Have you taken time to really figure out your business? Most of us tend to spend our time working in our business, rolling with what is thrown at us. But you can radically improve your business by spending time working on it. The first step is to really define the business you are building.
Let’s take a cue from the traditional business plan by writing a business summary.
1. Describe your basic business.
- Explain your products and services.
- What makes you unique?
2. Identify the market(s).
- Describe the market for each revenue stream.
- How will you reach that market?
3. Set your financial strategy.
- Explain your pricing structure.
- What are your financial goals?
If you’ll actually put in the effort to write this out, you’ll be a huge step ahead of most small business startups. Really. It helps to focus your attention on areas you might be ignoring. Zane Safrit put it this way: What is the question you aren’t asking yourself?
Next time, we’ll talk about converting those financial goals into real world activities.
[Photo of my desk, from my Flickr.]
This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you’d like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!
Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival. New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour.
- Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium online Oct 13 - September 26, 2020
- Cheap placemaking idea: instant murals - September 11, 2020
- Refilling the rural business pipeline - July 7, 2020
- Huge vacant buildings: grants to renovate? - June 9, 2020
- Economic self defense for small towns - June 7, 2020
- The best things you can do for local businesses in light of coronavirus - March 27, 2020
- How to get more parking downtown without adding any spaces - March 7, 2020
- Exact Yeti Blue mic volume and Windows settings to reduce background noise - February 17, 2020
- Getting local businesses to cooperate with you: Shop Hopping Around Brownsville - December 16, 2019
- Survey of Rural Challenges 2019 results - December 5, 2019
Good post Becky. I’m not a fan of forms and bureaucracy but things like this and “idea resumes” help me focus on goals. Just having to write it out challenges my assumptions and helps me communicate to other people.
Thank you, Carl. That’s exactly what I was trying for.
Great! I liked the article. i have done this before i went through this article. but sometimes we need to read such things to know that whether we are on the right track or not.
great work Becky.
Sounds like you are on the right track. Thanks.