How to Start a Business

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How to Start a Business Write a Business Plan

• John C. Kelly, PhD
• www.focusware.com

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Mission Statement

• To have each student write a successful business
  plan

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Topics by Week

• Week 1
• Getting Started
• Marketing
• Week 2
• Selling and Personnel Management
• Financial models / Breakeven Analysis
• Week 3
• Financial Statements
• Legal Admin

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Instructor

• Owned a computer software company for 17 years
• Serves on company boards
• Business consultant
• SCORE Volunteer
• Writes monthly article for Chamber of Commerce
• Angel investor
• Life member of CEO Club
• Degrees in math, computer science, industrial
  engineering
• Graduate of Harvard Business School Owner
  President Manager Program
• Teaches computer, math, and business at the
  university level
• Husband, father, grandfather, son, sailor, and
  marina owner
• Retired?

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Business Potpourri

• Convert black wall tires to white wall
• Photo booth
• Setup corporation libraries
• Speed reading course
• Rental houses
• House renovations
• Computer training
• Computer consulting
• Computer software
• Book printing/publishing on demand
• Internet cameras for monitoring child care centers

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Students

• Name
• Work Experience
• Computer Experience
• Business Experience
• Education
• Business Idea

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What is a business

• Collect money and pay taxes
• Life style business
• Self sustaining business
• Wealth creation business

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Before you jump?

• Do you have a product?
• Do you have a vision?
• Do you have the know-how?
• Do you have the financial security?
• Do you know your first customer?
• Do you know the competition?

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Business is like fire

• Fuel Your products and services
• Oxygen Market conditions/demand
• Spark Transformational life event
• Fire The business

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Discussion Question

• What core skills should a
• business owner have?

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Core Skills

• Personal
• Professional
• Business

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Personal Skills

• Time Management
• Money Management
• Attitude
• Communication
• Quantitative Thinking

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Time

• The scarcest resource of all
• Do you have a sense of urgency?
• Do you procrastinate?
• Do set annual and life goals?
• Do you periodically log your time usage?
• Do you make time work for you long term?

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Habit Three First things First
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Money

• Do you live beneath your means?
• Do you use debt cautiously?
• Do you know good debt from bad debt?
• Do you maintain a personal budget?
• Do you have sufficient start-up capital

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Attitude

• Are you confident?
• Are you persistent?
• Are you positive?
• Are you passionate?
• Are you friendly?
• Are you a realist?

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Communication

• Writing Express your self in words
• Speaking Speak before a group
• Listening Listen to understand
• Reading Read to learn

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Quantitative Thinking

• Budgets
• Spreadsheets
• Interest rates
• Investment planning
• Graphical presentation of data
• Business statistics

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Professional

• Are you the best at what you do?
• Are you passionate about your idea?
• Do you have a reputation for excellence?
• Do you write articles about your field
• Do you give speeches about your field

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Business

• Accounting/Financial
• Sales
• Marketing
• Personnel Management
• Administrative/Computer
• Legal
• Fill your gaps with courses

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Computer

• Spreadsheets Excel
• Word processing Word
• Presentation Power Point

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Discussion Question

• Why do businesses fail?

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Reasons Businesses Fail

• Lack of imagination
• Lack of commitment
• Lack of focus
• Lack of skills
• Lack of planning
• Inability to hire, train, and retain employees
• Lack of money

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Challenges for Sole ProprietorsUSA Today 10/11/06

• Generating new business (35)
• Spread too thin (27)
• Limited resources (23)
• Inefficient operations (23)
• Insufficient personal time (23)

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Why write a Business Plan?

• Thinking and writing are inseparable
• Writing is the deepest form of thinking
• The process of writing forces you to reevaluate
  and justify conclusions
• The process of writing highlights what you know
  and what you dont know

Writing is a discovery process
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Plan your business like you plan your vacation!

• Where do you want to go?
• How will you get there?
• What will you do once you are there?
• How will you get home?

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Two Page Business Plan

• Background
• Mission Statement
• Product and Services
• Customers
• Competition
• Operations and Personnel
• Financial Analysis
• Advisors

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Three most important words business

• Focus
• Focus
• Focus

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Discussion Question

• What makes a good
• mission statement?

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Mission Statements

• Short
• Memorable
• Motivational
• Focused
• Realistic

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Mission Statement Examples

• To enrich womens lives through an unequalled
  business opportunity
• To organize the worlds information and make it
  universally accessible and useful
• To discover, develop, and deliver novel medicines
  and vaccines that can make a difference in
  people's lives.
• To be the most essential global internet service
  for consumers and business
• To provide innovative, customized promotional
  products for corporate America, delivering the
  highest quality product on time every time.
• To help people and businesses throughout the
  world realize their potential
• To maximize the performance of computer systems
• To fly and fight

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Mission Statements

• To enrich womens lives through an unequalled
  business opportunity
• To organize the worlds information and make it
  universally accessible and useful
• To discover, develop, and deliver novel medicines
  and vaccines that can make a difference in
  people's lives.
• To be the most essential global internet service
  for consumers and business
• To provide innovative, customized promotional
  products for corporate America, delivering the
  highest quality product on time every time.
• To help people and businesses throughout the
  world realize their potential
• To maximize the performance of computer systems
• To fly and fight

• Mary Kay
• Google
• Merck
• Yahoo
• GG Outfitters
• Microsoft
• Datametrics
• USAF

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Business Types

• Wholesale act as middle man and/or broker of
  goods and services
• Retail buy and resell to end consumer
• Manufacturing build products from raw materials
• Services no physical products

Which type are you?
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www.focusware.com

• Small business links
• Recommended books
• Two page business plan
• Power Point Slides

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Homework

• Start your business plan
• Background
• Mission Statement
• Product and Services
• Be prepared to read in class
• Example Web Sites
• Find an example of web site you like and be
  prepared to explain why
• Bring URL to class
• What makes a good business?
• Start a journal