Advice for Starting a Business

The Brandings Team loves sharing advice for anyone starting a business.  This post is dedicated to strategic planning tips, enjoy.

* Check out the update at the bottom of this post.  The Brandings Team shares insights and new information on today’s subject.

Ask any entrepreneur how long it took to start their business or launch their brand.  More often than not, they state that it took months of planning before they even launched.  Moreover, others say that the initial planning was only, well, the start.

Either way, successful entrepreneurs, asses and evaluate their business before they even launch.  Success and failure is often determined by this “prelaunch” evaluation period.

With that said, from time to time we like to bring in guest authors.  This way they’re able to present theirown findings and experiences.  Our guest author this week describes the initial or fledgling stage of launching a startup.

While most our blogs deal with naming a business or brand, this post will be different.   In fact, this initial step can be done concordant with the naming process.

This week’s author, K. MacKillop, stresses the importance of planning and a Business Plan.  He explains how a well developed Business Plan is greatly helpful during the turbulent initial launch of a brand.

Starting a Business

Lastly, it’s important to note how startups and business grow.  Contrary to the nice and even graphs pictured text books, this even flow is rarely the case.  Moreover, entrepreneurs must plan for the sporadic spurts and sudden drops in growth and revenue.  Planning for these growths and slides separates successful startups from the competition.

Don’t be left in the dark.  Not knowing how to clime from a valley, nor how to save and prepare during a growth spurt will hurt your business.

To learn How Brandings Works, follow the link.  And if you’re interested in one of our complete packages available please let us know.  As always, don’t be afraid to ask us about startup planning, we’ll try to help the best we can.

Starting a Business? Why You Need to Know Strategic Planning

If you are launching your startup with plans for significant growth, strategic planning will be your new best friend. The term planning merely indicates the broad ideas for where you want your venture to go, the strategic part implies using all available information to determine and manage the intermediate steps it will take to get there. Strategic planning is the difference between a startup that is stuck in the microbusiness realm and one that breaks out into a thriving company.

Failing to implement strategic planning is very common, especially among first-time entrepreneurs. Often, these business owners sort of just go with the flow and assume the details will reveal themselves, and take care of themselves, as needed. Unfortunately, this philosophy is far more likely to leave you in the weeds than be successful. Most businesses grow in sudden, step-change bursts rather than in a smooth, upward curve. This means that you need to be ready for these growth spurts before they come or you will be caught off guard.

Strategic planning starts with a well-defined goal, such as increase revenue by 20% in six months. Make more money is not a well-defined goal because it doesn’t meet the SMART standard – specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic, and time-based. As you establish long and midterm goals for your venture, ensure that each includes the factors of a SMART goal. Next, each goal is broken down into the specific steps, or objectives, that are necessary to reach those goals. For example, to increase revenue within the next six months, it may be necessary to hire another salesperson, evaluate the inventory system, engage in targeted marketing, and step up the networking. For each of these objectives, there are likely a number of specific tasks necessary to accomplish each one.

Strategic planning is the process of defining each of these goals, objectives and tasks such that you and your staff are constantly working to improve the business. Financial planning is an integral part of strategic planning. The bottom line of business is the bottom line, so you must be intimately familiar with the money in order to set the best goals and accomplish the right objectives for the venture.

Strategic planning shouldn’t be just an annual chore where the obvious is restated in an official memo. Rather, the most successful companies are in a constant state of strategic planning – setting schedules, completing tasks, evaluating outcomes, and resetting objectives. The strategic plan for the company should not be reviewed at a single meeting and filed away for the year. Everyone relevant to the objectives in the strategic plan should be aware of their role and why it matters in the big picture of the venture. Getting everyone to buy in is important to the success of any business planning.

Launching and running a startup is a chaotic, stressful endeavor. Left unchecked, it is easy to fall into disarray, especially when unexpected changes come along that disrupt the day-to-day of the business. Solid strategic planning provides the stability your business needs to weather the bad times and capitalize on the good ones. Take the time to incorporate ongoing strategic planning into your business model and you, and your business, will reap the rewards.

– About the Author – K. MacKillop, is a serial entrepreneur with a J.D. from Duke University.  He is founder of LaunchX and blogs about starting a business.  To read more about the basics of business startup at our website, click the link below.  You can also learn more about the LaunchX System, a complete business startup kit.  This kit helps teach the basics of strategic planning while starting a business. Article Source: EzineArticles Expert – K. MacKillop

Update: Wow, everything is applicable today!

Moreover, people are still rush into launching a business.  The layout of a business was, and is, the most important aspect of entrepreneurship.

Launching a business without a plan is like constructing a building without a foundation.

Without the foundation of a business plan it’s easy slide, loose focus, and in turn crumble.  However, with strategic planning including sets goals and objectives, there’s a greater chance at success.  Even if you miss goals or have bad months, you’re plan is there as a reference to guide you out.

In the final analysis, don’t worry if your startup doesn’t always reach your goals.  The plan is in place and you can learn from this short fall.  Business plans and business strategy can always be amended.