How to make your business plan or tender document look professional?

How to make your business plan or tender document look professional?

I write several business plans for clients every year and I also regularly create tender documents for my own business, with partners and for customers. I review many more business plans to include InterTrade Ireland’s Seedcorn competition and tender submissions. Having a professional-looking document is a great start. Here are some of my top tips…

How to build a business from your skills, domain knowledge and life experience?

How to build a business from your skills, domain knowledge and life experience?

I recently wrote a blogpost for Tweak Your Biz discussing my answer to ‘What do you think of my business idea?’ To summarise, I always respond that it is your customers (and the market) that are the final arbitrator of whether you have a business. This blogpost is a follow up which asks, how do…

Drop the ‘Lean Startup’ buzzwords please. Promoters, show me the results!

Drop the ‘Lean Startup’ buzzwords please. Promoters, show me the results!

I am proud to be an advocate of the Lean Startup movement. I have worked with lots of startups to firstly explain the principles and secondly to use the tools. Why – because when I read The Lean Startup, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development, particularly Running Lean and most recently The Lean Entrepreneur, the…

Limerick City Enterprise Board Student Enterprise Competition is a great initiative

I am looking forward to attending Villiers School on the North Circular Road, Limerick this Thursday to meet the students for their market day as part of the 2013 Student Enterprise Competition organised by Limerick City Enterprise Board. I was delighted to be asked to be a member of the Limerick City judging panel along…

How to write a business plan that won’t gather dust?

How to write a business plan that won’t gather dust?

This blogpost will focus on writing your business plan so that it proves valuable to you during your first year in business – we don’t want it to just gather dust, that is never be read again. In essence, your business plan should concisely detail what your business is about, who your customers are, and why they buy from you. It will also set out how you plan to grow the business. You should write your business plan with the objective of copying and pasting the words, descriptions, images and graphs into other communications during your first year. You can refer to your business plan to explain to suppliers such as website and graphic designers and your accountant what your business is about. You can also use it with agents, partners, and your bank manager to set out the vision for your business. Finally, you can also use it for yourself and your team to record ideas for the future and most critically to track the progress of your business.

How to write your Press Release?

How to write your Press Release?

Public Relations (PR) is coverage of your business in the media – tv, radio, newspapers, magazines and now blogs – as part of their news. While there is no money paid to the organisation for the coverage it does take time, effort and money to get lots of positive coverage for your business. The flipside of course is that not all PR is 100% positive but that is another story. The blogpost will summarise some key points to remember when preparing a press release to promote your business. They are two key stages in the process. The first is to think about an angle that makes your release newsworthy. You then need to write the release in a style and language that suits your audience. The second key stage is distribution of your release. At the end I will talk about the advantages of using a PR agency.

Alan Sugar and the success of Sky TV

Alan Sugar and the success of Sky TV

Chapter 12 of ‘What You See Is What You Get: My Autobiography’ by Alan Sugar (2010) is fascinating. It tells how Amstrad reinvented itself by helping Rupert Murdoch to launch Sky. I love stories. This particular story is fascinating as it shows superb lateral thinking by Alan Sugar and his team. Around 1988, satellite dishes and receivers were on the market for approximately £5,000. In June of that year, Alan Sugar agreed that Amstrad would develop satellite receiving equipment which would sell in the shops for £199.

How to listen to your customers to get them to buy?

How to listen to your customers to get them to buy?

When you meet a potential customer are you confident that you can figure out how to help them to buy from you? Take the listening test to find out if you are a good listener. The biggest challenge facing the modern salesperson – remember every startup promoter is the key Salesperson – is helping potential customers to buy.The more you listen to your customer the more you learn and the easier it will be to create a compelling case to facilitate your customer to buy your product/solution. Do not be fooled, listening is not easy but if you can master the skill it will help your stand out from the crowd.