If you’re a passionate entrepreneur, you’re probably also an opportunist—as you should be. If you have immense drive and ambition with the desire to be your own boss but lack a clear vision of what type of business you would like to build, why not investigate growing small businesses of the future?
Business is about demand and supply, problems and solutions. If there are gaps in products and services, it is your challenge AND opportunity to go above and beyond to fill these gaps. Start sprouting your ideas in these markets:
- Residential and commercial maintenance
- Training, coaching and mentorship services
- Internet-based services and e-commerce
- Products and services for aging population (baby boomers)
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Care for the aged
- Childcare and extra-curricular activities for youth
- Consultants (in a variety of expertise)
- Home décor and home improvement
- Security services
- Export – Small businesses should explore the international market.
Every small business should be exploring opportunities to export their product or service. If not throughout the world, at least throughout North America.
When you surround yourself with innovative, creative, and motivated self-starters, you’ll start to notice things changing around you like your ideas about work, life and success. Most importantly, you’ll start to notice that attitude is fairly contagious.
Here are a few signs you’re surrounded by brilliant people:
- Meeting for coffee usually ends in scribbles on a napkin or an all-nighter developing a business idea
- Brainstorming is a daily occurrence
- You stop daydreaming and start doing
- You scoff at overnight success, even Google was turned down by some VCs
- You spend a lot of time genuinely happy for someone else’s accomplishments
- You have a lot of people genuinely happy for your accomplishments
- You welcome criticism because it’s likely constructive
- You hear less I hate my job’s and more I love what I do’s
- You start to realize that where there’s a problem, there’s a solution—and that means there is probably a business
- No is just not an option. It’s an opportunity to prove something
When you meet a person or a group of people who are passionate ambassadors of loving what you do and being your own boss, it’s difficult not to feel inspired to do more and create something that is your own.
In Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start, Kawasaki says for most entrepreneurs, the business plan document is one of the least important factors in raising money. However, writing a business plan for the right reasons will reap benefits for and beyond investment.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Start-Time-Tested-Battle-Hardened-Starting/dp/1591840562
Reasons why you should write a business plan:
- You will need it during due diligence when seeking investment. It is necessary to be on file.
- Writing one will bring the founding team together, creating a stronger and more cohesive team.
- It may point out who you shouldn’t be working with
- Writing helps point out cracks in the foundation
- Whatever gets lots in the excitement of launching can be caught in the writing stage i.e. a customer service policy
- Writing a plan will help find the holes in a founding team. If there is a key element with no one qualified to execute, you know what you’ll need to hire for
In summary, writing is a journey to discovery both in life and in business. When you sit down to flesh out and structure your ideas, you will find the obstacles that will force you to be more innovative in order to overcome.
A business plan can make the difference between a good business and a great business just through the act of writing one.
As an entrepreneur, chances are you started your business because you’re passionate about what you do, not because you love doing payroll or calculating tax deductions.
In fact, many small business owners feel that every minute they spend on administrative tasks is a minute they’re not building their business. If you’ve attended a BizLaunch Webinar or Seminar, you know that we agree. Outsourcing tasks like payroll can help small businesses like yours to save time and money, so you can focus on doing more of what you love.
Canadians’ top reasons for outsourcing common tasks:
- Don’t enjoy doing it themselves – 37 per cent
- Don’t know how to do it – 36 per cent
- Outsource to save time – 27 per cent
(Source: ADP Outsource It! Index)
To learn more about the benefits of outsourcing your payroll, we invite you to read the free booklet, Small Business Guide to Outsourcing. Click Here to Download
If you are building a small business and seeking investment, you probably feel confident that you know YOUR business inside out. You’ve probably written and rewritten your PowerPoint slide deck more than once and have rehearsed your pitch to anyone who would listen.
Remember, however, while VCs and other investors might be interested in a variety of projects, there is usually a pattern and strategy to their choices. Besides knowing what you want to say, you should also know what your investors are looking for.
Here are 5 things you can research about your investors:
- What are their recent investments?
- How recently have they invested in a business at a similar stage as yours?
- How much involvement do they usually expect to have in the business?
- What business connections/mentorship can they provide you?
- How would your business fit into their investment strategy?
Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) hosted the Young Entrepreneur Summit from June 20 through June 22 to coincide with the gathering of world leaders to follow. With the belief that it will be small businesses that will lead to economic recovery, many gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship around the world. From Wesley Hall of Kingsdale to Tom Jenkins of OpenText, entrepreneurs who started most ventures in their basement talked about what it takes to grow.
From panels to keynotes, here is what we thought were the best takeaways for entrepreneurs of all ages.
- Remember that a bad idea, regardless of how hard you work will still be a bad idea. Test it to make sure it is good idea.
- Having stability at home is vital so you have the focus necessary to run a good business.
- Entrepreneur values: Vision. Delegation. Respect shareholders. Positive mental attitude. Selling
- Difference between winners and losers is the time of recovery
- For an entrepreneur, failure is another step in the journey
- Business is not something you do to make a living, it’s something you do to make a life
- As CEO, you have to imagine yourself sitting on an ice cream cone in July – you have to be able to make decision fast.
- Entrepreneurs are optimists that fail. They learn from it, pick themselves up and go at it again.
- Money comes and goes, but mentors are where the real value is.
- Don’t let the ideas stay in your head. Launch.
Great advice from the book: How To Become A Great Boss by Jeffrey J Fox page:4
- Only hire top-notch, excellent people
- Put the right people in the right job. Weed out the wrong people
- Tell people what needs to be done
- Tell people why it is needed
- Delegate the job to the person you’ve hired…your job is to manage them
- Train the people
- Listen to people
- Create an “open door” policy for your employees to tell you anything
- Check in on project progress
- Say “Thank You” publicly and privately
If you recently launched a small business, you simply must sell. No product or service sells itself. Sales will solve most of your problems. With enough money coming in, you can hire more people to run your business, cover your operating costs, pay suppliers, retain lawyers and accountants to manage your finances, invest in marketing, purchase better equipment and, above all else, feed your family.
Follow these ten tips to boost sales in your small business:
- Offer quality products and services.
- Focus on the customer. Commit to doing what it takes to make them happy.
- Hire talented salespeople. Invest in training for them.
- Understand that selling is about developing relationships. Build trust with your customers by being honest, reliable and admitting any mistakes.
- Pay more attention to your existing customers than new ones. It’s far less expensive to keep a customer than to find a new one.
- Aim to be the best in your industry through exceptional customer care.
- Keep your promises. A client’s trust is conditional. Under promise and over deliver.
- Never say bad things about any of your competitors.
- Always be selling. Open your eyes and ears for new opportunities. Pursue your dream customers. Don’t wait for business to walk in the door.
- Commit to continuously improving your selling system. Invest in training, resources and tools to get better and better at selling.
Shirtpal is a Toronto-based company specializing in men’s custom tailored shirts. Their aim is to revolutionize your shopping experience by offering perfect fit custom dress shirts for off the rack prices. Shirtpal differentiates itself from its competitors with its well-designed website that offers the ability to custom design shirts from the comfort of your own home. Options include custom monograms, collars and cuffs. Shirtpal puts a huge emphasis on user experience and has recently brought on image consultants. Their purpose is to provide advice to customers, completely tailored to the individual. Information gathered includes profession, common colors worn by the individual, and what’s currently in their wardrobe.
Shirtpal’s success has grown steadily since its inception in December 2009. Its founders, Winnie Cheung and Noorneet Singh, are recent graduates from the Richard Ivey School of Business. The company is currently expanding across Canada, with local events in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Global operations exist in Sydney, Thailand, Japan and Singapore. Attending these events allows customers to have their measurements taken, speak with our image consultants, see shirt samples and feel the fabrics.
Winnie and Noorneet are also very big on giving back to the community. Shirtpal has established a partnership with Buy1Give1, a charitable organization. For every shirt the company sells, Shirtpal will clothe and provide toiletries for a child in Mumbai. Shirtpal’s goal is to clothe approximately 25,000 children this year.
To check out their website and book an appointment for one of their local events, visit www.shirtpal.com
- You will not get a regular monthly salary – how much you make will depend on how good business is.
- You risk losing everything you have worked for – some of the most successful business owners have failed before. You can always make a comeback.
- Successful business owners have all failed at some time in their life. Failing is sometimes good for an entrepreneur, as long as they learn from the experience.
- Inexperience – you will have to learn a whole lot of new skills. You can fast track this by attending business courses and consulting a mentor or good business advisor.
- A change in lifestyle – you will be working long hours initially. As your business develops and you become more organised, your lifestyle improves dramatically.
- You can’t pass the buck – you are responsible for every decision you make in your business, good or bad. Bad decisions can cost a lot of money.
- You have to be a Jack or Jill of all trades initially. You have to understand a little about each section of your business.
