Seven Critical Mistakes You Don't Want To Make In Your Business Plan

Written by Dee Power


Continued from page 1

4. Competition Analysis **************************** The analysis of competition andrepparttar failure to describe a sustainable competitive advantage are killer mistakes in business and business plans. Many entrepreneurs do not makerepparttar 106357 effort, or find it too difficult, to research their competitors. Entrepreneurs often say there is no competition, or underestimaterepparttar 106358 strength of competitors. Their business plans do not describe a competitive advantage forrepparttar 106359 company, or how to achieve a competitive advantage.

5. Mistakes and errors ************************ These appear frequently in business plans, according torepparttar 106360 VCs. Rely on more than justrepparttar 106361 spell checker in your word processing software. If you aren't very good at spotting grammatical errors or incorrect spelling, hire someone to act as a copy editor.

6. Lack of Management Strengths ******************************** Management strengths were overstated inrepparttar 106362 plan, with one VC even saying that entrepreneurs "lie" about their credentials. Venture capitalists always complete thorough background checks. If your management team is weak, try to assemble an advisory board that hasrepparttar 106363 strengths inrepparttar 106364 areas your team lacks.

7. Incompleteness ********************* This includes leaving sections out ofrepparttar 106365 plan, or not including sufficient support data. One interesting response was thatrepparttar 106366 entrepreneur failed to providerepparttar 106367 name of anyone inrepparttar 106368 company to contact. He or she must have been in quite a hurry to getrepparttar 106369 plan inrepparttar 106370 mail!

Dee Power Co-author with Brian Hill of "Attracting Capital From Angels: How Their Money and Their Experience Can Help You Build a Successful Company, published by John Wiley and "Inside Secrets To Venture Capital" published by John Wiley & Sons 2001 available in bookstores nationwide amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com


Easier is Harder

Written by Dave Balch


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Pretty obvious, huh?

The fact is that all of these solutions are pretty obvious; AFTER WE'VE COME UP WITH THEM, THAT IS! Solving problems is a tricky business because it's just too darned easy to accept thingsrepparttar way they are. For years, I just acceptedrepparttar 106356 fact that it was a pain inrepparttar 106357 neck to make a multi-page copy on our copier. It never occurred to me that this was an inconvenience that was "fixable". As I recall, I literally slapped myself onrepparttar 106358 forehead and said "Duh!" when I realized that there was a better way. The first step in solving a problem, then, is realizing that you have one to solve.

What little annoyances to you put up with every day? Little annoyances are distracting and can actually lead to big problems because they take your mind away from your goals. Anything you can do to make your life easier is probably worth doing. Are you sure that these things are just that: annoyances? Maybe they are really little problems that can be solved with a little thought and creativity. Wouldn't it be nice to eliminate some of them so you can focus on what's really important?

Making things easier is hard work. But it's worth it.



"Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small business! Dave will show you how with his FREE newsletter, "Big Bucks in a Bathrobe" sent by e-mail. Visit http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com to sign-up, for information on speaking services, or for copies of past articles and newsletters. Comments and/or questions are always welcome at 1-800-366-2347 or Dave@DaveBalch.com.


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