Got a Business Idea Being a Successful Business ManagerEntrepreneur It Aint Easy A Guide for Prelimi

1
Got a Business Idea?? Being a Successful
Business Manager-Entrepreneur It Aint
Easy! A Guide for Preliminary Decision
Making for People Considering Starting Up a New
Business or Making a Major Change in an Existing
Business

2
Business Creation, Attraction, Retention,
Expansion

• -- Evaluate Community
• -- Plan, initiate and carry out community changes
• -- Assist manager-entrepreneurs considering
• Creating a new business in the community
• Moving a business to the community
• Strengthening an existing business

3
Feasibility analyses of new business ideas should
be as realistic as possible.

• Failed businesses do not benefit communities, and
  they certainly do not benefit their owners and
  employees.

4
Persons who start new businesses and make big
changes in existing businesses need the skills
and attributes of both managers and
entrepreneurs.These people need to be
manager-entrepreneurs.
5
Managers direct the use of a business physical,
financial and human resources to accomplish the
goals toward which a business is directed.
6
Managers need -- Production skills.
-- Marketing skills. -- Organizational and
human resource skills. -- Financial skills.
7
An entrepreneur seeks out opportunity, sizes up
its value, then seeks out the resources to take
advantage of it.
8
Entrepreneurs need -- Passion for what they
do. -- Creativity and ability to innovate.
-- Willingness and capability for taking
risks.
Passion
Creativity
Risks
9
Both managers and entrepreneurs need
-- Initiative. -- Abilities to work well with
and influence others. -- Ability to take
charge of things. -- Perseverance. --
Abilities to organize and plan.
10

Personality Traits of Manager-Entrepreneurs (How
well do they fit you?)

• (Worksheet 1)

11

Personal and Family Considerations for
Manager-Entrepreneurs

• (Worksheet 2)

12

Entrepreneurs tend to be creative people. Lots
of Ideas. Often more than they can carry out.
13

• New or Expanding Business.
• Lots of Ideas for Products.
• Cant do them all.
• Focus, Focus, Focus!!

14

• Focus, Focus, Focus!!
• Make a list of products.
• Check those you know
• you can produce.
• Check those you are pretty sure you can sell.
• --Look for double checks.
• (Worksheet 3)

15

• Market before you produce!
• Marketing is everything you do to ready your
  goods and services for the marketplace.
• Marketing is about customers
• and customer needs
• not about products.
• Products are planned and produced only to meet
  the needs of customers.

16

• Market before you produce!
• Think about customer needs.
• Think about
• Product Characteristics
• Competition
• Place (where are customers, competition,
  products?)
• Pricing
• Packaging
• Promotion
• (Worksheet 4)

17

Positioning Your Firm How your firm is perceived
by customers relative to their needs and relative
to competition is referred to as your position in
the marketplace.
18

• A Position to Avoid
• Stuck in a commodity market where
• Firms are price takers
• Firms Must reduce prices to compete
• Small firms are disadvantaged
• No room for any firm to shine

19

• A Special Niche for Your Firm
• Different from competitors in minds of customers
• Insulated from price competition

20

• How to make your firm different (special)
• Special quality
• Special selection or variety
• Special processing
• Special service
• Special information available with products
• Special location
• Special convenience
• (Worksheet 5)

21

• Product Pricing
• Estimate - - -
• Price at which you will sell product
• Quantity of product you will sell
• Expected annual revenues from sales.

(Worksheet 6)
22

• Estimate Costs of Production
• List all steps in production process.
• Develop cost estimates for each step.
• Check with input suppliers.
• (Worksheet 7)

23

• Estimate Costs (cont.)
• Consider costs of capital items.
• Consider variable costs.
• Include reasonable rates for family labor
  (including your own).

(Worksheet 7)
24

Estimating costs of production can be complicated.
(You may have to redo the job several times to
complete even preliminary estimates)
25
Compare Expected Revenues And Expected
Costs (Worksheet 7)
26

So you still think your idea is a good
one? Then it is time to develop a
comprehensive business plan!
27

• Developing a
• Comprehensive Business Plan
• This will take 50 or more
• hours and is best done
• over a 10 to 15 week
• period.

28

Developing a Comprehensive Business Plan is a lot
of work.

• But you are considering risking
• your life savings.
• Your kids college educations.
• Your marriage??

HELP IS AVAILABLE!
29

The purpose of this Guide for Preliminary
Decision Making for People Considering Starting
Up a New Business or Making a Major Change in an
Existing Business Is to help you decide if you
are ready to develop a full comprehensive
business plan related to your business idea.