Business plan - smusiness plan!

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Category: Blog

Last Updated: Wednesday, 19 July 2017 15:11

I can see why banks would want you to provide them with a business plan if you were asking them to lend you money. They need to do due diligence and make sure that you have thought about things seriously but...

... I hate business plans, formal ones at least and think other than if you absolutely have to do it because you need to borrow some money, they are a waste of time.

When you're starting your business, of course you need to do some thinking but do not bother filling in a business plan template. There are lots available on the internet but try to avoid them! They are general purpose and make you start thinking about things that may not even be relevant to your business.

The most important question you need to ask yourself, is 'can the business make enough money for me to survive?' For example, let's say you would like to start a taxi company. For simplicity, let's say that you do airport runs to the local airport, at £50 a journey and the journey time is 30 minutes.

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Fake it until you make it

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Category: Blog

Last Updated: Saturday, 21 September 2019 15:00

Starting in business can be a scary prospect. All of a sudden you do not have a 'real' job to fall back on with its minor benefits such as a regular salary, sick pay and the notion that you have that job because other people believe you know what you're doing.

Unfortunately, when you start your own business none of these benefits exist any more.

Added to this is the issue of self confidence. Can I really do this? What happens if I don't make enough money? What will I lose? How embarrassing will it be if I have to go job hunting and tell my friends that I failed!

All of these thoughts constantly go through your mind and this can affect how you behave in front of other people.

When I started my first business, I was lucky enough to get invited to a business breakfast meeting. There were about eight other small business owners in the room, mostly one-man bands but also some people who were employing 10+ people.

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