DavidGass.com

When do you need to put a business plan together for your company? I was sitting around a table with several very successful business owners over the weekend and one of them asked: “Where can I get a business plan written with a professional writer. I’m setting up a new company soon and would like to get one done.” Of course I told her to see me, as that is something we do for businesses across the country. Then I asked if she or anyone at the table had created a business plan for their existing business.

The answers were interesting. There were twelve of us at the table. All twelve had put something in writing before or during their start-up phase. What they put in writing varied, but all included goals with a few action items. The SBA recently came out with a study that those who develop a business plan are six times more likely to succeed than those that don’t.

So having a business plan is critical for future success, but what exactly should that plan have in it and is it critical for getting financing?

Of the twelve at the table only two had actually hired someone to write a complete and detailed business plan for their company. The other ten had just created their own. Everyone had a different idea of what the plan should include, but there were commonalities.

It was unanimous that you had to have goals for the next year. Most felt it was important to have goals for the next five years. Everyone also believed that you needed to have projected financials for a minimum of three years. Without the three years financials there wasn’t any way to really know if the business was worth starting or continuing. There were three people at the table who had other business ideas they wanted to do and after pulling together the three year projections they chose not to move forward with the business.

When developing a business plan for a new business idea, I would highly recommend starting with the financial projections. After all, you are getting in to business to make money so you want to make sure the business can generate a profit. This is also critical for seeking investor capital. If someone is going to invest in your business they will need to see financial statements.

When you apply for loans or other financing the need for the business plan and financial statements may not be needed by the lender. That is to say the lender may not ask for this documentation in every case, but you should have it in order to project if you can pay back the loan you are applying for.

Many of us have heard the quote from Alan Lakein bestselling author on Time Management – “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”.

We should take this advice and use it in our business every day. Planning is a must in business, but it’s also not the only part.

Here are a few other quotes from Mr. Lakein:

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”

“You cannot do a goal. Long-term planning and goal-setting must therefore be complemented by short-term planning. This kind of planning requires specifying activities. You can do an activity. Activities are steps along the way to a goal. Let’s say you desire security. Putting $10.00 in the bank or talking to your stockbroker about your investment plans are activities that will move you toward you goal.”

Take action today on your plan and create a ritual of doing that every day. With a minimum of one step every day you’ll get to your goal. However, having a business plan creates the map so you don’t take steps in the wrong direction. You’ll get to your goals a lot faster with a plan and daily action.

David Gass – Founder
Business Credit Services, Inc.
www.bcscredit.com

I would like to respond to one of our readers and let everyone know I do read your email responses and will reply to some. I felt if someone took this much time to respond to one of my emails I send to you, it was only considerate to respond to his questions. I have posted his email and below that my response. Have fun reading and I hope you learn some things along the way.

*************************************************************
From: “Richard E”
To: “David Gass”
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 15:34:52 -0500
Subject: Re: I honestly need your help….

Who are you and why does the United States of America back your scam?
David, have you ever owned a business? Did you get it the honorable way,
inheritance? Do you have anything real to offer a small business like mine?

The problem with services like yours is you just want the money. You are
willing to whore yourself out to anyone dumb enough to ask for your advice.
Unfortunately, you really don’t have any idea of what it is like out here.

I have a credit score of right around 800, yet I can get no increase in
credit. I have a net worth of around 500,000 and yet I am rejected when I
ask for a credit increase from 13000 to 30000. Why?

Do I have to get workers comp?

How do I attract more customers?

Should I knowingly break the law and have a booth at local flea market, I
know another dealer has operated illegally there for years?

Should I hire employees to sell or just 1099?

Should I advertise in the newspaper?

Should I advertise on the local cable?

How can I sell an item that costs over $2000 if I cannot get any consumer
financing?

Do you have any real answers for real problems of just the same general crap
that others seem to pedal for money.

Don’t want to be too mean but why should someone like me listen to someone
like you.

I could spend the whole day listening to Warren Buffet that seems obvious,
who the hell is David Gross?

Richard

Either come up with something real and substantial or just delete me from
your time wasting emails. Better yet just delete me.
*********************************************************************

Richard -
Thank you for your email. I understand your skepticism. Yes, there are a lot of online companies and people sending emails offering services, products and advice – some good, some not so good and some downright scams.

I would normally not even respond to an email like yours. However I found some of your questions very interesting, so I thought I would respond. Your questions are in bold and my response follows:

Who are you and why does the United States of America back your scam?
Our company does not run a scam nor would we be listed on the partner page of the IRS and SCORE or be on the Inc5000 list two years in a row or would we have operated our company for the last nine years successfully.

David, have you ever owned a business?
Yes, several. I have built several companies from scratch and sold them successfully. The latest of which is Business Credit Services. I started the company in October of 2000 with $200 and a computer out of my office. Eight years later we do more than $5 million in annual revenue and were listed on the Inc5000 fastest growing companies list two years in a row. This brought the attention of CSC – Corporation Service Company (the largest and oldest incorporating firm in the United States) to acquire BCS from me in October 2008. I don’t think a company of this level would have ever purchased a scam.

Did you get it the honorable way, inheritance?
My father was a school teacher, stay at home mom and three brothers. We were lucky to go to McDonalds or Pizza Hut once a week for dinner. We weren’t poor, but inheritance???? I don’t think so. Thankfully my parents are still alive, so no, no inheritance.

Do you have anything real to offer a small business like mine?
Go to http://store.bcscredit.com, www.earn.com and www.incorporate.com If you can’t find anything real at these sites I don’t know what to tell you. We offer free webinars weekly for small business owners – go to the www.earn.com site to sign up.

The problem with services like yours is you just want the money. You are willing to whore yourself out to anyone dumb enough to ask for your advice. Unfortunately, you really don’t have any idea of what it is like out here. -
Yes, we are interested in making a profit. That is the point. If you don’t make a profit, the business won’t be around very long. However, I believe there are three key principles in entrepreneurship. They are: Learn, Earn and Return. You have to learn first that you don’t know it all. You have to learn that others sometimes have the advice that will help save you a ton of time and money and then take the advice and coaching and do something with it. Those that act eventually Earn. Once you have earned a living you need to give back – RETURN. I work with several groups to give back but the one I spend most time with is the high school students. I believe teaching, coaching and advising students will make a difference in our country’s future. If we can get through to just one student each time we talk to them and they do something to build a business and create jobs we are doing our part to continue to build this great country.

I have a credit score of right around 800, yet I can get no increase in credit. I have a net worth of around 500,000 and yet I am rejected when I ask for a credit increase from 13000 to 30000. Why?
I’m sure there are several factors involved in the reason why so it’s difficult to say. I will tell you however if you are a corporation or LLC and have more than two years in business you shouldn’t have a tough time getting any financing with an 800 fico. I would suggest talking to a local credit union or community bank for a line of credit.

Do I have to get workers comp?
If you hire an employee you need workers comp. It’s up to you if you want to have workers comp if you are the only employee.

How do I attract more customers?
Have a valuable product or service. Attracting companies is easy when you have something of value. Of course it’s important to have good marketing and advertising but a valuable is key.

Should I knowingly break the law and have a booth at local flea market, I know another dealer has operated illegally there for years?
Never knowingly break the law. I believe in doing things the right way the first time so we don’t have to clean up our mistakes later.

Should I hire employees to sell or just 1099?
There are IRS guidelines you have to follow that will tell you if you can hire someone as a 1099. Here is some information about that. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

Should I advertise in the newspaper?
Try craigslist.com its free and you can test headlines to see what works before spending money in the newspaper.

Should I advertise on the local cable?
Use www.spotrunner.com to test television commercials for very expensive rates.

How can I sell an item that costs over $2000 if I cannot get any consumer financing?
You can try working with a lender to offer a lease on your product or provide payment terms yourself. You would build a book of receivables and potentially be able to factor those receivables for cash upfront.

Do you have any real answers for real problems of just the same general crap that others seem to pedal for money?
We have helped over 15,000 clients obtain over $1 billion dollars in financing. Our parent company has incorporated over 200,000 small businesses and is the resident agent and incorporator for more than 50% of the Fortune 100 and public entities. Yes, we believe we offer real solutions to real problems.

Don’t want to be too mean but why should someone like me listen to someone like you.
I believe it’s up to you to decide who you want to listen to. If you feel you are getting good information continue to read our FREE blogs and listen to our FREE webinars. If you want to hire us because you believe we offer great value, we would love to have you as a client. If you don’t see the value, then you don’t need to continue to read our emails or get our information, just click unsubscribe at the bottom of our emails to opt out.

I could spend the whole day listening to Warren Buffet that seems obvious, who the hell is David Gross?
Actually, it’s David Gass. You can read many of my articles, books and listen to some radio interviews by going to our media center http://bcscredit.com/business_credit_tab/press_media.php
or just Google “David Gass” and see my articles and information posted on hundreds of thousands of websites across the world that others have copied to their sites because they saw value in the information. I don’t believe it’s an either or. Listen to Warren Buffet or David GASS, I believe you can listen to both. Warren Buffet is amazing at what he does and is very smart. He has built an amazing business that very few people have done and he has given most of that fortune away. I respect the man very much. However, I don’t think he would have responded to your email. That’s why people work with me. I’m reachable.

Either come up with something real and substantial or just delete me from your time wasting emails. Better yet just delete me. You can click the link unsubscribe at the bottom of any email we send. We don’t send emails without an unsubscribe or email to reach us. Anyone can unsubscribe at any time, just click the link at the bottom of the email.

I hope if you didn’t get some value from my response at least someone else reading this does. It is meant to provide real answers to questions from someone courageous enough to ask.

David Gass – Founder
Business Credit Services, Inc.
www.bcscredit.com

Some of you may think I’m crazy for the headline but it’s true. In the midst of a down turn, stock market plummeting, housing prices falling, high unemployment, poor consumer confidence, and all the other things going wrong there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s right – new business start-ups.

If you don’t believe me, just look at history. A recent article by Rhonda Abrams in the USA Today noted that 16 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow industrial average were started during a recession or depression. These include: Procter & Gamble, Disney, Alcoa, McDonald’s, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson.

In the years 1973-1975 the United States had an unpopular president, was in the midst of the Watergate scandal and was at the tail end of an extremely costly war that had divided the country. Gas prices increased 50% in just two years and consumer confidence dropped to an all time low.

You would think based on the state of America between 1973 and 1975 you wouldn’t want to start a business or at least if you did it would be a horrible time to do so and no company would make it. We’ll here are a few that did start in the early 70’s and not only survived…. Well you’ll get the picture.

Supercuts, Chilis, Cablevision, Industrial Light & Magic, Famous Amos Cookies, Oakley and of course there was Microsoft.
Starting a business in so-called “bad-times” can be a great time. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Many businesses are closing leaving a gap for the consumer to fulfill on their needs. If there are four Ice Cream stores in the area and consumers slow down their spending, you’ll likely see all four stores hurting for customers. The Ice Cream store with the best financial balance sheet will likely survive through the “hard-times”. If there aren’t any with good balance sheets, they may all go under. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a need for an Ice Cream Shop, there just isn’t enough of a demand for four. This would be a great time to look at where the gaps are in your area.
2. Consumers typically slow down on new purchases, which means when an item breaks they are more likely going to fix it then spend the extra money to buy a new one. If you are a handy at repairing items, you may want to set-up a repair shop. It was just reported last week that sales at repair shops have increased every month the last year when all other stores were declining in sales.
3. Become the affordable alternative. Many consumers are loyal to a specific restaurant, store or type of business. However, when times are tough and the consumer starts to cut back they are more likely to jump ship and find a less expensive alternative to meet their needs. If they are use to spending $25 for dry cleaning and can get the same quality for $20 they just may change their dry cleaner.
4. It’s a great time to pick up really good talent. If you are starting a business where you need to hire staff, now is a great time. There are a lot of layoffs at corporations and small businesses closing during tough times. This is a great opportunity for those hiring to pick up top talent at lower wages. You can now afford to hire the College graduate whereas before you had to settle for someone who just completed their G.E.D.

If I haven’t convinced you yet that now is the time to start your own business, then you may just be one of those people who I run into daily that says – “I have always wanted to start my own business – but have always been afraid it’s not the right time.” They’ve been making that statement for years and will continue to live with regret they didn’t make the move and decide it is the right time “now”.

David Gass