August 2nd, 2009 by Bruce

Starting a business can be a daunting task. Generally, a person will develop a product or service and then wonder, now what? Does that sound like you? Help is available to people who want to start up a business and keep it going. All it takes is desire and research. If you’re reading this article, you’ve already begun. Technology, bio- and life- sciences, and healthcare technology based companies are among the most prevalent of start-up companies. But there are also other kinds of businesses, such as ones that are agricultural or ecological in nature. For all of them, consideration should be given to business incubators.

Business Incubators are designed specifically for companies in need of office space as well as career mentoring including funding and many other resources. Need help with a business plan? No problem. Advice on legal issues? Do you have question about advertising? Need help with how to market your product or service? Need a conference room to discuss your product with potential clientele? Again, no problem. There is usually a clean-up crew, to boot. Another feature is that you’ll likely be among other start-up companies using the space and going through many of the same struggles and successes, which can be a much-needed support system.

Wet lab incubators are specially designed for more than just business support, though that is still included. These spaces often include state-of-the-art equipment, with all safety regulations in place and designed for efficiency and sustainability. Taking advantage of such nice facilities would behoove any start-up company in need of lab space. Wet lab incubators are often found in cities with universities or hospitals nearby.

One type of business niche not typically thought of in terms of science and technology is agriculture, but there is room for this type of company in life science incubators. A prospective company may not find this type of incubator in the heart of a booming innovation-based city, but that’s to be expected. More on the edges of rural landscapes, they are still businesses can be incubated and helped to grow, if you will.

So, no matter what kind of company you start, there is a type of business incubator to fit your needs. Economic times may be tough, but there is growth happening in businesses. If you want to get a company off the ground, it is possible, and it doesn’t have to be an intimidating process. Make sure you use all of the great business resources at your disposal.

Business Marketing Help, Business plan, Small Business, Startup Business Marketing, Startup company

July 28th, 2009 by Bruce

All businesses should have a business plan. It can be a fairly daunting task to sit down with a blank piece of paper and start drawing one up for your business. It’s something that is very important for you to do though, and as a Virtual Assistant you will probably find that you don’t need to do too much, as it’s unlikely that you’ll need much funding for your initial start up. I would encourage every start up business, Virtual Assistant or not, to sit down and go through the process of writing a business plan. The very act of putting your ideas onto paper helps you to focus and clarify your ideas. There are a great variety of templates available to help you, and I suggest that your first step should be to check out the selection on the Microsoft website.

When you start, you should begin with a very simple document that deals with the following items:

1. Your Elevator Pitch – A thirty second description of your company and the services you provide which you can use when networking to introduce yourself in 30 seconds or less.

2. Market Analysis/Market Research – Is the research that you have undertaken to identify your market, the target market for your service, your competitors and your service offering. You should provide a detailed description of the various groups of targeted customers which are in your market analysis, and express why you are choosing these specifically as targets. You may also want to describe the Virtual Assistant market by summarising the market growth over recent years and some trend analysis of where the market is likely to be headed.

3. Marketing and Sales – You should have established plans to market your product and to finalise sales. Your marketing strategy is going to include how you’re going to focus on your target market, what media you’re going to use to build awareness of your business and how you’re going to position your business in the marketplace; this will involve identifying your unique selling position. Your sales strategy on the other hand will deal with how you’re going to close the deal and get the client on board; this will include pricing, delivery, terms and conditions.

4. Operations – You need to describe how your business is going to be set up, including premises and equipment, you may also want to include how you see this changing as your online business grows.

5. Management and People – This section should include an overview of how the company is set up, what support staff you use now, or may want to use in the future.

6. Finance – This is the part that generally scares people to death, but there is really no need to panic. You should do this to ensure that your business has the potential to succeed, and so that you have a few specific financial goals and targets to push for. You can easily download spreadsheet templates from the Web if you use Microsoft Office. I personally suggest that you acquire them from their website as they have a huge variety of completely free templates. This will comprise of :

* A personalised spending plan so you are aware of what expenditure you will need to cover from your income.

* A worksheet showing how you’re going to fund any start up costs you might have.

* A Sales Budget – You will probably want to use value based pricing for this. You can reasonably estimate your sales by working out your billable hours per month at the rate you expect to charge.

* A Costs Budget – You will need to identify your fixed costs and your variable costs. There is no requirement to calculate the cost of sales because as a Virtual Assistant you are merely offering a service.

* An Operating Budget/Profit and Loss – This is a strategy for your business which details the sales and expenditure accounts in one form.

* Break Even Analysis – This will demonstrate the amount of hours you need to bill in order to cover your costs, and then anything in excess of that is profit. To complete this type of analysis you need to know your variable costs/unit, sales price/unit and fixed costs.

* Cashflow Forecast – This is the most crucial document for you. It’s the lifeblood of your business. Bad financial management is the primary reason for business failure. This will assist you with monitoring the cash flowing in and out of your business, and it will assist you with identifying when you’ll have cash available, or when you may not have enough cash and should make alternate arrangements with your bank before the coming problem wrecks havoc.

That’s everything you essentially require to make a start. This should even be all you really need to set up a business bank account. You can add things like an executive summary at the start of the document, which is a section designed to give a brief overview of your business together with highlights from sections 2 -6 above. If you wish, you could add appendices to include your CV and so on.

Don’t forget, your business plan should be dynamic and you should use it as a yardstick of how effectively you’ve met your targets. It needs to be reviewed at least every four weeks from when you start your business, but this can be extended as your business grows, although it’s always best to monitor the financial section at regular, short term intervals.

Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, a state of the art Executive Virtual Assistant Service which assists businesses and individuals with every aspect of their enterprising requirements. Do you want to explore these inspiring online business building success strategies? Check out the Campaign for FREE Virtual Assistance right away!

Business, Business plan, marketing, Marketing strategy, Small Business, Target market