Simple Steps for Starting Your Business
description
Transcript of Simple Steps for Starting Your Business
Your Business Concept
Simple Stepsfor Starting Your Business
v.20130107
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Simple Steps for Starting Your Business
The SCORE Foundation would like to thank
For showing their support of America’s small businesses by sponsoring this series.
To learn more about Bank of America, visit:www.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/
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A Special Thanks to Our Local Sponsors
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Classroom Safety – Argosy U
Emergency Exits
Restrooms
Please do not wander around the building!
You are HERE 4
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Classroom Safety–ComCenterEmergency
Exits
Restrooms
Please do not wander around the building!
You are HERE
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Simple Steps for Starting Your Business
Session 2:
YOUR BUSINESS CONCEPT
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PERSONAL MENTORING
Session 3:Marketing
Plan
Session 2:Business Concept
Session 4:Financial
Projections
Session 1:Start-up Basics
Session 5:Funding Sources
Decide to
Continue
Simple Steps RoadmapTo Accelerate Your Success
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“GO OR NO GO” DECISION & NEXT STEPS WITH MENTOR
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Introductions and Homework Review
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• Deliver quality information and a quality learning process for the five-part business planning series
• Provide free, one-on-one mentoring
• Help get clients to a Go/No-Go decision on their business ideas
SCORE Commitment to YOU
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Client Commitment
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Testing Your Business Idea
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 1
Simple Steps for Starting Your Business
Start-up Basics
Your Business Concept
Marketing Plan
Financial Projections
Funding Sources
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Agenda
• Business Concept Definition• Target Market Characteristics • Ann’s Nursery Example• Gathering Critical Information - Industry - Customer - Competition
• Personal Application and Planning
• Homework
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Benefits of Building a Feasibility Plan Draft
• Provides you with the information to help make a Go/No-Go decision for your business idea.
• Has the core information to create a complete business plan for bankers and investors.
• Gives you direction to get started.
• Copy in your handouts!
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• New product idea?
• New service idea?
• Purchase an existing business?
• Purchase a franchise?
• Moving an existing business in a new direction or expanding?
They all have common elements.
Your Business Idea
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Your Business Idea
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Your Experience
•Skills that fit your idea
•Personal risk tolerance that fits your idea
•Work experience in the industry
Personal Background
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Where to get Information• Description: NAICS
North American Industry Classification System
• Profitability: RMARisk Management Association – Annual Statement Studies
• Industry Focus: NTPA Directory National Trade and Professional Association
What to look for Growth / life cycle
Trends
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Start-up
Rapid Growth
Maturity
Enco
urag
ing D
iscouraging
Reinvention
Slow decline
Rapid decline
Feasibility Planning
The Industry Life Cycle
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Define Your Target Markets
Who do you serve?
•Type: retailer, consumer etc.•Number of Customers / Markets?•Income level/ability to pay•Demographics•Lifestyle•Buying Habits
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Competition• Size• Product/service features
Suppliers• Availability• Reliability
Business Risk• Product longevity• Legal/environmental
Other Key Factors
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Ann’s Nursery – Feasibility Plan
• Ann's Nursery Feasibility Plan examples are used in our workshops and may help you see the types of information that you may need
• Has a wide range of target market choices
• Has financials that require fixed assets, accounts receivable, inventory and borrowing
• Though fictitious, it is realistic and covers the elements necessary for a business
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Ann’s Nursery: Industry Profile
2002 NAICS Definitions
111421 Nursery and Tree Production
This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) growing nursery products, nursery stock, shrubbery, bulbs, fruit stock, sod, and so forth, under cover or in open fields and/or (2) growing short rotation woody trees with a growth and harvest cycle of 10 years or less for pulp or tree stock.
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In your handouts
• Business Idea• Background• Industry Profile• Target Markets
– Competition– Suppliers– Risk
Ann’s Nursery: Initial Concept Ideas
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From what you know now, outline your business concept by element (10 minutes max)
WS2 - Exercise 1 and 2 Worksheet- Business Concept Feasibility Plan.doc
Pick a partner near you and give an elevator speech (5 minutes max) outlining your business concept
Your Concept: Exercise 1
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Stretch Break
10 minutes, please
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Collecting Critical Information
To understand if your business idea may work, you must gather critical information about your industry, customer and competition.
For start-ups, it is impossible to put together a realistic business plan without this data.
No professional will loan to or invest in your business without this critical information.
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Industry Data• Growth• Profitability• Trends
Industry Data Sources• NAICS• RMA• Trade Associations
Collect Industry Data
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Know Your Market•Demographics•Habits and patterns
Customer Data Sources•Focus groups•Reference library•Government websites•Trade associations
Collect Customer Data
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Collect Customer Data
Income Demographics: Example
Income Demographics for Zip Code 17601
Less than $15,000
$15,000 - $24,999
$25,000 - $34,9999
$35,000 - $49,999
$50,000 - $74,999
$75,000 - $99,999
$100,000 $140,000
$150,000 and over
779 1,508 1,833 3,047 4,385 2,798 2,152 1,442
Number of households
Household income
Total households: 17,944
Source: www.census.gov
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Understand What They Offer•Price•Features•Annual Sales•Size/profitability•Market strategy
Competitor Data Sources•Competitor•Suppliers•Trade associations•RMA•D&B (Dun and Bradstreet)
Collect Competitor Data
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Important Considerations• Political• Social• Environmental
Trend Sources• Newspapers• Periodicals• Television• Internet• Professional Networking
Other Market Trends
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• Can be a very valuable resource for information and save you a lot of time.
• The reference librarian can help you navigate library media to obtain the best information possible– Web-based searches for
information (e.g., Reference USA)
– Reference library tools most commonly used by SCORE clients
– Reference books display and typical information
Reference Area
Sarasota Selby Library
RMA
NAICS
Others
USF Library
NAICS
Others
Local Library Information
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• www.census.gov • www.sba.gov
(Small Business Administration)
• NAICS.com• www.bea.gov
(Bureau of Economic Analysis)
• www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml (Securities and
Exchange Commission) • www.bls.gov
(Bureau of Labor and Statistics)
• www.score.org• www.bizstats.com
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Collecting Critical Information
• Ask directly, usually a distant competitor
• Ask mutual suppliers• Ask competitors’ (your
future) customers• Be a customer• Join a trade association• Check competitor websites• All of these are OK to do.
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Data Collection – Exercise 2
Develop plan to get info on at least one competitor (5 min): (Back of Exercise 1 document)
Price and pricing strategy / Product features Estimate of annual sales / Marketing strategies
Open discussion – share plans (15 min)What did you learn from this discussion?
How will you use that knowledge in the future?
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• Fill out the paper request form in your packet for free, one-on-one mentoring.– During this session!– Be sure to fill in the field at the bottom
about your business and the help that you think you need.
– Give it to the SCORE volunteers– A mentor will be assigned in 3-5 days
• Phone or face-to-face guidance to aid completion of your homework
• Mentor will be available each week after your workshop
Your Own SCORE Mentor
Take advantage of this free service to make the best decisions possible.
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Read WS3–Ann’s Nursery Feasibility Plan and Client Draft (also available as a download)
Complete the exercise worksheets you started today
• Finish the first draft of your business concept
• Collect key competitive information per plan. This data will be used in the next session.―Price and pricing strategies
―Features and benefits
―Annual sales
―Marketing strategies in reaching target customers
See you at the next session on Marketing.
Homework
Download documents at:http://www.score-suncoast.org/QSHandouts.aspx
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Help Us, Help You
Please fill out the workshop evaluation form
Your feedback is important to help us improve our
programs!
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