Hopefully you will make a New Year’s resolution which includes building a business plan and in it, your personal and business goals.  You will also do a budget to make sure you can afford to execute what is in your plans.  Hopefully you are rested and as they say, “all dressed up and ready to go.”  You are also saying “Bring it on.”  My question is therefore, you know WHAT you want to do but HOW are you going to do it?

Chances are you have a list of projects and tasks you want and need to do.  It probably does not include answering phones, sending and receiving emails, reading articles and newsletters, attending conferences, staying on top of compliance items that affect your industry but numerous day to day activities that lead most entrepreneurs at the end of the day to say “Where did the day go?”  That’s the point of a Productivity plan.

A Productivity plan is an attempt to put some system into each day, week and month.  Whether you are the President of the United States or the unemployed person looking for a job, we all have exactly the same amount of time in a day.  While we may not always be able to control who we spend our day with, we can control how we spend it.  For example, do you know how much time each day you spend on email?  Do you respond to each email as it arrives?  If so, you are not being productive.  An email is a non urgent means of communication.  If it was urgent you would be using a cell or telephone.

The goal of a Productivity plan is to plan and manage your day, first, so you enjoy it and second, so you get the important tasks done while the less important tasks wait.  Closing down your email after all the messages are read and answered in the morning and then again in the afternoon allows you to be more productive…which is what a Productivity plan is all about.

As a business owner you have been taught to mainly work in months as this coincides with a financial period and allows you to close and then open a new set of financial statements with your book-keeper or financial analyst so you can review the success or shortcomings in preparation for the next month.

What other areas can you address to remain as productive as possible?  The starting point is to make a plan at the end of each day for the following day and roll it up at the end of the week.  Deciding what tasks you need to do in your business vary greatly from one person to the next as we all work from personal habits.  This is because not only are we in different businesses but also because we are in different industries and just as importantly, at different stages of a life cycle of our business.

If you want some help with what productivity tasks to accept, look at your normal work habits and decide how they can be improved, the tasks that must get done that slows down others, and even consider what you avoid doing or spend too much time procrastinating over.  This is where you can improve your productivity.

The best option is to either write your plan in a word processing document or a spreadsheet.  Making a written record and spending the time to define what needs to be done is the first step towards success.  Another important task is to make sure you allocate a priority – A for urgent, B for needs completing within a reasonable time and finally C for non urgent.

Finally, a Productivity plan is not about measuring results.  A Productivity plan is about defining AND agreeing what needs to be done with what urgency.  Measuring the results of your Productivity plan is important as it is by doing this we can see if we are moving forward and get a positive sense of accomplishment.

Check out my You Tube channel with over 35 short videos if you would like information about selling or buying a business – http://www.youtube.com/user/andrewrogersonsac

The sales and marketing plan is a document that most entrepreneurs don’t have time to put together.  I’m not sure why that is as it’s just as important as the business plan and indeed complements it.

The business plan outlines the vision, strategic direction and business and financial goals of the business.  The sales and marketing plan breaks down the business plan to show how you are going to get there and the tactics to use to attract the right customers.

The sales and marketing plan can be as complex and as detailed as you wish to make it.  It can include a list of tactics you could deploy, it can list and detail only specific tactics you plan to use or a combination of both.  It’s important, though, that you understand how each idea is to be used but you have some idea of the expected results each tactic should bring to the business.  There is an old adage in business management: If you cannot measure it you cannot manage it.  There is also a famous quote that says “I’m convinced that 50% of my marketing is effective, I just can’t tell which 50%.”

There is also another saying that says “I can’t afford to advertise.”  If you cannot afford to advertise then you probably cannot afford to be in business.

Some of the key items you want to see in your sales and marketing plan includes a profile of your typical current customer, what percentage of business they bring, where they come from and how they found you.  If you are planning on growing the business by either more of the same type of customer or a different customer demographic, this needs to be defined, measured and made sure it makes good business sense to target.   Sales and marketing should always be seen as an investment and just like all other aspects of your business, needs to bring a return that you measure or you need to go and try something else or adjust your sales and marketing plan.

If you are looking for different sales and marketing tactics there is simply no shortage of them.  Here are a few suggestions.  Each one needs proper consideration and research to make sure it’s the right strategy for your business.  These tactics include obvious things like your business cards, office letterhead and stationery, email signature, coupons or flyers as well as things like your website, blog, monthly electronic newsletter, networking, taking someone out to lunch once a week, social networking media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  Other strategies could include TV advertising, seminars to educate customers about your service, trade shows, hiring a Public Relations expert, joining local associations such as the Chambers of Commerce or other local business or trade association groups.

Just like your business plan, the sales and marketing plan needs to be a living and breathing document.  It needs to include projections and just as importantly, the results from any activities undertaken so you can tweak and constantly improve what you are doing.  Don not forget your sales and marketing plan should include how each person in the business answers the phone right through to the book-keeper.  There is no reason your book-keeper and clerical staff cannot answer the phone and offer a monthly special to see if they can bring in new business.  It’s a little unconventional but sales and marketing is about getting results, not whether something is conventional or unconventional.

As always, if you have questions about seller finance or more general questions about buying a business, please give me a call on 916 570-2674 or send an email to me at Andrew@RogersonBusinessServices.com

The following article is re-printed from an email sent by Mike McGrane, an SBA lender with Wells Fargo based in Roseville, CA.

The Senate and the House have both passed various versions of the following improvements to the Small Business Admin 7a and 504 loan programs. This is a very good thing for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Banks and Business Brokers and Developers. There is something for everyone in this Senate Bill outlines below. It still needs to be signed into law and the SBA needs to make their official guidelines public, but this should be what is coming.

Senate Bill 2869 contains several critical provisions to bolster SBA assistance to America’s nearly 30 million small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Specifically, the bill would:
• Increase the loan limit on 7(a) loans from $2 million to $5 million;
• Increase the loan limit on 504 loans from $1.5 million to $5.5 million;
• Increase the loan limit on microloans from $35,000 to $50,000 and increase the maximum loan made to a microloan intermediary from $3.5 million to $5 million;
• Allow the 504 loan program to refinance short-term commercial real estate debt into, long-term, fixed rate loans;
• Extend the authorization to provide 90 percent guarantees on 7(a) loans and fee elimination for borrowers on 7(a) and 504 loans through December 31, 2010; and
• Direct the SBA to create a website where small businesses can identify lenders in their communities.

Just as there are different sellers with different motivations, there are also buyers with different types of needs and personalities. If you’re the seller of a business or looking to buy, understanding these different personality types may help you be more successful.

1. Unemployed
This is the best type of buyer. But there are some catches. They need to have enough money as a down payment to buy the business. Zero down payment to buy a home hasn’t been successful. As well as the down payment, they need a good credit score (FICO 700 plus), good credit report and if they want to qualify for a third party loan such as an SBA loan; they need to have industry experience. If you are the seller of a business, the unemployed are motivated and generally want to move quickly to make a decision and start earning an income again.

2. Engineer
This will be the hardest buyer that you work with. They invariably have the money and the skills to run a business, but they have a need to know absolutely every piece of information about the economy, industry, and your business. Many meetings are required and each is long and laborious. Questions that are answered in the first three meetings are asked in subsequent meetings and if the answers are slightly different from what was said earlier, the buyer wants to know why and then go back and revisit every other question around that topic. Their chances of taking the emotional risk to buy a business are very low as after all the questions are answered, they find it impossible to commit by signing their name to the check to buy the business.

3. Talker
This person loves to talk. They have great personality and charm and you think they are the perfect person for the business. They are pleasant to deal with, ask polite and relevant questions, are genuinely interested in being liked and making sure they fit in. There is only one problem -they don’t have any money and can therefore be a huge time waster. Watch talkers carefully as they are such good talkers that you may be afraid to say no or offend them.

4. Know-It-All
Another problem buyer is the know-it-all. They are like talkers but not as diplomatic. They have a bunch of knowledge making them sound like a great candidate as they “get it” and the industry and your business. They probably have money, it is just that they are hard to get along with as they love to tell you what they are going to do to make the business better and at the same time they have no problem in suggesting changes you should make now or telling you what you are not doing right.

If you are interested in learning more about the process of buying or selling a business, visit my website at www.RogersonBusinessServices.com where you can read more about the four books I’ve written about business ownership including: Successfully Sell Your Business: Expert Advice from a Business Broker and Successfully Buy Your Business: Expert Advice from a Business Broker.

Everyone hates to fail. Everyone hates to fail at anything. Sometimes it is difficult to find out if and when you are failing. It’s like falling over when you trip. Often you don’t even know you have tripped and fallen until you hit the ground. Owning and running a failing business can be the same. However, the process can be slower and more painful and possibly avoidable. If your business is struggling but you’re not sure how to tell if it is failing, bluntly and honestly answer the following six questions.

1. Do you have cash flow problems?
A quick look at the bank statements for the last few months will show the opening balance and closing balance. If the opening balance is higher than the closing balance for each of the last three months then you may have a problem. If the business doesn’t carry Accounts Receivables you do. If the business does carry Accounts Receivables and they are growing, your business has now become a bank for your customers and you now need to quickly manage this problem. If the Accounts Receivables are increasing quickly then you have an urgent problem that needs action now.
The other test is more frequent questions from your internal accounting person saying suppliers are calling for payment but we do not have sufficient funds to pay the Accounts Payable.

2. Where do you expect the business to be in one, five and ten years?
If you’re not sure of the answer to the above question and worse still, don’t want to talk about it because you don’t know the answer; there is a problem. A business is about disciplines and results but more importantly, knowing why it exists and how to get there. If the person responsible for the vision of the business lacks the energy, stamina or hunger, your competitor’s have probably taken your market share and so you have a major problem.

3. What are your customers saying about you?
If you don’t have an answer to this question then you may have a problem.
If you are sales and marketing people walk the other way when you come to talk to them; then you have a problem. This is because they are not doing their job or they’ve simply given up trying to tell you, as there was always a reason things weren’t happening.

4. When was the last time you looked at your Business Plan?
If the answer is that you do not have a business plan then you do have a problem. If it’s been years since you dusted off the business plan to look at it as you never followed it anyway, you do have a problem. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

5. Are you constantly hiring new people or still have the same people you’ve had for ten years or more?
This one is a two edged sword but one answer. You need to really know the right answer. If you have the same people who are doing the same job year in year out because “they are the backbone of the company” is this right? Are they bringing new and cutting edge ideas they hear from the market that your competitors are using or are they going through the same motion, day in and day out? They’ll have an answer but you need to check the answer with your customers. When was the last thank you call or testimonial or referral from one of your customers for each of your sales people? Similarly, are you constantly turning over new people “because they don’t fit in?” What are your customers saying? It could be these new people are simply not being heard and so they are leaving to go and work somewhere else and can make a difference. Do you do exit interviews? Do you know why people you hired for good reasons are now leaving? You may need professional help to remove the dead wood but you must remove those that are hurting the company or keep those that customers enjoy working with. There is one guarantee – your company will never reach its true potential by keeping inferior people on the payroll.

6. When was the last time you did a reality check?
This is probably the toughest question of them all. You need to ask someone with no agenda and a person you trust. And you probably need it from more than one person. Are you in denial about the performance of the company? Sure, the economy is at its worst ever in your life time. Does that motivate or demotivate you? Are you the right person with the right skill set to manage the company’s problems? Are your trusted advisors or business coach screaming at you to make changes or are they going through the motions, glad to receive their check from you and play that round of golf? And don’t look for the answers too far – they should come from your accountant, attorney or lender. If they are not questioning and challenging you, then get new ones. Bottom line – get some help – fast.

If reading this makes you uncomfortable as it seems a bit like your company, then blind faith is not an option. The longer you delay the worse the situation will become. If your business is salvageable then make today the first day of its recovery. If it is not, then make today the first day you put positive steps into action so you can get on with the rest of your life; whatever that looks like for you. It may take time and cost money, but this is inevitable whether you do something or not.

The following is an article by Chrystal Jarvis of the Birmingham Business Journal about good news for Small Businesses looking for positive news about finance for their business.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is looking to offer more government-backed loans to commercial businesses.

The government agency has proposed increasing the size standards for 71 different types of businesses, two-thirds of them in retail trade sectors. The rest are in accommodations and food services and other services.

If adopted, more small businesses will become eligible for government loans and will have access to the SBA’s financial assistance, contracting and other programs.

“SBA has undertaken a comprehensive review of our size standards to ensure they are current and reflect changes in the economy and the marketplace,” SBA administrator Karen Mills said. “SBA’s lending and government contracting programs provide effective opportunities for small businesses to help them expand and create jobs, especially during these tough economic times. This review and proposed changes will help make these critical programs available to more small businesses and ensure SBA is in a position to be a real partner in helping our nation’s entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed.”

Buying or selling a business is complex task as there are so many moving parts. The moving parts obviously include the buyer and seller but may also include lenders, landlord, franchisors, attorneys, accountants, customers, suppliers, competitors, employees and others. Just as you can get help from a residential real estate to buy or sell a house, there are also business brokers or intermediaries who provide the services of an intermediary. If you are looking for the help of an intermediary or business broker, consider the following.

1. Trust and Ethics.
When selling your business you want to feel assured the intermediary has a strong commitment to trust and ethics so you know your business and its interests are fully protected. Getting an ethical and trust commitment from your business broker is the most important ingredient. It is critical and should be non-negotiable.
2. Real Estate License.
Many states in the US require a business broker to hold a real estate license in order to represent an owner of property in a sale and be paid for providing that service. In California, a license is issued by the California Department of Real Estate for two types of persons; a Broker and a Sales Agent. A Broker can either work for themselves or choose to hire Sales Agents that work under the Broker.
3. Specialization.
Does the Business intermediary you are considering hiring specialize in either residential sales, business opportunities, commercial real estate, mortgages or finance or a combination of these? Because of the complexities and differences of each markets, most Brokers or Sales Agents tend to specialize in one area. Even within these broad specializations there are specialists. For example, in business opportunities, if a transaction is greater than $5,000,000 there are there are Broker/Sales Agents that specialize in this market called M&A intermediaries.
4. Experience.
Has the Business Intermediary owned and operated a business? Business ownership teaches many skills and requires a unique understanding of what is involved in owning and operating a business. When detailed negotiations take place between the business owner and a potential buyer, all the options must be explored, fully considered and understood.
5. Accreditations.
Does the have formal training or education to support the service they provide? There are different types of accreditations with some including the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) from the International Business Brokers Association and the Certified Business Broker (CBB) from the California Association of Business Brokers.
6. Association memberships.
Accreditations are good, staying up with the accreditations is better. To see if a Business Intermediary is a member of their industry association, check the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) at http://www.ibba.org or search the web for “Business Broker Organization” in the state where you live.
7. Communicates and explains clearly
Selling or buying a business requires dealing in financial, legal, industry and other forms of jargon. Are you able to communicate easily and clearly with your Business Intermediary and understand what they are talking about?
8. Network of professionals.
Selling a business often brings together different professionals such as Accountants, Attorneys, Property Management Companies, Landlords, Escrow officers, Appraisers, Tax Agents, Lenders, Franchisors and Financial Planners. Does your Business Intermediary have professionals he can introduce you to if your business requires that expertise?
9. Testimonials.
What do the past customers have to say about the services of the Broker/Sales Agent?
10. Finance.
Most sellers do not wish to carry any finance or they wish to carry as little finance as possible. Is your intermediary able to introduce you to finance professionals who would finance the deal for a qualified buyer?

Buying or selling any item of value must be done properly so the value of the asset is protected. Using the services of a professional intermediary to guide you through the process and protecting your investment is good business.

A lot of new business owners like to move quickly. They work through their decision to move into business ownership, do a little research, decide how much money they have, how much they can borrow and then start doing “it”…whatever “it” means for them and their business.

There’s no question that research and understanding your finances are important. Going into business requires money and what goes on around it. However, if you want to borrow money to help fund your new business you are going to need at least 4 things. If you can’t be bothered getting these together you will not be taken seriously by sellers, landlords, business brokers, lenders or other related parties. Or worse still, you’ll be taken seriously, asked for these documents and when they found not to be in order, your dream will be shattered.

These four things are your resume, your credit score, your credit report and your personal financial statement.

Each of these is important for the following reasons. For lenders to let you borrow money they want to see your resume so they can see you have the skills to manage the money they lend you. If you’ve spent the last 10 years of your career in the IT industry and now want to borrow money to buy a preschool, then you may not be taken too seriously. Build a strong resume so it highlights your management skills and be prepared to tweak your resume to support each loan application.

Second, if your credit score is 650 or less, you will struggle to get a loan. That may sound blunt but it’s the truth. The main purpose a bank is in business is to make money. They make money by giving loans to people who can pay them back. A low credit score is one of the tools a bank uses to decide whether you are worth the risk and therefore if you will pay back the loan, with interest. Yes, this is very simplistic but your credit score is very important.

Third, before you apply for a loan, get a copy of your credit report to make sure it’s accurate and there are no errors on it. There are a few reasons for this. Credit reports are notorious for errors. Imagine your frustration to have a great credit score, spend weeks building and executing your business plan, building relationships with suppliers, signing a lease on the perfect location for your person and a major vendor asks for a copy of your credit report to complete their paperwork and they find a bad comment on your credit report and they decline your request! All because there was an error on your credit report that should not have been there in the first place. Bottom line; let’s get this taken care of now so you have time to get things in order.

The final item is to build a personal financial statement. This document may be required by vendors, banks, landlords or other parties that you are planning on buying a business from. If you have this information prepared and ready to go it is one less task to worry about and having it prepared shows you are serious with what you want to do.

Starting a business is exciting, stressful, exhilarating, tiring, stimulating and fun to name a few things. A great business has strong foundations. To build strong foundations always look first at your responsibility and what you do so the rest will take care of itself when you get to it.

If you would like some free documents to help plan your move into business ownership, please visit my website, www.RogersonBusinessServices.com. Once the home page loads, choose the “Sample Documents” option from the menu in the black ribbon across the top of the page and help yourself to 21 documents including business plans, break even analysis, profit and loss projectors, balance sheets, loan amortization calculators and more.

If starting your business is in your immediate future you and are not sure where to start, there are five major areas I would suggest you consider. This article is just about one of those, which is the need to create a solid business plan, but the four areas to help determine your fitness for business ownership are as follows. First, are you a self-starter? Second, how well do you connect with other people? Third, how good are you at making decisions? Fourth, are you physically and emotionally ready to start and build your business?

As I mentioned above, this article is about area number five, that is, how well do you plan and organize. If you plan on going into business you should, at a minimum, look at the following. First, you’re going to need to build a business plan. Just as you’ve heard Look before You Leap, you should have heard “If You Fail to Plan you Plan to fail.” I think a business plan is one of the best kept secrets. Everyone knows you need a business plan but so few business owners actually put one together. And if you’d like to test this out, call three people you know who own and run a business and ask them if they have a business plan. I will be surprised if one out of the three does. And if you find one business person that does have a business plan either ask if you can borrow it to model off it, or if that’s too sensitive, ask if you can meet with this owner to go over yours as I would guess the owner that does have a business plan is successful. And it’s always good to talk to successful business owners.

Why is creating a business plan so important. It’s important for a number of reasons. First, converting ideas that are jumbled in your head and putting them to paper makes you focus and really think. I guarantee you will say to yourself a number of times, what you think is clear and makes perfect sense in your mind, completely changes when you have to take the idea and put it in writing. Second, putting it in writing makes you think not only of that question or problem, but the next set of thoughts that flow from that idea. For example, if your business plan includes the idea of creating an Operations Manual, putting this on paper will make you capture the idea so you don’t have to keep carrying it around in your head. It will also make you start thinking about the purpose of the operations manual. Questions will then come to mind such as, who its mainly written for, who’s the best person to write it, how often should it be updated and by whom, who should check to make sure it works and you need to make sure its backed up with the other business documents so it’s not lost. So, one simple idea to make an Operations Manual spun off about seven other needs. Third, it allows you to communicate the business plan or core idea of the business in writing to professionals such as third party lenders, attorneys and accountants, or key support people such as family and friends or key employees and others.

There are two types of business plans. The business plan for a brand new business will have different criteria to the business plan of an established business. However, both business plans include an Executive Summary that captures the essence of where the business is at and the direction, you as the owner, plan on taking it.

If you would like a free template for either type of business plan, please visit my website; www.RogersonBusinessServices.com. Once the home page loads, go to the black ribbon at the top of the page and and choose “Sample documents.” Items 7 and 8 are the respective business plans and come from documents created by SCORE or the Service Corps of Retired Executives. SCORE is a great, free resource if you are planning on moving into business ownership.

For more information about business ownership, visit Andrew’s website at www.RogersonBusinessServices.com

The reality of the current downturn in the economy is that many companies will need to restructure to create the private sector jobs President Obama is talking about. At the time of writing this article there is 7.2% unemployment or the good news, 92.8% full employment. That’s good news if you’re one of the 92.8% but bad news if you’re one of the 7.2%. And these are national figures so if you live in some States in the US the unemployment rate is higher.

Regardless of your local unemployment statistics, if you have lost your job or are concerned your company may downsize but you need to make some money to put a roof over your head, feed the family, buy the gas to get around plus all the other things you need to do in life, perhaps you are thinking it’s time to get off the employment rollercoaster. This means putting yourself in control so you can work the hours you want, work in an industry you want to be part of and ultimately be in control of your own destiny. If that makes sense, what are your options?

The three options of business ownership

If you think business ownership may be an option for you, there are basically three choices. Option one is to start your own business. This means you have to come up with a creative new idea, test it to make sure there is a commercial market for your idea, and then once you get enough feedback, build and execute a business plan. This plan not only needs to ensure you make enough money to pay the costs of running your business and personal needs but also cover any debt you’ve incurred while you created, tested and deployed your idea.

Option two is to buy an existing business that has any of the following three goals. Your first goal could be to find a business that’s not doing well, determine the reason it is underperforming and then put in place the changes to have the business head in a positive direction. Your second goal could be to look for a business that’s holding its own and simply take the place of the existing owner with the expectation of enjoying the life style of this business owner. The third goal could be to look for a business that’s growing well but bring your skill set, new energy and capital and either continue the growth of the business or considerably add to it.

The third and final option is to buy the rights to a new franchise. Just so I am clear, you could always buy an existing franchise and continue its current ownership but this is really a variation of option two above. New franchises are appearing on the market all the time in a diverse range of industries and formats. At last count I had franchises in 84 different industries such as accounting, automotive, animals/pets, beauty care, building materials, children’s education, clothing, transportation, travel, upholstery and wholesale etc while the formats range from Business to Business (B2B), Retail, Home based etc to name a few. The option of buying a new franchise tends to appeal to those who have worked in Corporate America but decide to look elsewhere for their future. The best advantage of a franchise for a new business owner is that it brings a system or business model that has had the wrinkles ironed out; similar to the model used in Corporate America. The franchisor has proven the business model, fine tuned the systems, built the training for the franchisee, knows what accounting systems to use and has these up and running and is looking to re-create these business models across the US and often into Canada and Mexico, and around the world.

Understanding risk

If you’re deciding whether business ownership is right for you, one of your most important evaluations will concern risk. We see this everyday with how we handle our money. We know we need an account to pay our bills and often use a checking/savings account combination. The money is very safe (backed by the US Government) and available whenever we need it. Because this money is needed for virtually immediate use our risk tolerance is very low. With that need taken care of our next decision involves putting aside excess capital that hopefully stays ahead of inflation but is only tied up for the short term of say 6 months to 2 years. For this option we look to CDs, Bonds or Treasuries which we also know are safe and meet our low risk tolerance. We also understand the importance of another form of investing and that’s regularly putting retirement money into a 401K plan or similar which is money invested for the long term of 10 years or more. We know this money is at a higher risk as it fluctuates in value on a daily basis with movements in the stock exchange. For this higher risk we require a higher return on investment. With those needs addressed, and if we have any additional spare money, we then look at other longer term investing options which includes buying shares in the stock market, buying corporate bonds, playing the foreign currency markets, trading commodities or some other form of investment we know and handle ourselves or pay a financial advisor to manage for us.

The bottom line is that you have many options with the final option you choose to make based on your risk tolerance. When deciding whether to start your own business, buy an existing business or buy the rights to a franchise, the level of risk will be one of the major decisions you need to evaluate. Your comfort with which option to choose will also depend on a number of variables. These include how much money you have to invest, the skill set the business requires and how closely this matches yours. Another major factor includes your financial status. Do you need to borrow, what is the condition of your credit score and, is your credit report acceptable to a lender? It may also ensure your background doesn’t preclude you from business ownership due to a criminal record or other circumstance.

What’s the next step?

If you’ve read the above and think business ownership is right for you or you would like to know more, your next steps are to become more educated so when you get to make that final decision whether you will or will not go into business ownership, you have as much information as possible. For this reason I have written three guides to help those considering business ownership. These guides are respectively called – Successfully Start Your Business, Successfully Buy Your Business and Successfully Buy Your Franchise: Expert Advice from a Business Broker. I’ve personally been in business ownership for 25 + years having owned and operated 5 businesses; two in my native Australia and now three in California. I still remember the fear and sleepless nights deciding whether to buy my first business and relocate to a new city with my 6 months pregnant wife. But as I look back, business ownership provides a wonderful set of experiences and skills I would never have known if I didn’t recognize and manage the risk that comes with business ownership. There is no question; business ownership is not for everybody. But business ownership is a skill to acquire and once it’s acquired brings about opportunities those working a job never see. Plus one of the rewards to it all is that it puts you in control so when you go through recessions you have the capacity to succeed.

Importance of your Buyer Profile

Before you start looking at business ownership, know your Buyer Profile so it reduces your chance of failure or giving up because you are burnt out from the process. For most new business owners, naturally enough their goal is to find the perfect business. This makes sense but it only makes sense if you know what you want but I also think “perfect” is too high a standard. Businesses are dynamic and constantly changing. This is because it is primarily dealing with people, whether they are owners, family members, customers, employees, lenders, landlords or government agencies. Look for what you want, but make sure your criteria is not too high.

So how do you know what business to look for? The answer to this question is by building and creating your personal Buyer Profile. Most buyers are not sure where to start the process. From my experience from buying and looking at many businesses and working with a large number of new or potential business owners the first step is to start with yourself. Most buyers don’t do it because they don’t know what they are looking for and expect it will reveal itself to them as they start their search process. If this is what you choose to do it will increase your chances of failure as there is no such thing as the perfect business plus each buyers profile is unique. It is unique because there are so many variables. The variables include levels of education, amount of downpayment to buy a business, credit scores, credit report, business and life experiences, management experience, family support, personal situation such as being single or married with 4 children to support and most important of all, the location where you live and the opportunities available. If you come to your decision to look at business ownership and you are fresh out of college your frame of reference is really the subjects you studied in college and your life and business experiences. If you’re a 40 year old executive who has worked in Corporate America in the technology field for the last 10 years as a sales manager, but in your earlier years worked in retail books and the travel industry, you have much more diversity to pull from.

Your Buyer Profile is a critical starting point for you. I normally spend about two hours with each client before introducing any business opportunities to them as I want to get a basic level of understanding of the industries of interest to them and their preferred format such as whether they like retail, Business to Business (B2B), Food, Automotive or, Children’s services etc plus an extensive range of other questions. If the buyer knows what they do and don’t like it allows them to focus and thereby greatly increase their chances of finding the business they want.

If you would like more information about each of the books mentioned above, please visit the following website http://www.successfullybuyyourbusiness.com where you will find a brief description of each of the guides. If you would like some free tools to work with, please visit my website: http://www.RogersonBusinessServices.com/samples.htm. On this page there are some Excel and Word files such as a Business Plan, Sales and Marketing plan, Startup Budget planner and Cash flow projection etc.  Download and use these free tools as much as you need.

The rewards to business ownership for each person are unique and real. If you think business ownership right now with the economy in recession is not a good option, I would disagree. The economy is constantly changing and looking for new ways to invest capital and provide a return on investment. Some areas of the economy are about to explode such as health care, businesses in energy efficiency, the “green” industry and, new technology innovations to name a few. It will take time to research, create and execute a plan and then explore any other options available to you. Making the decision to take the risk is the hardest part. Once that is done, the rest takes care of itself. If you think business ownership is part of your future, learn as much as you can, accept it comes with risk and get on with it as the rest will be up to you. Whether you stay in your current job, find a different job because you aren’t enjoying what you are doing or move into business ownership, at the end of the day it’s still all up to you and how you manage the risks that come from each decision you make.