Starting a Business: Part Two

Posted by Belinda | 0 comments

In our last segment, we talked about prayer and planning. I hope that you have continued to seek the Lord in the past few weeks.

The Lord rewards those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

If the Lord is saying yes, or if He is silent, waiting for you to move, there is another question that you might want to think about as you progress:

Is this a business, or just a hobby?

It is a question that the government will pose as well, so that they can assess your taxes properly. You need to decide if you are in this “for real” or if you are simply looking to continue in your hobby when and if time permits, enjoying the associated benefits. You can pursue a hobby at your leisure; businesses take time. Making the time can be difficult over the long haul once you’ve completed the initial phase of getting the business off the ground. Additionally, once you have the business established but do not yet see the financial fruit, it is easy to slip back into “hobby mode” after you have invested all this time, but are seeing meager results. How do I know all of this? Because I have been there, and during a seasonal dry spell, I am sometimes still there. I have to pull myself away from the hobby domain, and you will, too. We will talk about how to do that in the next article of this series.

Another line of thought that might help you in determining whether your idea is a business or a hobby is to visualize what your business will be. Are you a sole proprietor or will you have partners? Will you have employees, or are you the chief cook and bottle washer? Especially if other people are involved, seriously consider soliciting the services of an attorney.

All of the information you have compiled together, both physically and mentally, needs to be documented as a part of your business plan. Even if your business is a one-person operation—and you are the one person—the difference of writing down a firm plan can translate into the difference of a business that perseveres and one where you have forgotten what business you started in the first place. Especially if you will need to get financial investments from others, a business plan is critical. In fact, if you need external sources of money, you will want to be sure this is as detailed as you can make it. Documenting your plan will help you gain confidence to present this information as professional, not as confused and hopelessly unorganized.

It should contain, but is not limited to, the following information:

• Summary of the business (includes, name, purpose, products, type of business—partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.)
• Human resources (organizational structure, skill sets/ expertise, training/ compensation plans)
• Operations (process layout from order of raw materials to finished product) equipment requirements, facilities, raw materials, storage plans)
• Financial Plans (pricing structure, funds available, funds needed)
• Risk assessment (if you are looking for investors, they will want to know both the upside and the down side of loaning you money)

Creating a business plan can be intimidating, but if you tackle it in small pieces, the results can be very invigorating. This document—one that you can revisit and revise as appropriate—will become a living, breathing statement of what your business will be. I invite you not to rush through it for the sake of finishing quickly, but instead to spend quality time with your vision. Jot down in random fashion (you can organize your thoughts later) all that you see when you think of yourself in business. Here is just a bit of food for thought, written in no particular order:

• How do you see this business operating—with your current computer in the home office, or are you going to need more space? (Steve Jobs made his first computers in his garage; what will take shape in yours?)
• Can you use the sewing machine you have, or should you start saving for something more fit for commercial business?
• Are there boxes of inventory you will need? Do you know your suppliers/ customers, or how will you begin to meet them?
• Are you alone, or is this a family business?
• What will be your competitive edge—pricing? Quality? Filling a niche market?

There are a number of places to go to gather wisdom about compiling a business plan. You can even see sample business plans. The Small Business Administration is an excellent place to educate yourself, or, using a popular search engine, you can find industry-specific business plans. Sometimes these are available at a nominal cost, and they are excellent road maps to help guide your thinking and help you with areas you might not have considered in putting together your own plan.

In this age of social networking and compiling a business plan, there would be a gaping hole in this information if I did not mention the value of tools like Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, etc. As a personal example, I found my website developer through a resource on a Yahoo loop; I learned about blogging through a resource on that same loop. I have met via the Internet so many people who have asked me to be a guest blogger, or conference speaker, or play some other role through my “tweets,” which include an update of my blog posts. Mind you, I use the term “met” very loosely, as I have never seen any of these people face-to-face. Yet, I know without doubt that each of these people was strategically placed in my life to help the business elevate to the next level.

Facebook is an even larger population than Twitter, filled with people who spend, according to recent statistics, an average of 4 hours per day on their “walls.” These types of venues afford you free or inexpensive advertising—something that you cannot get enough of as you attempt to share with the world what you are doing. Also, tools like Google AdWords and Facebook Pages can draw people to your business on a cost-per-click basis, often at mere pennies per click. You set a price and pay it on some regular interval based upon how many people visit your site. Though magazines and newspapers are still out there, and are viable means of advertising your goods or services, their costs cannot compare to this type of controlled marketing. Your willingness to allow more access into who you are can be the very competitive edge you seek.

Still not ready to board the social network bandwagon? Consider this: there is another intangible benefit to becoming more “friendly” via the Internet. Any time that you sell a product, a part of what people buy is you—your personality, your commitment to excellence, and the quirky way in which you live life each day. In a face-to-face business transaction, you have the opportunity to expose this part of you naturally. In an online venue, you must create this same aspect of who you are. I can remember, as a Texas resident, buying caladiums from a supplier in Florida. Each year as a part of her letting customers know that it was time to reorder, she would send a letter, stating what her family was doing, how her two children had grown, etc. Originally, I thought this letter was the most ridiculous idea—I did not know this woman! Why would I care what her son and daughter did as they grew older? But over the years and repeat orders, I realized what she was really doing. She was blogging before the blog age, and building a relationship with customers; she was allowing us to know her, to buy a small piece of her, if you will. Though she might not have been able to measure it directly, I have no doubt that she secured additional revenue because people were familiar with her. If you will take the risk as you build your advertising campaign, you will find that people want to know you, too.

Isa 28:16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

The business plan, and all the decision points that will eventually be a part of it, are places of prayer. With time on your knees and some intellectual sweat equity, you should generate pages that embody your business from start to finish. Your business plan will be as unique as you are, but in any case, it should point a clear path toward what you need and how you might go about getting it. The gap between the clarity of the path and where you are now can only be filled by our Lord. Bring him your proverbial two loaves and five fish, and watch Him use you to bless the multitudes.

Belinda Bullard is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs. Belinda blogs at Simply Belinda and Chronicles of a Blessed Heritage.