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Welcome to SCORE!
Greetings!
SCORE, Service Corp Of Retired
(and Working) Executives, Counselors to America's Small Business offers
free counseling to St. Louis area small businesses.
For more
information contact us at 314-539-6600 Ext. 242 or www.stlscore.org to learn more about what SCORE offers.
See Our Website |
St. Louis SCORE
200 North Broadway
Suite 1500
St. Louis,
MO
63102
314-539-6600 x242
http://www.stlscore.org
St. Charles Office
636-447-5000
St. Charles Economic Development Center
5988 Mid Rivers Mall Dr.
St.Charles, MO 63304
Kirkwood Office
314-800-1527
Inside National City Bank
333 S. Kirkwood Rd
Kirkwood, MO 63122
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An economic downturn
is a great time to start a business!
It sounds
paradoxical, but think about it. Costs are lower, and more talent is available,
thanks to layoffs. Prospective clients are more likely to try a new supplier
who can help them cut costs or increase their competitiveness.
The following article is continued from our July Newsletter -
In July we read about the deal-killers found in the first three of the five most commonly rejected types of
business plans -
- HERE I AM, NEVER MIND
THE PROBLEM
- A COKE FOR EVERY KID
IN CHINA
- JUST LOOK AT OUR
(PAPER) PROFITS
Here are the last two types of commonly rejected business plans.
OUR TEAM WALKS ON
WATER
Investors won't be
snowed by top-tier diplomas or past employment with a leading company.
Investors care first about the main challenges of the industry in question, and
whether the proposed team has hands-on experience tackling those challenges.
Every industry has
critical success factors -- typically two or three -- that, when addressed
effectively, are likely to bring success even if less-important challenges
aren't handled well. Location, for instance, is a critical success factor in
much of retailing.
A business plan that
identifies its critical success factors and shows how the team's expertise and
experience are suited to addressing them is much more likely to attract capital
-- or at least a second look.
Here's where candor
helps, as well.
Surprisingly, plans
that point out the lack of a key skill or capability in the management team can
fare quite well, by acknowledging the missing link and encouraging the
prospective investor to fill that slot with a qualified person whom he or she
favors.
Plans that succeed in
attracting capital often include one or more members of a team who have failed
in a prior venture. When that failure is accompanied by lessons learned, it's
often viewed, as one investor told me, as "an education on someone else's
nickel."
EVERYTHING IS
WONDERFUL
The most common type
of business plan, and the one that goes most quickly into the trash, is the one
in which the writer can't find anything but good things to say about the
opportunity and plans to pursue it.
Investors know that
in the real world most opportunities, even good ones, have some weaknesses.
Typically, it's not yet clear in an early-stage business whether the customers
will buy, or buy at the price that's been proposed.
Experienced
entrepreneurs know better than to assert that everything is wonderful about
their opportunity. They know there are potential pitfalls in their market or
industry.
The facts are that
most opportunities are highly uncertain. Most new ventures will fail. Of the
few that do succeed -- winning capital, customers and positive cash flow --
it's usually not because of the original plan, "Plan A," about which
the business plan is written, but because of an as-yet-unknown "Plan
B."
Candor, again, is
key. There probably will be some questions implicit in your business plan that
have not been answered. Will your solution actually work? Will customers buy
it? How much will they pay? How will competitors react to your entry?
Rather than attempt
to paper over the rough spots and uncertainty, identify them yourself and deal
with them candidly in your plan. A solid dose of candor will go a long way.
---
Dr. Mullins is an
associate professor of management practice at London Business School and holds
the David and Elaine Potter Foundation term chair in marketing and
entrepreneurship. He can be reached at reports@wsj.com.
---
For Further Reading
These related
articles from MIT Sloan Management Review can be accessed online at
sloanreview.mit.edu/wsj
Closing the Gap
Between Strategy and Execution
By Donald N. Sull
(Summer 2007)
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You can find our Archived Newsletters Here
To
learn more about Business Plans contact a SCORE Counselor. A SCORE Counselor can help you solve problems
and plan for the future. Contact SCORE at 314-539-6600 Ext. 242, M-F 10 am to
3 pm or go to www.stlscore.org.
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IRS's Five Facts about the Home Office Deduction
With
technology making it easier than ever for people to operate a business out of
their house, many taxpayers, entrepreneurs and small business people may be
able to take a home office deduction when filing their 2009 federal tax return
next year.
Here are
five important things the IRS wants you to know about claiming the home office
deduction.
1.
Generally, in order to claim a business deduction for your home, you must use part of your home exclusively and
regularly:
As your principal place of
business, or As a place to meet or deal with
patients, clients or customers in the normal course of your business,
or In the case of a separate
structure which is not attached to your home, it must be used in
connection with your trade or business
For certain storage use, rental use or
daycare-facility use, you are required to use the property regularly but not
exclusively.
2. Generally,
the amount you can deduct depends on the percentage of your home that you used for business. Your
deduction for certain expenses will be limited if your gross income from your
business is less than your total business expenses.
3. There
are special rules for qualified daycare providers and for persons storing business inventory or product samples.
4. If you
are self-employed, use Form
8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, to figure your home office deduction.
Report the deduction on line 30 of Schedule C, Form 1040.
5.
Different rules apply to claiming the home office deduction if you are an employee. For example, the regular and
exclusive business use must be for the convenience of your employer.
For more
information see IRS Publication
587, Business Use of Your Home, available on IRS.gov or by calling
800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
To get
the latest IRS news and products and services, subscribe to e-News for Small Businesses on IRS.gov
click "Subscribe Now" at the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address.
The IRS Small Business and Self-employed Tax Center at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html
has more information about starting and operating a new business.
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SCORE WORKSHOPS
SURVEY
Help us improve our workshop offerings
Take this quick survey
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SCORE Chapter 21 Monthly Seminars
Improve Your Business!
REGISTER NOW
"How to Start and Manage Your Own Business"
Saturday
September 12, 2009
8:15 A.M. to 3 P.M
Fee - $50.00
St. Louis Community College - Rm SO-105
Meramec Campus
Register Now!
Upcoming SCORE Seminars
"How to Start and Manage Your Own Business"
Oct. 17, 2009
St. Louis C.C. @Meramec
Rm SO-105
SCORE Workshops
October 10, 2009
"Small Business Marketing"
Time: 9 am to 12 noon
Speaker will be Caleb Sheppard of Rio Creative
St. Charles EDC
5988 Mid Rivers Mall Dr.
St. Charles, MO 63304
October 30, 2009
"Tax Considerations for Small Business"
Time: 2:00 to 4:30 pm
St. Louis Enterprise Center
To learn more about any of these courses and dates, times and how to register -
CLICK HERE
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Resources For You
Learn More About Starting a Business in This Economy - Click Here
(Thanks Mr. Spector!)
Good and Bad News about ARC Loans
From the Huffington Post
From the Herald Tribune
SCORE helped create more than 25,000 new jobs
nationwide in 2007. One in seven clients created a job.
SCORE helped create 19,732 new small businesses in
2007, according to an SBA report sent to Congress.
 SCORE Social Media
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"Venus & Mars -- We Share This
Planet"
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO --- The Next Business
Boost training seminar Sept. 10
"Venus & Mars -- We Share This
Planet"
St. Charles
County, MO (Aug. 19, 2009) --- Has there ever been
a time when you thought every member of the other gender
was crazy? Then don't miss the next Business Boost training seminar by the Economic Development Center of St. Charles
County, "Venus & Mars--We Share This Planet"
presented by St. Charles Community College, Thursday, Sept. 10, at St.
Charles Community College Social Sciences Building Auditorium. Register
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Brought to you by SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business," a nonprofit association and resourc e partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. SCORE is dedicated to entrepreneurship and the formation, growth and success of small businesses nationwide. Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 8 million entrepreneurs.
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