ViCTORiA PARk dECEMBER/JAnuARy 2018 BCBusiness 21
evalUaTe oPTions
Analyze the results of your research
and decide what you can feasibly
do. "Sometimes you know you want
to provide a speci•c product or ser-
vice, and then you •nd things that
[make] you think, 'These are not for
me,'" Aveledo notes. Reject ideas if
you feel they don't make sense, be
realistic, and compare alternatives.
seT goals
Objectives could be the number of new
clients you want to attract each quarter,
sales contracts you expect to close per
month or weekly likes on social media.
You might want to institute a quality
control program by a certain month or
grow sales by 10 per cent in the next
three months. Whatever they are,
Aveledo stresses, "your goals should be
SMART: speci•c, measurable, achiev-
able, relevant and timely."
sTarT WiTh a TemPlaTe
"Most business plans start with an execu-
tive summary, and that's the •rst thing that
people need to see," Aveledo says, "but
that is done at the end." A template should
include sections covering the business
concept; operations (processes, equip-
ment, location, permits, risks); sales and
marketing (pricing, di"erentiation from
competitors, sales methods); management
(who's on the team and what they do); and
•nancials (where the money comes from
and when, how much funding you need).
Frame yoUr bUsiness
concePT
Outline what your product or ser-
vice is and how you will provide it.
What client pain do you resolve, and
why would customers want that?
Then research the details. What
are industry trends, and what are
competitors doing? How can you
make your product di"erent? Who
are your clients, how much will
they pay, and where do they live?
Can you pay yourself a salary, and
how much do you need to have in
the bank at month's end? "These are
examples of questions that you have
to ask yourself when you're starting
the business," Aveledo explains.
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WriTe The Plan
"Now you have the answers, you
have your goals, so writing down
the plan is much easier because
you have made sense of things,"
Aveledo says. "Be clear. Be
precise. Be to the point." Follow
the template, then review what
you've written. Ask someone
unfamiliar with your plan to read
it to make sure it's easy to under-
stand, Aveledo advises, adding
that "no entrepreneur has ever
done it alone."
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A high percentage of ventures fail because they don't have a business
plan, according to laura Aveledo, business planning and international trade
adviser at small Business BC, a resource centre offering services, support
and seminars for entrepreneurs. Aveledo gives us the short version of one of
her courses
by Felicity Stone
Blueprint for Success
DIY mANAgEmENT
