Small Biz

	Keeping Small Business Connected

October 2005 Edition	Click to learn more about Business Resource Systems, Inc.
In This Edition How to select a business coach/counselor/consultant Personal Power Is a Business Plan Important? Free Coaching Online Directory RFA Turns 25 Challenges for Young Adults

how to select a business coach/counselor/consultant

In our business we see many business owners, managers or executive directors, mostly new ones, make decisions on who they will learn from. They select a mentor. As we observe these decisions we’ve seen some similarities in the people providing the mentoring and the person making the mentor selection.

So many consultants show the following characteristics:

Limited, if any, actual small business experience
Usually have not started a business from scratch
May have been involved in previous businesses, but as a partner
Have not built a business from scratch and lasted more than 5 years
Only use their personal work experience to drive decisions
Tend to be overbearing personalities
Tend to be laid off or otherwise disposed workers or managers from large corporations
Believe work experience in large corporations apply to small business
Tend to believe a college degree off-sets actual business experience
Usually driven primarily by ego and money, not the success of YOU
Have never written a functional business plan

If you wish to work with a coach, consultant or counselor please address at least the following:

Has the person ever started a business?
Did the person only purchase an existing business?
Did the business last more than 5 years?
Was this the manager or just a silent partner?
If he/she had partners, what were their skills compared to this proposed mentor?
Does the person only have large corporation experience?
Has the person ever had to actually meet payroll – personally?
Was the business their sole source of family income?
Was the business the primary source of family income?

Be aware of the lines of stuff so many of these people throw at you. Some are very smooth and they tend to find victims who know very little about business. They find “marks” they can overwhelm with talk. Don’t be one of them!

personal power

By Laura A. Belsten, Ph.D.

What is it? Do you have it? How do you know? Test yourself with this quick quiz. For each question, give yourself a score from 1 to 10 points, with 1 being “I never feel this way” and 10 being “I feel this way all the time.”

1. I am fully aware of my professional strengths and weaknesses.
2. I am in full control of my life.
3. I know what I want and go after it.
4. I understand and respect myself.
5. I can make things happen.
6. I have the ability to get what I want.
7. I am decisive; I can make decisions despite uncertainties and ambiguity.
8. I feel completely comfortable voicing views that are unpopular.
9. I go out on a limb for what is right, even if it means jeopardizing my career.
10. I’m living my life exactly as I want.

Total your responses, and see where you come out in the categories below:

High personal power (91-100): You are among the elite who have a strong sense of your own worth and capability. You live life with an “inner knowing,” a calm conviction about who you are and your ability to get the things you want and need in your life.

Moderately high (81-90): You have a greater sense of personal power than most people.

Moderate (71-80): You are doing well in some areas, but may need to work on a few others. Look back at your lower scores. Is there a theme? Can you resolve to work on this?

Moderately low (61-70): You are exercising personal power on a more limited basis, and probably need to look at specific actions you can take to boost your scores.

Low personal power (60 and below): Don’t despair! This score simply explains why life seems overwhelming and difficult at times. As you work to increase your personal power, you will experience dramatic results in how you view, respond to and address life’s challenges.

People with a highly-developed sense of personal power believe they can set the direction of their lives. They define themselves from the “inside out” (I am capable, I am creative, I speak up and do the right thing) rather than from the “outside in” (I’m a corporate executive, I’m an attorney).

The opposite of personal power is helplessness or hopelessness, crippling self-doubt, and a lack of conviction to tackle life’s tough challenges.

Personal power is a critical emotional intelligence competency that reveals itself in strong personal presentation, in the ability to confidently take on new challenges, and quickly master new jobs or skills. People with high personal power are catalysts, movers, and initiators who don’t hesitate to take on controversial issues and stand up for what they believe despite opposition and disagreement. Quite simply, personal power is the degree to which you believe you can meet life’s challenges and live the life you choose.

Do you have a strong sense of personal power?

Laura A. Belsten, Ph.D. is an executive coach with the CEO Partnership, Coaching Executives and Organizations, specializing in coaching women executives and business leaders. She offers a variety of Emotional Intelligence assessment instruments, as well as workshops and coaching on Emotional Intelligence. She can be reached at laura@ceopartnership.com or 303-471-6100.

is a business plan important?

A business plan is a crucial and critical exercise for any business. Why? Because a business plan accomplishes three important objectives:

A business plan forces you to organize and arrange your thoughts and ideas.
A business plan motivates you to determine whether your idea is feasible.
A business plan creates benchmarks and a tracking system that will help you achieve and measure the progress of your business.

In addition, a business plan is required by most lenders.

There are no absolute rules for creating a business plan; your business plan is yours. While it’s fine to seek outside guidance, the privilege and responsibility for creating the plan lies with you.

Content and length of the plan will vary depending on the business sector and the market that the business is likely to serve. Most business plans consist of four sections. The first is the executive summary.

In the executive summary, make sure you’re putting your best foot forward as this is the first impression you’ll make on a lender or potential investor. Unfortunately, in some cases, this section may be the only part of the business plan a lender or potential investor will read. Experts recommend that no more than two or three pages be devoted to the executive summary. Make your executive summary concise as well as informative.

The next section is the marketing plan, which describes the business’s marketing objectives and explains how those objectives will be achieved. Include details on your promotion, pricing and distribution strategy in this section. In the main section of the marketing plan, analyze your competition and define your competitive advantage.

The management section follows the marketing plan. Here you’ll describe your background, education and experience as it relates to running your business. You’ll explain the qualifications of any individuals in other management or personnel positions as well. Focus on the relevant skills you and your team will bring to the company.

The financial section usually concludes a business plan. Your bank or investors will be especially interested in this section, in which you’ll project over the next two to five years. Your projections should be realistic and well-supported with documentation, so research is critical. If you don’t have experience in this area, obtain professional assistance.

Include in the financial section your start-up costs, such as the cost of equipment, inventory, real estate and operating expenses. Also conduct a break-even analysis, which basically measures the point at which your sales equal your expenses.

It’s a good idea to supplement your business plan with letters of reference, resumes for you and any other key personnel, financial statements, copies of leases, and anything else pertaining to your plan.

Want more information? Register for free Business Coaching conducted by Greg Goettsch, President of Business Resource Systems, on October 6 and October 20. Only a few spaces left, so call Heritage Bank at 303-789-0660 and register with Jason Jones.

Jason Jones is the vice president and managing officer for Heritage Bank-Firestone. His office is located at 8080 WCR 13 (in the Safeway Shopping Center) he can be reached at 303-789-0660.

free coaching

Have you ever wanted someone to bounce ideas off of? Some who will sit there and listen about your business and then get involved in an active discussion about what to do next? Someone to brainstorm with about some of the day to day issues you deal with?

Now is your chance to do just that and it won't cost you a dime. Business Resource Systems, Inc. and Heritage Bank - Firestone partnered to bring you one hour of business coaching at no cost to you. We are doing this as a public service to small businesses.

To get more information give the bank a call at 303-789-0660 and ask for Jason or Jessica to register for a one hour time block for your free session.

The business coach, Greg Goettsch, has over 32 years of small business experience, writes small business training curriculum, teaches small business classes, operates two small businesses, Business Resource Systems, Inc. and TeamBTS, a web development company. He is a perpetual student of business and brings literally hundreds of contacts with people who can provide virtually every type of coaching a business may require.

Give the bank a call and set up an appointment. What is the worst that can happen? You loose one hour of your time. Click here to see the flyer and print it if you wish.

ONLINE DIRECTORY

Finally, a search system specifically developed for small businesses. You can search by product or service, company name or state to locate a company. You will see their logo, a description of their products or services and all the pertinent contact information including a hot link to their web site if they have one.

This system is available for all small businesses for a nominal quarterly cost so join now and help build the only search tool for our small businesses...

For more information click here...

RFA Turns 25

The Regulatory Flexibility Act At Twenty-Five:
Regulatory Relief For Small Business

WASHINGTON, D.C. - There was no cake, and no candles to blow-out, but a large Senate hearing room was full yesterday as small business owners, trade association representatives, think tank scholars, congressional staff, and elected officials came together to celebrate 25 years of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The RFA, designed to make sure that small businesses are considered during the regulatory process, was signed into law on September 19, 1980.

The RFA, unique among federal laws, requires federal rule writers to consider alternatives that will lessen a proposed rule's impact on small business, while at the same time meeting regulatory objectives such as environmental quality, workplace safety, and travel safety.

Speaking before the symposium, U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.), who served as Chairman of the Small Business Committee as a member of the U.S. House, said, "Small businesses create the majority of new jobs in the country and the government should be a partner, not an obstacle to their success. I'm a big believer that small business is the avenue of opportunity for people of all backgrounds and socio-economic status. Regulatory relief efforts like the Regulatory Flexibility Act have helped America's small businesses flourish which has contributed to economic growth and prosperity."

Over the last quarter century the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration, by monitoring federal agency compliance with the RFA, has saved small businesses literally billions in foregone regulatory compliance costs. In 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, Advocacy saved American small businesses over $17 billion. Those savings ensured that small business resources, which would have been spent on overly burdensome new regulations, were instead available for things such as hiring new employees and making new investments.

But, there is more to do. A new study just released by the Office of Advocacy shows that America's smallest firms bear the largest per employee burden of federal regulatory compliance costs. Firms with fewer than 20 employees annually spend $7,647 per employee to comply with federal regulations, compared with the $5,282 spent by firms with more than 500 employees. Moreover, the study found that small businesses face a 45 percent greater burden than their larger counterparts.

The Office of Advocacy, the "small business watchdog" of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues. For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.

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The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The Chief Counsel for Advocacy, who is appointed by the President, advances the views, concerns, interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.

CHALLENGES FOR YOUNG ADULTS

EARNINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DROPOUTS

The gap between dropouts and more educated people is widening as opportunities increase for higher skilled workers all but disappear for the less skilled.

In the last 20 years the earnings level of dropouts doubled, while it nearly tripled for college graduates.
Recent dropouts will earn $200,000 less than high school graduates, and over $800,000 less than college graduates, in their lives.
Dropouts make up nearly half the heads of households on welfare.
Dropouts make up nearly half the prison population.

Part of our responsibility as adults is to help keep all kids in school so let's help them if we can.

To learn more click here...

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