I often get clients who have attempted to write a business plan using one of the several business-plan-writing software programs that are available, some of them costing upwards of $400.
However, I have not once had a client that was able to write a comprehensible business plan using such programs. In fact, the reason I am writing this post is because I have had two clients in this situation within the past couple of weeks.
My advice is to save your money and not purchase one of these programs.
In general, the problem seems to be that the software is overly complex and tries to make you "slice and dice" your plans too many different ways. You end up repeating yourself unnecessarily, causing confusion for the reader and frustration for yourself as the writer.
I suspect that the publishers of these programs make them long and complex in order to make the purchaser feel like he got something for his money. Many entrepreneurs write business plans in order to solicit money from investors, or in order to get a bank loan. However, potential investors and lenders want a clear, concise business plan.
I have developed a business plan template and instructions that will guide you to solidify your plans and put them down on paper. If you are interested in receiving it, simply post a comment with your request.
Remember the K.I.S.S. principle!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tweak It!
If you are not getting the response that you want from your advertising, tweak it!
Many entrepreneurs readily accept that they must continually improve their product or service, but I have found that few of them understand that the same is true of their marketing message.
The easy ability to revise marketing materials is the most powerful aspect of electronic marketing. This power allows you to continually improve the response rates from your electronic advertising. This includes faxes, e-newsletters, Websites, email advertising, Google AdWords, AdSense, and more. It even includes printed matter that you develop yourself and print on your own printer.
The chances that you hit upon the most effective message the first time you try are just about nil. Therefore, you must segment your list and run A/B test ads with two different headers, messages, designs, or combinations of these. You will typically find that you get a better response from one than the other. Then you take that concept and further develop it by doing another A/B split to test variations on that theme. As you continue to do this over the period of months and even years, you will usually see a dramatic improvement in response rate vs. the original piece.
The best part of all is that this process is FUN!! Most entrepreneur/inventors are both creative and analytical. This will tickle both of those sides of your brain!
Do you have a good story about how you revised your advertising message and saw an improvement (or even a drop-off) in response? If so, please share it with other readers via a comment.
Many entrepreneurs readily accept that they must continually improve their product or service, but I have found that few of them understand that the same is true of their marketing message.
The easy ability to revise marketing materials is the most powerful aspect of electronic marketing. This power allows you to continually improve the response rates from your electronic advertising. This includes faxes, e-newsletters, Websites, email advertising, Google AdWords, AdSense, and more. It even includes printed matter that you develop yourself and print on your own printer.
The chances that you hit upon the most effective message the first time you try are just about nil. Therefore, you must segment your list and run A/B test ads with two different headers, messages, designs, or combinations of these. You will typically find that you get a better response from one than the other. Then you take that concept and further develop it by doing another A/B split to test variations on that theme. As you continue to do this over the period of months and even years, you will usually see a dramatic improvement in response rate vs. the original piece.
The best part of all is that this process is FUN!! Most entrepreneur/inventors are both creative and analytical. This will tickle both of those sides of your brain!
Do you have a good story about how you revised your advertising message and saw an improvement (or even a drop-off) in response? If so, please share it with other readers via a comment.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Angel Capital Association Conference
I just returned from the very informative and well-run Angel Capital Association Summit in Atlanta last week. While there is still quite a bit of investing activity, the "take-away" message that I got was this: The reduction in M & A activity and the near-halt (until last week, that is) in IPO activity has put quite a damper on investment activity. In particular, valuations have been cut substantially.
Interestingly, one speaker, Basil Peters, presented evidence showing that all parties involved make more money upon exit when either angels or VCs are involved as investors, but not both. In other words, the involvment of angels lowers returns for VCs and the involvment of VCs lowers returns for angels. The same reductions follow through to the entrepreneur.
Interestingly, one speaker, Basil Peters, presented evidence showing that all parties involved make more money upon exit when either angels or VCs are involved as investors, but not both. In other words, the involvment of angels lowers returns for VCs and the involvment of VCs lowers returns for angels. The same reductions follow through to the entrepreneur.
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