Business Administration

Archive for the ‘Business Plan’ Category

An organization can plan your communication considerably enhance their business objectives, corporate, institutional and social. Schedule messages and contact procedures is as logical as plan the financial, technical or human. However, this task has been the last to join the management actually responsible for doing so are in many cases more recently incorporated into the management team.

The communication planning is set in the communication plan complete you can get applying the five steps just discussed in the previous section. Summary of integrated communication phases:
Research to provide the necessary information.
Creating the strategic communication plan for a period of time.
Schedule the necessary actions to carry out the plan.
Implementing the actions in the programmed order.
Control plan and evaluate the result.

The focus of the communication of any organization is built from the public to whom it is addressed. You are probably thinking about the customers or consumers. Of course these are a priority for the company, but if you look a little better, you’ll see that other people or companies with which is also related. Although there are those who buy the product, service or a final thought, what they think the company can be decisive. An example: the employees. They have insider and a high degree of credibility with anyone who will listen. O shareholders who have invested their money in the company and can influence it. Or the banks that work is its management, they can trust or not in its future solvency.

It is a plan to communicate with different audiences of the company, or those identified as priorities in the next period of time. The starting point of this plan is, therefore, the identification of internal and external stakeholders (employees, shareholders and investors, customers, suppliers and distributors, public, opinion makers …) and collecting information about them. It is also advisable to make an image audit that allows us to understand the corporate values, corporate culture to analyze and diagnose your image internal, external and intentional, as well as communication and corporate reality.

Since this information is created strategic communication plan, usually annual, that policy must be based on communication and image of the company. This plan sets out the objectives of communication, public to communicate and to be the strategy to follow with each of them. Consequently, specific actions are programmed to deliver messages, are interpersonal (management meetings with opinion leaders, representatives of the same or different sectors …), mass (advertising or news creation) or massive (participation in fairs, conferences, selective delivery of reports, information dossiers …).

A strategic communication plan integrates different programs of action are being launched in a coordinated manner to enhance the desired effect. This is carried out trying to meet the plan schedule or timing , sometimes complex because often be developing and launching simultaneous actions with diverse audiences. The process control and measurement of results allows adjustment and correction of subsequent plans.

No doubt prepare a proper business plan is the most important step when starting a new business. A complete business plan is your guide to running your business successfully. Its success depends on the business plan. This plan needs to contain all relevant information, should be well written, contain facts and be organized in a logical sequence. Furthermore, it should not contain any information that can not be verified.

Owning and managing your own business is a continuous learning process. Research your idea and do what you can afford, but do not hesitate to seek help from people who can say what you need to know.

Retired Executives Association is a national organization of business executives and retired professionals and volunteers who are an excellent resource to start. You can also get information and assistance to associations and chambers of commerce, local universities and Centers of Development for Small Business. Read the rest of this entry »

One difficulty that entrepreneurs face when making your business plan is to put ideas in writing, considering that it usually takes practice to write constantly, and much less of what you have intend the business idea in mind or you can have the opportunity you’ve discovered.

Hence lies the importance of making your business plan as this document shows a clear and consistent idea of the scope of businesses that have identified and how you will take all necessary action to bring that idea out business, that is your business idea becomes your business.

It is clear that you must build your business plan in a specific order which allows the entire process oriented in a logical and consistent way for people who as an entrepreneur you head to present your business plan, they can understand very clearly and know what you’re looking for.

The most important thing when writing your business plan is to understand the three main reasons why every entrepreneur should prepare this document. Read the rest of this entry »

The market is considered the basic element of any investment initiative, particularly as it relates to production of goods and services as possible to detect situations that determine the performance of other studies such as the technical study and financial study.

For this reason the focus of market research in your business plan should be aware of the existence of sufficiently large number of people or institutions that require the good or service that you will be offered through your company, and which are available purchase.

In that sense, one of the key elements in developing the market research is the identification of goods or services, which must be clearly identified and characterized so that it can be recognized both by those who will use it, for those who must support working or performing the service. Read the rest of this entry »

To make a very good business plan you should understand that not only a matter of having complete all the studies that constitute it, it is equally important to know which are the most common mistakes of entrepreneurs to make the business plan.

No doubt aware of these mistakes will help you feel much safer when you want to make the business plan for entrepreneurship.

Then, when you are making your business plan to avoid these mistakes:

* Business Plan for meeting or business plan “half” . A good number of businesses started without a business plan, the entrepreneur finds it necessary to do so only when an entity to support entrepreneurship or financial institution it required.

This class of entrepreneurs leave them wrapped for the day to day, do not perform any kind of planning and therefore are always “putting out fires” in your business. While making a business may require too much work, the exercise of making your business plan that will sort of a much more effectively those activities necessary to build and consolidate in the short, medium and long term business. Also, the planning allows you to focus your efforts on what is really needed, avoiding duplication of work and eliminating those activities that add no value to be unnecessary.

* The business plan applies only to “big ideas”. To create a company need not have found a “great idea” as an entrepreneur you need more time, money, planning, perseverance, and common sense . Very few successful businesses are based entirely on new ideas. A new idea may be in essence much more difficult to sell than one that already exists.

However, in that sense it is not too be very attentive to the needs that the market is showing, well open your eyes and evaluate any opportunity that can present. Remember that projects often do not sell new business ideas. People do it. The investors also invest in people, not just ideas.

* Fear of making the business plan. Make a business plan is not as difficult as you might think. This is not writing a thesis or a monograph. Rather, the invitation to overcome the fear of doing the business plan is prepared in the research process that has activity. Also, you can always count on experts in the field, books, papers and courses that will make it easier to understand the mechanisms that exist in developing a good business plan. Remember that in Start Your Business Plan are to assist you.

* Objectives and vague goals. Avoid the draft business plan dropped in phrases like: “we will always be number one”, “meet all customer needs” such slogans are quite exaggerated and reveal the limited approach that has to have no clear objective from the outset.

Against this, the objective is to score a goal, and for this it is necessary that you can measure things and keep track of your plans. Specific dates you need to know who is responsible for budgets, and partial goals. Then you can proceed. No matter how well resolved or gloriously presented its business plan will mean nothing unless it produces results.

* Unrealistic growth projections. This is one of the most common mistakes when the business plan will be presented has to prospective partners or investors. It is evident when the sales projection, they grow slowly at first, but soon rise sharply with high growth rates of nowhere. In that sense it is better to have conservative sales projections, which may be measurable and defensible especially for you, because if things go better than expected, it can celebrate, but the going gets tough, you can with the minimum goals established.

Finally, always remember that a good business plan is a valuable tool that will serve to reflect on the critical issues of an enterprise, will help you communicate better with investors, partners, employees, suppliers, etc. and can be used for ongoing consultation if you want you will measure progress in your business, considering that this business plan is a management tool subject to ongoing review. Never lose sight of that reality which will serve your company has the distinction of being by nature dynamic and changing.

The study of management in your business plan aims to show interest in your business plan, it will be well organized, has to have coordination among its components, the human talent that will be part of your business the most prepared and the business will comply with all existing laws in your country, depending on the type of society we’re going to be.

If you learn and apply each of the recommendations in this article, you can make the study of management in your business plan. Are undoubtedly be very useful when undertaking this task.

The first thing to do is the legal structure, as it must indicate the legal form of your business. What we want is to stop writing if the company will be established as a natural or legal person, whether it is a sole proprietorship or a partnership.

It is best to consider carefully the commercial code of your country and consult with the best lawyers. This considering that are large enough differences between the types of companies in the countries. Read the rest of this entry »

If you want your business to be highly competitive at present, be aware of the comprehensiveness and flexibility should be. In that sense, his company has to get too caught up in challenges that involve face new competitors, which may be far more innovative strategies than yours. The slogan is therefore to understand that it is not the big fish who eat the small, rather it is the fastest fish that overcomes the slow …

Therefore, there is no choice but to maintain an unrelenting pursuit of new products, services, processes and markets.

And in that quest to be better, your company can decide to be part of a strategic alliance. Which is manifested through agreements between two or more organizations with complementary capabilities, which, in addition to objectives and common goals, cooperate to carry out their activities, taking into account that cooperation is more than work together .

The main thing in a strategic alliance is the common interest and trust, these pillars together to allow a wide range of actors from different cultures with very different skills, which are aimed at creating ways of understanding, which lead to goals significantly more innovative, ambitious and challenging for both companies. For this reason, and can share the rewards and profits, should also be understood that like any process, there are always risks and losses, which will also be compartidas.Es for this reason that the creation of a strategic alliance with any company not be an easy task, what it is about entrepreneurship and the benefit obtained depends on what progress can be made.

While it is true, it would seem that at first many advantages are achieved with a strategic alliance, increasing the benefit can go to strengthening the alliance. However, you must understand that venturing into a strategic alliance requires compliance with three aspects:

The clarity of what the parties seek the strategic alliance.
The agreed set of objectives and values.
The integrated planning process, ie, establishing goals and timetables for implementation.
While in the first instance, the strategic alliance must be given by either party, it is essential that each of the potential participants have very clear why it compels as an alliance means sharing problems in order to achieve a common benefit.

For this reason, some of the reasons that lead companies to form strategic alliances are:

Increase profits (income) with the use of comparative advantage that allows the global market.
Own resources are not sufficient for a certain task.
Project risks are too high for a single company.

Finally, the most important is to understand that strategic alliances provide a collaborative relationship between two or more independent enterprises, each with its own agenda, its own strategy and their own culture, in order to generate greater value in their business maintaining a degree of balance between competition and cooperation.

What is at issue is ultimately to increase the effectiveness of the competitive strategies of the participating organizations to enable the exchange of mutually beneficial technologies, marketing, information, products, suppliers, markets, and much more.

If at this point you are wondering, what is the business plan ?, then you are in the right place. Also if you know it’s a business plan, I’m sure this article and to be published later in this section will be of great help.

In this first article will give an explanation that macro are the Business Plans, to serve, because they are important and will make it known what my experience working with them.

What is a Business Plan?
In short, a business plan is a document that embodies the development and creation of a business idea. And buildings should have plans for construction companies should have a business plan to know where they come from and where they go.

In the previous paragraph I used the word ” should “when referring to the Business Plan in the company. This is expressly so that in practice many companies have developed business plans, of which the vast majority do so because they have no idea referred to the concept. Does this mean that companies do not have the business plan may not succeed? The answer is a resounding No. There are big companies that are born of good entrepreneur instinct, luck and not necessarily the academic background of this person. Now, many of these companies are born in an almost spontaneous, eventually seeking similar and complementary tools to the Business Plan, such as consulting and strategic planning. The advantage of starting from the first day of operations of the company with a well designed business plan is that you can reduce errors and hence costs in future operations.

What is a Business Plan?
When you start writing a business plan, you may not be entirely clear about the benefits this will bring. Many of the benefits surely find the time when the company is formed. So I will give some of the benefits and advantages that I found through the creation of a Business Plan for my company.

Reducing Risk : The risk is one of the biggest problems facing any enterprise. This topic is so important that in this blog is dedicated a category exclusively for this topic. When making a business plan, you must perform a market study, marketing plan, among other tools of the administration . These are intended to help us to learn more about the environment, our company, competition, among others. In this way we will have a clearer picture and know that we face and risks we are assuming. Knowing the risks , can create strategies to tackle them successfully.
Translating the idea : As mentioned repeatedly throughout this blog, usually entrepreneurs fall in love with our ideas. Likewise, it is usual to think big ideas universes where “fire everywhere.” To write and translate our ideas into the business plan, “landed” the ideas and give them a logical construction. Remember the Business Plan will many people and should find that their ideas are logical and structured.
Check Concepts : Many new businesses rely on new and even revolutionary ideas. The business plan is a piece of paper where you must convince the reader that your idea is viable and that may be sold. That is, you should be able to convey in a letter what your company does and how it will achieve. If this letter does not achieve this goal, it is possible that your idea is not well supported and is very difficult to carry it out.

Sustaining Financial Viability : One exercise required the Business Plan is to assess the financial part. You must capture the costs associated with the idea in the medium and long term, so you know it costs your company involved and funding required to get through.
Get Support Financial : This is one of the major objectives. Either that you will submit your business idea to a bank to finance it or why behind the help of an investor. Whatever your angle of approach, the Business Plan will not only help to achieve this goal, it is also a document often requested by these parties.
Contests : Although it may not be a primary objective, there are many contests and competitions for Business Plans worldwide. These are contests that will help to secure financial resources, as is a screen to present his idea.

My Experience in Business Plans
From 2001 and until 2007 worked in the Business Plan for my business. This is a long time, 6 years and the truth is that I consider a business plan that never ends. Can you and your company is big and may need more advanced tools and so he laid aside the business plan (and will become obsolete), but rarely fall because they are finished with this document.

This Business Plan was read by many people and constantly receive feedback for improvement. Although this was a group project, which involved many people in different stages of its creation, from day one I led this project. The original project idea I conceived it and always took the leadership of it. Moreover, the vast majority of contributions discussed in this paper were by my initiative.

This document had a long stroke. They looked great CEOs, entrepreneurs at various levels, banks and participated in several competitions. The greatest achievement of this business plan was to have been among the finalists Ventures, the Business Plan competition most important in Colombia, sponsored by Money Magazine, Portfolio Journal and firm McKinsey & Co.

During the 6 years of development of the business plan I learned a lot about these documents in my company and myself. I want to share these experiences with my readers in later articles, to achieve its business plan a success and achieve the goals that have been drawn.

Finally, in the near future publish the Business Plan for my business. I’ll post different versions, but at some point go up to this Blog Business Plan with which I was a finalist in the competition Ventures. The idea is that with this example you achieve build step by step an outstanding business plan and to help meet the goals it has set with the creation of your business.

The most important tool with which entrepreneurs have when creating your company’s business plan, with which test the idea they have in mind. What should have a good plan.
The business plan is key to the entrepreneurial process as it works as a kind of pretest, which allows entrepreneurs to identify what will happen to your business before starting it.

Its benefits are: to determine if your idea can be transformed into a structured and operate, to identify their strengths and weaknesses, know what resources you need, what is the business potential in the market, understand what team work is needed , identify risks and design a course of action.

Below you will find everything you need to know before making a business plan.

Eight parts of the business plan

1. Design of an executive summary. We must make a clear, concise and attractive to the most important aspects of entrepreneurship, which has everything that a reader with little time should know about the business plan. Should be placed first, before any other sections (well be the last thing done) and be clear, concise and eloquent. Read the rest of this entry »

These days I’ve been a little busy with a course on how to create an internal communication plan. I’ve met good people, very varied and enriching. And I am committed to giving them more information on this subject after the course, in this case for free.

As promised, here are some of the most interesting documents that are on case studies of internal communication in companies, consultants and counted by the companies themselves:

1. The internal communication strategy in health institutions (Pablo Gonzalo – Alcor Consultores)

2. Internal communication in Iberdrola (Jose Luis Gonzalez Besada – Iberdrola) Read the rest of this entry »