You, Your Life and Your Business Plan
Objective: Develop a Common Sense Business Plan that fits you and your life.
In this topic, we are going to develop a business plan that fits you and your life because you want something. But what? And Why? You need to know because here you will develop a Life Plan not just a business plan. It’s a plan, a guide, a living breathing document! Don’t run out and buy a book on business planning or some fancy software package. This isn’t a plan for investors and Venture Capitalists; it’s for your eyes only!
First, take a close look yourself and your work, recreation, relationships, finances and other priorities. What do these look like now? What do you want them to look like? Look back on the notes you made when you were exploring the VA business. Why did you decide to start your business? What is important to you and why? Develop a simple purpose statement. You can call it a Mission Statement or anything you want but make it real. It isn’t something you are going to frame and hang in your office to impress visitors. This is for you.
Now take a look at what you like to do (where’s that list you made?). What do you like to do? What are you good at doing? What do you have experience doing?
Do you enjoy a supportive role and have good office administrative skills?
Can you work without constant supervision?
Are you Tech savvy?
Do you like working with independent professionals such as Real Estate Agents or Entrepreneurs?
Do you like customer service and helping people solve problems?
Can you do data entry fast and accurately?
Do you like to do research?
Are you a bookkeeping wiz?
What are you doing to fill in the gaps? If you have skills and experience at stuff you don’t like to do, are you willing to pay the price and get the skills to build experience at what you like to do?
Goal Setting
Ok, let’s set some goals. First of all, when you set goals be clear about what you want. It must be something that can be measured. Set milestones to measure your progress. This will not only help you stay focused because you can see your next step but encourage you to keep going because you can see how much you have accomplished.
For example, say your ultimate goal is to set up your VA Business.
You can break that up into goals like this:
Complete ProVA by Design course by this date.
Have Business Plan complete by this date.
Enroll in MS Office skills course and complete by this date.
Interview and select Accountant and Attorney by this date.
Set up blog by this date.
Within these goals set milestones. For example: Complete one topic in ProVA by Design course per week doing all of the foundation work in each one (for example, write your Business Plan, set up your website, etc.)
Goals and Rewards
For each goal, also write down what the reward is. Why is this important to do? It is impossible to commit to doing something if you are not absolutely clear on why you are doing it.
Oh, and then set a fun reward too – maybe for each milestone completed you make a date for coffee with a girlfriend. Remember – Self Care isn’t selfish!
Your Support Team
Don’t forget to let your support team know how you are doing and how they can support you! This community is a great place to do that. Not only will you get vital support but you will inspire others. No one succeeds alone.
A word of caution here – there will be those who just don’t get it. They will tell you that no one can really make money working from home, that working from home is just a scam and my favorite, “get a real job.” If you have people like this in your life, you must not let them steal your dream. You don’t need to let them know what you are doing or how you are doing. When your business is set up and you have a strong client base – then tell them! But don’t gloat. Well, not too much anyway!
Branding
We’ll talk more about this when we get to marketing but you will want to keep this in mind when writing your purpose statement and your goals. Branding is more than a logo it is the sum of all you do. It is your Business DNA. It encompasses your purpose, your unique selling proposition, your personality, and the services you are offering. It is your business essence.
Think about Coke or Microsoft or Old Navy. What comes to your mind when you think of them? What is the personality of those companies and their products?
Your good name
Of course branding starts with your name. If it’s just you, be clear. I always just used Sandra Pearson, Executive Virtual Assistant. When I marketed on sites like Elance I used SandraePro for my user name. If you use a name, like Stellar VA Services, make sure your marketing materials are clear that you are an individual VA (unless you work with a team, of course). I have seen several VA websites where it looked like a team of VA’s as opposed to an individual VA. This is completely misleading and inappropriate. And it’s not necessary. For every prospective client who wants a team there is one who wants an individual. Be honest and straightforward in your marketing or you will seriously sabotage your success – not to mention your integrity.
Also – don’t get too hung up on this. Dr. Smith didn’t spend days brainstorming a name for her medical practice. She hung out a shingle that said: Dr. Smith, MD Family Practice. ‘Nuff said!
Logo smogo
While you want to build a brand, I also don’t think it is necessary to invest in a logo. You aren’t Microsoft. If you have the funds and want to, fine. But don’t let not having a logo stop you from moving forward.
A Business Plan for you, by you and about you!
Ok, so now you have lots of notes about what you are going to do any why and when and all that good stuff. Now let’s get it into a format you can use. Remember, it’s for you, not lenders, not your jealous sister-in-law. You. Just you.
Assemble all of your notes and plug them into this outline (feel free to adjust as you see fit). Don’t worry if you don’t have some of the information, such as marketing details. We will be doing that later in the course and you can come back to fill that in with more detail.
I. Name of your Business
II. Purpose Statement
III. Basic Concept – what are you doing in general
IV. Market Research – is there a need for what you are doing? What is the competition like? For example, do you plan to market yourself locally? Are there other VA’s in your area? Are you going to use Elance to market yourself? How will you stand out in the crowd?
V. Why are you uniquely suited to fill this need
a. Your experience
b. Your education
c. Your preferences (web research vs. customer service)
VI. Your offer – describe your services and pricing
VII. Your Business Profile – how you plan to go about your business. Focus on the specialized market you intend to serve.
VIII. What do you still need to do?
a. What training do you need
b. What equipment do you need
IX. Budget – We’ll get into this more later but for now keep in mind that the money your business brings in is not what you will feed your family with. Your business will have expenses such as internet connection and a business phone line. Once these expenses are paid, then you draw your salary.
You can see that each of these steps affects the others. It’s is more of a circle than a list. If you see something in Market Research that makes you rethink your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) then change it. But don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. This document can be changed. After all, you are typing it into a word processor, not chiseling it in stone!
This format may seem overly simple but we are going to add too it throughout this course. Don’t move forward, however without filling in the basics of what you have already determined. You need to have a clear vision of where you are now to figure out where you want to go.
