How to write a good business plan... and get investors

Many business owners need to plan their business growth strategies. Sometimes this is to get funding from other parties. But mostly it is to help them make better business decisions. And help them to decide how to 'invest' the limited resources they have.

This is a great article from the UK on how to take a practical approach to writing a business plan. One comment from the articles says:

"One of the common pitfalls I've come across is that people prepare a very wordy comprehensive business plan which goes up on a shelf somewhere and is never referred back to because it's far too complicated and not at all practical," he adds. "So consider whether maybe it needs to be something that's just a few pages, including the key points and the key measures that you’re going to be measuring your business against."

If you need to write a marketing plan I suggest you check out some of the many free planning templates available here.

If you need to prepare your business to attract private investors have a look at the seminars and assistance provided by Capital4Business who are based in Sydney, Australia.

These days the wordy, flowery, academic business documents of the 1980's have been replaced by smarter, sharper assessments of business opportunities.

Investors want to quickly understand:

• Do you know what you are doing?
• Is there a verifiable opportunity?
• How and when do they get their return?

As a business owner you must be focused on making smarter marketing and business decisions. Your business planning documents are to help you make those decisions, such as:

• How much should I be investing in marketing?
• Who will be the best customers?
  
• Which market segments will I get the best sales results from?
• Will I have enough finances to create the business structures I need?
• When is it time to introduce new services or products?

Dont waste your time on creating a planning document "just because". Make sure your plan is a real tool you can use to drive ongoing results in your business.

Why you should be asking clients questions.. lots of questions.

Do you know what happens when you do the talking during a sales presentation?

Most often your clients will drift away with their own thoughts. I guarantee it! It's human nature. (keep reading to find out why)

This process is accelerated if you start off your sales calls by explaining everything your company can do for your clients.

Beware... Your clients/prospects will often encourage you to do this by asking something innocent like, Tell me about your company?, or; Why have you come to see me today?

Inexperienced sales people (and this includes technical staff, managers, and even professional advisors) will take this invitation to launch into a sales spiel about how great their company is. Or they will produce a list of services they can provide.

But I'm here to tell you to STOP. Don't do that.

You see, people easily tune-out from your talking because they can think up to 10 times faster than you can speak. So they have plenty of spare space in their brain to listen to you AND still plan the rest of their day, or what they will be doing that evening, or what they need to buy from the shops.

So that's why you should be asking your clients questions. Lots of them. In a professional but inquisitive manner. Keep them talking. You can focus on listening. And they wont get the chance to drift off into their own thoughts.

If you would like to learn more about how to ask these questions, and how to keep your client focused on what you are offering them... then attend one of my Selling With Confidence 2-day practical workshops in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.

4 Major Search Engines Get 66% of Ad Spend

Without getting too technical about this, the latest research from eMarketer shows the 4 major search engine sportals are getting the lions share of advertising expenditure. The big 4 are - Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL.

Why? Because companies are looking for trusted brand names. And they want lots of traffic. These portals deliver on both fronts.














What does this mean for you, as a business-person?
You need to be switched on to what these 4 portals are doing. And how you can benefit. They are driving the growth of online advertising. And where the money goes... so will the future of the industry.