Business Planning

Writing a business plan can be daunting, overwhelming and scary all at the same time. But it is a critical document for your business. It forces you to look at your business concept from every angle to make sure you have a viable idea before investing one dime.

Creating a solid business plan is the first step toward success in your business venture. From obtaining funding to hiring employees to planning for expansion, a business plan will be your guide to keeping your business on track. Your business plan can keep you focused on your goals and keeps you moving forward when faced with obstacles.

These Modules will help you write a business plan; from the Executive Summary to the Financials. We have broken down this exercise into sections that will walk you slowly through the process. By the end of this module you will have a completed Business Plan that includes the necessary graphs to make your plan stand out.

Financial Strategies

The money part of your business can be very scary but without a financial plan/forecast a business does not exist.

These modules will look at every aspect of your business in regards to money.

How how the money flows through your business
How to create a strategy to make more money and be more profitable
How to ensure that you always have cash flow
How to project your sales into the future
How to create a budget for sales, expenses and profitability.

By the end of this course you will have the following plans that you can implement into your business practices immediately.

Revenue Budget which will include
- Sales
- Cost of Goods
- Gross Profit Dollars
- Gross Margin %
- Expenses
- Net Income
Growth Plan
Cash-flow Projections
A better understanding of your Financial Statements
- Profit & Loss
- Balance Sheet
- Cash-flow Statement

Strategic Planning

Every business owner starts with a dream of where they want their business to take them. And how they want to grow their business, their market share and financial standing. But in order to get your business from A to Z you actually need a plan that focuses on Z. A business cannot achieve its dream by looking only one day ahead, you must look years ahead. You need to picture what you want to look like in 5, 10 or 15 years and create a plan to achieve those goals.

The Business Roadmap modules will help you create that plan as well as how to use the plan once it is established.

This process will help you to create a Roadmap to help you set the goals to achieve your ultimate dream.

The Business Roadmap/Strategic Plan is broken down into the following videos:

Long Term Sales Plan: Everyone has a sales number they want to hit. This module will create a plan to reach your number.
SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats): This section will help you determine the positive and negative influences internally and externally that effect your business.
Core, Values & Beliefs: What are the 10 commandments of your business. What are the “Should’s” and “Shouldn’ts” that guide your organizations Decisions, Attitudes, Behaviors and Performance?
Mission statement: The mission statement is an overarching, timeless expression of your purpose and aspiration, addressing both what you seek to accomplish and the manner in which the organization seeks to accomplish it. It’s a declaration of why you exist as an organization.
Vision statement: This short, concise statement about the organization’s future answers the question of what the company will look like in five or more years.
SMART Goals: (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time oriented). These are the goals that will help you to create and achieve your financial plan.

Sales

About This Course – Sales

Sales, or rather the lack thereof, will make or break a company. If you are not finding and closing the right customer, then you are not bringing in the cash to have a successful company.

This training path will help you create the process and the activity you need to find the prospect, close the sales and create a consistent revenue stream.

There are only two departments in your company that actually bring in money…. Sales and Marketing.

Our Sales modules will help you to create the following strategies:

Completing the Business Puzzle – An overview of the 4 critical areas for a successful sales process
Sales Plan
A Goal Driven Sales Team…. even if you are the only member on the team
Lead Generation Plan
Sales Process
Increase your closing ratio
3 Ways to Increase Sales

Once you complete these modules and follow that plan that you have developed, you will increase your close rate which increases your sales and ultimately your profit!

Customer Service/Team Building

Customer Service is Not a Department

“Customer service” is an overused phrase that has little meaning any more, but customers still want their needs met. To accomplish this requires that customer service is the responsibility of every employee, whether they have direct customer contact or not.

Customer service is different from any add-on service you offer for sale. If you charge money for a service, it’s part of your product mix. Customer Service is free.
Customer Service enhances your main offering – it’s not your main offer – but a pleasantly unexpected bonus that reinforces your message that you care.

It may include services such as free educational seminars. It may be the offer of free setup or an introductory period of technical assistance or maintenance. It could be the availability of credit or financial services, or simply a routine follow-up call that confirms a customer’s satisfaction. Whatever it is, it has to fulfill your customers’ deepest needs.

Customer Service opportunities are endless. It is a major area that can give you a competitive advantage – especially if you are seen as a commodity with numerous competitors. So, when you start thinking about the customer services you might offer, think beyond the obvious.

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What attributes of your business lend themselves to better customer service? Don’t be afraid to experiment and then elicit feedback from the people who know best – your customers.

Marketing

Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising. The key word here is ACTION, without action marketing does not work.

Marketing is the second department that actually brings income into your business. You have to spend money to make money. But make sure you spend it well. These modules will help you to determine who your ultimate customer is, the best message to create for your customer and the best marketing venues to use to communicate with your potential customers.

Human Resources

Your people are your biggest asset. They can make you or break you! Having the right team is critical to having a successful business. So why do many business owners spend very little time on creating and implementing HR processes and policies?

Human Resources is a very important function for a business owner and many times this area is ignored. In these modulars you will learn how to set up your own HR Department with the right tools and strategies to hire, train and motivate a team that can help you grow your business!

The Human Resource Modules will cover:

Attendance Issues
Employee Issues
Job Descriptions
Interviewing Skills
Communication
Coaching Techniques
Managing Challenging Employees

Management/Leadership Courses

How you manage your people and your business is so important. How are your managing skills…how does your team manage their people? The way your team interacts is critical to the success of your organization.

The dictionary defines Management as:

the act or skill of controlling and making decisions about a business, departments etc…

But it is so much more than that….Managing a business, a team, or a department, it’s about the people.

It’s all about you as a Manager – how well you

Communicate
Motivate
Challenge
Focus

These modules will teach you how to get the most from your team and how to train your managers to manage to the best of their abilities as well as hone your skills and implement policy and procedures into your business that will help you to manage more effectively for more efficient productivity.

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right thing.” — Peter F. Drucker (management consultant, educator, and author)

Just because you are “in charge” does not make you a leader. A leader is someone that supports and mentors his/her people to make them the best that they can be. For the most part Leadership is something that is learned as opposed to intuitively being a leader.

In most cases, learning how to become a strong leader is not always at the top of a busy business owners list.

Strong leadership will create a better culture, better employees and ultimately better financials. It is definitely something to seriously consider improving upon.