You are right ...

Hi Tim,

Nice work keep it up

Daniel J. Ostrus ...

What if it's so "new" that people don't understand #3 (the problem)?

Nice post. I had to Google you to see the brain behind the words (btw I used Sidekick and Paradox way back when because they were like what you paint here).

About two years ago I decided to invent a product that nobody else had because it gave total brand and creative control; it had to be a product because I was tired of "improving" things to fit customers' needs to make a sale (had developed custom software and design kinds of things for years).

Anyway, long story short, the product invention is still patent pending and we're not seeking investors, but getting retailers and distributors on board is kind of the same challenge only worse because the people who make the decisions are just doing their jobs and that's making sure they don't risk buying into a new solution when there isn't a proven market.

You can look at http://www.TigerTaco.com and see what we've done so far (and it's not like we're not making it go and having a blast) but I am constantly amazed by how hard it is to really make an impact into our main markets -- and I think that is primarily because we solve a problem most people don't realize they have with cardboard boxes.

I fit your "I'm so confident of the market I don't need anything else" (I've been this far ahead twice before) and while I do need more sales, I really need to get into the places where my buyers are so that they can see a solution. I was worried for the first year about having a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, but now we've sold into and received enough feedback from the people that know that I'm sure it's only now a matter of time ... perhaps a long time.

Turning Business Plans into a high growth businesses ...

The business plan is a crucial step in the startup process. The more challenging part of starting a business is the actual "doing." Success comes through understanding a couple crucial laws including the law of attraction and the law of compensation. I provide a more in-depth explanation on my site.

http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?rta=blog ...

Annoying ...

I couldn't agree more! It's always annoying to be reading something, especially a professional document and see such errors. Although they are small, one can't help but think a little less of the author's intelligence.

How to rise the incomes of stakeholders ...

I have worked for the rural development since 2004 but untill now I couldn't find any progress in rural area. why so? In Madagascar the real plan of developping farmers doen't exist. We have the trends to follow west evolution but in fact our power to ateign that is not enough yet. Farmers in Madagascar lives under the lowest income in the world. How could they get good life if the fodd entered in their mouth is so low.
I worked for delopping rice production but I have noticed I have lot of work to do because some poeple take profits of the ignorance of poor farmers. I have trained them but that is not enough. I gave the basic in envirnment evolution but few farmers recieved the information. Now I plan to enlarge my activity but me too I am wick.

Success - a relative term ...

I find it true that many people fail to define success for the course that they are taking. When you sit down and define your targets you begin to appreciate what success means to you. I pose a question though or make them a couple. Who defines your success? Should you define your own success or should your success be based on the subjective analysis of peers. Again, what should your success be measured against? Should it be against your own targets? The poser then becomes that should your targets be small,is your success real success? In that case, should your success be measured against the activities and successes (or lack thereof) of others? The only thing we can say for certain is that success is a relative term ...

Targeting as Planning ...

Although business plans act as formal documents for a firm's movement into the future, they are really clearly set out targets for the owner or executive. Contituents are definitely have a stake in the business plan, such as banker who will loan the business money. However, I agree that unless the business plan can be adjusted the business could end up missing the market. Business owners must be able to adapt quickly to the rapid changes in the business environment or bite the dust. That's the reason I like to use the concept of targets. The business plan sets the targets for the business and is useful as a specific guide. But business plans must also engage strategy for successful execution of the business. Strategy breathes life into the plan. The market in today's environment is a moving target, so the business owner must be prepared to adjust his or her aim to hit that the targets at which he or she aims. That means adjusting the aim every once in awhile. This comes with documenting it and then executing it. Floyd ...

Breeding cows, bushes, and computers ...

Tim, A couple of important thoughts on assets versus expenses. First, the business must consider the life of the asset. The IRS has something to say about this also. Even a breeding cow or bushes have an asset useful life, but do tables and chairs. That depends... Are they a set and reside in your conference room? Mostl like they will have a useful life. What about dining chairs and a table in your lunch room? Could be. Second, I advise businesses to set a cap limit, such as $1,000, and expense everything costing less than that. Why track smaller cost items when it can be expensed in the first year? Third, take advantage of Section 179. In tax year 2007, the limit went up substantially. But watch out if you may be incurring a loss for the year. The IRS may look at that. I worked with a client that expensed everything because the organization didn't have someone on board who knew accounting. Its CPA firm had to perform a large and expensive reclassification of all of its assets. I came in after this occurred and shook my head. That really hurt the organization. That brings me to a fourth important item. Make sure that the business has expertise on board for manging its assets. Thanks for the blog. Floyd ...

No....

I dont agree with this at all. If you're going to start a fucking business, who the fuck gives a shit as to who the fuck wrote the fucking thing - As long as you can fucking operate the business successfully, and you run it your own way, thats all that matters. This article is a complete waste of fucking time, and I suggest that anyone who reads the whole thing just put a stop to their life right now. On top ofthat, this stupid fucker who has written a comment before mine cant even fucking write in English properly - "Thanks, and that was an excellant article!" - EXCELLANT??? What is he, FRENCH????? God damned french people piss me off... BUY YOUR GODDAMNED BUSINESS PLANS!!! Dont waste 100 hours of solid work making your own - its not even really that interesting doing it.

why is that?

I mean, people should consider all things first hand before starting any business. Now why is it that people overwhelmed, just go straight for their dream business and later have no regrets, when some people on the other hand, complete with all the business plan and financing still won't make it...

A Simple Planning Solution ...

I do agree a plan that comes from the heart is much better than a shallow ritual put on paper. I also would recommend putting your heart felt thoughts on paper. Without them it is easy to go astray, or chase a bad opportunity. The best planning system I have found is The One Page Business Plan, by Jim Horan. When working with a consultant you can create a plan in less than 8 hours and have it focused, concise and effective. It ends up being a guiding light to the organizations? efforts. You can order a book at Amazon. It is a great tool to strengthen strategic thinking and implementation. I become a certified One Page consultant 4 years ago and still use the method with clients. rene@salesmanagernow.com ...

Tim Berry ...

Cool, thanks for clearing that up. Tim.

Buyer Beware ...

I'm not sure what you mean by an affiliation with the lender. But I have used their services in the pass. That's about where my affiliation ends. I just know how difficult this process was for me and thought I would contribute my experience.

Buyer Beware ...

Thanks for that addition Sidney, but do you have affiliation with the lender you mention? If so you should say so when you recommend it.

Maybe Alternative Financing?

Yeah, it can be frustrating. It might be that you're running into the problem of banking law, which makes it illegal for commercial banks to lend money without collateral. In general they don't have the luxury of believing your projections, or not, because they're lending depositors' money. You should look for alternative financing.

Some Not Surprising Truths About Educated Guessing ...

I agree with the author of this article. Appropriate preparation is necessary in order to created convincing projections of your business' future income and these educated guesses could make the difference of whether or not a financial institution will approve a small loans application. But I truly can sympathize with Robert. When I was beating the pavement trying to get my own personal home-based business off the ground and establishing it my first commercial property, I almost lost hope. I kept hearing the same thing over and over again at every bank and lending institution I tried. One of the biggest hurdles I faced as I tried to make my business a reality was how to convince lending institutions that my business would make enough money to repay my requested loan amount. This is where the effectiveness of the educated guessing of your future project income remains key to the approval of your loan. The bottom line is that I found out, in each attempt I made to acquire a small business loan, in spite of my educated guessing with regards to my future income projections, that collateral is one of the biggest setbacks most entrepreneurs and small business owner have to face and overcome. I found it very difficult to convince any bank that my home-based business could be a tremendous success, if I could acquire the resources I so desperately needed to get things on stream. My efforts with them still remained fruitless. However, I discovered an online lending resource, www.thesnaploan.com. Based on my experience with this site, I was able to successfully acquire a start up loan for $100,000. What?s even better is that I was able to apply online, and I got my approval pretty fast, about two weeks. It sounds like a financial resource that could be right up your alley.

Some Not Surprising Truths About Educated Guessing ...

Wow, I really love the title of your article. I myself am in that exact predicament. I am in the process of recalculating prior educated guesses of my planned business' projected income. I have yet to have found a lending institution that is convinced by this plan. I however fail to see the complications for understanding it. It is projected, right? My situation is that I would like to change my home-based business, because I have outgrown the space. Right now, I need to locate a physical/commercial location for my business and acquire the proper equipment and safety gear, to conduct my classes. My problem gets more complicated because I have no cash to pursue my business venture. What I am looking for is a small business start up loan, preferably an unsecured business loan, and most banks expect you to present them with these figures. I believe I have been having problems getting a loan, because I don?t have enough collateral. However, in order for my business' bottom line to improve, I need to be able to acquire the space so that the expansion can occur and hence allow my business? income to grow. I even projected that my projected income will allow me to cover the loan payment to the lending institution. In reality, I find that convincing banks or lending institutions, in spite if my projected income, is next to impossible. It's almost as if they don't believe in making dreams a reality any more.

True words ...

Thankyou for your no fuss thoughts on planning. Easy to understand and impliment advice. http://www.lifeandbusinesscoach.com.au/business_coaching.html ...

Often You Need Help Though ...

I agree with making your own rather than buying one on the internet, but most business owners don't even know where to start. My company specializes in creating custom marketing and business plans for clients, and we work with the client along every step of the way to create a unqiue plan that helps out the business owner grow and expand thier business. If you would like to see more information about what our company does, please visit www.sweetmarketingsolutions.com. Thanks, and that was an excellant article!

Good explanation -- One other caution ...

Great job at explaining this. Another key issue that any business owner needs to keep in mind is that neither one of these options will tell them what their true cash flow is. They should prepare and keep updated a cash flow budget to ensure they know what impacts are happening to their cash flow over time and projected for the future. This is one of the issues I explore in my book "Small Business Cash Flow." More info at http://www.cashflowtruth.com ...