Charlene Rashkow

PREPARING FOR YOUR STARTUP VENTURE

When you awoke this morning, you found yourself buzzing with a ... idea for starting a new business and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you could turn it into a huge success. Now what? All

When you awoke this morning, you found yourself buzzing with a fantastic idea
for starting a new business and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you
could turn it into a huge success. Now what? All those great ideas floating
around in your head and you're excited about making them happen, but at the
moment you don't feel nearly prepared. What is the first thing you should do
as you contemplate your plan of action?

The best suggestion I can make that will certainly pay off in the long run
and probably will be the most effective strategy at this stage in the game
would be to start writing things down. Even if the thoughts that occur to you
seem insignificant at the moment, keep your ideas in a simple notebook so
that when you're ready to prepare your plan, all your ideas are ready to go
and in one place. It is amazing how quickly you can forget something that you
thought would stay with you forever, so keep notes on all your ideas. I can't
count the times I didn't write something down immediately upon thinking of it
and later couldn't remember it no matter how hard I tried. Now I make it a
point, even if the idea occurs in the middle of the night, to quickly jot a
few words down on a paper kept beside my bed. Even if it's just a few brief
terms, those few words will jolt your memory and bring the idea to the
forefront when you're ready to address it.

The next step would be to start preparation for a business plan. Whether you
are applying for a loan, seeking investors or are going to present your idea
to other business associates you need a well thought out plan. No one will
take you seriously unless you have a planned strategy. Furthermore, your
plan will not only be utilized for presentation purposes, but it will in
addition make your idea a reality. This crucial and important step of
preparing a business plan, allows you to see your ideas take form, and what
better way than in a precise and organized plan? I promise, once you see your
plan in print, you'll be provided with the impetus needed to forge ahead.

At this point you are probably thinking that you have no idea where to start
your plan or even what it should include. A good place to start, as with any
other objective, is to construct a summary of what your plan will contain.
Create a table of contents that includes whatever you think your plan should
encompass. In all likelihood your plan will contain an objective, an
executive summary, your product, marketing strategies, target market,
competition, financial analysis and profiles of the key decision-makers.
There may be other aspects that should be included in the plan but for now,
the above mentioned are the primary ingredients for a good plan.

You might also consider seeking the counsel of an attorney to be sure your
plan and business venture is legal. What a disappointment it would be if you
put a lot of hard work into your plan and later found out that some important
legality was missing, requiring you to start from scratch. In addition, the
services of an accountant are of vital importance. Unless you are prepared to
construct spreadsheets and graphs explaining how you intend to use your money
and what projections you have for the future, you might want to hire someone
who knows all the financial ins and outs of a business.

I believe you now have a good beginning for organizing your new startup
venture. When your plan is complete, make sure there are no typos or
grammatical errors. Perhaps you might want to have someone you trust review
it before submitting it for consideration. In any event, good luck with your
new venture and may your business become a huge success.

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