Your Business Concept

Simple Stepsfor Starting Your Business

v.20130107

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Simple Steps for Starting Your Business

The SCORE Foundation would like to thank

For showing their support of America’s small businesses by sponsoring this series.

To learn more about Bank of America, visit:www.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/

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A Special Thanks to Our Local Sponsors

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Classroom Safety – Argosy U

Emergency Exits

Restrooms

Please do not wander around the building!

You are HERE 4

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Classroom Safety–ComCenterEmergency

Exits

Restrooms

Please do not wander around the building!

You are HERE

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Simple Steps for Starting Your Business

Session 2:

YOUR BUSINESS CONCEPT

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PERSONAL MENTORING

Session 3:Marketing

Plan

Session 2:Business Concept

Session 4:Financial

Projections

Session 1:Start-up Basics

Session 5:Funding Sources

Decide to

Continue

Simple Steps RoadmapTo Accelerate Your Success

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“GO OR NO GO” DECISION & NEXT STEPS WITH MENTOR

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Introductions and Homework Review

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• Deliver quality information and a quality learning process for the five-part business planning series

• Provide free, one-on-one mentoring

• Help get clients to a Go/No-Go decision on their business ideas

SCORE Commitment to YOU

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Client Commitment

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Testing Your Business Idea

Session 2

Session 3

Session 4

Session 5

Session 1

Simple Steps for Starting Your Business

Start-up Basics

Your Business Concept

Marketing Plan

Financial Projections

Funding Sources

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Agenda

• Business Concept Definition• Target Market Characteristics • Ann’s Nursery Example• Gathering Critical Information - Industry - Customer - Competition

• Personal Application and Planning

• Homework

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Benefits of Building a Feasibility Plan Draft

• Provides you with the information to help make a Go/No-Go decision for your business idea.

• Has the core information to create a complete business plan for bankers and investors.

• Gives you direction to get started.

• Copy in your handouts!

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• New product idea?

• New service idea?

• Purchase an existing business?

• Purchase a franchise?

• Moving an existing business in a new direction or expanding?

They all have common elements.

Your Business Idea

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Your Business Idea

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Your Experience

•Skills that fit your idea

•Personal risk tolerance that fits your idea

•Work experience in the industry

Personal Background

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Where to get Information• Description: NAICS

North American Industry Classification System

• Profitability: RMARisk Management Association – Annual Statement Studies

• Industry Focus: NTPA Directory National Trade and Professional Association

What to look for Growth / life cycle

Trends

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Start-up

Rapid Growth

Maturity

Enco

urag

ing D

iscouraging

Reinvention

Slow decline

Rapid decline

Feasibility Planning

The Industry Life Cycle

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Define Your Target Markets

Who do you serve?

•Type: retailer, consumer etc.•Number of Customers / Markets?•Income level/ability to pay•Demographics•Lifestyle•Buying Habits

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Competition• Size• Product/service features

Suppliers• Availability• Reliability

Business Risk• Product longevity• Legal/environmental

Other Key Factors

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Ann’s Nursery – Feasibility Plan

• Ann's Nursery Feasibility Plan examples are used in our workshops and may help you see the types of information that you may need

• Has a wide range of target market choices

• Has financials that require fixed assets, accounts receivable, inventory and borrowing

• Though fictitious, it is realistic and covers the elements necessary for a business

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Ann’s Nursery: Industry Profile

2002 NAICS Definitions

111421 Nursery and Tree Production

This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) growing nursery products, nursery stock, shrubbery, bulbs, fruit stock, sod, and so forth, under cover or in open fields and/or (2) growing short rotation woody trees with a growth and harvest cycle of 10 years or less for pulp or tree stock.

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In your handouts

• Business Idea• Background• Industry Profile• Target Markets

– Competition– Suppliers– Risk

Ann’s Nursery: Initial Concept Ideas

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From what you know now, outline your business concept by element (10 minutes max)

WS2 - Exercise 1 and 2 Worksheet- Business Concept Feasibility Plan.doc

Pick a partner near you and give an elevator speech (5 minutes max) outlining your business concept

Your Concept: Exercise 1

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Stretch Break

10 minutes, please

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Collecting Critical Information

To understand if your business idea may work, you must gather critical information about your industry, customer and competition.

For start-ups, it is impossible to put together a realistic business plan without this data.

No professional will loan to or invest in your business without this critical information.

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Industry Data• Growth• Profitability• Trends

Industry Data Sources• NAICS• RMA• Trade Associations

Collect Industry Data

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Know Your Market•Demographics•Habits and patterns

Customer Data Sources•Focus groups•Reference library•Government websites•Trade associations

Collect Customer Data

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Collect Customer Data

Income Demographics: Example

Income Demographics for Zip Code 17601

Less than $15,000

$15,000 - $24,999

$25,000 - $34,9999

$35,000 - $49,999

$50,000 - $74,999

$75,000 - $99,999

$100,000 $140,000

$150,000 and over

779 1,508 1,833 3,047 4,385 2,798 2,152 1,442

Number of households

Household income

Total households: 17,944

Source: www.census.gov

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Understand What They Offer•Price•Features•Annual Sales•Size/profitability•Market strategy

Competitor Data Sources•Competitor•Suppliers•Trade associations•RMA•D&B (Dun and Bradstreet)

Collect Competitor Data

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Important Considerations• Political• Social• Environmental

Trend Sources• Newspapers• Periodicals• Television• Internet• Professional Networking

Other Market Trends

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• Can be a very valuable resource for information and save you a lot of time.

• The reference librarian can help you navigate library media to obtain the best information possible– Web-based searches for

information (e.g., Reference USA)

– Reference library tools most commonly used by SCORE clients

– Reference books display and typical information

Reference Area

Sarasota Selby Library

RMA

NAICS

Others

USF Library

NAICS

Others

Local Library Information

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• www.census.gov • www.sba.gov

(Small Business Administration)

• NAICS.com• www.bea.gov

(Bureau of Economic Analysis)

• www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml (Securities and

Exchange Commission) • www.bls.gov

(Bureau of Labor and Statistics)

• www.score.org• www.bizstats.com

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Collecting Critical Information

• Ask directly, usually a distant competitor

• Ask mutual suppliers• Ask competitors’ (your

future) customers• Be a customer• Join a trade association• Check competitor websites• All of these are OK to do.

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Data Collection – Exercise 2

Develop plan to get info on at least one competitor (5 min): (Back of Exercise 1 document)

Price and pricing strategy / Product features Estimate of annual sales / Marketing strategies

Open discussion – share plans (15 min)What did you learn from this discussion?

How will you use that knowledge in the future?

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• Fill out the paper request form in your packet for free, one-on-one mentoring.– During this session!– Be sure to fill in the field at the bottom

about your business and the help that you think you need.

– Give it to the SCORE volunteers– A mentor will be assigned in 3-5 days

• Phone or face-to-face guidance to aid completion of your homework

• Mentor will be available each week after your workshop

Your Own SCORE Mentor

Take advantage of this free service to make the best decisions possible.

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Read WS3–Ann’s Nursery Feasibility Plan and Client Draft (also available as a download)

Complete the exercise worksheets you started today

• Finish the first draft of your business concept

• Collect key competitive information per plan. This data will be used in the next session.―Price and pricing strategies

―Features and benefits

―Annual sales

―Marketing strategies in reaching target customers

See you at the next session on Marketing.

Homework

Download documents at:http://www.score-suncoast.org/QSHandouts.aspx

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Help Us, Help You

Please fill out the workshop evaluation form

Your feedback is important to help us improve our

programs!

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