User:Vtaylor/SCORE/Home business/outline
Introduction
small businesses
- SBA - fewer that 500 employees
- LLCs, partnerships, s-corporations
- for the purposes of this discussion - solopreneurs / nonemployers
- full time, part time, gig, independent contractor
we are here to help
- SCORE
- government - SBA, departments
- business development - state / county / city
- associations - chamber, trade / industry, entrepreneurs
"home" assumptions
- just you in your own home - no other location, no employees
POLL - who's here?
w's - simple steps
- who
- what
- where
- why
- how
- when
engineering design process
- diagram
- How might we WHAT for WHOM in order to CHANGE something?
SCORE Simple Steps for Starting Your Business series
- help reach a “go or no-go” decision for a start-up
- concepts involved with assessing a business idea
- marketing your product or service,
- understanding business financials and how they work
- how to fund and finance your business
Sprint
- 45 minutes + questions
- 5 3-hour workshops or with several 1-on-1 SCORE mentoring sessions
. https://www.score.org/getstarted . 1. startup basics slides
ASK
I want to own my own business and provide
- WHAT product and/or services to
- WHOM. I know that I can provide services better than my competitors because
- WHY. I will provide products/services, initially in
- WHERE geographic area. My competitors are:
- COMPETITORS. My services will be better than my competitors because
- HOW.
What you bring
. what is your WHY
- interest, passion
- time, effort, family support
- money
- expertise, experience, knowledge
- goals, drive, resilience, flexibility
Explore ideas
- products / services
- local / online
- your place / clients' place
- your role
- existing business
- franchise
Evaluate candidates
- brainstorm, research
- select 3 + 1 - conservative, reasonable, riskier + moonshot
- 1 page business plan for each
- compare / contrast
- iterate, improve
Selecting the idea
. the idea is the opportunity
- income goals
- lifestyle goals
- type of work goals
- purpose of the business
- how will it make money
So what - need a business model
Product / Service
. 1-page Business Model Canvas
- 9 areas of consideration
- ask - customers, value
- imagine - big picture, ideas, examples
- plan - operation overview
- create - some specifics
- improve -
[https://sumo.com/stories/business-model-canvas
IMAGINE
1. Customer Segments . model personae - name friend acquaintance . be specific - "everyone" is not a good answer
- For whom are we creating value?
- Is it everyone or a special group (a niche)
- Consider age gender, family size, income, education
- Who are our most important customers?
- How would you describe them?
- Where are they?
2. Value Propositions
- What are all your products or services?
- What do potential customers want or need?
- What specific value(s) are we supplying?
- What do potential customers really want or need?
- What is unique about your product?
- Is the price right?
- What customer problem are we solving?
3. Customer Relationships
. support, returns, followup
- How will we get, keep, and grow customers?
- Why will they like us?
- How can we form relationships with our customers?
- Follow-ups?
4. Channels
. promotions, marketing, orders, fulfillment
- How do our customers want to be reached?
- How are we reaching them now?
- Separate channels for different segments?
Test the Market
- Industry Research
- Competitive Intelligence
- Target Market Characteristics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_B5wZRCDUs&t=0s
PLAN
5. Key Activities
- What activities do our value propositions require?
- Examples - operations, marketing, production, problem-solving, administration
- Customer management - contacts
- Record-keeping - measurement, assessment, taxes
6. Key Resources
- What resources do our products require?
- Physical Location - office, storage, zoning, use limitations, client access
- License, registration, certification
- Distribution
- Brand - identity
- People - contractors
- Revenue streams
- Customer relationships
7. Key Partners
. businesses or people you need to be successful, benefits from the relationship
- What Key resources do they provide?
- What key activities do they perform?
- What might we give them in return?
CREATE
Team
- Banker
- Lawyer
- Accountant
- Insurance Agent
- Business Mentor
Money
- Startup capital - setup, initial investment, WSJ calculator
- Working capital - open for business
- Cashflow projections - month / quarter, money in/out
- Balance sheet - where's the money
- Profit & Loss (P&L)
https://youtu.be/jqxdhBY1UAw https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703580904575132121921803004
8. Cost Structure
. cost of good sold
. cost of services provided
. customer acquisition
- What are the important and critical expenses. Look at both fixed and variable costs.
- What resources are most expensive?
- What activities are most expensive?
9. Revenue Streams / Cashflow
. initially, future, scale
- How do we make money?
- How much will we make?
- How are we setting prices?
- Will customers pay for your products?
- What are they paying now?
- Are you selling products, services or both?
Legal
- Federal
- State
- Local - county, city
- license, permits, zoning, inspections
- certification
- TAXES - quarterly
IMPROVE
wash rinse repeat
Improve
- Review
- Research
- Revise
- Reiterate
SWOT
. time, money, experience, support, credentials, competition, partners, product/service, market
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
Critical friend
- trusted, supportive
- asks difficult questions
- another perspective
- fully understands the context
- critiques work
- advocates for success
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_friend
Points of failure
. be realistic
- time management
- organization, prioritization
- money management, cashflow - where many small businesses fail
- customer care
Critical Success Factors
. revisited
- Well thought-out idea
- Realistic expectations
- Demonstrated customer need
- Comprehensive overview of entire business operation
- Money enough to start, emergency fund
- Record keeping, cash flow, taxes, withholding, sales tax
Learn more...
- groups, associations, publications, newsletters
- trade / industry
- government - federal, state, county, city
- professional
NEXT...
Go / No go
- not for me
- not now
- just do it
- minimum viable product
- phased implementation
- scale
https://blog.appsumo.com/minimum-viable-product-example/
What we covered
- help reach a “go or no-go” decision for a start-up
- concepts involved with assessing a business idea
- marketing your product or service,
- understanding business financials and how they work
- how to fund and finance your business
SCORE - mentors, workshops, library
contacts
questions
