expert post | Way to Grow

today we have an awesome guest post from our expert partner in planning & strategy, megan gallagher of method & madness. i am really needing these tips right now, how about you?

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that getting started is the hardest part of owning your own business.

In reality, it’s the growing that can stop you dead in your tracks.

There are so many directions your business model can go in, sketches and product ideas you have ready to make, and dreams that you want to make into reality. That’s a lot of high-pressure decision making on your shoulders, no? I know I’ve felt that way before with my own business—completely unsure of which way to go; so I stood at the proverbial intersection way longer than I needed to. And that cost me in terms of money, developing new business, and in my general health.  Stress is not good.

What I’ve learned since then, and we’re going to talk about today, is that knowledge really & truly is power. To grow your business is to know your business. And hopefully by the end of this post you’ll be ready to get up close & personal with your own indie business—and grow it in a sustainable, smart, and profitable way.

We can really boil this whole issue down to one question:  what should I (really) focus on?

(If we can all be honest here, doesn’t the thought of “focusing” itself kind of stress out your creative mind already?)

So, let’s redefine our idea of focus:  instead of linear, single-minded thinking and having to choose “that one thing” to put our attention to, let’s look at focus as creating a minimal structure to create a maximum of creative space.

(That feels better, no?)

To create a minimal structure requires your due diligence, first and foremost. Which means: do some homework. Grade your product lines by how much revenue they generate for you, and by how your customers responded to them.  Did they help to build your brand name or do you really need to go back to the drawing board for a few of them?  You may ask why this is important.  Here it is:

If you can use this knowledge to build more income from your existing line, think of how much time you can spend (without any stress or guilt or worry about making money) just being creative. Like, for the fun of it.

Know what product is your #1 money-maker? Find a way to make more of it.

The next thing to do is get a little ruthless.  Cut away the excess that isn’t doing anything for you but taking up space in your life. Make room for new ideas to come to the forefront, and give yourself the space to redesign what could be better.

The other element that will help sharpen your focus is your mission. Every product sketch, idea, and initiative you want to take in your business should be filtered through your mission statement.  If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t pass go.

Your mission is your very best barometer of whether or not to put your energy on a particular task or idea.

If you don’t have a clear mission yet, that should be the very first thing you work on.  If you don’t know why you’ve gone into business, you’ll be out sooner than later. The mission is what drives you, and keeps you pushing forward when the deck seems stacked against you.  No mission leaves you with scattered energy and no momentum. You stay still instead of moving forward. 

So:  Know your mission. Analyze your business. Grow from what you know. Trim the fat. Find your focus…

…And grow an amazing indie business!

Hey—did you know you can work with me one-on-one to design your perfect product line? Check out the Single Shot Sessions for a personalized 60 minute coaching call around your unique product line.

Megan Gallagher is small-business strategist working with creative indiepreneurs over at Method & Madness. She works with a diverse creative clientele through one-on-one strategy sessions, small group workshops, and the DIY guides now available on her website.

ask the expert | how do i create a biz plan for 2012?

we have the ulitmate guest post today on creating a plan for your little biz in 2012 in just 5 easy steps, from our expert partner megan gallagher of method & madness

The end of 2011 is coming up fast; the holiday rush will soon be over, and 2012 will start brimming with possibility.  Are you and your business ready to take full advantage of it?  Planning for a new year is always a little daunting & stressful—especially since you’re coming off of your busiest time of year. 

So, the first thing you’re going to do after the holiday rush is spend a couple days relaxing with your family & friends, putting your feet up, and drinking a few glasses of wine.   You’ve earned it.

Once you’re feeling rejuvenated & ready to tackle your 2012 business plan, we’re going to jump right in with both feet.  The first step of setting up your 2012 strategy is actually not about projecting sales, or constructing marketing plans, or designing new products.  Really—it’s all about reflection.

Taking the time to reflect on the past year’s achievements and opportunities forces you to recognize and acknowledge where you need to work, and celebrate your major wins.  Do it.

Give yourself a solid 3 hours of time—no interruptions, no distractions, no other tasks to take care of.  Just you & your journal (or laptop, or just a pen/paper…)—let’s get to work.

step one:

First, we’re going to list 10 things (big, small, or in-between) that your business accomplished in 2011.  Here are a few questions to get you thinking:

• Did you meet your sales goals? Marketing goals?
• Were there any specific launches during the year?
• Did you add/remove any products, income streams, etc. that enhanced your business?
• Did you get any major press or publicity for your business?

step two:

Next, list 10 things that were a challenge or opportunity for your business in 2011. They can be as big as a catastrophic product launch or as small as a dispute with an unhappy customer.

step three:

Then, let’s talk about you.  (I know.  Just do it.) What were your major wins of 2011?  Did you launch an awesome product, have an awesome entrepreneurial development, or do something that made you feel really awesome about yourself?  Let’s hear it. 

• Did you take any classes, read any books, or attend any events that broadened your entrepreneurial horizons?
• Did you change any of your business processes for the better?
• Were there any initiatives (like a social media campaign or product design) that you really knocked out of the park?
• What are the specific areas of your business that you really excel in?
• Did you end the year feeling satisfied & proud or anxious & stressed out?

step four:

Now, where do you feel like you could’ve done better?  Knowing your own limitations is a sign of a truly successful entrepreneur—we can’t be perfect at everything.  There is always something to revise, improve, cut out, and add in.  We couldn’t call ourselves creatives if we didn’t think that way!

step five:

Walk away from the exercise for a few hours—you just did a lot of work.  See if anything pops up when you come back to it. Once you feel like you’ve got the full picture of 2011 written down, we can get started on building your strategy.  In truth, all of the information you just pulled together IS your 2012 business plan—you just need to formulate it into action steps.  I’m going to get you started with 2 big questions:

• Look at your major accomplishments of 2011—can you use the same approach for other sides of your business.  No need to reinvent the wheel—if you’ve discovered something that really works for you, keep on using it. 

• Rank the top 5 opportunities (for either your business or yourself) by how they impact your bottom line financials or how they might inhibit the growth of your brand—two things that can quickly kill your business if you don’t tackle them quickly.  What can you do fix them in both the short & long term?

These two questions can root all your actions, plans, and development for 2012.

Ready, set, go.

Get set up for success in 2012! Megan has a sweet new e-course launching January 2, 2012 called Leap: 2012--create awesome alignment for you, your business, and your mission in the coming year.  Check out the details on her website: http://www.megangall.com/home/leap-2012/ 

ask the expert | Business Plans: Stress Less, Make More

Today we have a fantastic post from our planning & strategy expert partner: Megan Gallagher from Method & Madness.

Ah, the business plan.  Do you get nervous just thinking about it?

Well, no more.  Here’s what we’re going to do.  First, we’re going to talk about what a business plan is, and what it’s not.  Then, we’re going to break down 4 simple elements of a working business plan.  Finally, we’re going to talk about refining and evolving your plan as you move forward.  Remember, nothing in your business plan is set in stone.  It should be consistently re-evaluated as you grow.  Let’s also take a second to chat about what your plan should not be:

• It doesn’t have to be a 100 page novel.  In fact, less is more. 
• It does not require a MBA nor does it require you to hire outside consultants. ( you should use the appropriate professionals for legal/financial concerns)
• Just because you’re putting it down on paper doesn’t mean you can’t change it.

Your plan should be your road map to a creating a thriving, profitable business.  You can’t get anywhere when you don’t know where you’re going or how to get there, right? 

In my last post for build a little biz, we started talking about tracking your results & identifying your business drivers as solid groundwork for building a business plan.  You’ve acquired a knowledge base that you can use to help you set goals, know where your opportunities are, and know where/how your money is being made.  If you haven’t done any tracking, don’t sweat it.  You can do it while you’re building your plan & tweak the numbers as you see fit.

So let’s break down the four steps to building a business plan. 

1. Map—I find mapping to be an essential tool for every creative entrepreneur. 

We don’t always think in the linear, in-the-box terms most planning tools offer; we tend to think in terms of connection and let our ideas flow.  This is great step to go through before you start working on your actual business plan to get all of your ideas down on paper and start working with a clear mind—plus it’s a great resource to use as you build your official plan. Read more about mind-mapping here; I have a starter map available on my website in Twenty/20, and there are great software tools available. 

2. Mission— What are you doing? and Why are you doing it?

The answers to these questions should result in a mission statement for your business, as well as 2-3 major goals for the year.  These elements should be the starting point for every action you take; if it doesn’t fall in line with your mission or goals, it may be time to re-evaluate. 

Example:  Suzy’s Studio is a photography studio that specializes in destination weddings.  From tropical beaches to snowy mountaintops, Suzy will travel anywhere to capture the most special day of your life. 

Suzy’s goals for 2011:

• have 2 destination weddings/month booked.
• increase hourly rate +10%.
• increase prospective couple through referrals and business-to-business relationships

3. Metrics – How are you going to do it?

Set quantifiable sub-goals in each category that push you towards the ones you set in section 2.   

People—since most of you are solo businesses, I’m going to speak in terms of self.  What training/events/improvements/etc. do you need to push your business forward?  What challenges may affect your making the goals you set?

Sales—the easiest way to break this down is on a blank calendar. Start with a yearly goal, and then break it in to quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals.  Don’t just put the same dollar amount in each week; take note of holidays, seasonal shifts, and the seasonality of your industry.  If you notice that a lot of income is built into 1 quarter of the year, how can you generate more throughout the other three? Remember that these goals are not set in stone—they should give you a gauge to work from.  Additionally, make sure you take note of new product launches, marketing campaigns, etc. that will impact your sales. Plan accordingly.  Also, make sure your expenses are factored into your yearly goal. 

Product/Service—will your product create the income you listed above?  Are you launching new products or improving current ones? Do you have any side projects or collaborations on the horizon? 

Marketing—you all know that a good marketing plan is essential to your business growth.  The important thing is to continually grow your market & do what works for you.  Some businesses thrive on Facebook, others on a blog, and still more with Twitter.  There’s no exact formula that works for every business model—do what’s manageable for you, but try to work in multiple channels.  Try different approaches with different product launches—maybe you try a flash sale on Twitter for one launch, and a special discount for your email subscribers on another.  Track your results and keep refining it.

Going back to our example:

People—Suzy wants to enhance her skill set so she can increase her hourly rate.  She decides to take a few Photoshop and lighting classes during slower months.  She also needs to get more involved with wedding vendors to gain their referral business—this is challenging because most of them are abroad.  Suzy also knows that she needs to outsource some of her administrative work so that she can focus on bringing in new business.  To quantify the goals:

• Take 2-4 classes during down months (January and April).
• Identify 50 potential new vendor/partners.  Create fun, innovative direct mail piece and follow-up email & social media campaign.  Have initial piece ready to mail by March 1.
• Hire 1 virtual assistant by February 28 to manage email, inquiries, and bookkeeping. 

Sales—Suzy wants to make $50,000 this year.  Her expenses range at about $25,000, so her total gross goal is $75000.  She has 3 packages for her wedding bookings:  $5000, $7500, and $10000.  Last year she took home $35,000.  Suzy is usually booked solid from May-October, with a lull between November and January.  In January, she starts to pick up again, with a couple weddings booked in the first quarter of the year.  To quantify Suzy’s goals:

• Book 8 ($5000) weddings, 2 ($7500) weddings, and 2 ($10000) weddings.  Long-term goal is to book less of the first package and more in #2/#3. 
• Between November & January, teach a beginner’s photography course to offset income.
• Explore ways to cut expenses.

Products—Suzy wants to sell more of packages #2 and #3 so that she can create the income with less workload.  She also wants to create some additional income to offset her wedding bookings.  To quantify her goal, Suzy will:

• Redesign #2/#3 wedding packages to be more appealing and give more value to potential clients. Complete redesign by Feb. 28, and re-launch with marketing campaign for mid-March.
• Design an e-course and live class in beginner’s photography to teach online and live in studio, as well as a downloadable format. Teach one class in February to outline course and format content.  Create all content and have all 3 formats ready to go live by June 1^st.

Marketing—Suzy needs to increase her social media presence as a “destination wedding photographer” and build relationships with potential partners around the world.  She also needs to reach potential bookings through her past clients; the wedding industry relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals so Suzy wants to maximize this opportunity.  To quantify:

• Increase Facebook  page followers to 2000; Twitter to 5000 by mid-year through active engagement and promotions. 
• Create an innovative, never-before-seen marketing piece to direct mail to potential vendor contacts world-wide.  Follow up with email campaign and social media connects. Phase 1 of campaign should be ready for March 1 mailing.
• Create a referral promotion to increase word-of-mouth:  offer a special anniversary session for any referral, or partner with vendor to sponsor a trip giveaway/promotion for referral bookings.   Have promotion in place for mid-year launch.

This is a simplified example, but hopefully it gets you thinking about how you can break down your business goals and make it happen!

4. Put it into action.

The most important element of your business plan comes after it’s already done.  It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t put anything into action.  The business plan is an active document; it doesn’t get finished and left on a hard drive until the following year. Starting now, start planning out on a calendar (I use Google Calendar) the next 3 months of business activity—set target dates to hold yourself accountable to your set goals and completion dates.  Also, make sure you track things like guest posts, blog mentions, and what marketing elements you used for individual launches.  It’s all great info you can use to continually refine and hone what you’re doing to drive your business.

Finally...

I want you to know that unless you’re going to seek out venture capital or a bank loan, the format of your business plan is up to you.  It should be something that you feel comfortable with—honestly, I wrote half of mine in a Moleskine notebook and the other half on my Google calendar.  As long as it gives you the map you need to get your business moving forward, it’s an excellent business plan. 

Here are a few additional resources to check out:

• Bplans.com
• SBA.gov (US)
• Entrepreneur.com

Megan Gallagher is small-business strategist working with creative indiepreneurs over at Method & Madness.  She’s currently working on The Down & Dirty Project, a contest where one lucky indiepreneur’s business becomes a real-life community coaching lab. She works with a diverse creative clientele through one-on-one strategy sessions, small group workshops, and the DIY guides now available on her website.  You can also see Megan’s work at Meylah and Create Hype. Megan lives in Philadelphia, PA where she is an avid runner & foodie, and works with a number of non-profit and volunteer projects. 

Simplify: A Beginner’s Guide to Business Planning

Today we have a fantastic post from our planning & strategy expert partner: Megan Gallagher from Method & Madness.

One of the biggest hurdles I hear about from creative entrepreneurs is the building of the dreaded business plan.  Some of you are daunted by the process, others are overwhelmed by tons of information, and some of you feel like that you don’t have the time to get it done.   Today, we’re going to work through a quick, simple process to get you started on your business plan.   

The first thing I want to do before we dive in is debunk a few “myths” that you may have heard about business planning & start us off on the right foot.  Shall we?

1. The business plan is a concrete document that I have to follow to the letter.  Absolutely not.  Your business plan should provide you with a framework that is flexible to the evolution of your business, especially when you’re still in the start-up stages.
2. It must be an epic, hundred-page report that takes me 2 weeks to complete.   No way, man.  Once you get a process down, you can knock it out in an hour or two.   And probably on a page or less. 
3. There is only one right way to build a business plan.  Every business is different, therefore every plan is different.  Also, every owner is different, therefore every plan is different.   You need to find a structure that fits you & your goals. 

Let’s talk about what a good business plan does do.  As we already said, it provides you with a framework from which you can grow your business.  It also pushes you to really get to know what makes the business tick—while your short-term goal may be to have a plan to work from, your long-term objective is to get to know your business so well that you become a proactive business owner instead of a reactive one. That is to say that you anticipate & act on changes in your business before they even happen.  Wouldn’t that be great? 

Now that I’ve got you fully enraptured with the process of building your business plan (you’ve all got your pencils sharpened & ready, right?), let’s agree on one thing before we go on.  I’ve only got one rule in regards to business plans, and that’s a quote I’m borrowing from Henry David Thoreau:

“Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

As we’ll talk about soon, creating manageable habits is a huge part of successful planning.  Consistency is key.  In order for it to work for you, your business plan has to seamlessly integrate into your workdays and not detract from all the other work you’ve got going on.  It’s also got to be quick & easy enough so that you’re able to knock it out without stressing out.   Enter our new business plan framework. 

Truthfully, it was a little challenging for me to figure out how to talk about business plans in a short blog post.  It’s also equally hard because all of your businesses are so different that what works specifically for one may not work for another.  I decided instead to give you a 4-step beginning process that you can build on to suit your individual needs.   I’m calling it “WHAT!” (It’s so easy to remember, right?  I love acronyms.) 

Write it down.

Build Habits.

Take Action.

Test & Track.

As you can see, I want to focus on the starting points here.  We’re not going to go in to marketing or social media or operations at this point (although we may later, so stay tuned.)—if you’re at the very beginning of setting your business plan, it’s more important to me that you become comfortable with an easy, daily process that helps you see what drives your business.  That’s where we want to start; even the greatest business plan in the world won’t help you if don’t know where the business comes from.  It’s like trying to use a GPS without a starting point.  

Let’s break down the WHAT! process & help you get it in motion.

• Write it down.  You can use either a hand-written calendar or an online format (like Google calendar), whatever you are more comfortable with.  Use a month-view so you can see the whole thing in one glance & not have to flip pages.  Then, start breaking down goals by week.  I’m going to assume that you’ve got some sales coming in now, so use that as your starting point.  If you’ve been consistent hitting the same sales for a while, start scaling up.  Add 10% to your first two weeks and try 15% the last two.  Get your calculators out and see how much you’d need to do to hit +20%. It might be less than you think!  Also, look for things that will have an effect on your business & take that into account when planning sales---is your business very seasonal? Do you have a new product launching?  Or a special promotion coming up?  Get it a dollar amount written for each week on your calendar—once you’ve got it down, it should take you about an hour.  You can totally handle that.  

• Build Habits.  I can’t stress enough the importance of consistency when you’re working on a sales strategy.  It has to be something that you look at each day.  It will take you 5 minutes each morning to look at where your sales are for the week—do it at the start of the day before you get going.  Start looking for patterns.  What days give you the most sales—does that correlate to a spike in web traffic or a promotion you did?  Make notes.  Are you driving more on weekdays or weekends?  Did someone write about your products & send traffic your way?  The objective is to start looking for what’s working really well for you vs. what’s not.   

• Take Action.  Now that you’ve started to see some patterns in your business, it’s time to start taking action.  First of all, make sure you note each week whether you made your goal or not.  If you made it, awesome!  What did you do that can be repeated next week to get that goal, too?  If you didn’t make it, let’s troubleshoot.  What can you do differently next week? 

• Test & Track.  Do not be afraid to try something new.  I’m going to repeat that for good measure.  Do not be afraid to try something new.  As you move through weeks, and become more observant, you should start to see what’s making business happen for you.  Maybe it’s a special deal, or a particular product, or your really spectacular blog.  Take it to the next level—try a different deal, or maybe a new color or style of your product, or go guest-blog for some colleagues.  What happens?  Conversely, if things aren’t going so well, figure out why & try it again.  Don’t forget to track your results.  It’s only failure when you don’t learn anything in the process.

Finally, just keep going.  Once you’ve done a month, sit down & work out a whole quarter.  Keep moving through the WHAT! process and stay consistent.  Building knowledge about your business is the best way to nurture its growth.  You can do it. Don’t forget:

“Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

And I would like to help: Method & Madness has a great offer for Build a Little Biz readers!  Take 25% off of your purchase of Methodlite, the latest digital guide in their library of tools & strategies for the creative indiepreneur.  It's a beginner's business planning guide designed to help you you build a profitable business framework with minimum stress and maximum fun.  Head on over today--the deal only lasts until August 13th!

Megan Gallagher is small-business strategist working with creative indiepreneurs over at Method & Madness.  She’s currently working on The Down & Dirty Project, a contest where one lucky indiepreneur’s business becomes a real-life community coaching lab.  She works with a diverse creative clientele through one-on-one strategy sessions, small group workshops, and the DIY guides now available on her website.  You can also see Megan’s work at Meylah and Create Hype.   Megan lives in Philadelphia, PA where she is an avid runner & foodie, and works with a number of non-profit and volunteer projects.