I know from working with more than 4,000 new entrepreneurs over the past twenty-five years that when they come to us they all want to “be in business, not planning to be business”. There is an understandable impatience shown.
I know firsthand from planning my own three business launches the critical importance of step by step business planning, but I also know that few prospective entrepreneurs will take the time to complete a full-blown business school style business plan.
So, my team of coaches and I have reduced the business start-up process to just eight steps in our Start Your Business NOW! Start-Up School.
The first five steps detail how to create a profitable marketing strategy and how to bring it to life.
Two steps cover what’s necessary to organize the business legally and financially, and the final step lays out how to create a reliable operations plan for delivering what the business owner has promised.
The Start Your Business NOW! Start-Up School is the evolution of twenty-five years of my work in guiding new entrepreneurs to get up and running.
Each year I’ve added a new feature, resource or technique to the course, in addition to continually updating the technology tips and techniques built into the course. Last year I incorporated access to my personal business start-up team into the step by step guidance in the course.
Although all of our clients express a common desire to start making money from their new businesses as quickly as possible, each brings a unique combination of experience, motivation and personality to the job of business start-up.
Because of the unique nature of each of our clients, we’ve designed the Start NOW course to let our them work at their own pace, on their own schedule, knowing that they’re using a planning process proven through use by thousands of people just like them and backing them up with access to live coaching sessions and the expert services of our start-up team.
An example of the practical approach of the Start Now course is the common business planning task of creating an identity for the new business. Many start-up books tell you it’s important to have a professionally-designed logo for your new business, and some even suggest how to find a designer. But, our Start Now course goes one step further and provides a direct connection to an award-winning online logo design service, with step by step how-to instructions on how to use it.
The hub of the Start NOW! course is the 167-page planning workbook which presents the eight essential planning steps in an easy-to-follow format.
The client’s planning schedule is guided by a week-by-week ‘to do’ flowchart which tells the client exactly what they should be doing each week of the planning process. I personally explain the objective of each of the eight planning steps through a series of video clips.
The client records his marketing plan in a word processing based outline, which can be easily and quickly edited, added to and modified to get down in writing the client’s exact vision for his new company.
Step-by-step instructions are provided for setting up five important online services, ranging from logo design to e-mail marketing. The program includes $150 discounts for the online services.
I know that no matter how well the business planning process is laid out, questions can pop up for the new entrepreneur. So, I personally conduct regular live telecoaching sessions just for Start NOW! course clients. I also provide one on one coaching when desired.
Spurred largely by the Start NOW! course and our many diverse start-up resources, my company, Bizstarters.com, was selected by the editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine as “The Best Entrepreneurial Guide”. I’m proud of this award.
This month, I start my 25th year as a business start-up coach and to celebrate my 25th anniversary, I’d like to give you a gift.
Click here to save 25% off the normal price for the Start Your Business NOW! Start-Up School.
You’ll immediately receive the planning workbook by digital download so you can get started right away preparing to launch your wonderful new business!
Jeff Williams is CEO of Bizstarters, a nationally-known provider of business start-up and business growth coaching. He is pleased to offer MyCorporation blog readers his “Marketing Evaluation Checklist” which leads you through a comprehensive evaluation of each part of your marketing system. For your free copy, visit the official Bizstarters site today.