What should you say in your business plan?While only 2 pages in length, the executive summary is by far the most  important component of your business plan or proposal. It is designed to  summarize the key elements, capture attention and most importantly, showcase the  financial highlights.

So, if you only have 2 pages to convey a significant amount of information  and summarize the financial upside, how do you decide what to put in and what to  leave out? Which financial features are critical to emphasize?

Depending on the purpose of your document and the intended audience  (investment, sale, partnership, strategic alliance, joint venture etc.), you  will want to tailor your financial disclosure to suit their needs and  expectations. What would they want/need to see in order to make an informed  decision?

At a minimum, you need to clearly state what financial input is required from  them and what they will get in return – i.e. a share, debt instrument, license,  exclusive right etc. Next, highlight the expected net profit and cash flow over  2-3 years. Also, give a clear indication of return on investment (ROI) AND a  realistic, well defined exit strategy.

In an executive summary, it is important to be succinct and focused. It is  not the time to tell your life story, overpromise with unrealistic projections  or overwhelm with too much detail. You will only get one chance to make a good  first impression and capture the attention of the reader. In fact, many  sophisticated investors have told me they rarely read a business plan or  proposal in its entirety. They make their decision on the strength of the  executive summary and their assessment of the owner/manager (in terms of  character, knowledge, skills and tenacity).

Focus on “what’s in it for them”. Show them clearly how they can benefit and  when the result will be crystallized. Give them enough detail to understand the  industry, opportunity and unique solution you provide. And most importantly,  clearly summarize the key financial metrics of profitability, cash flow and  ROI.

In short, make it EASY for them to invest in YOU.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6107414

 

Lily Allen may not be an authority on business, but she hit the nail on the head with her honest, irreverent spin on a timeless mystery – “how to know what to do when you have no idea and you’re not prepared”. In her platinum selling song, she sings:

 

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore,
And I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore, 
When do you think it will all become clear?

 

Everyone knows that we have been conditioned NOT to admit that we don’t know all of the right answers. Even though we know it’s not true, our teachers, bosses, politicians and even the media have modeled this “fake it until you make it” mentality. Since the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event, acting ‘as if’ seems like the logical solution to temporary uncertainty, or does it?

“I don’t know” is a simple phrase. Simple and powerful at the same time. While there can be no doubt that to use it denotes uncertainty and the risk of embarrassment, with it comes an attribute that is far more rare and influential…authenticity!

Over the course of my life, I have been asked some difficult questions both personally and professionally – I’ve been put on the spot, caught unprepared and left exposed and vulnerable. Many times, I racked my brain to come up with the answer – a plausible response that hit the nail on the head or got me out of jail [metaphorically speaking] for free! Other times, I just got lucky.

But occasionally I must admit, “I just don’t know!” I simply cannot say for sure. I just don’t have the answer right now.

Sometimes admitting you don’t know can be the most empowering, intelligent, authentic and liberating response that you can offer. Compared to stumbling through a half baked idea, outright lying or trying to pull a cohesive response out of thin air, admitting you don’t know is a sane solution to this diabolical dilemma.

To be honest, none of us has “The Answer” to everything. If you think you do, chances are you know even less than you thought! If someone has taken the time to ask a question, seek your business advice, and placed their trust in your expertise, they deserve pearls of wisdom not propaganda.

In fact, in order to be a true leader and to earn authority, which is the foundation of your ability to influence others, it is simply not enough to be knowledgeable. You also need to be truthful. Therefore, in order to master the power of influence, you must establish yourself as both honest and powerful in your communications.

When in doubt, “I don’t know but I will find out” is the best answer.

How can you avoid feeling the squeeze of stress?Many different factors have the potential to cause stress in a person’s life. If you take a look around you will see that some people have learned to manage and control their levels of stress much better than others. Even though there is no 1 specific key or “secret” to manage stress, the answer lies in learning to balance of a combination of little things and your physiology.

High levels of stress can lead to various medical conditions, negatively impact your daily routine and impair your ability learn and recall. The hormones which the brain releases in stressful situations are meant for fight or flight situations only – over use of these can actually be detrimental to the health of your brain and body.

Work (whether you own your own business or not) is filled with challenges, obstacles and opportunities that have the potential to cause stress. Knowing how this impacts you physically is the first step leading you to new insights and understandings on how to manage and control your reactions in an empowering way.

Your body language is a powerful indication of your ability to handle stress and problems. When your body encounters a stressful situation, hormones are automatically released into your adrenal glands to counterbalance the cortisol in your brain. Equilibrium is established when these stimulating and tranquilizing forces become equal. When one is greater than the other, you will experience a sense of imbalance, commonly referred to as stress.

In fact, your body goes to great lengths to prevent you from experiencing imbalance or stress. Your sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system essentially battle each other to bring your body back to equilibrium. This fight or flight response to stress also necessitates the shutting down of many of the other key systems in the body – which makes it much more difficult to reason, react and communicate while in this agitated state.

It is next to impossible to eliminate stress completely from your life. Some stress is actually good for us. However, learning how to quickly and reliably relieve stress and become focused will enable you to tackle challenges with a clear head, communicate clearly and navigate tense situations. In fact, the best way to reduce stress quickly and reliably is through managing the sensory input received by the body: through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Each person responds differently to various levels and types of sensory input – the trick is to find out what works best for you to manage stress.

We all have different preferences, tolerances and needs. For example, certain kinds of music or distinctive smells may relax one person but irritate another. Take the time to discover what works best for you at home, in your car, at the office, or wherever you may encounter stress. Simple deep breathing and relaxation techniques also work wonders and they are free, easy to implement and produce quick results.

Harnessing the power of sensory stress-busting techniques will provide you with a powerful technique for staying calm, collected and in control. You’ll have the assurance to face adversity and challenge in every aspect of your life, knowing that you have the ability to bring your body back into a state of equilibrium and ease.

 

Optimists trust that the future will be mostly good – they also believe their decisions, choices and actions shape their destinies. There is evidence to suggest that optimists tend to have better coping mechanisms and tend to be less negatively impacted but life’s little ups and downs. They recover faster, tend to eat right and exercise, are less likely to smoke, suffer less from aches and pains and are at a much lower risk for dementia and other diseases.

But what if you’re not a natural born optimist? Studies seem to indicate that optimism is only slightly influenced by genetics – 20% at best. In fact your experiences, the language you use to describe them and the meanings that you have attributed to them shape your world and your future outlook. Every single one of us can learn to become optimistic. However optimism is not achieved by making a decision one day to be optimistic – it takes more than attempting to change your feelings or outlook consciously.

Particularly in this time of economic uncertainty, faith and optimism are powerful belief structures. Arguably however, both are habits and need to be developed and nurtured over time. In fact 99% of what we do is pure habit – the domain of the subconscious.

Positive thinking alone is inherently undependable. Sustained optimism requires more than The Secret, The Law of Attraction and a few positive affirmations. Optimism is not something you are born with – it is a learned behaviour/habit. The same is true of pessimism. When the going gets tough, affirmations fly out the door and the subconscious habits will kick back in and cause all of us to sabotage our own success. In actual fact, each of us is our own worst enemy.

At the end of the day, it is not what happens to you that matters. It is about who you are and what you become because of (not despite) what happens. Change your perspective today…change your life forever!

What do you need to do to change the playing field you are on completely?

It’s an unlikely source for great business advice for entrepreneurs.  A story about Billy Beane, the general manager of a major league baseball team at the bottom of the ladder – the Oakland A’s.  Crushed by the big budgets and big name players of teams like the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, Beane is forced to take a risk and do something no team has done before – abandon traditional recruiting methods and employ computer-generated analysis to acquire and trade players.  And in doing so, he changed the face and landscape of the game forever.

The following quotes from the movie were never really meant for you and your business and yet, they reveal some fantastic truths about life and success that will make you a better owner and leader.

 

1. You’re not solving the problem. You’re not even looking at the problem.

It is very easy for you to be distracted by all the issues and rhetoric swirling around the actual problem.   The more you (or others) have personally invested in the status quo, the more you will be prevented from seeing the real problem for what it is.  Seek advice and perspective from people outside your industry — those inside will be emotionally attached to the way things have always been done and thus, they have become part of the problem.

Your number one objective is to determine what the actual issue is, and solve it.  You don’t have time to get caught up in meetings talking about why it is a problem or re-engineering band-aid fixes that have not cured it in the past.

2. We’ve got to think differently.

Your business really isn’t that different from the Oakland A’s baseball team.  If you’re a start up or a small-mid size business, you’re likely working under some tight (and possibly unfair) resource constraints.  If you want to grow and to challenge competitors that have much deeper pockets, you need to level the playing field or you need to change it completely.  It is impossible to beat anyone if you insist on letting others dictate the terms.   You must start by thinking differently.  What would need to change in order for you to have the advantage?  What can you do differently right now to achieve your objective? How can you adapt or modify your approach to get what you want?

Playing the game on your competitor’s terms is no longer a viable option.  It can only lead to frustration and failure.

3. He passes the eye candy test. He’s got the looks – he’s great at playing the part.

Success often depends on good scouting and recruiting. A common mistake that most of you will make is to recruit team members that you like (and have something in common with during the interview) or who look the part. In order to ensure the survival of your business, need team members that can actually do the job that you need them to do. It doesn’t matter whether the candidate has 15 years of experience at a multi-national or comes highly recommended from so-and-so.  None of that amounts to a hill of beans if they cannot do the job.  If you want to boost your success this year, get the right people on your bus.  If you need a good hitter (someone who can close business) don’t hire a semi-retired catcher who is charming in the interview.

4. Your goal shouldn’t be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins.

It is important to get the right people on your bus. However, in order to do that, you need to figure out exactly what needs to get done and hire people who can do it.  Don’t get caught up in fancy titles, big salaries, stock options and what looks good to the outside world.  If you want to be successful you must be in the business of plugging gaping holes and buying outcomes.

If you need more customers and sales, hire someone that you know can and is incentivized to close business.  It doesn’t matter what you call him, what matters is that he can produce the result that you need to survive and thrive in your business.

5. Why do you like him? Because he gets on base.

Step 1 – figure out what success looks like for the role you need to fill.  Step 2 – don’t hire anyone without a proven track record of achieving that outcome.  Step 3 – Get rid of (or trade) anyone who can’t fulfil their role or who is polluting the office environment.

6.  Where on the field is the dollar I’m paying for soda?

It is good to be frugal and smart with your money but it never pays to be penny wise and a pound foolish. If you want to grow your business profitably, focus on the items that will have the biggest impact on your bottom line and cash flow first. There’s no point focusing on shaving one or two thousand dollars off your fixed expenses if you’ve got $25,000 tied up in dead or slow moving inventory. To make good decisions and take action that boosts your bottom line, you need to measure and track your financial KPIs regularly.

7. I’m not paying you for the player you used to be, I’m paying you for the player you are right now.

While you might get away with recruiting based on potential, in the end, you can only reward based on results. Time and time again I have seen business owners struggle with the decision to let salespeople, who are not meeting their targets, go. The decision is really a very easy one. Someone has to go. It’s either them or you. You can’t win a baseball game without putting runs on the board and you can’t build a successful enterprise without hitting sales targets consistently.

8.  It’s day one of the first week. You can’t judge just yet.

Patience is a virtue. Don’t pass judgment judge too soon. If someone’s not performing or the team is not quite gelling, take some time to investigate, ask questions and make adjustments. All changes to the team will have a natural breaking-in period.

Too much tolerance can become a vice. Good performers tend to contribute value very quickly – both in terms of their attitude and work ethic. The typical 3 month probation period is more than enough time to make a fair evaluation. When the writing is on the wall, have the confidence to cut your losses and move on.

Despite the Oakland A’s disadvantaged revenue situation, Billy Beane took his team from bottom of the ladder to World Series contender in just a few months. By re-evaluating the strategies that produced wins on the field, they built a winning team with only one-third of the salary budget of the New York Yankees. To do this, they had to do more than just play better a better game of ball. They had to transform the playing field completely.


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