More Important Than A Business Plan

Ah, I love all the great resources posted about business plans. I've referred them and used them myself. Even though I'm a marketing professional, I'm not about to reinvent the wheel unnecessarily, nor recommend my clients do it.

But what is a business plan for? In my opinion, it IS to get financing. Now, you absolutely must write down your goals and have a plan in writing. You must research and understand your business today, your potential customers, your opportunities, your challenges, etcetera, and the business planning PROCESS can do all that for you. But there are more useful documents for YOU to use for your business once the business planning process is complete.

I personally adopt a very visual approach and create maps of my entire business, and I do the same for every project I undertake. From goal setting to strategic plan to execution to evaluation... it's all diagrammed in a one page picture that is a snapshot of what I'm doing, why and how I'm going to determine the success. For most small business owners, who probably are not seeking capital, anything that they will ACTUALLY look at again once the planning done is what they need for themselves. Why? Because a plan is your map, it is your GPS. Without it, you might know where you are and you might know where you want to get, but you will not know how to get there without getting lost.

So, when it comes to planning... OH YES you need a plan. And I hope you have more than instincts and your doodles to rely on to help your business grow. But between napkin notes and business plans, I hope you also adopt something more highly functional for your day to day planning. Something that gets you motivated everytime you read it, everytime you feel overwhelmed, everytime you feel lost and confused about why you started your business in the first place. Your map shows you a clear picture of sanity amongst the challenges of the rest of your life.

I'm excited to meet a client tomorrow and show my map diagram approach. From diagrams I leap into concise, three page documents. Three pages for my entire marketing plan overview. Then three pages for each tactical element of my planning efforts. I love my pictures and three page plans.

If you'd like to learn more about my approach, feel free to complete my online survey (the purpose of it is to help me guide my own business direction... my company is new and I'm still sorting out some aspects to serve my women small business community the best way I can... the survey is guiding some key decisions). By completing the survey, you earn a free half hour, absolutely NO obligation consultation to learn more about my services and to discover my unique and fun approach to what would otherwise be the 'dreaded' planning. Hey, I'm creative too... in my own "I can't sew or knit to save my life" kind of way.

Click Here to take survey

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

I came across this today... It's from the "5 minutes for mom" site in the US and runs until March 27. Some great stories. Here's the link: Ultimate Blog Party. They call it the "mom blogging event of the year" so I couldn't pass it by!

Rambling

So the last couple of days I have been nursing a sick child who isn't sleeping well. I did manage however to get most of the store out of my bedroom and my office some what organized I have two boxes of paper to sort through. I am quickly realizing that our personal papers and such need to be moved out of my office there is just no space for them. My office is really small and I have the inventory, the desk, filing cabinet, and also my sewing table and fabric. I am also suddenly overwhelmed with advertising and product opportunities that I must decide on prioritize which to do first. I was wondering if any of you have been approached by other bloggers about reviewing your site and or products, if so how do you decide which ones to work with and which to wait on. My finances are quickly becoming limited so I am feeling the pressure to make the right decisions. We have been through a tough year financially we are going through infertility treatments which is very financially draining. Well I will end this now if you have any wisdom to share with me about deciding on advertising and marketing what to do and what not to do I welcome it.

Marketing Training in Calgary Just for You Women Entrepreneurs!

Helping women in their own small businesses, women just like me, has become my career passion. I have just opened for business with my new marketing training and events company called MPowered Marketing. M is for marketing, mentoring, and motivation of course! Unlike traditional marketing services, my focus really is on training women in business to be better marketers. This is for two reasons. The first is that women entrepreneurs need to be practical, they need to save money, and they need to do the most for themselves they can when they are first building their business. Thus, I want to use my career experience in a positive way to train women to be the best marketers they can be for their own businesses. The second is that women in business WANT to know how to be better marketers. Training is through services and events. The first event was just last week. It was so well received with 16 women in attendance who were excited, sharing and told me they all learned something new to apply to their business. I can hardly wait for the second event and participate in another motivating session. Seats are limited to 30 people, and you are all invited!

Tuesday, March 24th
SE Calgary, Copperfield Community Hall
Score! The Recession Opportunity for Small Businesses
- Find the full event listing and registration information on my website. It's only $25, includes 30-45 minutes training by me on the things you HAVE to do to set your business apart to make it grow during this particular recession year; useful networking session; and guest speaker Amy Perzan Merrill of Meringue 3.14 Graphic Design.

Event details: www.mpoweredmarketing.com
More about me: www.marketingmomblog.ca
Email: kim@mpoweredmarketing.com

If you are in Calgary and area, please consider coming to our events or contact me if you are interested in my business. If you are a like-minded marketer anywhere in the west, I want to expand and need mom marketing professionals to help! I need speakers for the next series, so if you are in Calgary area and wish to share your story at an upcoming event, please let me know! I need speakers for the next series.

Hello from Little Traveller

I'm Kara and I own Little Traveller (www.littletraveller.ca) -- a baby equipment rental company in Calgary. I run the business from home while taking care of my 4 year old and 1 year old daughters. I rent out car seats, highchairs, playpens, strollers... just about anything a family might need for their baby or toddler. I'm also selling and renting the CARES airplane harness for kids that has the same safety rating as a car seat but fits in a tiny stuff sack (sooo convenient!). That's been a big chunk of my business since it was approved by Air Canada and WestJet last summer.

While I'm not over the moon about the accounting side of business, I'm loving the marketing side, especially writing articles on travelling with kids and forging new partnerships and all that fun stuff. I just LOVED designing my business cards -- it's so refreshing to have the final say! Being an entrepreneur is a constant learning curve for me but that's what I love about it -- it keeps my mind sharp(ish) and gives me something interesting to think about while clearing away the dishes and doing the pre-school run. It's amazing what great ideas pop into my head while I'm changing diapers :o)

Next time you travel with your young family, check out baby rental companies in your destination. There's one in every major city across North America.

Kara Turner