Entrepreneurial Lessons: #1 Secret of Self-Made Millionaires
According to Reader's Digest Magazines recent article 5 Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires, the #1 secret of these people? They set their sights on where they're going.
What? Knowing where you're going?
Sounds stupid, yes? Is it?
Would you drive to a desination in a city you've not been to before without a map? Without your GPS? Without an address as an end point? Probably not.
Yet, most business people will drive their companies without their maps, without a clear idea of what the end address is supposed to look like, without an indication of which roads are freeways, highways, dirt paths . . . .
Yeah, but I've got a business plan!!! Right?
Really? That 2-page description of an idea? THAT's your business plan?
Who are your competitors? How much will your expenses be 4 months from now? What is your labor/goods efficiency ratio? Who is your target customer? The answer isn't "everyone, of course!" What does your primary customer look like? How old are they? Gender? Education levels? Generation? How many similar widgets did these people buy last year? In exact dollars, please. How many hours do you want to work each day? What income do you need? How are you going to triple your investment in this business each quarter? Outline your exact strategy and prove your assumptions, please.
You have all of that written in 2 pages? Your business plan, if done properly, will be more than 50-100 pages and will dictate every decision you make for the next year.
Why would anybody in their right mind give YOU money?
That is the ultimate question, yes? Why would a paying customer give their money to you? An investor? Your neighbors?
People approach me often about business planning or help strategizing for their businesses. Many balk at the amount of time it takes to successfully study and create your money making machine. Why such dedication? Our Entrepreneurial Training Programs force you to answer all of those questions, plus many more. We help you avoid the most common of the Top 10 Business Plan Mistakes and the most unspoken Mistakes of Business Plans . We make sure that you have one helluva shot to succeed - and have proven it on paper - not leaving you hoping that by next year you might just make it.
You'd be surprised at how many people say "Writing a business plan is a serious dedication? Golly, I was kind of hoping to open for business this weekend."
You don't get off of a couch and run a marathon. You train for it.
Investors AND your customers know immediately if you have trained for your business or if you're just another one of those 2-pager guys hoping to make a buck.
And nonprofits? You had better have your business plan too. Committees and Advisory Councils are cute tools to give the illusion of "having your act together" (only rarely are they actually effective and useful - bravo to those who have nurtured one of those committees!) and they make you look good on paper with the illusion of community support. But funders are getting smarter. You had better have your Business and Strategic plans in place. You'd be surprised at how many nonprofits say "We don't need a business plan, we apply for grants."
For-profit or Non-profit . . . . . the business world knows if you've cut corners, skipped your training, bypassed the hard work required to be successful.
Are you, or aren't you really that serious?
The top 6 reasons why businesses fail?
- Lack of a well thought-out business plan
- Bad location
- Expanding too quickly
- Inability to adapt to a changing marketplace
- Underestimating competitors
- Poor execution
- Bad management
- Insufficient marketing or promotion
- Failure to keep overhead costs low
- Inadequate funding
Statistically, about 83% of small, start-up companies just open for business and then wonder if they're doing the right thing later. One out of ten will survive. Yes, that is 1-in-10. Speculation of these numbers is that small entrepreneurs just really aren't' totally dedicated or serious.
Some theorize that in most new business attempts, the entrepreneur never leaves their day job, or they create a back-up plan, or they have a job lined up in case the new business fails. In these cases, failure IS an option, as the entrepreneur has a safety net to fall back on. In cases where failure is NOT an option, and the entrepreneur depends on the new business to provide food, shelter and clothing, the business has a greater chance of succeeding.
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