client that we had a work order from and the amount in dollars of work we were projected to do for them and at the bottom would be the total of projected work we had lined up. This was a running total that would usually change on a daily basis. But what it always told me was how much our final sales for the month could be if we stayed on schedule.
This was our revenue plan or revenue projection. For a manufacturing or service business it can be a good way of keeping track of your potential billings. You set your monthly, quarterly or yearly goal and then you see if you can determine exactly where the sales are going to come from. If you’ve been in business for a couple of years and have an established clientele then you’ll have an idea of how much each client spends with you each year. This information will help you project your revenue using solid figures and not just assumptions.
For myself this was always a worthwhile exercise as it helped me make sure we stayed on track and we were more easily able to hit the goals we had set for the business.
When revenue planning ask yourself a couple of questions.
1. What is my goal financiallt for the month, quarter, or year?
2. What work orders do I already have lined up?
3. How much is each of my customers worth?
4. How many of these work orders can we reasonably expect to fulfill during the current month?
5. And how much is my current work load worth?
Trust me when I say that this little exercise will help you tremendousley when it comes to hitting the financial goals you have set for the business.
Originally posted 2010-04-08 05:44:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Posted by SteveSmith on under Business Planning, Management, Marketing |
If you are dedicated to your business, you are probably surrounded by minutia on a daily basis. It’s the little things that are easy to do, fun to do or provide a hideout from the more important things that must be done. However you define it, minutia is the bane of every small business owner that struggles to grow revenues in a marketplace that has kicked the traditional forms of marketing to the curb.
Why is minutia such a detestable yet comforting area to occupy ones time? It has to do with the feeling of overwhelm that is created when the subconscious has too many things to juggle. Your brain is the largest, most powerful computer on the planet and its memory access is unlimited. So when the list of tasks gets out of control, the mind takes over and begins retrieving everything associated with your list in an attempt to get you to focus on the things you need to do. The only problem is the mind has no way to prioritize the list, so everything gets equal weight which means everything needs to be done NOW! Feeling overwhelmed yet?
When business owners start feeling this way, the first reaction is to protect the sanity and focus on easy tasks that bring immediate reward- the minutia. Unfortunately, focusing on the simple, probably unimportant areas f your business simply reinforces the fact that these are important to your subconscious, thereby perpetuating this cycle, over and over again. Instead of making progress by the end of the week, the list is even longer and there’s even more important stuff to be done.
Recognize that the only way to resist the comfort of spending time on small, unimportant tasks is to actively focus on the big stuff. And, do not assume that you must handle it all yourself. If you are going to stay ahead of the daily operations of your business, you must learn to assign the list; either to others or to a specific time slot when you will do it.
One way to gain control over this debilitating behavior is to write down everything that needs attention. Go ahead, make the list as long as you like. Just record the actual task; nothing else. Then, go back and tag every item that can or should be done by someone else. Don’t worry if you don’t have ‘that certain someone’ to do it, tag it as such.
Next, identify all items that have to do with producing revenue. These activities need to get the highest priority. Everything else falls in the minutia category and should be sidelined until your top revenue producing tasks are completed. If some of the minutia are things only you can do, set aside brief periods throughout the day (no more than 30 minutes) and knock off a few at a time. Then get back to the heavy lifting!
Practice this technique regularly and you will train your brain to focus on the important things and resist the need to run and hide when your business starts to overwhelm you.
If you would like to watch a free video on how to ‘Change Your Brain to Change Your Outcome’, click this link and select webcast #1. http://www.businesscoachingthatworks.com/OrangeCountyCaliforniaBusinessCoachingResources.html
Originally posted 2010-04-05 16:35:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Posted by SteveSmith on under Business Coaching, Business Planning, Entrepreneurship, Marketing |
The state of our economy has caused more than just loss of financial wealth, home ownership or job security. It has created a tsunami of people starting their own businesses. With the job market casting out thousands of highly skilled workers, technicians and professionals every day, many are finding it incredibly difficult to replace these positions somewhere else.
It seemed like a good idea at the time!
While many people simply succumb to the lack of job offers and give up trying, an increasing number of committed people elect to try their hand at going into business for themselves. Some do this because the job market seems overwhelmingly depressed and starting or buying a business seems like a direction with equal odds of success. Others see the current market shifts as an opportunity to satisfy a long pent-up desire to be their own boss and make their own fortunes. Regardless of the reason, more people today are taking the plunge into business self-ownership than at any point in recent history.
Isn’t Entrepreneur just a generic term for having your own business?
There are many terms for people who go into business for themselves: sole proprietors, self-employed individuals, small business owners or entrepreneurs. While these all seem to capture the individual who decides to have their own business, they are not the same.
Take the term entrepreneur. It has a fancy ‘European’ sound to it but is it a substitute for the other terms? When you decided to take up your own torch and go into business for yourself, did you think of yourself as a ‘Entrepreneur’?
If the term ‘Entrepreneur’ is vague to you or you have shied away from associating yourself with it because you were unsure of what the term implies, here are some guidelines to think about. The term entrepreneur simply means: one who has an idea and takes the financial risk and accountability for the outcome of their pursuits. The real meaning can be better understood in the characteristics an entrepreneur should possess in order to achieve the results they desire.
So, are you an entrepreneur?
Do you see yourself in any of the characteristics listed below? This list is by no means all encompassing but it will give you the ability to check yourself to see if you possess the characteristics that make one in today’s marketplace.
Desire to succeed:
The true entrepreneur never gives up in their quest to reach the benchmark of success they have set for themselves. The real test is not in being successful but in being willing to do it again if the 1st, 2nd or 3rd attempts fail.
Determination & work ethic:
Their relentless desire to succeed is fueled by a ‘dogged’ work ethic. They think nothing of putting in 15+ hours a day pursuing every aspect of their idea. While this level of determination is all but a requirement in the early phase of getting your idea off the ground, it can also be a blind spot in terms of being able to set priorities and stay focused on specific activities that drive accomplishment.
Having an innovative mindset:
Few business ideas today are truly revolutionary. Most are an adaptation of an existing idea. The entrepreneur will frequently borrow an existing business model and make significant improvements to it in order to create a niche that they can grow. They are constantly looking for ways to realize their dreams by innovating what’s already in play, even when they’re not sure that the market is ready for it.
Willingness to go it alone:
Entrepreneurs see opportunities differently than most people and will pursue a course of action that maybe unclear to close friends or family members. Frequently, their community will question their motives, ambitions or even sanity in an attempt to keep them from being hurt by their unshakable quest to see the venture to completion. The true entrepreneur understands this level of ‘loving scrutiny’ and presses forward despite the lack of perceived support for what they see very clearly as their road to financial freedom.
Acting on creative ideas and solutions:
This is one of the key factors that separate entrepreneurs from all other well intentioned business people. Entrepreneurs have an ability to find creative solution to situations that appear daunting and take action on them; sooner rather than later. Their ability to see unique approaches to the opportunities they take on enables them to act on decisions that are critical to the project’s continued momentum. The downside of this ‘go-getter’ mentality can be a pattern of frequent and unneeded ‘trial & error’ because not enough consideration is taken to research and test an idea before jumping into it with all four feet.
Making decisions in the absence of complete information or solid data:
At the beginning of an idea, there may not be enough information available to comfortably decide on a particular course of action. The entrepreneur knows this and is confident in making decisions under these circumstances. They recognize that intuitive thinking or ‘gut feelings’ play a role in forging ahead into the unknown and see this as exhilarating as pursuing the idea itself. The entrepreneur knows that there is no better way to kill a promising idea in the early stages than to become paralyzed in the decision making process.
Jack of all trades:
The entrepreneur knows how to do many things. They also know how to improvise and find others who can fill in their knowledge or skill gap with whatever is needed to keep moving forward. And while this ability to juggle and assimilate to a variety of situations enables to entrepreneur to keep things in motion, the downside is often an inability to accurately assess a true area requiring expertise outside the entrepreneur’s capabilities. In some cases, critical decisions may be made hastily or incorrectly causing unintended setbacks.
In the end, it comes down to this:
While all these attributes are essential ingredients for today’s ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ entrepreneurs, the one main characteristic that separates them from all others who participate in business is their ability to take risks! When most people are confronted with risk (or even hear the word risk) they typically think in terms of what they might lose or how they might be hurt as a result. The entrepreneur understands that reaching previously untouched goals requires risk and they accept this as a condition of achieving success. In the face of a failed attempt (and there are many), entrepreneurs will use the experience as a benchmark for learning before setting their sights on the next phase of their efforts.
So, whether you fit the definition of entrepreneur, sole proprietor, self employed business person or small business owner, take the time to clarify your vision for your business and be ready to experience a world that is unlike any other profession around. The mixture of exhilaration, uncertainty and daily directional changes is not for everyone but if this is your call in life, pursue it as you would life itself!
Originally posted 2010-10-04 21:08:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Posted by Cash Miller on under Business Planning, Entrepreneurship |
Entrepreneurs must have a vision for their business. Vision is without a doubt one of the most crucial pieces of the puzzle when it comes to building a business. But when I talk about vision I’m not talking about a business plan or a strategic plan or even financial goals that you might set for the business. What I’m talking about is your vision of what the business will become when it is all grown up.
What do I mean by all grown up? Well lets put things in very simple terms. When you first start your business it starts off by trying to crawl. And once the momentum begins to build some and your making some progress, say between 6 months and one year old it starts to walk on its own. Then right around the two year mark your business might just be able to start jogging. And finally somewhere around the 4 or 5 year mark it’s able to get out and go for a good solid run. Well your vision of the business really starts to matter when it’s out on its own running. But that vision begins to form while your still in the crawling phase.
Vision is one of those things that is constantly on my mind. What do I want the business to be able to do when it’s all grown up? And it’s something you should regularly think about as well. But also remember that you can be a part of that vision as well.
I’ll give some examples to get you going. What kind of a civic partner do you want the business to be? Do you want to take an active part in member organizations such as your local chamber of commerce? Do you want to contribute part of your profits to charitable organizations. Would you like to fund your own nonprofit organization that can help others. Would you like to become a model employer that is able to offer the best benefits in your industry. Or maybe you want to make sure your business is strong enough to survive without you. Maybe you want your business to be your legacy.
I’ll share with you a vision that I have for my own business. I hope to one day be able to use a portion of our profits to start a business incubation program that can help other entrepreneurs get their own businesses off the ground. That’s not my whole business vision but it is one part of it.
So if you have your own business or are looking to start your own business keep what I’ve said in mind. Having a business vision of your own is not just about what you want your financial numbers to look like at the end of the year it’s about what you hope to accomplish by owning a business in the first place.
Regards,
Cash Miller
Editor
www.SmallBusinessDelivered.com
Originally posted 2010-04-06 03:22:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
