Posts Tagged ‘business’

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1. How To Create & Grade Your List.

The most important commodity in any home based business is contact list. Without people to share your product, service or business opportunity with, it does not matter about the rest of the details. You should consider your business as a factory and your contacts as the raw materials. Every business, large or small, must have a grand Opening and then continue to expose your products or services and recruit new participants to fulfill the demand of continuous growth if it is going to become a thriving, profitable and enduring enterprise.

A. Creating Your List:

One of the simplest ways to create an enormous data base of contacts is to use the index of your local yellow pages directory as a memory jogger. This is a vitally important exercise and, if you are seeking extraordinary results, I recommend investing an entire weekend (two full days) pouring over every category from A to Z and racking your brain about who you know in each of the literally hundreds if not thousands of categories listed.

For example: Starting with Automotive: Who do you know who sells cars? Who do you know who repairs cars? Who do you know who loves cars?
Who do you know who has a distinctive car? Give careful thought to who comes to mind when you think of the word car. I am sure you can appreciate that this exercise, if taken seriously can easily take two full eight hour days to complete. Please trust me when I say that this could be one of the most valuable projects that you could ever engage in to create an abundance mentality and establish a huge market potential.

2. The Importance of Persistence & Consistence

(Why it is important for the success of your Home Business)

I will until is the mantra of the persistent and consistent individual. When a rock cutter hits a rock 100 times before successfully making his cut, which one is the most important?
ANSWER: All of them.

3. What to Say to the Nay-Sayers
Many Billionaires believe in Network Marketing

If you want someones lifestyle listen to their advice and opinions. We all know people whose lifestyle would be our worst nightmare so why do we let losers steal our dreams? Belly buttons and opinions are a dime a dozen, however, there are amazing examples of success who will tell you that Network marketing is a business model that they whole heartedly endorse and recommend.

Unless their business track record is more impressive that Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Warren Buffet or Sir Richard Branson, nobody is qualified to negate the colossal power and proven effectiveness of the Network Marketing Industry.

4. The Law of Association

In preparing yourself for the formulation of your Mission Statement and in refining the description of the person you are fully committed to becoming, you must surround yourself with others who have above average skills in your chosen areas and more importantly measurable results.

However, you must be equally as conscious to avoid frequent exposure to those whose values and character are obviously a direct contradiction to your own objectives.

5. Creating Your Mission Statement

The first and most essential component for creating a solid foundation for mastery of a successful and productive distributorship is the crystal clear definition of your WHY.

Your WHY can be defined as your strategic objective . . . your ultimate goal . . . the result you ardently desire to create as a product of your efforts in your Network Marketing business.

Nothing could be more misguided than to set out on this venture without having a burning desire for a very specific end result that is personal and clearly envisioned by you.

You must, by design, distill your wishes and dreams into a short, clear, laser focused Mission Statement that you can review every morning upon rising and every evening before retiring.

Our vision for you is a long term, enjoyable, rewarding and enlightening experience as you establish yourself as a professional in this remarkable industry of Network Marketing.

Please feel welcome to visit blueprintsforachievements.com to access a FREE comprehensive data base of video tutorials.

You can opt in to our e-broadcast list if you would like to be kept up to date about receiving additional training information. You will see the opt in form to the right on the main page.

Wishing you abundance and Success.

Our Best Always,
Ken Smith and Patti Ross
kensblueprints@gmail.com

This is an excerpt of a paper originally written by George Miller, Founder of PROACTION. It has been modified and updated by Paul Deis, PROACTION CEO. This article is also available on our website: PROACTION – Generating Best Practices

Overview

Success or failure of a major business systems project is often preordained by how the groundwork is laid. Major change management efforts, such as ERP, Supply Chain Management and Electronic Commerce are often nearly enterprise-wide, involving multiple processes and departments. This paper focuses on how to avoid some of the pitfalls through improved project planning. It is fairly straightforward, not relying upon sophisticated methods and tools. It is written as if addressing a project manager.

Among the topics covered will be an overview of: charter, objectives, priorities, project rules, communications, education, project plan, resources/organization, team member job descriptions, personnel management, management support, budget, funding, third party participation, hardware, software, policies, procedures, task definition, sequencing, and resource estimating.

What is a “System”?

Before trying to plan and manage a major business systems project, it would be beneficial to agree on a definition of the word:

System – An organized way to accomplish an objective. A system consists of missions, leadership, goals, objectives, metrics, policies, procedures, education, training, organization, personnel, tools—it is not primarily a computer project, even though modern business systems tend to be dependent upon computer technology.

Address all of the system elements shown above, to successfully plan and manage a business system project.

Laying the Groundwork

Management Support

Most of us are aware of the importance of “management support” for a major business change effort in an organization. This support should be reflected in the wording and visibility of the project charter, described in the next section. It should also be exercised by key executives whenever the project is challenged for resources, focus, or leadership. Because of the wide scope and number of functional areas involved in a full business system implementation, it’s mandatory to gain understanding at the executive level for what must be accomplished, why, and how it is to be done. At least one true executive sponsor (definition of a true sponsor: someone who controls the needed resources and whose job may depend on success) is needed to increase the odds of success to a tolerable level. The sponsor is needed to encourage, defend, counsel and provide resources to the team. This is definitely not something to delegate to lower level people.

Charter

The “Charter” is a clear mandate for the project team, generally consisting of mission, objectives, scope, direction and authority. It is an agreement between top management and project management. For optimal results, it needs to be repeatedly communicated organization-wide and adhered to.

The charter should be brief—preferably a page or two. Its mission should be a powerful, but simple statement that all employees, suppliers and even customers could relate to, such as: “Being the automotive wire industry leader in quality and customer service.” The objectives should be clear, concise and quantifiable, such as: “provide same-day service on stock items by 12-31-96,” “Achieve six sigma quality in assembly by 6-30-97,” or better yet, “Eyeglasses in one hour.” A major project will likely have multiple objectives.

“Scope” tells the team (and the rest of the world) how far they should go. “Reengineering the test lab operations for the next millennium,” for example, would seem to give the team a little more latitude than “replace the outdated lab computer system.”

Direction and authority statements help make it clear to all concerned who will get it done and how far they can go. Example: “The Comet project team is comprised of direct representatives of each division General Manager who have full authority to formulate and approve policy and operations changes within the scope of the project charter.” Try arguing with that one at the next staff meeting, especially when such a statement comes directly from the Chairman and is signed by all of his/her staff.

Priorities

Major change efforts, such as business systems projects, consume a large portion of an organization’s resources and “mindshare.” There are a limited number of efforts of comparable scope that should be undertaken simultaneously. Such a project needs to be in the top three or four of an organization’s priorities at implementation time if it is to have a reasonable chance of success. If there are no more than 4-5 major company change priorities, the chance of success is greatly enhanced.

Project Planning Phase

Next, the team can get on with the defining of the deliverables, activities, operating rules and resource requirements needed to carry out the project mission and objectives. More specifically, this involves creation of a Project Justification, Project Task Plan, Communications Plan, Education Plan, Budget, Funding, and Team Member Job Descriptions. . . .

Project Justification

No matter what anyone tells you, make sure to do a project “justification,” “business case,” or “cost/benefit analysis.” If this isn’t done, it is much more difficult to defend your project priority and funding from other worthy efforts vying for the same resources, or from the first end-of-the month “crunch” demanding everyone’s attentions. You may need to do a rough cost/benefit analysis before getting any funding at all.

No matter what you call it, the justification should describe all costs attributable to the project, including people. Opportunity costs should be listed separately. All benefits should be cited, whether or not readily quantified or translated into dollars. “Soft” benefits need to be stated, such as “we need this to survive, since top competitors will probably do 75% of their business on the Internet within two years.” Skeptics as well as zealots need to “scrub” the analysis, since it may well be subjected to scrutiny later on.

It’s a good idea to run multiple scenarios based upon varying business conditions and levels of success. Skip the fancy mathematics—justifications aren’t all that accurate anyway, and even if they were, most people wouldn’t understand or bother to read a highly complex one. A justification is more like a yardstick than a micrometer.

Project Task Plan

In spite of all the books, training and wonderful software tools developed to assist project managers in carrying out their appointed duties, project planning is still a tough job, and one not often enough done well. While these aids are helpful, they are no substitute for experience, judgment and a good methodology. Basic project plan elements to be included are: Deliverables, Activities, Activity Descriptions, Sequencing, Responsibilities, Resource Requirements, and Timing. Due to the difficulty of relating to large numbers of tasks in a large project, major milestones should be included in the plan. These are the main things that most people will be looking at to measure progress. Don’t get bogged down in the minutiae of the detailed tasks.

Start with the Deliverables, which can be derived from the charter. Example: An implemented, working on-line order entry system meeting the specifications. Activities should then be developed which will lead to fulfillment of the deliverables. A trait of an inexperienced project manager is to develop overly detailed activity lists which then create a reporting nightmare and make it more difficult for others to follow to comprehend the plan and its status.

How to simplify the plan: 1) – Identify and show on the plan major Milestones, such as “Go ‘live’ with new inventory system.” Show the dependent activities needed to achieve each milestone. 2) – Make sure the activities shown on the plan don’t get too detailed. For example, “Load existing inventories” is probably sufficient. “List existing inventories, “key in existing inventories,” “Verify that data entered are correct,” and “Correct and reenter erroneous items” are probably too detailed. These should appear in separate Activity Descriptions,” to be administered by the designated people responsible for accomplishing them.

To provide an example, we were involved in a very nice plan for a comprehensive business system project for a $100M+ discrete manufacturer. It had 32 milestones, 340 activities on the plan. There were a total of about 2400 individual steps on the supporting activity description lists used by team members to manage their activities. Note that these steps were NOT used as nodes on the planning network.

Sequencing and timing can best be shown graphically on the plan, and might include start and completion dates.

Each activity should be assigned to a specific person responsible for accomplishing it. In recent years, project managers have been successful in assigning tasks to small teams, if said teams are small, cohesive, and the company culture is conducive to this.

Resources required should be estimated for each activity. Resource definition should be detailed enough to identify constraints but not so detailed that it becomes a major task just to create and maintain the plan. In a business systems project, key people are usually the most difficult resources to schedule. Dollars and equipment constitute most of the other resources. Once the resource estimates are complete, perform a time-phased resource load to determine the probable bottlenecks. Remember that all of this is based upon estimates, that the resources may not cooperate, and that things may not occur how or when you predicted. So, remain flexible!

Project managers each have their own project planning system format, type and software preferences. Some employ simple Gantt charts, while others prefer sophisticated “PERT” (Program Evaluation and Report Technique), CPM (Critical Path Method) or others. We recommend picking one appropriate for your and the organization’s style, as well as the size and complexity of the project.

Contemporary software typically provides the capabilities of calculating schedule dates, critical paths, resource totals, helping to identify problem areas, and providing varying levels of reporting.

Advice on organizing activities—Don’t set them up according to computer “modules,” no matter what the computer software and hardware people tell you. In most cases, the organization of vendor modules does not relate all that well to your actual required business processes or sequence of implementation. To avoid having the tail wag the dog, figure out how you want to run the business first, then how you would go about implementing the project. Hopefully, software selected will have some relationship to the business processes defined, but this is far from precise.

Sequence the tasks according to the priority of desired results, and to some extent, the precedence that tasks must be completed to provide deliverables. For example, if the top priority is to get improved order processing running first, don’t let the software vendor or anyone else tell you that the bill-of-material must be fully implemented first. It may in fact be necessary to implement part of it first, say, the part and description files.

A typical overall plan might be organized something like this:

1. Project Organization (groundwork, planning)

2. Education

3. Requirements definition

4. Upgrading existing systems

5. Cross-project liaison

6. Software/hardware selection/procurement

7. Conference room pilot, training

8. Implementation (by major process)

Communications Plan

Peoples’ understanding and perceptions of the purpose, progress and success of a project have an important effect on project success. In this era of “media” and “PR”, it’s surprising to see the lack of skill and attention paid to communications planning in large business systems or other change management projects.

An excellent communications plan keeps all stakeholders informed as to what needs to be done and what the project status is, and helps motivate them to be a part of the success. It may consist of memos, bulletin boards, articles in newspapers, newsletters and presentations to employees, suppliers, customers, the press, even tee shirts. Don’t go overboard with hokey trinkets. Project personnel and management sponsors should participate in communications. Department meetings, “open houses” and “supplier day”, are examples of communications tools to be used.

Even competitors may be targets of a communications plan- for “disinformation,” to demoralize or even recruit their people!

Education Plan

Effecting major change in an organization means that people need to do things differently. Doing things differently means that people must learn what to do differently and why, if they are to accept change. Such learning for a broad scope business project cannot be merely left to chance, but needs to be part of a coordinated, integrated education program. It encompasses philosophical and conceptual changes, as well as specifics of jobs to be performed. It may span executive through blue collar levels of the organization, as well as going outside to reach suppliers and customers.

For example, a new field order entry system might involve salespeople, sales management, customers who might directly use the new systems, internal order administration, engineering, purchasing, planning and accounting personnel. All these people need, in varying degrees, to understand why this is being done, how it will affect them, and what specifically to do differently.

Educating systems users and their managers is not the only education task. It will also be necessary to educate executive sponsors, steering committee and project team members, and maybe even customers and suppliers. Don’t commit the error of falling behind schedule because it is belatedly realized that team members require education and training before they can perform many of their assigned tasks.

The actual education activities may be delivered by inside and outside resources, including project personnel, trainers, third party representatives such as consultants, software suppliers, academics, customers, or even government organizations.

Budget/Funding

Chances are, at least some budget and funding will be needed before there is a detailed task plan and resource definition. The money to plan the project in detail may not be available until some budget materializes. The budget amount actually provided may have little to do with the resource requirements, but may be based upon available funds, politics, external pressures, or how well the project is sold.

Getting the “budget” is only part of the struggle. Actually getting the money, approvals and people is quite another matter, especially in large bureaucratic organizations, and very especially if multiple organizations have provided budget or must approve resource disbursement.

Team Member Job Descriptions

People are often assigned to project teams without a clear understanding of why they are there or how to conduct themselves after they arrive. Another way to improve results is to prepare job descriptions for everyone involved, from executive sponsors and project managers, on down to individual team members and department liaisons. Job descriptions should contain Objectives, Reporting Relationships (in cases of part time or “matrixed” team members, reporting relationships especially need clarification), Duties, and Qualifications. Use them to structure team member activities, to communicate their responsibilities to the organization, and to evaluate team members, if applicable. If at all possible, try to make it applicable, since this is one of the few levers that project managers have in this era of “matrixed” organizations.

Getting It Done

With the proper planning, execution is much easier. This section addresses Organization/Resources and Managing the Agenda to help improve execution.

Organization/Resources

People, money and equipment are the principal resources required. People are the hardest part, so let’s concentrate there. Even in large organizations, there appears to be a surprising lack of people with:

• Leadership talent—ability to motivate people and make things happen

• Broad knowledge and understanding of company processes. “Rightsizing” and organizational “flattening” in recent years have made this shortage even worse in many companies.

So, people who have these attributes are the hottest commodity around, because they’re in short supply. The aspiring project manager will probably spend more time and effort trying to obtain, keep, motivate and manage people than on anything else.

People requirements:

• Leadership- A project sponsor(s) is the first requirement. A major business systems change project probably won’t even get out of the starting gate without one and won’t succeed without a good, dedicated sponsor.

• Project Manager- Ideally, someone with a good reputation, well-connected within the organization, leadership skills, and in-depth knowledge of the business and desired systems skills.

• Project team members- People with the requisite background and skills to perform the various tasks needed to accomplish the objectives. This includes a mix of people with business, industry/technical and computer/technical skills.

So, you don’t have many such people? You’re not alone. The above desired attributes are in priority sequence, so compromise accordingly. Look for real “comers” who show signs of becoming what is needed, and who will grow into the role with time, mentoring, education, experience and self teaching.

Once a project manager is found, look for project team members with complementary skills. Request the best people available. If a good job of “selling” the project need and benefit to the constituent organizations has been done, recruiting will be easier. Unfortunately, not all executives will share the same perception of this project’s importance, and may try to “dump” less competent people on the project. This is another project “make or break” issue. Few incompetents can be absorbed, without fatally compromising the quality, productivity and even credibility of the overall effort.

Generally speaking, internal candidates are preferable, especially as Project Manager. A few new hires or even consultants can be absorbed; in fact some new blood is desirable. Be careful of bringing in too many from one place. For example, the author witnessed a power struggle between the resident “homies” and the “GE boys,” which became destructive – Corporate gang warfare.

For Organizational Structure/Reporting relationships, there are a number of possibilities. For example, large manufacturing companies often have an executive as project director, a steering group composed of other executives with skills or vested interest in seeing it accomplished. This steering group is responsible for seeing that proper direction is set, resources are provided, and that things happen as desired.

The steering group normally appoints a Project Manager and a project team is formed. This team should be staffed with people able to do the planning and execution to accomplish project objectives. There are different opinions on whether the team should be full-time, part-time, external or internal. We have found that a small full-time core team or at least a full-time Project Manager is just about mandatory for success of a major business system project in all but the smallest organizations. Other members are often on assignment from their “departments,” either full or part time. Although it would seem that an entire team of full-time members would be the ideal case, in practice, that doesn’t seem to be the case. This is probably true because members that retain close ties to their areas get better “buy” in from their department constituents and stay closer to the “real world.”

Larger teams sometimes appoint people to various supervisory, quality control, specialty and administrative posts. Don’t go overboard with this. It’s easy to end up with a large number of people in such “support” positions to the other team members, who, come to think of it, who are themselves support people. Smaller organizations, on the other hand, will tend to combine positions. Recently, we met a project sponsor who was also the Project Manager and Materials Management team member.

External resources are almost always used, to fill non-recurring skill needs, to educate and train company people, to provide advice, counsel and auditing of the system. There is nothing magic about engaging and managing outsiders, as long as you recognize differences in motivation, compensation, and organization.

For example, management consultants, if any good, are objective professionals. They are motivated by doing a good job, being recognized, being independent, and making money. The good ones work with you, not for you. Recognition of that subtle difference can make you a more successful Project Manager. Management consultants may report to the project manager, but there is often value in having them report to the steering committee or elsewhere in executive management. Some Project Managers dislike this, but there are often advantages to affording this high level of visibility.

Programmers often take very great pride in their work, technical skills, and may pride themselves on being different than the business types running the show. Listen to their concerns, learn from them, give them their space, but make the trains run on time.

Vendors may assign “project managers” or “account managers” to help you. Make sure they know whose “account” it really is. There’s usually no need to make a big deal about who is in charge, unless they’re unusually dense or egotistic. In fact, they may know a lot more than you about their areas of expertise—that’s why you’re paying them the big bucks. Get your money’s worth, and remember, these people often are under more pressure to bring in “billable hours” for their companies than to bring in your project on time and on budget. We’re not just picking on vendors—the same may be true of almost any outsiders, including consultants. They should always be provided with clear objectives, schedules, deliverables, budget, company liaison/controller, and performance measurements.

Managing the Agenda

Much time and effort can be wasted if the project isn’t effectively run. Good people, organization and project planning go a long way toward helping to accomplish this. Beyond that, Project Rules, Issues Lists, and Activity List Management can further improve a project.

Project Rules

Operating rules help structure the process and make things run smoothly, but don’t overdo it. There should be certain mores, methodologies, and tools used. These should be communicated in a specific manner. If left to chance and informality, these will default to standard practice, which is something that might need conscious effort to change. Rules should include meeting rules, approval process, procedures for getting things done, quality standards, etc., or problems will ensue. For example, one of the author’s clients had a practice of making sweeping procedural changes without formally rewriting the procedures, gaining concurrence, or even testing them first. After a disastrous experience, this unwritten policy was finally reversed and a formal change introduction process was implemented.

Issues Lists

One way to manage the project better and to make meetings more productive is to use the Project Task Plan and a running Issues List as the main agenda items for project meetings. Many projects have meetings which are largely a waste of time because team members don’t stay focused on the work they were assigned to do—finishing the project. Most project meetings should focus on the deliverables, tasks, and issues related to getting them done.

During the course of any project, team members and other stakeholders will perceive various problems and opportunities. These should be recorded on the issues list and assigned: responsible people to resolve them, priority, schedule, and an explanation of each issue. The project team draws upon this list and the task plan to help focus their energies on what needs to be accomplished.

As more is learned about the issues, and solutions are developed, the list is updated. Closed issues are kept so that the resolution is remembered and issues don’t need to be “solved” more than once.

Activity List Management

Making sure that the work gets done right is one of the most difficult jobs for a project manager, especially in a major business systems project, which often crosses a number of departments, functions, processes and skills. The first problem is being able to recognize whether something is done and done right.

The second is to determine how much has been completed for the resources expended (earned value), and whether the resources were really expended. This is especially important when a team member’s “home department” is charging the project for time spent.

The third problem is how to diplomatically communicate the need to do better or faster than what has been done, especially if there is a dispute as to earned value and quality of work performed. This has actually become more difficult in the current era of “empowerment” and “teams,” when the efforts of a project manager are more likely to be interpreted as micro-management.

Recommendations—In review sessions, have the team member or sub team walk through what has been accomplished, through presentations, write-ups, or demonstrations. If the project manager is not technically competent in the area under discussion, bring in a peer review group, such as users, outside experts, or “customers” of the process under examination. If there are specifications or requirements, check the work against these. Ask those reviewed how far along they think they are, how much time has been expended, and the estimated balance to go. Ask about unforeseen issues, or recommended changes. Ask the reviewers the same questions, possibly at another time. Check the time worked vs. earned value claims, against the original estimates, and compare to what you have observed. For example, if someone estimated he would spend 10 hours a week on his task, but reported 35 hours a week, and you haven’t seen him around much, and the work is way behind the power curve, there may be a problem.

Initially give the team member(s) the benefit of the doubt, since they often have other responsibilities, or are volunteers who have taken on more work to help with your project.

The True Nature of a Business Systems Project

We have heard about or encountered a number of projects that went bad because management failed to realize the true nature of the tasks. A business systems project is not primarily about computers or software. Granted, these play an important role in businesses now, but they’re not the main challenge. The main challenge is, simply stated, getting people to realize what has to change, then changing to accommodate it. If there is still any doubt about this, go back and re-read the definition of a system near the beginning of this paper. It’s about people, leadership, policies, procedures, etc. If there is still doubt, interview executives of companies who succeeded or failed in major projects. They usually talk about commitment, people and education as the pivotal factors—win or lose.

A few words of advice about selecting Computer Hardware and Software for major business applications. First, it’s too important to be left to hardware and software people. Nowadays, these choices can help make or break a company. Imbedded in software and hardware are management philosophies and implicit decisions about company focus, response times and industry standards. The people who run the company must be involved to ensure these choices are made, even if only to help instill “ownership” on their part and that of those who will use these new tools. You still need technical expertise, but don’t let selection turn into a contest to find the flashiest “platform” or the most “efficient code.” For more on selection advice, on the PROACTION web site you will find excellent information regarding the SoftSelect process, our Best Practice in the area of Enterprise software management and selection.

Next, you can’t understand how or even if software will work for your company without an intensive test drive, usually referred to as a “Conference Room Pilot.” This is not just a brief razzle-dazzle vendor demo, or even halting efforts at playing with the screens on your own, but is a sophisticated business simulation, run by your company and supported by competent technical and training resources, you can read the free article on this topic on the PROACTION web site, or purchase our Best Practice Course – Conference Room Pilot.

In Summary

Managing a major business systems project plan is a very significant undertaking. Hopefully, we have helped to expand your understanding of the size, scope and complexity of the task, although it is only possible to summarize a few important points in this brief paper. You have probably noticed that basic project management principles were adapted to fit the nature of an enterprise-wide business systems change management project. The author used a manufacturing company for a model, but this approach could easily be adapted to other situations. It is recognized that there are other equally or maybe more valid possible approaches.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

George J. Miller, CFPIM, is Founder of PROACTION. Prior to selling the company to Paul Deis, George had worked with dozens of companies in assignments involving productivity, quality and service improvement, business systems, change management, acquisitions, divestitures, expert witness testimony, and others. Prior to founding PROACTION in 1986, he was Vice President of Marketing for Western Data Systems; Director of Planning and Development and Assistant Director—Operations for Purolator Technologies (PTI); Consultant for Booz-Allen & Hamilton, and Manufacturing Systems Manager for Becton-Dickinson.

Paul Deis, CFPIM, is CEO, PROACTION. He brings over 25 years of consulting and senior executive experience to his work, including detailed work with nearly 60 companies. Prior to acquiring PROACTION, Paul’s experience includes running a small ERP software company, leading other consulting businesses, prior work with PROACTION, Manager at Deloitte & Touche, VP Manufacturing at Raypak, Inc., where he was very successful with an early Lean management initiative, and dozens of projects in the areas of enterprise software, operations management, crisis resolutions, in a wide variety of industries, business types, and scales. Our website: PROACTION – Generating Best Practices

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Community sites and directories for sport’s leagues, Harley riders, Pet Owners.

Personal advice, motivation and self help sites acn offer tips, articles, advice and counseling on how to build self-esteem and self-confidence and reduce stress for a happier life. The market for personal advice and counseling, especially for students is very large. You can provide educational counseling through such sites.

Fitness and health, diets, weight loss sites acn Providing fitness and health guides, weight loss articles, tips and counseling for proper eating and exercising habits, the benefits of diet and exercise, fitness techniques, diet articles and diet tips, weight loss, as well as some of the popular diet plans. You could also include information of various nutritional and diet supplements, healthy and non-healthy foods,

Personals and Dating is one of the leading paid content categories. Personals and Dating is by far the most popular and visited category on the Internet. These sites include personal classifieds, chat rooms, messenger tools and cater to a global audience.

Your site could focus on everything automotive, including information on car buying, car reviews and crash test results, consumer rights under state lemon laws, and car complaint histories.

People search websites are a good way to find out addresses and other information on people. These sites are generally used to locate “lost” friends and relatives. For such sites, the site owner needs to purchase databases of public records from government and other agencies. Most people would be listed with such agencies making it easier to track them down.

Legal research websites are an effective source of all kinds of legal information. These include information many legal issues. You could also include a legal forms section.

Medical research websites can focus on medical issues and/or health insurance. You may also like to consider a site that provides information on health and medicine for the general public or for a specific target group. You could also provide information on alternate medicine. Sports news and information websites

Sport’s news is one of the most popular categories of subscription websites. You Can provide the latest sports news, information on all kinds of sports, sporting personalities and sporting venues. You could also have chat rooms, message boards, and forums for the sports fanatics to interact with each other.

Online greeting cards are a great way to send wishes to loved ones all over the world as electronic greetings are far more convenient and cheaper than paper greetings.

Online gaming is a huge market allowing interactive online computer games. Many gaming websites also offer monthly prizes and sweepstakes to its members as a marketing strategy.

Entertainment websites include digital music and multimedia, humor, recipes and other content intended for amusement, leisure and diversion. This is probably one of the most visited website categories.

Gambling information is another popular niche market within entertainment websites. Online Poker has become an industry of it’s own.

eBooks and newsletters are a huge resource for information. You can always start a paid content website offering an eBook or newsletter on a topic that is of interest to a segment of the public and where you have some knowledge. You can have e books ghost written for you. Or you could have a site that offers several e books.

Credit Help websites are flourishing as our economy flounders. These sites offer free consumer credit reports, or they offer credit counseling and tips or credit consolidation services.

Celebrity fan clubs are on the rise. Fan club sites offer reasonably priced memberships. Such sites offer members a lot of information on a particular celebrity along with photos, news, and memorabilia.

Automotive sales are a tradition in the Del Mastro family. Now entering into its second generation in the business of new and used RVs, RV parts and accessories and new and used cars in the Peterborough area, the Del Mastros have gained a special insight into their business. Del Mastro Motors was founded by Yvonne Del Mastro and her children in late 1994 but the family already had a deep understanding of automotive sales. Mrs. Up until his passing, Mrs. Del Mastro’s husband Henry (Hank) Del Mastro was the general manager of another successful car dealership. According to family members Hank Del Mastro had always wanted to start his own auto business. His family made the dream a reality and ever since then, has enjoyed steady growth and success. Here are three lessons the family has learned over almost a decade and a half in business.

Be Open to Opportunities

Traditional business advice says that you should plan for the long term instead of banking on explosive success. At the same time, this doesn’t mean you should ignore opportunities for success, either. The key is to research the local market. With a long experience in business throughout Peterborough and the Kawarthas, the Del Mastros saw an untapped demand for Suzuki vehicles. In 1997 Del Mastro Motors became an authorized Suzuki dealer. In a matter of months, the business became the top-selling Suzuki dealership for Ontario outside the GTA.

Expand by Demand

Becoming a Suzuki dealer is just one direction Del Mastro Motors has taken to grow the business. After studying the nature of auto sales and service in the area, the company took the initiative, offering new services that the Peterborough region – and in some cases, the entire country – desperately needed. The Kawarthas is a low density mix of urban and rural communities prone to heavy snowfall in the winter. The Del Mastros realized that this translated into an unmet demand for a convenient, high quality car wash. Other car washes either didn’t provide the same level of service or were only available in the summer. That’s why the family opened a top quality Auto Spa. Similarly, after recognizing a void in RV parts and accessories, the company expanded to supply those through both its Peterborough sales outlet and by delivery across Canada. Del Mastro Motors took each of these steps after examining the market, determining whether the demand fit their business planning to meet it.

Innovate, but Don’t Abandon Your Strengths

In 2009, Del Mastro Motors prepares for another round of expansion. The company redesigned its website at delmastro.ca, adding an online database where visitors can view and compare prices on vehicles. This matches its other online marketing initiatives, but this hasn’t come at the expense of its traditional sales and marketing efforts. Del Mastro Motors still has a commitment to top quality service on the lot, and still sends representatives into the local community to promote the Auto Spa as well as new and used RVs and cars. Del Mastro Motors began by making the right choices for its founding family and the community, and still puts them at the center of its business today.

The reality of the current downturn in the economy is that many companies will need to restructure to create the private sector jobs President Obama is talking about.  At the time of writing this article there is 7.2% unemployment or the good news, 92.8% full employment.  That’s good news if you’re one of the 92.8% but bad news if you’re one of the 7.2%.  And these are national figures so if you live in some States in the US the unemployment rate is higher. 

Regardless of your local unemployment statistics, if you have lost your job or are concerned your company may downsize but you need to make some money to put a roof over your head, feed the family, buy the gas to get around plus all the other things you need to do in life, perhaps you are thinking it’s time to get off the employment rollercoaster.  This means putting yourself in control so you can work the hours you want, work in an industry you want to be part of and ultimately be in control of your own destiny.  If that makes sense, what are your options?

The three options of business ownership

If you think business ownership may be an option for you, there are basically three choices.  Option one is to start your own business.  This means you have to come up with a creative new idea, test it to make sure there is a commercial market for your idea, and then once you get enough feedback, build and execute a business plan.  This plan not only needs to ensure you make enough money to pay the costs of running your business and personal needs but also cover any debt you’ve incurred while you created, tested and deployed your idea.

Option two is to buy an existing business that has any of the following three goals.  Your first goal could be to find a business that’s not doing well, determine the reason it is underperforming and then put in place the changes to have the business head in a positive direction.  Your second goal could be to look for a business that’s holding its own and simply take the place of the existing owner with the expectation of enjoying the life style of this business owner.  The third goal could be to look for a business that’s growing well but bring your skill set, new energy and capital and either continue the growth of the business or considerably add to it. 

The third and final option is to buy the rights to a new franchise.  Just so I am clear, you could always buy an existing franchise and continue its current ownership but this is really a variation of option two above.  New franchises are appearing on the market all the time in a diverse range of industries and formats.  At last count I had franchises in 84 different industries such as accounting, automotive, animals/pets, beauty care, building materials, children’s education, clothing, transportation, travel, upholstery and wholesale etc while the formats range from Business to Business (B2B), Retail, Home based etc to name a few.  The option of buying a new franchise tends to appeal to those who have worked in Corporate America but decide to look elsewhere for their future.  The best advantage of a franchise for a new business owner is that it brings a system or business model that has had the wrinkles ironed out; similar to the model used in Corporate America.  The franchisor has proven the business model, fine tuned the systems, built the training for the franchisee, knows what accounting systems to use and has these up and running and is looking to re-create these business models across the US and often into Canada and Mexico, and around the world.

Understanding risk

The bottom line is that you have many options with the final option you choose to make based on your risk tolerance.  When deciding whether to start your own business, buy an existing business or buy the rights to a franchise, the level of risk will be one of the major decisions you need to evaluate.  Your comfort with which option to choose will also depend on a number of variables.  These include how much money you have to invest, the skill set the business requires and how closely this matches yours.  Another major factor includes your financial status.  Do you need to borrow, what is the condition of your credit score and, is your credit report acceptable to a lender?  It may also ensure your background doesn’t preclude you from business ownership due to a criminal record or other circumstance.

What’s the next step?

If you’ve read the above and think business ownership is right for you or you would like to know more, your next steps are to become more educated so when you get to make that final decision whether you will or will not go into business ownership, you have as much information as possible.  For this reason I have written three guides to help those considering business ownership.  These guides are respectively called – Successfully Start Your Business, Successfully Buy Your Business and Successfully Buy Your Franchise: Expert Advice from a Business Broker.  I’ve personally been in business ownership for 25 + years having owned and operated 5 businesses; two in my native Australia and now three in California.  I still remember the fear and sleepless nights deciding whether to buy my first business and relocate to a new city with my 6 months pregnant wife.  But as I look back, business ownership provides a wonderful set of experiences and skills I would never have known if I didn’t recognize and manage the risk that comes with business ownership.  There is no question; business ownership is not for everybody.  But business ownership is a skill to acquire and once it’s acquired brings about opportunities those working a job never see.  Plus one of the rewards to it all is that it puts you in control so when you go through recessions you have the capacity to succeed.

Importance of your Buyer Profile

Before you start looking at business ownership, know your Buyer Profile so it reduces your chance of failure or giving up because you are burnt out from the process.  For most new business owners, naturally enough their goal is to find the perfect business.  This makes sense but it only makes sense if you know what you want but I also think “perfect” is too high a standard.  Businesses are dynamic and constantly changing.  This is because it is primarily dealing with people, whether they are owners, family members, customers, employees, lenders, landlords or government agencies.  Look for what you want, but make sure your criteria is not too high.

So how do you know what business to look for?  The answer to this question is by building and creating your personal Buyer Profile.  Most buyers are not sure where to start the process.  From my experience from buying and looking at many businesses and working with a large number of new or potential business owners the first step is to start with yourself.  Most buyers don’t do it because they don’t know what they are looking for and expect it will reveal itself to them as they start their search process.  If this is what you choose to do it will increase your chances of failure as there is no such thing as the perfect business plus each buyers profile is unique.  It is unique because there are so many variables.  The variables include levels of education, amount of downpayment to buy a business, credit scores, credit report, business and life experiences, management experience, family support, personal situation such as being single or married with 4 children to support and most important of all, the location where you live and the opportunities available.  If you come to your decision to look at business ownership and you are fresh out of college your frame of reference is really the subjects you studied in college and your life and business experiences.  If you’re a 40 year old executive who has worked in Corporate America in the technology field for the last 10 years as a sales manager, but in your earlier years worked in retail books and the travel industry, you have much more diversity to pull from.

Your Buyer Profile is a critical starting point for you.  I normally spend about two hours with each client before introducing any business opportunities to them as I want to get a basic level of understanding of the industries of interest to them and their preferred format such as whether they like retail, Business to Business (B2B), Food, Automotive or, Children’s services etc plus an extensive range of other questions.  If the buyer knows what they do and don’t like it allows them to focus and thereby greatly increase their chances of finding the business they want.

If you would like more information about each of the books mentioned above, please visit the following website http://www.successfullybuyyourbusiness.com where you will find a brief description of each of the guides.  If you would like some free tools to work with, please visit my website: http://www.andrew-rogerson.com/samples.htm.  On this page there are some Excel and Word files such as a Business Plan, Sales and Marketing plan, Startup Budget planner and Cash flow projection etc.  Download and use these free tools as much as you need.

The rewards to business ownership for each person are unique and real.  If you think business ownership right now with the economy in recession is not a good option, I would disagree.  The economy is constantly changing and looking for new ways to invest capital and provide a return on investment.  Some areas of the economy are about to explode such as health care, businesses in energy efficiency, the “green” industry and, new technology innovations to name a few.  It will take time to research, create and execute a plan and then explore any other options available to you.  Making the decision to take the risk is the hardest part.  Once that is done, the rest takes care of itself.  If you think business ownership is part of your future, learn as much as you can, accept it comes with risk and get on with it as the rest will be up to you.  Whether you stay in your current job, find a different job because you aren’t enjoying what you are doing or move into business ownership, at the end of the day it’s still all up to you and how you manage the risks that come from each decision you make.

Starting an online business agenda can be appealing easy, but if you accept no clue of breadth and how to alpha again by annual this commodity it will advice you to get started.

Step One:

The aboriginal affair you charge to apperceive about starting a business agenda online is what is your ambition bazaar activity to be, in added words what affectionate of businesses do you eventually appetite to accommodate in your fresh business directory.

If you already accept a accepted business online or offline again you will already apperceive your ambition market, and you can move advanced to footfall two in this article.

However, if you accept no abstraction what your ambition bazaar will be, again you will charge to do some research, I would acclaim starting a business agenda about article accepted and which is activity to acquire you an assets bottomward the alley or. That will gradually advice abound your accepted business.

Here are some actual accepted and assisting niches for an online business agenda you could start.

1: RealEstate Directory

2: Travel Agenda

3: Online Dating Directory

4: Automotive Agenda

5: Fashion Directory

There are so abounding added and to acquisition them aloof go to eBay.com or Amazon.com and see what is accepted on those sites, or you could go to Google and do a chase for keyword agreement like “Hot Niches” or “Popular Niches” or “Popular Business” get the idea..

Then afterwards you accept absitively on the alcove for your fresh business directory, you will charge to either shop for or annals your breadth name.

Step Two:

Buying or registering the appropriate breadth name for your fresh online business agenda will be the best important thing, so you charge to accomplish abiding you get this actual from the start.

A acceptable breadth name should be no best than two to three words, and it should accommodate the name of the alcove and the chat agenda in it and should consistently be a .com if you can advice it added astute you should go for the .net breadth if the .com for the breadth you appetite is already taken and is not for sale.

Therefore, for archetype if I was activity to alpha a fresh business agenda about the alcove absolute acreage the ideal breadth name would be RealEstateDirectory.com or RealEstateDirectory.net but all acceptable breadth names like this accept already been taken, but they may be up for auction so aloof appointment the website and see.

If you acquisition the breadth name is not for auction again you could additionally try abacus a birr amid the two words.. Like this RealEstate-Directory.com or RealEstate-Directory.net and see if they accept been taken or not, and if they are taken see if they are for sale.

If you accept to go with a three chat breadth name you could access article like your boondocks or burghal name in advanced of the breadth so it could be.. Like this NewYorkRealEstateDirectory.com or NewYorkRealEstateDirectory.net and see if it has been taken.

A abundant chargeless online ability I accept begin to advice academician storm a fresh breadth name and see if they accept been taken or not is RegistrarStats.com, accord them a try.

Once you accept begin the breadth name for your fresh online business agenda it is time to annals it, I acclaim Godaddy.com for this as they are the cheapest and action the best services.

Step Three:

Now that you accept got your breadth name for your fresh online business agenda it is time to acquisition a hosting company, and I accept approved abounding and the best I accept begin is SeoHosting.com which is endemic by HostGator.com, and they accept been about for a actual continued time and they accept bags of blessed customers.

Step Four:

Now that you accept got your hosting annual for your fresh online business agenda it is time to body the directory.

Now you could do this a cardinal of altered means but it all comes bottomward to the bulk of money you ambition to spend.

If money is not an advantage for you, again I would acclaim hiring a PHP coder from a website like RentaCoder.com or ScriptLance.com or eLance.com and get them to body a custom band-aid for you, this way you will accomplish your fresh business agenda angle out from all the added cookie cutter directories that are online these canicule application an off the shelf PHP agenda script.

Don’t get me amiss there is annihilation amiss with these types of scripts, and we use one our cocky for our own Articulation Directory, but we accept gone a footfall added and accept had a custom arrangement created for our agenda which has angry out to be a actual acceptable investment.

The agenda calligraphy we use and acclaim if you are on a actual bound starting account is PhpLinkDirectory.com.

Step Five:

Now we appear to the final footfall and which is announcement your fresh business directory, this can be done with or after spending money.

I will account bristles chargeless options and bristles paid options beneath you can alpha to advice get the chat out about your directory.

Free Options:

1: Join online forums and altercation groups accompanying to your fresh business agenda and accomplish a column agreeable business owners to account their website/business in your agenda for chargeless or at a discounted rate.

2: This one is accompanying to 1: accomplish abiding you add a Sig band bond to your agenda in all the posts you accomplish in the forums you accept joined.

3: Abide your business agenda to added chargeless articulation directories online, aloof do a chase in Google for the key chat Articulation Directory.

4: Articulation to your business agenda from your added websites that you already own or run this way the chase engines will acquisition your agenda and basis it.

5: Send out and email to accompany or barter and ask them to articulation aback to your business agenda and in barter articulation aback to their website from your agenda if it is relevant.

Paid Options:

1: Alpha a Google Adwords attack to instantly alpha active cartage to your business directory, but be accurate because if you do not apperceive what you are accomplishing with Adwords you could end up spending a lot of money after any results.

2: Shop for some paid links from added websites or directories that are agnate to your own business directory.

3: Abide your business agenda to the Beast agenda at a amount of $299 per year. Being listed in the beast agenda will accomplish your agenda added admirable in the eyes of the chase engines and your visitors.

4: Shop for some announcement in offline account affidavit if your agenda targets businesses in your bounded area.

5: Shop for banderole ads on added websites that chronicle to your business agenda and try and to accommodate for a 6-12 ages aeon because your can abundantly abate you’re over all banderole announcement costs.

Written by: Tom Dahne

Website: http://www.livemoneymachine.com and http://livemoneymachine.com

PIPELINE SERVICES, LLC

Pipeline Services, LLC is a construction company in Phoenix, Arizona.  The company is run by Charles Canfeld, who has decades of experience in the construction industry.  The company was financed by Phoenix lawyer Brett Slavicek.  The company has multiple trucks with state of the art equipment, purchased in Germany, that images underground pipes.  The company has many municipal contracts and contracts with Arizona’s leading developers.  Despite the slowing economy, the company remains strong.  Bob’s business review: A-. 

LINDA’S LEGAL COPY SERVICE

Linda’s legal copy service provides services throughout the Phoenix valley to the numerous attorneys, lawyers and law firms located in the metro Phoenix area.  They provide innovative and cost-effective solutions for your obtaining your legal records.  Linda’s Legal Copy Service specializes in court projects and on-site copy jobs of any size, big or small.  They guarantee fast turnaround times with accurate results.  Linda is the sole proprietor of Linda’s Legal Copy Service which is a minority run and owned company with several dedicated employees who seem to really enjoy their job.  Bob’s business review: A

BDR AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS

BDR Automotive Repairs is a ground breaking repair shop with only the finest diagnostic testing equipment around. BDR is incorporated in Delaware and has been doing business sing 1998. BDR Automotive Repairs works all makes and models.  The mechanics at BDR  Automotive Repairs are the highly trained and highly skilled.  They provide fast, reliable service and repairs can often be done in the same day to avoid timely and costly rental cars.  Their mechanics can give you advice on your own preventative maintenance, as well as provide some themselves. Their company has built its reputation on customer satisfaction, so they’ll never tell you something needs to be fixed when it doesn’t. The only issue we could find is the wait list to get an appointment. Bob’s business review: B+

SWEET SUGAR BAKERY

Sweet Sugar Bakery offers a delectable array of cakes, cookies, pastries and anything else your sweet tooth can imagine. Sweet Sugar Bakery has been owned by the Johansen family for over four generations now. At Sweet Sugar Bakery they can make custom cakes for any occasion.  If your imagination can think of it we can bake it.  Even if you can’t think of it they can help there too with the layout and design of any cake.  Their master cake decorators are widely versed in all aspects from design through implementation and baking of that design.  They will even deliver the cake to your specified location free of charge.  Let’s not forget about their delicious pastries and cookies as well.  If you have a sweet tooth Sweet Sugar Bakery is the place for you. Sweet Sugar Bakery was awarded Bob’s highest rating! Bob’s business review: A+

An auto detailing service professionally cleans, washes and waxes the interior and exterior of cars, trucks, RVs and even boats. There is no shortage of vehicles to detail, but detailing can be labor-intensive, so make sure you enjoy cars before you start this type of automotive business.

It can be very inexpensive to start an auto detail service, since you don’t necessarily need a store front or shop. You can offer a mobile service and travel to your customers’ locations, or you can rent space at a local car wash or automotive shop. The equipment you’ll need is minimal as well; quality car wash, wax and interior cleaning supplies. Once you have established a larger client base, you can purchase your supplies in bulk at lower wholesale prices, thus increasing your profit per job.

With so many vehicles, you have your choice of customers with whom to work. You may want to focus on a particular niche market to specialize in a certain type of service or particular type of customer. For example, there are new car owners, car dealerships, RV owners or rental companies, classic car owners, even your average joe car driver who wants his car looking good.

So how do you find your customers? If you are on a budget, network with people you know or print business cards and drop them off at local car dealerships or automotive businesses. You could discuss forming a partnership where they get a cut of your profits by advertising your service at their place of business. You could also place an ad in the yellow pages, newspaper or local magazines offering a first-time buyer discount to attract new customers. If you can, use humor in your ads, it’s a great way to attract attention.

Volunteering in your community is another inexpensive way to get your business name out there. Participate in local events and give away coupons for your auto detailing service. Hold a drawing to collect names of potential customers, the winner receiving a free detail service. You can also advertise on TV, radio and the internet for less money than you may think. Submitting a press release is a great example – the media will promote you for free if you send them a great news story about your business.

If you treat your customers well, you will end up not having to spend much of your time marketing because you’ll benefit from repeat customers. Speaking of which, you may want to ask those customers for referrals.

So how do you actually start an auto detailing business?

1. Learn your trade. If you don’t already have detailing skills and knowledge, work a side job. Ask automotive specialists about recommended products. Pick up an inexpensive start-up guide on how to start an auto detailing business or interview an already-successful auto detailing entrepreneur who can give you advice.

2. Find out who your customers are. What are people in your area looking for in a detailing service? What value will you offer them and how much are they willing to pay you for it? Check out competitor’s prices. You don’t necessarily need to be the cheapest – as long as you offer more value (i.e. additional service options, faster service, more convenient location, weekend or evening hours, on-site service, etc).

3. Find out which licenses or permits you need from your local government office. Talk with an accountant, insurance agent and banker (you can get referrals from other local business owners or friends) to get helpful tips on financing, tax issues, insurance and business management that will save you time, money and hassles in the long run.

Get Started!

One thing about running your own business is that it’s a continual learning process. Be prepared to not have all the answers and have fun with it – after all, It’s YOUR business.

Many people are now leaving their current jobs to start their own business as the Indian market floods with small business franchise opportunities. In India each day the economy is expanding which is leading many people to the different areas where there are various amounts of small franchise opportunities. If one is wishing to start business on a small scale this is available, small business franchises open up those perfect moments of opportunity.

Starting your own business is an advantage as it means you are your own boss, but also there is the possibility for growth within your franchise. Some of the best small businesses like, healthcare, beauty care, retail and IT plus many more offer great business options for you. Successful franchises in India that head the list are, MRF, NIIT and Apollo Hospitals.

In only a small amount of time these three companies have expanded the business across India making sure they are covering every corner. These companies are successful because despite being huge businesses they still offer small business franchise within the market to give people those extra benefits of franchising. These three companies are obviously not the only three to offer great opportunities; Reliance, Bharati and Tata are other entrepreneurs in India. All these have allowed doors to remain open for the chance to give people in India that availability for them to take part in a small business franchise.

Many foreign businesses are now seeing the opportunities that lie in India and are therefore setting themselves up there too in the market. Most of these seem to be in the form of global food giants that we are familiar with in everyday life; McDonalds, Subway and Kentucky Fried Chicken are just a few. By seeing the above, it must be clear to you now that small business franchise in India is expanding at large.

Small business franchises in India are not limited and restricted to food and automotive products. Health is extremely on the rise of expanding. Today many Indian fitness companies are crawling up the ladders and opening new branches across the country, for example VLCC and Talwalker.

What better time to break away from your routine job to join and be a small business franchisee. Opportunities are there now, for anyone who thinks they have what it takes. For any more information on small business franchise in India or anywhere then visit www franchise-plus com.

India Franchise Retail Expo (IFRE) is being held across India 2007-2008. This is a great chance to meet people from the business industry and find a lead to a franchise that will suit you. This event is recognised as one of the biggest for new business opportunities, the event is organised by Franchise Plus and the Franchising Association of India.

With around 300 new shopping centres, 1500 new supermarkets and 325 departmental stores being built across India shortly, gives thousands of people the chances they may have been waiting for to escape that old job.

This is a step forward for national and international industries in India to come together and share their expertise in the franchising business. This is an open road that can lead to great success. Franchising business rates are growing and in India now it is a hot topic with direct employment becoming instantly available.