Building a Business and Planning for the Future

June 30th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under • by admin

Brett Wilder, Certified Financial Planner™ and author of The Quiet Millionaire shares expert advice with American Small Business News readers:

Question: What are the biggest challenges faced by small business owners when building a business and making plans for the future.

Answer: The 5 biggest challenges entrepreneurs face when building a business and planning for the future are as follows:

1. Preparing and implementing a comprehensive business plan:
A business evolves from an idea about a product or service for which there is an expected demand and a potential to make money. However, to make the idea happen, you need to know your destination and how you are going to get there. Writing a thoroughly researched comprehensive business plan is the best way to intelligently map out your course on paper before acting on the creation. Not preparing one is a primary reason why according to the Small Business Association (SBA) fifty percent of all new businesses fail in their first year and ninety-five percent fail in their first five years.

2. Managing cash flow:
One thing to always remember when running a business is that cash is king. Your business might be operating profitably but can become bankrupt and forced to shut down because there are bills to be paid and no sources of cash to pay them. Therefore, know in advance the potential cash requirements and where the cash will be coming from. Here’s a cautionary bit of advice based upon practical experience. Once you have prepared a well-thought-out cash flow projection to determine the dollar amount of cash required, it’s probable that unexpected eventualities will actually require double the amount you projected in order to survive.

3. Getting noticed in a competitive marketplace:
You need to define your business’s target audience and plan how to attract it. While you might have a great product or service, you will never have a successful business unless your target clientele know what you provide. Develop business niches to distinguish your business and laser focus your marketing messages to the defined marketplace. If you need to get some ACT Education Courses to grow your business, don’t hesitate. It may be well worth the investment.

4. Hiring and retaining the right people:
The people who work for you can make or break your business. Hire tough in order to manage easy and so be sure not hire too fast or fire too slowly. Invest in training and developing staff, listen to what they have to say, treat them fairly, measure their performance, and reward them for good work.

5. Providing impeccable service that retains clients/customers and generates referrals:
Obtaining and converting qualified prospects into ideal satisfied clientele is more time consuming and costly than it is to retain happy, satisfied clients/customers. Whether you need CRM Consulting or want to do it on your own, the best source of new business is from referrals by established relationships provided they are being serviced in a way they expect. Moreover, remember that if you provide unsatisfactory neglectful service and lose relationships, others are made aware and this causes damage to your marketing efforts.