business plan

  • layout
    • chapter 1-5 quiz - 10% each (50%)
    • question 1-4 - 5% each (20%)
      • electronic @ jackr@nait.ca
    • business plan: 30%
      • hard copy
      • electronic copy (word)
  • business plan
    • give bank/investor some info in order to ask for loan
    • make you think the whole bunch of different things to determine whether the business is viable or not
  • small business
    • 500 or fewer employees
  • micro enterprise
    • 5 or fewer employees (90% of Canadian business)
  • should i be working for myself
    • traits
  • what are you selling?
    • specialization
  • whom are you selling to?
    • targeting
  • risky something to make profit
  • speciallizing things are better
  • advantage
    • less workload (shared)
    • scape goat
    • shared investment
    • shared knowledge
    • shared risk
  • disadvantage
    • complimentary
  • create partnership agreement
    • capital and benefit
    • who is override other one decision?
    • someone out, how to end it?
  • specification: products
  • targeting: people

chapter 2: feasibility

  • location/site
  • working from home leasing/owning
  • market potential
  • protection
  • feasibility
    • do market research
  • items to consider
    • location
      • broad area - city - area
      • site: exact address
        • traffic
          • road construction can effect if any
        • visibility
        • parking
        • surrounding businesses
      • home based business
        • what am i selling, who am i selling it to can affects
          • customers come to our
        • online
        • d.j service
        • adv
          • tax breaks
          • work in pijama
        • disadv
          • motivation
      • generally location should be near customers
      • “convenient” (next to restaurant)
      • are there enough customers in the area
      • leasing/owning
        • leasing is better; (don’t know how much room we need, thus don’t own building at first) it has option to move on (more freedom)
        • owning is kind of tight to it
        • lease agreement
          • basic rent price
            • market value per sq.ft 25ftx40ftx$15
          • percent of sale
          • maintenance, utilities
          • length of lease renewal terms (price can go up if business is booming)
          • leasehold improvement
    • is there enough business
    • competition
    • level of sales

market potential

  • how much business is out there?
    • you and your competitors
  • market research
    • secondary research (stat from government, sites…)
    • primary research (do it yourself)
  • competition
    • direct: persue the same customers as you are
    • indirect
      • source of supply

sales forecast 3 years

  • industry statistics
  • customer buying intentions
  • how long to get customers
  • expert of opinion
  • how much business your competition gets
  • all the business out there
    • $400k ~ $100k for each (4 business do the same thing)
  • how much your business can handle (100% capacity)
    • 8 hours/ day x 2 people per hour rate

protecting our business

  • insurance
    • broker
  • small business insurance
    • to protect our assets
    • protect investors
  • theft
    • pilfering - theft in small quantities by employees
    • how can we stop it
      • sign out items
      • educate employees about cost
  • shoplifting
    • retail theft while we are open
    • kids (mostly)
    • professional shoplifters
    • how can we prevent it
      • store layout
        • visible aisles
        • mirrors
        • cameras
  • embezzelment
    • theft by person entrusted with handling company’s money
    • lawyers/accountants/cashiers
  • burglary
    • theft while closed
    • professional thieves
    • alarm
    • security
      • cameras
      • dogs
      • bars
      • keep lights on
      • keep cash cabinet open
  • robbery
    • theft by force / threat by violence (while we are open)
    • banks
    • 24 hours/day (convenience)
    • jewllery
  • fraud
    • deceit or trickery
    • internet scams
  • intellectual property
    • patent - protection for new tech invention (20 years)
    • must apply in all countries
  • copyright
    • not required to register
    • 50 years after death of creator
  • trademark
    • last 15 years
  • industrial design (snap-on wrench, shape of cups)
    • last 5 years, renews for 5 years (10 in total)

credit and collections

  • C.O.D. cash on delivery
    • master card / visa ~ 2%

marketing - how are we going to get customers

  • specializing in your target market
  • projected image - what type of image do you want to project
  • expected image - what people think your business is like
  • cognitive dissonance: project image and expected image are so different

business name

  • get attention
  • easy to remember
  • project the image that you want
  • when selecting a company name
    • what are you selling
    • whom are you selling

marketing strategy / marketing mix

  • product/service
  • pricing
    • lower, penetration price
    • higher, price skimming
    • same, competitive price
  • distribution stategy
    • how we get our goods/services to customer
    • physical issues to move our product
    • inventory
      • ordering
        • how long to get ?
        • shipping cost ?
    • transportation
      • deliver guy represent the image
  • promotional strategy
    • how are we going to promote our business ?
    • word of mouth vs marketing => promotion wins
    • advertising
    • publicity
    • personal selling
    • sale promotion
  • websites
  • direct mail
    • postal tracks
    • customer lists
    • subscription lists
    • compiled lists

chap 4: organize the work

  • retail set up
    • volume of shelf allocation
      • how much space for each item
      • how fast they sell
        • don’t want shelf to be empty
      • how many we have to buy at a time
      • positioning of merchandise
    • impulse
      • located in check out line, end of alses
      • boost shoppers ego with an impulse purchase
    • security
  • process set-up: group similar types
  • product set-up: group things, which used to create particular product, together
  • procedures
    • sequential list: simply a list in the order things are performed
    • bar graph
    • flow chart
  • quality
    • supply the right quality for target customers
  • Management - getting people to do work
  • Leadership - getting people to work harder - motivation/achieve
  • Leadership tips:
    • Measure behavior
    • Reward improvement (say good jobs, celerate)
    • Take responsibility for employee well being (more important than wages)
    • Show people you care
    • Provide opportunity
    • Dynamic leadership (listen to employee)
  • Two false beliefs about pay
    • Money is not the strongest motivatior
    • Small firms can not afford to pay the same as large firms