Criteria of a Business

Keep your fork; the best is yet to come. Remember your mother saying that when you were growing up? Mmmmm. Just inhale that delicious aroma. Savor the taste. Can’t you just taste it now? Dessert. Every child’s delight. Who are we kidding? Every adult loves dessert. How many of you have a favorite dessert? This question is not directed at your waistline, it is directed at your taste buds.

My mother was a combination of Martha Stewart, Julia Child and Betty Crocker when it came to baking. She knew how to perform magic with a few mixing bowls and an oven.

When Mom said, “Keep your fork, the best is yet to come.” We knew it was true.

Launching your own business requires a winnowing fork and a tuning fork, not a dinner fork, but the best is yet to come.

Compare the new business to a cake. Before you start gathering ingredients, decide what flavor cake you choose to make. Do you have the ingredients on hand or do you need to go shopping? A cake requires basic ingredients: flour, shortening, sugar and eggs, plus special additions for the special flavor variety.

The ingredients of a new business are just as basic.

Decide what kind of business you wish to open. Are you seeking a franchise, a brick and mortar or a home based business? Franchises are typically a quarter million to three quarters million to buy the rights to the business and even more money for the physical location. A home based business has the lowest start-up cost, usually less than twenty thousand and a lower overhead since it is home based. Typical brick and mortar businesses have a slightly lower initial cost than a franchise but probably require the cost of a physical location.

Do you have the skills necessary or do you need to seek a coach to assist you? Franchises provide training and business plans. New brick and mortar business provide neither training nor a business plan. Home based businesses may provide some training if they are part of a network marketing company or MLM; however, since it is your own business, you still have 100% responsibility for you business plan and your results.

How many hours a week do you plan to devote to your new venture? Franchise or brick and mortar will require closer to sixty hours per week at the specific business location. Home based businesses can be conducted on a part time or full time basis; ten hours per week is minimum and twenty to thirty is more realistic.

How much investment will be required and do you have not only the minimum start up capital, but also extra income to support yourself in the interim? Any business will require development time. Purchasing a franchise or existing business will provide some existing customer base due to the name recognition; however, building a business requires time and effort.

Free marketing trades off low cost for slow speed of locating customers. If you want large quantities of customers within a short period of time, you will need marketing dollars. Regardless of cost or speed, every business requires marketing and customers. A plethora of marketing methods, techniques and cost factors are available. Balance your marketing budget with the speed and quantity of customers desired. Add in your marketing expertise in order to estimate the total cost and time.

Have you written a business plan which incorporated the SMART criteria?

S – specific
M - measurable
A - attainable
R - relevant
T - timely

Gather all of the ingredients; combine them in proper proportions and develop the new creation. Select the proper location and target customer.

With your cake, you selected the proper size pan, prepared the pan properly, preheated the oven to the proper temperature, placed the cake inside the oven and checked it frequently.

Your business requires your time, constant attention and total dedication. Unlike a cake, the business requires tweaking and shaping on a frequent basis.

Once the cake is baked, you may decorate it.

Your business may take months or even years to bake. Decorating the business with flourishes and fanfare may consume several years. With consistent, persistent and focused action, it is possible.

Anticipate the delectable morsel of cake on your dinner fork. Use your winnowing fork and your tuning fork to create the profits of a well designed and managed business.

Keep your fork; the best is yet to come.

For a complete personalized goal setting and goal achieving plan, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com