In this article I want to talk about planning and growing your business. If you have an existing business, I’ll show you how to grow it, or if it’s a new business, I’ll show you how to build it. Here are the steps to follow when starting a business.
Executive Summary – You start out with a vision of what you want to do and you set goals and objectives for what you want to accomplish.
Market Analysis – Take a look at what is happening in your area, who are the potential customers, and who is servicing them today. Look at your strengths and weaknesses and identify the opportunity for your company.
Business Objective – Based on your analysis, identify how much market share can be yours, how much revenue will it generate, and when can you launch it. After you start, you’ll want to be able to measure your progress.
Services Offered – Make sure you have a good idea on what the service is you want to offer. What value does this new service bring to your company?
Marketing and Sales – How and when will you open a new market? Identify what markets will benefit you the most. How will I price my service in this market, and how will I maintain my market share?
Operational Plan – Identify things that must happen and put a timeline on each step. Identify what can be done through technology. How many people will I need, and do I need more trucks? Most importantly, how will I deliver the new service?
Financial Plan – Create a budget to see how much it will cost you to roll out the service, and how much profit will you make from this new service. Identify how much money will be necessary, and from where will you get the money needed to roll out this service. Set financial goals. How much will it cost and how much will I make?
Human Resources – How many people will I need? Where will I find them, and how will I get them trained?
Risk Management – As you plan this new service, what is the worst that could happen, and what is the best thing that could happen within the areas you have identified above.
Technology – What changes will I make to existing technology, and what will I need to add? Will upgrades improve my business
Performance Measures – How can I track my progress, Will I have reports to monitor my progress, and how do I make improvements.
When my wife and I built our towing business, we would go away between Christmas and New Year to plan our business. Nothing in my company happened by accident. We planned every step. We knew how many new trucks we needed to buy, and which ones to junk. We identified all pay increases for our employees, and what was needed from a training program for each employee. We evaluated each customer and identified the good ones, and which ones were costing us money. If it was costing us money, I gave that customer to my competitor. However, if it was a good customer, we showered them with good service.
Because we planned and built a good company, what I did not plan was the sale of my business. We were not planning to sell, but one day I ended up with two buyers wanting to buy my company. I did not know how to prepare to sell my company, but I learned quickly. I have videos on my website (fixa1c.com) on how to prepare and sell a company. We have got a company ready for sale, and it was very successful. Now I was ready for the next step of my life, “RETIREMENT” which was another thing I did not plan for. I ran out of Netflix movies to watch, and because I loved the towing industry, I developed another business. TowTrax is a software app that sends tow-to-tow companies that they never had before. The first thing I did was build a business plan. We followed all the steps listed above. We identified the following:
- We set an objective and set goals.
- We Identified how much money was necessary to develop the software.
- We found a great developer that wrote the software for us.
- We have found a good customer base, all motor clubs.
- We worked with them to define their needs.
- We identified where they needed help.
- We set good prices for the motor club business.
- Build a nationwide towing network.
Over the last three years, we doubled our revenue every year. Now investors are talking to us about a variety of things. Once again, I took a great business plan to build a strong company.
We are ready to grow TowTrax, so we are going through a business planning session identifying all the steps listed above. Again, I identify the following:
- We set an objective and set goals – We wanted to double our tows and double our revenue without increasing expenses.
- We identified development dollars necessary – We took on a partner that will develop our needs and that expense will belong to them.
- Found a partner – We are towers not developers, so our partner is an expert in that area.
- Identified a customer base – We have motor clubs, so it’s time for consumer tows, and heavy-duty tows.
- Identified staff to support new business – Used our existing monitoring staff to support our growth.
- Set good prices – Our pricing will be very competitive.
- Developed a rollout plan – We will pick three markets and roll them out.
- Needed a tow company network -I already have several thousand tow companies in my network, so we will use them.
As I get ready to roll out new markets, I will need more tow companies. Register with TowTrax NOW
