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Most business owners are familiar with mission and vision statements. But not all are familiar with or have a value statement. A value statement is a statement that describes a company's intrinsic value, importance, desirability, and/or its guiding principles, such as its rules or code of conduct.
This statement should serve to inform all stakeholders (e.g., customers and staff) about the company's priorities and core beliefs. An example of a value statement could be: "ABC Staffing Company's values include the following 5 core beliefs:
Your value statement can also be a simple statement, as long as it describes your company's belief, priorities, responsibilities, commitments, ideals, etc. Whatever terms you use to describe your company and its values, make sure they are terms all stakeholders can agree to and that everyone can adhere to them. It would be of no benefit to the company in any way if the values asserted hold everyone to a standard that would be impossible for them to reach. Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Get your copy on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0
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No matter how large or small your company, you should have a solid communications plan. This includes internal and external, formal and informal, top down and bottom up. These are all communications methods that should be included in a plan.
For many, written and oral communications is a challenge. If communications on any level is not your strong suit, identify someone (internally or externally) whose it is. But it would be most advantageous for you to develop your public speaking and presentation skills by joining a speaker training organization such as Toastmaster's International, or taking a course at your local community college. Problems occur in an organization when messages are improperly distributed, formatted, confusing, inaccurate, prepared by the wrong person(s), too much data and not enough content, and/or have no mechanism for feedback or follow-through. Communications pieces are prepared in various formats for various purposes with various expected outcomes. For example, emails are the primary source of communications in all businesses, both internally and externally. While press releases and fact sheets are used primarily for promotions or publicity. In preparing your communications plan, you need to consider some or all of the following:
Before any communications is distributed and regardless of whom it is directed, make sure that:
Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Get your copy on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 What Does the Future of Your Business Look Like? Developing Your Vision Statement is Important.4/26/2018 Where do you see your business in three to five years from now? While that might seem like a long time off and that there shouldn't be a need to worry, it in fact is not a long time off and you should at least have some idea of where you'd like your business to be in the upcoming years. That is your vision.
Equally as important as your mission statement is your vision statement. The purpose of the vision statement is to describe your business, commitment, customer and philosophy as they are projected to be in the future. An example of a vision statement would be: “CareerTemps Temporary Staffing Agency” will reach revenues of $2 million by the year 20XX becoming the largest provider of temporary staffing assistance to small, medium and large businesses throughout the Midwest.” As your business grows and changes, so should your vision. We can't always know what the upcoming years will bring, but certainly planning for a particular outcome is critical. Your vision will also give you direction as to what exactly you want that outcome to be. When preparing your long range plan and updating your business plan, always review and/or revise your vision statement (along with your mission statement) to reflect how you see your business in the future based on what is currently happening. Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Get your copy on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 Establishing the mission for your company is an important early step. The mission statement gives customers an idea of your company’s or organization’s direction. It is a short statement created to inform employees, customers, partners, the media, etc. of your company’s core beliefs, competencies, goals, philosophy, etc.
An example of a clear mission statement for an imaginary temporary employment agency could be: "ABC Temporary Employment Services is committed to providing small, medium and large businesses with incomparable temporary assistance, employing the most qualified and well-trained clerical and technical personnel in the local marketplace." As you can see in the sample mission statement above, it briefly describes what ABC is about. It includes:
Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Find us on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 What does YOUR path to success look like? Is it a straight line, or is it like most entrepreneurs' so full of bumps, curves, dips, circles, jagged edges, valleys, peaks, etc? If you are like most, it will be more like the latter. So, how do you mitigate the pitfalls and find your path to success? Whether you are are a start-up or have been in business one or more years, there will be peaks and valleys throughout your entrepreneurial journey.
With this in mind, why do so many move forward to pursue their dream, acting on their ambitions of achieving business success? Even with the proper planning, execution, follow through and follow up, unfortunately for some, that success never materialized. Studies have shown that over 60% of all businesses started in the U.S. each year fail within the first two years. The number one reason for failure is poor planning to include poor management and undercapitalization. One important consideration when starting your business is believing you are starting your business for the right reason. Having a goal of “making a lot of money” is the grandfather of all wrong reasons to go into business. Certainly no one starts a business looking to fail, but when you don’t go about it for the right reasons, it will be difficult to do the proper planning to make the business a success. Wanting to “make a difference”, “solve a problem”, or “make the world better” are all good reasons to start a business. A common mistake most budding entrepreneurs make is believing that business success can be achieved simply with a great idea, desire and passion. While this in some respects is very true, a great idea, desire and passion alone are necessary, but not sufficient. Even the best idea with the most extreme amount of desire and passion can make for a bad business. In order to be successful in business there must be a clear definition and understanding of the business and its mission, in other words, a path to success. When bringing products or services to market, basic business and industry knowledge are prerequisite. In addition, a product or service that the world needs and/or makes life better, and a workable business model that aligns with the business purpose are all required for business success. And finally, a plan that pulls it all together. Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Find us on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 Regardless of the size of your business, all business transactions from the sale of your products/services, as well as expenses paid should be kept separate from your personal finances. This practice is not only fundamentally sound, but it also alleviates confusion in recordkeeping, budgeting and filing income taxes. Commingling of business and personal finances is never a good idea.
After receipt of your FEIN (you can use your social security number if you’re a sole proprietorship with no employees), and your fictitious business name filing, open a separate bank account for your business. Be sure to select a banking institution that specializes in dealing with small businesses. These banking professionals are familiar with the needs unique to small business, offering products and services specifically geared to them. Any monies (e.g., cash, checks, money orders, electronic payments) earned from the sale of your products or services should be deposited into your business bank account. When accepting cash, it’s not unusual for a business owner to collect monies and spend it without properly recording it. The downside to not depositing these funds is that they won’t appear on your bank statement and could possibly be missed when filing your income taxes. Consequently, when you’re ready to borrow money, it’ll be difficult to prove to a lender how or if your business has been profitable. In addition, use your business bank account to pay all the bills and expenses of your company. In doing so, you will be able to easily track all disbursements made. This will help you in making sound business decisions, monitoring and managing cash flow, and preparing financial statements. Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Find us on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 Starting off with a small number of products/services directed towards a unique and select customer base can be most beneficial. In servicing any niche market, you will need to be laser focused on the specialty of your product/service and how it meets the specific needs of customers.
One major advantage of offering products/services to a specific group is that it is more cost effective to promote. For example, if your product/service is geared to the likes of only those of a certain demographic (e.g., young females, ages 10 to 15, attending private school), then your marketing dollars can be specifically directed towards them. This then excludes all adults both male and female, all females ages 9 and under and 16 and older, all young males, and all females attending public school or home schooled. Give yourself plenty of thought time for making product/service offering decisions before settling on any. It’s important that you do much contemplation before making a large investment of time, money and energy at this point. Allow yourself the flexibility to make crucial changes very early on. In addition, decide on a product/service line that can be augmented for future business growth. This allowance of time is particularly important in a product-oriented business where costs for design, development, patents, prototypes, equipment, machinery, production, alpha and/or beta testing, inventory, etc. can be considerably high. But even after an investment of this type is made, a good entrepreneur knows when to give up on an idea because it simply does not work. It could be due to the wrong timing of its launch, the wrong market, poor execution, poor management, inadequate suppliers, materials, shortages, or a multitude of other reasons. Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Find us on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 There are many business, financial and contracting advantages for being a small business. So, how do you know whether your business is a small business? Chapter 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 (13 CFR 121) are the small business size standards established by the SBA. It is a numerical definition for all for-profit industries. Size standards represent the largest size that a business (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) may be to remain classified as a small business concern by NAICS codes in dollars or number of employees. In determining what constitutes small business, the definition varies based on the industry. The purpose of using size standards is to make a determination as to the eligibility for SBA’s financial assistance and other programs, as well as federal government procurement programs designed to help small businesses. Below is a partial size standards table as an example:  To determine the size standard for your business, visit the SBA website at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf.
Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." You can find us on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0. What is your company's culture? Simply put, a company's culture refers to it's mission, vision, how formally or informally it functions, it's employees' attitudes about how they are treated, and a variety of other elements. In other words, the company's "personality." It is a fact that happy employees in a happy working environment are much more effective at reaching overall company goals which contributes to the productivity and profitability of the company.
The importance of understanding your company culture is that it can help you determine whether and where changes need to be made to any area of the business. The happiness of employees, customers and other touch points (e.g., outside consultants, volunteers, interns, etc.) is directly tied to productivity and profitability. To ascertain your company's culture, answering the following questions (and others) can help.
Employees that "fit" into a company culture are likely to stay for a long time. The hiring process can be time-consuming and costly. Employees that stay around for a long time bring value that is immeasurable. This type of longevity is proof that employees believe in the mission and they are more likely to treat the company as his/her own, contributing to its growth and sustainability. Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Find it on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 We know that being in business comes with a multitude of challenges, and consequently many mistakes are made. The single most common mistake you can make is in believing that you can be all things to all people. This philosophy has proven disastrous to every business that employs it. That’s why having a marketing plan is critical. The second most common mistake is not having, not implementing or not adhering to an established marketing plan.
To avoid these pitfalls, be sure to:
Excerpted from, "The Start of Something BIG: Your Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dynamic Business Plan." Find on Amazon.com at http://amzn.to/2s1c7C0 |
Author
Kimberly L. Johnson is an author and business development professional specializing in business start-up and business development. Archives
May 2018
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