Many years ago, I tried to start a storefront business. Actually, I tried to start a bunch of businesses through out the years. But this particular business was it! I thought of a clever name, had a coworker design a logo, and then I bought inventory. I'm officially in business, so I thought! I was excited and ready to start my business. I even started looking at offices to run my business.
I had everything: Enthusiasm, confidence, desire and most of all, a great idea that was a sure sure path to success and riches. This time.
I started an E-bay drop ship business. I was selling sports paraphernalia. Everything was going great. I was buying products dirt cheap from a warehouse and selling them on e-bay at a pretty nice profit. However, I did not have a plan. All I know is that I wanted to make a lot of money - fast.
I did not account for the cost of shipping. I did not account for shipping costs for different areas of the country and for the size of the boxes in which I mailed the products. This ultimately ended by drop ship business along with other unexpected costs,
But those weren't the main reasons I went of business. The three main reason my business and most other businesses shut down is - lack of vision, plans and goals.
Vision
Vision is a clear picture of where you want your business to go. For example, your vision could be that you want your business to grow from one store to four stores in 10 years if you're running an offline business. If you're running an online business, your vision is to make enough money to be able to start an online marketing academy to help other struggling marketers.
Vision helps you and your business have something to strive toward. Your vision is a map to guide you on your business journey. When you have a vision, you have a clearer a since why you do what you do and anything that does not help you reach your vision, you should not pursue.
Goal
Goals are specific milestones that helps you get closer to your vision. Goals are specific, attainable and they have a deadline attached to them. I should have one more ingredient for a goal. It should have action!
Your goals should also be measurable, challenging but realistic. Setting a goal that says I want to make 1 millions dollars in three months is a goal but unrealistic. A better goal is I want to make 1 million dollars in my business in one year by using online and offline marketing strategies such as giving out business cards, running solo ads and posting articles on my website and e-zines.
It is important to write your goals down. keep them in front of you at all times. This will keep you focused and will help you not lose sight of your goal(s). As time goes by, you may have to reevaluate your goals depending on how situations change. It's OK to set new goals. Businesses do it all the time. But you must keep your goals.
Because starting a business requires so much commitment, time and focus, it's good to celebrate after achieving a goal. Celebrating renews your spirit and gives you the energy to keep going,
In the bible, even God celebrated his achievements. He created the sky and he said that was good, He created the water and the fowl of the air he said that was good. And on the six day he created man and he said that was good. On the seventh day, he rested.
We should have the same philosophy when building our businesses.
Plans
Plans are a foundation for helping you achieve your goals. As the old saying goes, people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan. Although failure is not necessarily a bad thing, you should strive to fail as fast as possible so you can move on to success. What this means is that you're going to make mistakes. Make the small mistakes early so you can learn from them. And use what you learned from those past mistakes to succeed.
Just like you need a blue print to build your house, you need a blue print for your business. The blue print for your business. The blue print for your business is your business plan. Here is what you need to include in your business plan:
Who is your target market?
What will we sell (Be specific)?
What makes us different from the competition?
You don't have to write a two page business plans to include taxes, credit, inventory, receivables, etc. like your traditional offline business but you need a short term and long term plan, plan of action to achieve your goals and your marketing strategies.