Money Talk for Women

How to Write a Business Plan

by Monica Rasso for Elegant Plus Magazine

Your dream might be to start your own fashion design company or open your own clothing store, but you don’t know where to begin!  The first thing you need to do is sit down over a period of weeks, even months, and do a bit of careful planning.  Chances are you will need to find investors in your dream, but even if you have the capital to start a company with your own resources, it’s best to have a solid business plan.

A business plan is vital to the success of your business. It is your roadmap to success! You wouldn’t start a long road trip across the country without a map! Why would you start your business, your dream, your hope without a plan? Besides being a directional and motivational tool, a business plan is important for obtaining financing from banks, venture capitalists and other start up funds. 

So where do you start? In writing a business plan, there are four main questions to consider: what, how, where and why. 

WHAT

1. What is my product or service? To answer this question, describe in detail exactly what you will be offering your customer. Describe the product or service in as much detail as you can. How is your idea unique? What value can you provide your customer? Why is this product or service needed?

1. What compensation do I offer any employees I may have? When do I plan to hire employees? Having a plan for when and if you will need to bring in employees can help your in organizing your business. You may site examples of when you would like to begin hiring.

1. What sources of help are available to me? It is important to know that help is available in planning your business. The local/state government, local college business advisors, Small Business Administration, and women business owners associations are all examples of service administrations available to help you financially and emotionally.

HOW

1. How do I pick supply and service vendors? What help can these companies provide for your business? For example, if you are starting a clothing store, where will you get your merchandise? How much time does a vendor need in order to get their product/service to you? You may begin to price the supplies necessary for creation of your product or service so that you can begin a budget. 

1. How do I fill customer’s orders or requests?  Will you provide a basic service or can customers do special requests? Who can you rely on to meet these special requests? 

1. How will I advertise my services?  Will you use local or national advertising? How much will all of this cost? What is the most effective use of advertising for your product? How do companies similar to yours advertise? 

WHERE

1. Where will I buy or lease an office/store? How big of a space do you need? What technology do you need? How will you transport, package, and/or deliver your product or service? 

1. Where will I get start-up funding? Bank, personal capital/savings, borrow from family/friends, or venture capital? You may want to look into possibilities of development capital from the Small Business Administration or women-owned business loans/programs or grants. 

1. Where do I want my business to be in five ten, fifteen, twenty years? Will you have more than one location? How will your business grow to be more profitable? Who can help you make this happen? 

WHY

1. Why should I choose a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? This question will require the assistance of a tax advisor. 

1. Why should I go into business anyways? What is driving you to open this business? 

Now that you have a business plan, what are you going to do with it? This plan should be used as your roadmap to start your business but also as a tool to look back on as your business grows and changes. Keep in mind that your success relies on your passion, commitment, and determination to reach your goals. Set goals and follow through! Put your dream on paper and make it happen! 

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Money Talk for Smart Women
Mommy-preneurs: What, why, when and how?

by Monica Rasso, Regular Contributing Author to Elegant Plus Magazine

Years of changing diapers, baby playgroups, and playing short order cook. When is the time to think about what the stay-at-home parent really wants to do? Here are some tips for the “what, why, when and how” when considering starting your own business as a mommy-preneur.

Why start a business? Motivation, or your “why” for doing something, is different for each person. Your “why” will be your driving force. Some stay at home parents think about making a few hundred dollars a month to help out with the bills or pay for an extra vacation each year. What will drive you to juggle the work you do as a homemaker (which pays generously with kisses and hugs) to work you do to bring in the cash money? 

When will you do it? As the school year has now started and children are acclimated to their routine, many moms are finding that they have some time to think about how they would like to spend their time. The time to start a business depends greatly on what you plan to do. Are you looking for a hobby or a life-long business? When considering a home business, there is much confusion out there about what to actually look for to determine what is right for you. If you are planning to build a business from home, it must be worth your time. 

What will you do? Doing something that interests you is vital for success. Is it important that you help others? Or would you rather work alone in a quiet environment? How will you do it? You might start with a work from home business opportunity that already exists. Or you may go out on your own and start your own company. You may be considering wedding/event planning, or some sort of artistic craft, or maybe another business where you produce the item for sale. You still have the flexibility to work your own schedule (usually). When you are the main producer of a product, you will sometimes be a “slave to your orders” when you have deadlines to meet. 

When thinking about compensation, a good idea is to build a business that will pay you up front, as well as many years to come, off of your one-time efforts. This “Residual Income” means that you are getting paid month after month; year after year, for work you do one time. It is very much like an insurance agent who sets up your policy once, but each year when you automatically renew. A few home-based businesses offer this type of income. 

If your business idea involves a one time payment, you may consider putting part of that in savings as your retirement income after your business stops. It would be wise to save for tax payment also. 

How will you start? Research the product or business idea. See if others are doing it already. Is there still room in the market for you to succeed? Seek out resources such as women’s small business counseling. Maybe take a business class at your local college, although there are some books on the market that may teach you more practical applications than a college class. Here are a few to check out:

1. 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women, 3rd Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road to Success (For Fun & Profit) by Priscilla Huff

1. The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century by Paul Edwards

1. Home-Based Business For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance) by Paul Edwards, Sarah Edwards, and Peter Economy

1. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business (2nd Edition) by Barbara Weltman

1. The 200 Best Home Businesses: Easy To Start, Fun To Run, Highly Profitable by Katina Z. Jones

After you do your research, figure out your upfront cost. How long will it take you to recoup that cost? Do you have the space at home for this business? How will you market/advertise? Who will mentor, train, and motivate you? Although there may be a lot of things to consider, the benefits of working for yourself in your own home are very rewarding! It just takes a little time and discipline to think about what to do and a plan. 

Popularity: 6% [?]

Money Talk for Women

Achieve Your Dreams…. Start with a Budget!

by Monica Rasso, Regularly Contributing Author at Elegant Plus Magazine

Both large and small dreams begin with budgeting. Whether you are looking for some great new fall accessories or need to save for your dream house, a budget is a great place to start.

People often shy away from the term “budget.” That simple word can evoke a feeling of fear in many people. Why? For the same reason most diets do not work: sacrifice. If you have to save now, you can’t have what you want right now. However, budgeting can be done without pain. You may not have to sacrifice now. There is no need to feel the hunger pangs of going without the things you want.

A budget is simply a plan for your money. Just like the care you put into planning your wardrobe the night before work, here are a few steps in planning your money with just as much attention to detail.

1. Find your “why.” Why do you want to save? Are you saving for a particular event or purchase? What does that event or item mean to you? 

2. Discover where your money is going currently. First, figure out how much you have to spend on the fixed expenses such as rent/mortgage, car payment or any other expense that requires a fixed dollar amount each month. These payments are not flexible. Most advisors would then say to figure out where you are spending the rest of your money. I say go to step two.

3. Plan where you want to spend your variable money. If you would have looked at where your extra money is going now, you’d probably start kicking yourself for spending $4 on a smoothie at Dunkin Donuts everyday (ok, so maybe that’s just me). I say, plan where you want to spend your money and stick with it. With the money you have left after fixed expenses, you plan for what are called the variable expenses. These type of expenses will change from month to month. Variable expenses are what you spend all the rest of your money on after the fixed payments are paid.

4. Organize your money. How do you keep from overspending? If you are computer savvy, the best tool that I have seen to help stick to your plan is a program called Microsoft Money. You can set up the amount you would like to spend in each variable category per month. Every night (or week), enter your receipts into the program and select the proper budgeting category. You can quickly see if you have gone over your predetermined allowance.

5. Create separate accounts. Open a checking account for use on your regular expenditures. Open a savings account that is to be rarely, if ever, touched.

6. Use direct deposit. If your company offers direct deposit, use it. You can usually allocate how much money you would like to go into each of your accounts. A smart plan includes selecting a certain dollar amount or percentage of your paycheck to go directly into savings. This should be in addition to any retirement accounts to which you already contribute. Since the money is taken out of your check before you see it, you probably won’t miss it. If you don’t have direct deposit, when you go to the bank to cash your check, put a certain amount into savings each month.

7. Re-evaluate every six months. Can you start putting more into savings without feeling like you are painfully sacrificing? You may start looking at investments that pay better interest than a simple savings account, such as a CD or mutual fund.

After you have created your budget and successfully saved, you should take a moment to celebrate your success. Take time to reflect on the reason that you developed your budget. What was your “why”? When you see the money piling up in your savings account each month, you will be sure to smile. Take time to reflect on your success and be proud that you set a goal and were able to stick to it.

Popularity: 10% [?]