Chances are that you are a gainfully employed professional in a stable industry with good future prospects. However, there’s a germ of a business idea that has been niggling at the back of your mind for months. Perhaps you are tired of the daily grind, endless politicking or interminable traffic and want to make a..
Read moreFour Common Business Plan Mistakes Investors Want You to Avoid
Type the word ‘’business plan’’ in Google and five billion results will pop up. How would you describe a business plan? The description of a venture you will create to exploit an idea or concept? An explanation of how your new business is going to achieve its goals from an operational, marketing and financial viewpoint?..
Read moreInterview with Devon Neudorf: Business Plan Consultant
Kleos Africa Consultant - Devon Neudorf Kleos Africa Consultant of the Week: Devon Neudorf Devon is a Canadian National with a great deal of experience spanning multiple industries. He has spent time working for Fortune 500 Companies in both New York City and Toronto. Some of his specialties include Business Strategy, Business Transformation and the..
Read moreSize the Opportunity
You will need to size the opportunity by creating an opportunity report. The Opportunity Report can be viewed as a high-level business plan or a precursor to the feasibility study. Your opportunity report should be no longer than five (5) pages in text (excluding cover sheet and appendices) and ten (10) pages in total. On..
Read moreDeveloping a Strategy
Are you having problem meeting customer needs or implementing a marketing plan? Perhaps it’s time you constitute a strategy team within the marketing unit or ensure that the organization’s strategy team has representatives from the marketing unit. Whichever you decide will depend on available resources. The strategy team is responsible for developing and overseeing the..
Read moreDeveloping the Business Plan
‘’By failing to plan, you are planning to fail.’’Benjamin Franklin , Inventor and Business man By this time, much of the initial analysis required to write your business plan has been concluded. All that remains is to put together what has been developed into a well-written plan that communicates your intentions to internal and external..
Read moreThe CEO’s Guide to Effective Business Models
“I started the business with a simple question: How can we make the process of buying a computer better?’’- Michael Dell, Founder of Dell Computers A feasibility study should be conducted to determine the likelihood that your business idea will be successful. While it is not a checklist, a good feasibility study tests the different..
Read moreConduct initial market research
’The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service sells itself’’ Peter Drucker, Professor and Father of Management Market research is the commercial equivalent of ‘’looking before you leap.’’ Having hit on your ‘’eureka idea’’, you cannot immediately rush to the marketplace to implement. You need..
Read moreCreate a goal-setting system
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.''—Andrew Carnegie, steel industrialist Successful entrepreneurs are characterised by a high need for achievement. You can’t afford to be complacent and passive if you want to make a success of any entrepreneurial venture. Craft a vision..
Read moreKeep abreast of innovative ideas and new trends
“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.''John D. Rockefeller, industrialist, cofounder of Standard Oil Co., and philanthropist” I was looking through the brochure of a prestigious European business school when I spied the phrase ‘’The more you know, the more you..
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