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Grants are an often overlooked option, but they sure can be a winner (and so can you). Unlike loans, grants literally are free money; they do not require repayment, and they do not require you to give up equity. You can find grant opportunities through government programs, non-profits, and even private enterprise.
Even better: Winning a grant not only provides financial support but also adds credibility to your business, making it easier to attract further investment down the road.
Angel investors are individuals who invest their own money in startups, typically in exchange for a piece of the pie (equity). No wonder entrepreneurs refer to them as angels. Angel investors usually look to invest in early-stage companies, and as such, are able to also offer valuable advice and connections in addition to their capital.
To attract an angel, you need a clear and compelling pitch along with a strong business model, a great team of employees , and a solid e-strategy (amazingly, nearly one-third of all small businesses still do not have a website). In short, your business needs to show potential for growth.
In some cases, suppliers may be willing to help finance your business by providing products on consignment. Sometimes they even offer direct funding. The key is to show your supplier that helping you succeed will be in their best interest because you will then become a long-term, valuable customer.
If you're looking to buy an existing business but do not have the funds upfront, seller financing could be a possible solution. In this scenario, the current business owner acts as the lender, allowing you to pay off the purchase price over time.
Ideally, this is a win-win: You acquire a business with manageable payments, and the seller gets a steady income stream. (One caveat, however: Be careful of the business that is unable to be sold in a conventional manner. Something may be amiss.)
When traditional funding sources fall short, creative alternatives like these can provide the capital you need to make your entrepreneurial dream a reality. Explore your options today.
Steve Strauss is the president of a boutique content company, The Strauss Group, and is a bestselling small business author and columnist. He can be reached at www.MrAllBiz.com, or at [email protected] .
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7 tips to make writing a business plan easier.
Writing a business plan is one of the most valuable things you can do as a business owner. But it can also be one of the most challenging if you’re doing it for the first time.
To help you get right to the value of having a complete business plan, here are seven simple tips that will make business plan writing easier.
Take the time to understand the broad structure of a business plan and what information should be included in each section. This helps you avoid writing aimlessly and gives you a checklist to mark off as you go.
To get started, here is a brief overview of the most common sections of a business plan :
This list is not exhaustive, so, if you need additional details, look into lengthier business plan outlines or just go on to step two and three in this guide.
You don’t necessarily need to write a traditional business plan. If you’re exploring an idea or planning to use it as an internal tool—then a one-page business plan may be a better option.
A one-page business plan is basically a condensed version of a traditional business plan that outlines your business’s key points in a single page. It’s faster and easier to create, simpler to edit and adjust as your business evolves, and it can always be expanded into a more detailed plan later on.
And even though it’s on one page, it still works as a fully functioning business plan. You just get the benefit of starting small, focusing on the essentials.
Using a business plan template can provide additional guidance and structure to the planning process. With the right template, you’ll get step-by-step instruction, simple fill-in-the-blank sections, and potentially even tips from entrepreneurs or planning experts.
There are plenty of free business plan templates out there, but the best will be written by experts, recently updated, and available in a format that will meet the expectations of lenders and investors. Additionally, just be sure it’s available on software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs so you can get right into using it.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is to see what the end result can look like. So, when writing a business plan you should explore and review a handful of business plans examples. Ideally, business plan examples are created by professionals or are real-world samples from existing businesses like yoga studios .
If you can, find a sample business plan that’s from the same industry as your own business. Pay attention to the structure, how the plan is written, and what information is unique to your specific industry. You should also take time to flag anything that you don’t think is done well as something to avoid in your own plan.
Keep in mind, you should not copy and paste these examples. Use them to inspire your plan and don’t replicate it.
There may be a preferred order for structuring your business plan, but that doesn’t mean you have to write it that way. Instead of going from beginning to end, start with the sections that you already have ideas for and know best.
This will help you avoid just staring at a blank page and actually get information down. You may even find that it makes writing other sections easier as you start thinking more and more specifically about your business.
Do not spend hours at a time writing your business plan. You’ll get burnt out, make mistakes, and likely end up seriously disliking the whole process.
To avoid this, set a time limit for your writing to be between 30-minutes and an hour. This is just enough time to actually write and work through sections while making it an easy time investment to fit around your busy schedule.
Keep in mind, this may mean you don’t finish your business plan. That’s totally fine and potentially beneficial. Step away, schedule a follow up writing session, and get back to it. It may end up taking two, three, maybe even four times but you’ll still end up with a complete business plan.
Lastly, don’t do this writing process solo. Get someone you trust, like a friend, family member, or mentor, to review your plan as you go. Have them read it and provide feedback like:
Take their feedback and apply it to your plan. If you do this before completing the plan, you may end up saving time and catch any issues before they’re prevalent throughout the entire document. If you’re concerned about the quality or not getting enough feedback, consider hiring a professional plan writer or reviewer to take a look instead.
The hardest part about writing a business plan is getting started. But by developing a framework, knowing what you’re getting into, and finding the right support it can be a lean and effective process.
So, take one or all of these tips and start writing your business plan. You’ll be happy you did.
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The unity government’s objectives must evolve with developing circumstances.
We’re more than halfway through the first 100 days of SA’s government of national unity (GNU). And while we’re starting to see some progress, if President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet want to show real commitment and respect for the trust South Africans have placed in them by the 100 day mark on October 11, we need far more delivery and far fewer promises and plans.
It’s no great secret that the chasm or connection between good strategic planning and tangible outcomes will determine a nation’s progress. But for too many decades the relationship and trust between SA business, civil society and government has been marred by empty or broken promises that our government has a strong plan for recovery and growth, and for better service delivery.
Frankly, the trust business and society placed in government was cruelly abused. And the fact that so many of us remain willing to trust in the promises of the GNU today is nothing short of miraculous. It cannot be taken for granted.
But it’s essential to define what exactly we are trusting the GNU to do. For many of us determined to inclusively grow our economy and create sustainable jobs coupled with future-fit skills that will equip our people to compete in domestic and international markets, we are trusting the GNU to get on with the structural reforms needed in the business of government.
We need the GNU to create an enabling environment for business and investment, and to deliver essential and meaningful services to the public so that we can grow our economy and grow jobs. In short, we’re trusting the GNU to “geshido” — to get shit done.
We know economic growth is driven by efficiency, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. If the GNU allows itself to get stuck in an endless planning cycle with promises of potential outcomes, these drivers will be stifled, resources diverted and positive sentiment destroyed.
We’re seeing some flashes of innovation and actual delivery, especially from the vital department of home affairs under minister Leon Schreiber, which seems to finally be clearing years-worth of backlogs of critical skills visa applications. The steady hand of finance minister Enoch Godongwana is visible at the Treasury, and the return of veteran minister Barbara Creecy to transport is reassuring. The announcement that state-owned enterprises will return to line-function ministers from the doldrums of public enterprises is also a laudable step that shows structural reforms are under way.
But the threat of National Health Insurance being zealously pushed through by health minister Aaron Motsoaledi slams the brakes on investment in the economy in critical healthcare or skills, with the threat of a taxpayer exodus. It forces us all back to the drawing board, just when it seemed there was hope on the horizon. It erodes the fragile trust we desperately want restored by the GNU and wastes critical resources that are better spent building schools, hospitals, roads and digital networks by what should be a dynamic, responsive and proactive GNU.
If the GNU is to “geshido”, it should be focusing on four key components for meaningful delivery:
He regularly and simply sets out what Cape Town is striving for, why this matters for civil servants working for the local government as well as ordinary citizens, and how far from their target they are. No-one expects a perfect leader, but his is an example of transparent and accountable leadership that builds trust and confidence for the better even if the execution isn’t always according to plan. If you’re going to fail, then fail fast, learn and iterate.
The truth is that the best plan doesn’t exist, but with a strong supportive environment with clear priorities and sequencing for the executing team to forge ahead and initiate, delivery on a good enough plan can happen based on a minimum viable product to test the vision and gain feedback for future iterations.
The GNU is starting to get so much right, but if it doesn’t work together its promise will fail. By frequently iterating a simple, clear and live game plan that is constantly in action, SA will “geshido” and move in the right direction.
• Craker is CEO, and De Gregorio an executive partner, at independent management and technology consulting firm IQbusiness.
Tom eaton: in unity there is ... politicians in a mad scramble.
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Natasha marrian: penny has yet to drop for failing anc as it runs out of voter ..., brian kantor: much room exists for sa to further impress investors, peter bruce: sigh, politics and prejudice still rules in sa, peter attard montalto: continuing tales of seeing the worst, natasha marrian: builders vs breakers — steenhuisen on sa’s high-stakes politics.
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Why the california fair plan exists.
The bottom line.
10'000 Hours / Getty Images
The California FAIR Plan provides fire insurance for high-risk homes and businesses that private insurers won’t cover. FAIR stands for Fair Access to Insurance Requirements.
The plan, established by state legislators in 1968, is a pool of all insurers licensed to sell property and casualty insurance in California. It’s designed primarily to help California homeowners who can’t find basic fire insurance in the traditional marketplace. Those numbers have been rising since the risk of wildfires has grown.
Amid the rise in risks stemming from wildfires and insurance rate hikes, Californians now have fewer options for fire insurance. That’s because more insurers have decided against offering new coverage or renewing current policies. Therefore, many Californians have been forced to rely on the FAIR Plan for basic fire coverage.
From September 2019 to June 2024, the number of FAIR Plan policies for California homes soared by 164%, the plan’s data shows.
The plan is run by the California FAIR Plan Association, which is neither a state agency nor a public entity. The California Department of Insurance oversees the association, including approval of proposed rate changes.
Under the California FAIR Plan, insurers that do business in California share the financial burden of selling policies offering basic, temporary protection against financial losses due to home and business fires. The plan doesn’t receive taxpayer funding. Instead, funding comes primarily from the sale of policies.
The FAIR Plan has taken on greater importance as some insurers in California have paused issuing new property insurance policies or renewing existing policies. The state insurance commissioner has been working with insurers to ease these self-imposed restrictions.
Under a statewide proposition passed in 1988, insurers in California can legally pick where they do and do not want to provide coverage. As such, property insurers are focusing more on areas of California that are considered less risky. This mostly impacts homeowners and business owners in areas at high risk of wildfires where the FAIR Plan now may be the only option for insurance.
A basic FAIR Plan policy covers just one thing: damage to a property or its contents caused by fire, lightning, smoke, or internal explosion. While a FAIR Plan policy fulfills a mortgage company’s requirement for property insurance, it doesn’t cover items like theft, vandalism, floods, hail, earthquakes, or personal liability.
The basic FAIR Plan policy provides up to $3 million in coverage for residential properties and $20 million for commercial properties. Aside from basic coverage, the FAIR Plan sells optional windstorm, hail, and vandalism coverage.
In addition, a California homeowner can buy what’s known as “difference in conditions” (DIC) coverage. This type of policy provides coverage that’s typically part of a standard home insurance policy but isn’t included in a FAIR Plan policy. For instance, a DIC policy can cover items like theft, water damage, and personal liability .
The FAIR Plan doesn’t sell DIC policies. Instead, you must shop for a DIC policy on your own or with help from an insurance agent or broker .
The California-based United Policyholders consumer advocacy group states that any homeowner who “has made a diligent but unsuccessful effort” to purchase home insurance can turn to the FAIR Plan for basic fire coverage. The plan will insure a home, even one in an area at high risk of wildfires, if it meets the plan’s underwriting standards.
Residential properties that qualify for FAIR Plan coverage are:
Here are the steps for getting California FAIR Plan insurance:
What is a difference in conditions (dic) policy in california.
A difference in conditions (DIC) policy in California offers optional coverage that the FAIR Plan does not, such as insuring against water damage, theft, and liability coverage. A DIC policy is often coupled with a FAIR Plan policy to provide coverage similar to what you’d get with a traditional policy.
According to a California FAIR Plan spokesperson quoted by KCRA in 2022, the average premium costs about $3,200 a year.
The plan accepts online premium payments from a checking account, savings account, or credit card.
A basic California FAIR Plan policy covers property damage caused by fire, lightning, smoke, or internal explosion. Coverage limits are $3 million for residential properties and $20 million for commercial properties .
A California FAIR Plan policy is supposed to offer temporary “last resort” coverage, but some policyholders have had FAIR Plan policies for a number of years. There is no formal limit on how long the coverage lasts. Applicants who cannot qualify for regular property insurance can continue buying California FAIR plan coverage.
California FAIR Plan insurance features a number of exclusions. For instance, it doesn’t cover theft, personal liability, or damage from falling objects, water, or freezing.
For some Californians, FAIR Plan coverage is the only option for insuring their home or business, especially those in areas at high risk of wildfires. This basic coverage applies primarily to fire damage, and it generally costs more than traditional property coverage. An insurance agent or broker can help you determine whether this last-resort policy is the best option to protect your property.
California FAIR Plan Property Insurance. “ Key Facts & Statistics .”
California Department of Insurance. “ Commissioner Lara Unveils Next Steps in His Strategy to Expand Coverage Options for Californians in Areas of High Wildfire Risk .”
United Policyholders. “ The Lowdown From UP on the California FAIR Plan, the Last Resort Option for Insuring Your Home .”
California FAIR Plan Property Insurance. “ Dwelling .”
KCRA. “ California FAIR Plan Wildfire Insurance .”
California Department of Insurance. “ California FAIR Plan .”
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Write your business plan - SBA
How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)
Build a strategy. 4. Crafts a roadmap to achieve important milestones. A business plan is like a roadmap for your business. It helps you set, track and reach business milestones. For your plan to function in this way, your business plan should first outline your company's short- and long-term goals.
How to Write a Business Plan: Guide + Examples
Learn about the best business plan software. 1. Write an executive summary. This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your ...
Business Plan: What It Is, What's Included, and How to ...
Tips on Writing a Business Plan. 1. Be clear and concise: Keep your language simple and straightforward. Avoid jargon and overly technical terms. A clear and concise business plan is easier for investors and stakeholders to understand and demonstrates your ability to communicate effectively. 2.
What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates
How To Write a Business Plan in 9 Steps (2024)
Writing a business plan is an essential process for any forward-thinking entrepreneur or business owner. A business plan requires a lot of up-front research, planning, and attention to detail, but it's worthwhile. Creating a comprehensive business plan can help you achieve your business goals and secure the funding you need.
What is a business plan? A business plan lays out a strategic roadmap for any new or growing business. Any entrepreneur with a great idea for a business needs to conduct market research, analyze their competitors, validate their idea by talking to potential customers, and define their unique value proposition.
15 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan in 2024
Whether you need a quick-launch overview or an in-depth plan for investors, any business plan should cover the six key elements outlined in our free template and explained below.
Step #3: Conduct Your Market Analysis. Step #4: Research Your Competition. Step #5: Outline Your Products or Services. Step #6: Summarize Your Financial Plan. Step #7: Determine Your Marketing Strategy. Step #8: Showcase Your Organizational Chart. 14 Business Plan Templates to Help You Get Started.
1. Create Your Executive Summary. The executive summary is a snapshot of your business or a high-level overview of your business purposes and plans. Although the executive summary is the first section in your business plan, most people write it last. The length of the executive summary is not more than two pages.
7 Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own ...
5 reasons you need a business plan
12 Reasons You Need a Business Plan
01. Executive summary. Your executive summary should contain a high-level overview of everything included in the plan. It generally provides a short explanation of your business and its goals (e.g., your elevator pitch). Many authors like to write this section last after fleshing out the sections below. 02.
A business plan is a written document that defines your business goals and the tactics to achieve those goals. A business plan typically explores the competitive landscape of an industry, analyzes a market and different customer segments within it, describes the products and services, lists business strategies for success, and outlines ...
Here are some of the components of an effective business plan. 1. Executive Summary. One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.
Writing a business plan allows you to lay out significant goals for yourself ahead of time for three or even five years down the road. Create both short- and long-term business goals. 3. Reduce potential risks. Prevent your business from falling victim to unexpected dangers by researching before you break ground.
To outline the importance of business plans and make the process sound less daunting, here are 10 reasons why you need one for your small business. 1. To help you with critical decisions. The primary importance of a business plan is that they help you make better decisions. Entrepreneurship is often an endless exercise in decision making and ...
When you write a business plan, it's important to highlight the unique value proposition of your business and how it will address the needs of your target market. Clearly outline your financial projections, marketing strategies, and operational plans to demonstrate the potential success of your business.
Small business planning doesn't have to be hard. Writing a small business plan may seem daunting. However, asking preliminary questions will reveal critical details about your industry, competitors and available opportunities. These insights are essential to defining what your business approach should be. Three steps will help you create an ...
From business plan contests to crowdfunding and more, there's no shortage of ways to fund a business. Check out these innovative options.
However, there are many benefits to having a 401(k) plan for small business owners, even if you're a sole proprietor. Here are four key reasons to have a 401(k) as a small business owner: Tax advantages. 401(k) plans are designed to help you plan for your future. Because your 401(k) deductions are made with pre-tax dollars, any amount you ...
This list is not exhaustive, so, if you need additional details, look into lengthier business plan outlines or just go on to step two and three in this guide. 2. Consider Starting With a One-Page Business Plan. You don't necessarily need to write a traditional business plan.
We need the GNU to create an enabling environment for business and investment, and to deliver essential and meaningful services to the public so that we can grow our economy and grow jobs.
Under the California FAIR Plan, insurers that do business in California share the financial burden of selling policies offering basic, temporary protection against financial losses due to home and ...