The Dreaded Financials

This is most difficult part of a startup business plan, as you are making projections and assumptions on products / services that you have not even produced or sold yet! If you are stuck on this section you can hire a business plan consultant to just assist you with completing your projections (income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet). Figuring out cost of goods, delivery costs, and return rates can be simplified by breaking them down into a “light” spreadsheet. Next you need to understand your startup and operating costs – items like electricity, travel, phone expenses, etc. Again just organize these and your consultant can make all fancy charts and graphs. Just make sure you understand all of assumptions – for example if you are opening a retail business, you should not look towards your consultant to “guess” your rent – go out and meet with a realtor and come back with real data. If you work closely with your consultant, financials are a great section to bring in professional help.

Managing Expectations

Now that you know a bit more about when to hire a business plan writer you also need to manage your expectations. You can’t expect a $1,000 business plan to have 20 pages of competitive analysis and a full-blown marketing strategy! If you carefully work through which sections of your business plan need outside help and then manage your consultant closely, your final document will be a success! My next two articles will focus on “How to Find / Hire a Business Plan Consultant” and more importantly “When to Fire your Business Plan Consultant!”

Howard Schwartz is a partner in several business strategy groups, including HJ Ventures International, Inc. Howard has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide with a focus on writing business plans for companies interested in raising capital from Venture Funds and Angel Investors. Howard’s business plans have secured several million dollars in funding.

Nutrition - Proper nutrition is a key to stress control. The US Army recognizes proper nutrition as a critical element in controlling stress among combat soldiers, and you must admit, your job is sometimes as stressful as combat. Use Internet or get information from Human Resources to improve nutrition. You'll have to make some deliberate changes because our eating habits are affected by our culture, expectations of others, inadequate knowledge about what makes a proper diet. Learn what is needed and make a plan.

Rest - Take charge of your sleep habits in same way you work on your eating habits. Sleep deprivation is a major stressor by itself, and it adds to problem with other stressful events. Cut out late night television. Quit taking work home from office. Change pattern of your weekend parties. Get some new friends. Do whatever is necessary to get back on track with seven or eight hours sleep every night. Studies show that twenty minute power naps make us more productive, so use part of your lunch break for nutrition and part for a short nap to control stress. You'll get more done.

Discussion - Tell people what's on your mind. If you can't ignore someone's special talent for bugging you, talk it over with them. There's a good chance they are unaware of offense, so you don't need to get up tight about it. In a friendly tone of voice, let them know what gets under your skin and be ready to make some concessions yourself. As you now know, their irritating habit is probably magnified by other stressors, so make sure you've done what you can to control stress before challenging anyone.

Education - The more educated you are about your job, less stressful it becomes. Even if you've been on job for years, there's always more to learn about upstream and downstream impact of what you do. Stay up to date with trade journals, books, and other research. Become expert at what you do and coach others. While some companies do not pay for this type education, your own investment will make you more valuable to your company. What you know is portable - and it looks good on a resume.

Volunteer - Helping others has an immediate impact on stress levels. Build in some family time by volunteering as a family once a month. Build rapport with supervisors and co-workers by organizing a once-a-week lunchtime volunteer program. Lead a food or clothing collection for needy employees or families outside your company. Create a support-the-troops letter writing campaign so everyone in company communicates regularly with GI's away from home. In short, doing something for someone else takes your mind off stressors that bother you most.

Each of these stress relievers works independently of others. Find one that's practical for you and put it to work. Friends, family, and co-workers will all notice changes in you and thank you for making effort.

For a free article about top ten workplace stressors and how to tame them, send email to TopTenStressors@CourageBuilders.com

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11 Ways to Keep Your Cool

Do your own job

Get Organized

Communicate with boss and others

Control interruptions

Schedule Family Time

Exercise

Eat right

Get 8 hours sleep a night

Let others know what bugs you

Learn new things about your job

Volunteer to help others

Copyright 2005 - Dale Collie