Greetings!  

The nip of fall is in the air, the kids have settled into their school routine, and we have settled into ours. Do you feel like you've settled for something? Fall is a great time of year. There's an energy and sense of urgency that just isn't there in the summer. Take advantage of it.

Around 60% of the people I work with are startups - they want to start their own business, or buy one, or buy a franchise. The economy has indirectly encouraged this as companies have laid off experienced workers and, when needing to hire again, chose to hire younger people as replacements - less experienced, but also less costly.

When I work with these folks my primary goal is to help them succeed. But what I also tell them is that I think I have a greater responsibility: to make sure they don't fail. I have had so many of these conversations - and drawn the same sketch so many times - that I finally decided to create a more "professional" version that I could just print out and have ready for such discussions. This is what it looks like:

As you can see, for most businesses a lot of money will be spent well before the business opens and up until it begins to generate an operating profit, the point when the business begins to have positive cash flow. One of the things I focus on with folks is how much cash they will need to have available in the beginning to feel comfortable they can make it to breakeven. We will spend a lot of time talking about cost, financing, and making sure there are customers when the doors open. Getting customers requires marketing, and that begins well before opening day - 8 weeks if you want to make sure Google has time to index your website.

Once they figure out how much money they will need to start, the fact is that most will wind up using their own money. So my "commitment" question is this: "How much of that can you afford to lose?"

Business is about understanding and accepting risk. With a good idea, a good plan, and a commitment to success, anyone can be successful.

People have a tendency to rush to sales before they've done the right marketing. As the graph above shows, building sales is a gradual process - just as marketing is a gradual educating of your target market. Success requires both effort and patience. After all, it's more important to your success to gain a loyal customer than to make a premature sale.

A similar patience is required in networking. Even with a well defined target market, someone who is starting a business needs to learn how to network for that business. You have to meet hundreds of people before you begin to understand how to communicate what you have to offer and begin to build lasting relationships. During that period, you will begin to understand what works and what doesn't, who can be a good contact and how to meet more of them. It's part planning, part trial and error, and always total commitment.

For those who want to start 2013 with a strong  plan for their businesses, my annual Strategic Planning Workshop will be held on November 15, 2012. You will spend a full day creating a plan that's tailored to your business, its needs and your goals. It's only $299 for anyone who books in September, $399 for those who can't decide until October, and $499 for procrastinators who wait until November - if there's still room. The full details are available on the website where you can also reserve your seat.

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Click on my book to check it out on Amazon. It's available in paperback and Kindle versions and, you can look inside!

The little book of big ideas