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Cayenne Consulting Newsletter Fit to be an EntrepreneurBy Akira Hirai, Phoenix, AZ A large part of entrepreneurial success comes from perseverance: the ability to tirelessly grind it out, day after day. But if you aren’t in great physical and mental shape, that’s a recipe for burnout. Pushing your body and mind for peak performance without adequate exercise, nutrition, and rest is like flying an airplane without performing regular maintenance. A lot of people reason that they’re simply too busy to take care of themselves the way they know they should. “I’ll start in six months when the business is up and running,” they say. Six months later, they’re as busy as ever, and it keeps getting pushed off. I know. That describes me during most of my 20’s and 30’s. By the time I hit my late 30’s, as I labored to bootstrap Cayenne Consulting, I realized that it was finally time to break some old habits and live a healthier lifestyle if I wanted to be able to handle the demands of entrepreneurship. I’d like to share a few tips that I personally found to be helpful. I know that everybody is different, so what worked for me may not work for you, but if I can help just one entrepreneur be just a little more successful, that’s enough for me. When you don’t need a business plan… yetBy Eric Powers, New York, NY Idea stage entrepreneurs are told by many sources that they need a business plan. When they ask for loans, banks tell them this. When they seek advice, mentors or advisors ask to see their plan. And certainly when they speak with many companies or individuals who write business plans for a living, they will hear the same. However, there are situations where writing a business plan is simply premature and can be a waste of time and money. It may be more appropriate to start by taking a hard look at the key financials, market or the intended business, and your own situation. This is what business planners refer to as a feasibility study or feasibility analysis. For example, a new client I recently spoke with told me of her need for a business plan. Upon deeper examination, I found that she felt uncertain about some of the fundamental elements of her idea. Questions remained such as: “Is there a sufficient potential market of people to sell to?”, “Will suppliers provide products at a price that makes the business model work?”, and “Will key partners be interested in signing on?” The fact is that most of these questions can and should be answered before a full business plan is created. The entrepreneur can save a great deal of money by doing this legwork early on. The strategy is then fine-tuned based on the answers. Sometimes he or she will realize that the idea should be scrapped altogether! A feasibility study is a way of asking “Does this business idea really make sense?” before creating an investor-grade or loan-ready business plan for it. Most feasibility studies for small businesses require at least three components, each answering the following questions: Why Did You Send This to Me, and How Do I Opt Out?This newsletter was sent to you because you have either worked with Cayenne Consulting in the past, or you once contacted us about having us do some work for you, or because you know (or have at least exchanged business cards or LinkedIn information with) one of us here at Cayenne Consulting. We sincerely hope that you'll find our newsletter to be both useful and unobtrusive. However, if that's not the case and you'd like to opt out, simply click here to unsubscribe and you won't hear from us again. |
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