For greater details on creativity, entrepreneurship, government directories and industry competitions/ awards, check out the following links.
Creativity
Edward de Bono
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneur.comBusiness Owner's ToolkitBizplans.com
Franchising
howstuffwork
Singapore Agencies
Accounting & Corporate Regulatory AuthorityAction Community for EntrepreneurshipAssociation of Small and Medium EnterprisesSpring SingaporeInternational Enterprise SingaporeIntellectual Property Office of SingaporeEconomic Development BoardSingapore Network Information CentreBusiness.gov.sg
Youth Agencies
The Little EntrepreneurNational Youth CouncilShine
Youth Competitions and Awards
Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors' AwardMayor’s Innobiz AwardShell LIVEWire Awards
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Plan your business
There is a first in everything you do. From developing an idea, forming a company, writing a business plan, raising money or attracting customers, each step is a meaningful and important one. See below topics which may be of interest to you.
IDEAS
OPERATION
FINANCIAL
GETTING CUSTOMERS
GETTING STARTED
EXPANSION/ EXIT PLANS
BUSINESS PLAN
AWARDS & COMPETITIONS
OTHER REFERENCE LINKS
1 IDEAS
How Do I Know if My Idea May Work?
Nothing beats testing your idea first. Conduct a marketing research now.
How Do I Get More Ideas?
You can be more creative by following these 3 simple steps.
Where do I File for a Patent of My Idea or Product?
Visit Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) today.
2 OPERATION
How Do I Get Suppliers? You can look up yellow pages or the world wide web. Be on the lookout for exihibitions, newspapers and people for more information of suppliers' contacts too.
What is the Operation Plan? Go, operations, go! Check if you have answered these questions.
What Should I Consider in Choosing a Management Team? When building a team, you should find people who have complementary skills.
How do I Make Sure that the Team Works Well Together? Tips on working together as a team.
3 FINANCIAL
What are the Sources of Capital? You can consider these sources when looking for capital.
How Do I Raise Money (Capital) for My Business? Get hot tips about raising money here.
What are the Types of Loans Available to me? Long term loan Vs short term loan
What is a Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement? Also called an Income Statement, a P&L statement shows your sales and expenses summary over a period of time. Find out more.
What is a Balance Sheet? Balance sheet is a statement showing your company's wealth at a given point in time. Find out more.
What is a Cashflow Statement? Cashflow statement shows the cash receipts and payments during the period.
Is There a Difference Between Profit and Cash? Yes, do not get mixed up with profit and cash. Find out why they are different.
4 GETTING CUSTOMERS
How Can I Attract Customers to My Products or Services? Apply marketing strategies to the right target group.
What is a Marketing Mix? Heard of the 4 "Ps" of the marketing mix? More details.
What is a SWOT Analysis? Through the SWOT analysis, you can now analysis better about your business.
5 GETTING STARTED
Where do I Register My Business? You can register at ACRA.
How do I Register My Business' Website Address? You can register Singapore web domain names at Singapore Network Information Centre.
What are the Government Assistance Schemes Available for a Startup? Spring Singapore offers a range of assistance schemes. If your business is going international, you can approach IE Singapore.
Should I Start a Business as a Sole Proprietor, Partnership or Company? Each has its pros and cons. You may weigh each option at ACRA.
I am Inexperienced and am Worried about Starting Out. How can I get more help? Here in SEED Centre at ITE College East, we'll unlock your potential and guide you along. More about SEED!
6 EXPANSION/ EXIT PLANS
If My Business Becomes Successful, What's Next? Expansion is the key word! Choose from these few ways.
If I Start the Business, and halfway through decide to quit, what should I do? Good! You should consider your exit strategy right at the beginning. Find out the options here.
7 BUSINESS PLAN
How Does a Business Plan Looks Like? A business plan is an essential part of your company. Find out what it includes.
8 AWARDS & COMPETITIONS
Are there any awards or competitions in support of Entrepreneurship? Yes, industry-organised ones are largely organised by ASME. Others are run by individual organisations.
IDEAS
OPERATION
FINANCIAL
GETTING CUSTOMERS
GETTING STARTED
EXPANSION/ EXIT PLANS
BUSINESS PLAN
AWARDS & COMPETITIONS
OTHER REFERENCE LINKS
1 IDEAS
How Do I Know if My Idea May Work?
Nothing beats testing your idea first. Conduct a marketing research now.
How Do I Get More Ideas?
You can be more creative by following these 3 simple steps.
Where do I File for a Patent of My Idea or Product?
Visit Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) today.
2 OPERATION
How Do I Get Suppliers? You can look up yellow pages or the world wide web. Be on the lookout for exihibitions, newspapers and people for more information of suppliers' contacts too.
What is the Operation Plan? Go, operations, go! Check if you have answered these questions.
What Should I Consider in Choosing a Management Team? When building a team, you should find people who have complementary skills.
How do I Make Sure that the Team Works Well Together? Tips on working together as a team.
3 FINANCIAL
What are the Sources of Capital? You can consider these sources when looking for capital.
How Do I Raise Money (Capital) for My Business? Get hot tips about raising money here.
What are the Types of Loans Available to me? Long term loan Vs short term loan
What is a Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement? Also called an Income Statement, a P&L statement shows your sales and expenses summary over a period of time. Find out more.
What is a Balance Sheet? Balance sheet is a statement showing your company's wealth at a given point in time. Find out more.
What is a Cashflow Statement? Cashflow statement shows the cash receipts and payments during the period.
Is There a Difference Between Profit and Cash? Yes, do not get mixed up with profit and cash. Find out why they are different.
4 GETTING CUSTOMERS
How Can I Attract Customers to My Products or Services? Apply marketing strategies to the right target group.
What is a Marketing Mix? Heard of the 4 "Ps" of the marketing mix? More details.
What is a SWOT Analysis? Through the SWOT analysis, you can now analysis better about your business.
5 GETTING STARTED
Where do I Register My Business? You can register at ACRA.
How do I Register My Business' Website Address? You can register Singapore web domain names at Singapore Network Information Centre.
What are the Government Assistance Schemes Available for a Startup? Spring Singapore offers a range of assistance schemes. If your business is going international, you can approach IE Singapore.
Should I Start a Business as a Sole Proprietor, Partnership or Company? Each has its pros and cons. You may weigh each option at ACRA.
I am Inexperienced and am Worried about Starting Out. How can I get more help? Here in SEED Centre at ITE College East, we'll unlock your potential and guide you along. More about SEED!
6 EXPANSION/ EXIT PLANS
If My Business Becomes Successful, What's Next? Expansion is the key word! Choose from these few ways.
If I Start the Business, and halfway through decide to quit, what should I do? Good! You should consider your exit strategy right at the beginning. Find out the options here.
7 BUSINESS PLAN
How Does a Business Plan Looks Like? A business plan is an essential part of your company. Find out what it includes.
8 AWARDS & COMPETITIONS
Are there any awards or competitions in support of Entrepreneurship? Yes, industry-organised ones are largely organised by ASME. Others are run by individual organisations.
Taking the Leap!
Beyond your wildest dream, you probably think that your business is ready to take off. After all, you’ve had an idea, identify the market, form a team, and are ready to operate. Or even better, you’ve started to buy and sell goods/ services ie do real business transaction!
Wait a minute. Have you prepared the business plan yet?
Find out how to write a business plan in our next few posts.
Wait a minute. Have you prepared the business plan yet?
Find out how to write a business plan in our next few posts.
Entrepreneurship in Action
Now that you have had an opportunity to sell your idea and plan out what business you want to be in, the next question is how you will be implementing the idea. Some questions you should try to answer are:
What are the operation hours of the business? Who will take care of what during the operation hours?
Once you have answered the above, work out an operation budget. An operating budget is prepared when you are actually ready to open for business. The operating budget will reflect your priorities in terms of how you spend your money, the expenses you will incur and how you will meet those expenses (income).
Your operating budget also should include money to cover the first three to six months of operation. It should allow for the following expense and whatever else is relevant to your business.
Operating Budget
Salaries & wages
Rent
Legal & accounting
Supplies
Subscriptions & fees
Repairs & maintenance
Insurance
Advertising & promotions
Depreciation
Taxes
Transportation
Miscellaneous expenses
Money Matters
The real art of business is mastering the financial aspect of your company. Usually, poor financial management is one of the leading reasons that businesses fail.
Normally, many entrepreneurs are not skilled in the art of raising money. However, you need money to start your business and you will need it to expand. Without seed money, your business idea will never get off the ground.
Financing a business might not be as difficult as you think. Especially if your idea is unique or you have the required knowledge or skills to make yourself (and perhaps your backers) a lot of money. It has been said that there is MORE venture money available than there are good business ideas.
Find out more on:
Sources of capital
Types of loans
First things first
Tips about raising money
How to write a loan proposal
Managing your business finance
Normally, many entrepreneurs are not skilled in the art of raising money. However, you need money to start your business and you will need it to expand. Without seed money, your business idea will never get off the ground.
Financing a business might not be as difficult as you think. Especially if your idea is unique or you have the required knowledge or skills to make yourself (and perhaps your backers) a lot of money. It has been said that there is MORE venture money available than there are good business ideas.
Find out more on:
Sources of capital
Types of loans
First things first
Tips about raising money
How to write a loan proposal
Managing your business finance
The Team
Imagine all the work you’ve got to do when you run a business. Be it finance, marketing, operations or administration… you can’t possibly be at all places at one time. Even if you start the business as a sole proprietor, you would still need to rope in people or employees to help you at some stage and delegate the task. That’s when team work comes into play.
For a team to achieve its goals, each and every member must do more than just carry their own weight. All of you must involve, support, and share information with your team mates. And you must commit to the success of the entire team, not simply your own success.
The Team Leader – Bringing Out the Best in Others
To start off, in order for the team to effectively function and maintain good communications with all parties, there needs to be a designated leader. The team leader may be appointed by the team members from among the group.
This leadership role can be challenging in that the leader will need to provide structure and support to the group while still being a team member. This person must be able to guide, stimulate, coach and coordinate well. He or she will ultimately be the one who ensure that each team member contributes their strengths and displays their fullest potential in the business or project.
The essence of a team
When building a team, the leader should consider the basic skills needed by members of the group. Ideally, four types of people are needed in a team.
A producer.
This person knows how to get the job done. He or she has wide contact of suppliers, people whom he can get resources from and is good at running the operations of a business. Is a highly energetic and responsible person.
An administrator.
He or she is able to plan and organize, has good time management skills, resourceful in planning schedules, to-do lists, ensuring datelines are met, making arrangements and ensuring that everyone is on track. Is someone who never runs out of steam.
An entrepreneur.
This individual has vision and creative problem-solving abilities. He or she is someone is able to think out of the box and has an eye for detail. Very likely is the one who comes out with the business idea(s) and studies market opportunity in his innovation/ business.
An integrator.
This person can take an individual goal and transform it into a group goal. Is someone who possesses great communication and interpersonal skills, and able to translate thoughts to action. During team meetings, this person will be the moderator of the discussions.
When you are organizing a team, you should try to assemble in the group, individuals who possess one or more of each of the above four qualities. The input of each is critical in achieving a productive, well-balanced team.
Ultimately, the best decisions come from teams in which everyone is committed to contributing and working TOGETHER.
We’ll get it there, faster
When you work together as a team, pay respect to each other and follow these steps to achieve your goals faster.
Listen and pay attention to one another.
Everyone’s views are important, so give your fullest attention and respect by listening to what each team member has to say.
Discuss the issue at hand and work through conflict as opposed to avoidance of conflict. Instead of totally avoiding the situation and cause the business or project to get affected, be professional about it and work out alternatives and solutions whenever conflicts arise. Things have to be sorted out on no matter what.
Let everyone have a chance to state his or her views. No one view is the best view until you’ve heard all the views. So, allow everyone to give their feedback and speak up.
Know and use problem-solving steps. Throughout the process, you’ll face many unforeseen problems. Whether they are problems relating to location, suppliers, pricing, customers, or even internal conflicts with your team mates. The biggest problem among all problems is to leave it (problem) unattended. So be ready to be called for last minute meetings and brainstorm for ideas and solutions together.
Be clear about group decisions and get committed to them. After brainstorming and discussions, you would have come up with group decisions. Make sure that everyone sticks to the decisions, even if some team members may not agree totally. It is important that the group is committed to the decisions and respect them.
Give frequent feedback to members to help them stay focused on team goals. Once the tasks are assigned, everyone will be busy working on their own responsibilities. Constant updates and communication is essential, so as to feedback to each member how they and others are doing. In this way, everyone is kept informed and able to stay focus on the overall goal.
Working together happily and enjoying what you are doing, isn’t that what you wish for? So, cherish the relationship you have with your team and sail towards success!
For a team to achieve its goals, each and every member must do more than just carry their own weight. All of you must involve, support, and share information with your team mates. And you must commit to the success of the entire team, not simply your own success.
The Team Leader – Bringing Out the Best in Others
To start off, in order for the team to effectively function and maintain good communications with all parties, there needs to be a designated leader. The team leader may be appointed by the team members from among the group.
This leadership role can be challenging in that the leader will need to provide structure and support to the group while still being a team member. This person must be able to guide, stimulate, coach and coordinate well. He or she will ultimately be the one who ensure that each team member contributes their strengths and displays their fullest potential in the business or project.
The essence of a team
When building a team, the leader should consider the basic skills needed by members of the group. Ideally, four types of people are needed in a team.
A producer.
This person knows how to get the job done. He or she has wide contact of suppliers, people whom he can get resources from and is good at running the operations of a business. Is a highly energetic and responsible person.
An administrator.
He or she is able to plan and organize, has good time management skills, resourceful in planning schedules, to-do lists, ensuring datelines are met, making arrangements and ensuring that everyone is on track. Is someone who never runs out of steam.
An entrepreneur.
This individual has vision and creative problem-solving abilities. He or she is someone is able to think out of the box and has an eye for detail. Very likely is the one who comes out with the business idea(s) and studies market opportunity in his innovation/ business.
An integrator.
This person can take an individual goal and transform it into a group goal. Is someone who possesses great communication and interpersonal skills, and able to translate thoughts to action. During team meetings, this person will be the moderator of the discussions.
When you are organizing a team, you should try to assemble in the group, individuals who possess one or more of each of the above four qualities. The input of each is critical in achieving a productive, well-balanced team.
Ultimately, the best decisions come from teams in which everyone is committed to contributing and working TOGETHER.
We’ll get it there, faster
When you work together as a team, pay respect to each other and follow these steps to achieve your goals faster.
Listen and pay attention to one another.
Everyone’s views are important, so give your fullest attention and respect by listening to what each team member has to say.
Discuss the issue at hand and work through conflict as opposed to avoidance of conflict. Instead of totally avoiding the situation and cause the business or project to get affected, be professional about it and work out alternatives and solutions whenever conflicts arise. Things have to be sorted out on no matter what.
Let everyone have a chance to state his or her views. No one view is the best view until you’ve heard all the views. So, allow everyone to give their feedback and speak up.
Know and use problem-solving steps. Throughout the process, you’ll face many unforeseen problems. Whether they are problems relating to location, suppliers, pricing, customers, or even internal conflicts with your team mates. The biggest problem among all problems is to leave it (problem) unattended. So be ready to be called for last minute meetings and brainstorm for ideas and solutions together.
Be clear about group decisions and get committed to them. After brainstorming and discussions, you would have come up with group decisions. Make sure that everyone sticks to the decisions, even if some team members may not agree totally. It is important that the group is committed to the decisions and respect them.
Give frequent feedback to members to help them stay focused on team goals. Once the tasks are assigned, everyone will be busy working on their own responsibilities. Constant updates and communication is essential, so as to feedback to each member how they and others are doing. In this way, everyone is kept informed and able to stay focus on the overall goal.
Working together happily and enjoying what you are doing, isn’t that what you wish for? So, cherish the relationship you have with your team and sail towards success!
Marketing
Marketing surrounds us daily. Didn’t you come across a wide range of media every day such as the internet, hand phones, radios, TVs, newspapers, magazines and books? What about the salesmen that you met on the streets, or perhaps personal friends, family members and acquaintance who recommended you a new product or service because they’ve heard, seen or used it?
Whatever form it may take, marketing begins by taking the first step to find out who your customers are, what they like and why they would buy your product. We call it Marketing Research.
Some questions you should try to answer:
Who are my customers?
How many potential customers am I targeting?
What do my customers like/ dislike?
How would my product or service solve my customers’ problem?
Which other competitors’ brands/ products/ services are my customers using?
How much would my customers spend on my product or service?
How should I attract the attention of my customers?
How should I retain my customers?
The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just have to attract a lot of customers.
Today, the customer is king. Whereas previously the company had been the hunter searching for customers, now the consumer has become the hunter. Thanks to the advent of technology and internet.
No matter what brilliant idea or innovation you have, it isn’t going to work, unless you have a growing customer base. So, know your customers, talk to them, find out more about them, their need, their opinion about your product and service etc.
Now, what’s next? Have you heard of the four “P”s of the marketing mix? They simply mean:
Product – know your product types, features, benefits, disadvantages, designs, packaging, positioning etc
Price – determine the general pricing policies to be followed for product groups for your market segments.
Place – choose the location of your business eg. where, why etc
Promotion – the advertising, sales promotion, public relations, exhibitions, direct mail, Internet etc are some ways which you can run promotions.
In addition, there’s another term you ought to learn, and that is SWOT analysis.
Here’s what SWOT means:
Strengths – what do you think are your business’ strengths, advantages or reasons for success? Eg. experience, creative product, strong management team etc.
Weaknesses - problems that you/ business may face, bringing you
disadvantages over your competitors. Eg. Lack of experience, lack of funds/ money, delayed time to market etc.
Opportunities – what are the market opportunities available which allow you or your business to get ahead of your competitors? Eg. the size of the market, rising trend of consumption, government policies etc.
Threats - challenges you may face, which is bad for the business. Eg. competition, legal problems, price cutting etc.
Whatever form it may take, marketing begins by taking the first step to find out who your customers are, what they like and why they would buy your product. We call it Marketing Research.
Some questions you should try to answer:
Who are my customers?
How many potential customers am I targeting?
What do my customers like/ dislike?
How would my product or service solve my customers’ problem?
Which other competitors’ brands/ products/ services are my customers using?
How much would my customers spend on my product or service?
How should I attract the attention of my customers?
How should I retain my customers?
The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just have to attract a lot of customers.
Today, the customer is king. Whereas previously the company had been the hunter searching for customers, now the consumer has become the hunter. Thanks to the advent of technology and internet.
No matter what brilliant idea or innovation you have, it isn’t going to work, unless you have a growing customer base. So, know your customers, talk to them, find out more about them, their need, their opinion about your product and service etc.
Now, what’s next? Have you heard of the four “P”s of the marketing mix? They simply mean:
Product – know your product types, features, benefits, disadvantages, designs, packaging, positioning etc
Price – determine the general pricing policies to be followed for product groups for your market segments.
Place – choose the location of your business eg. where, why etc
Promotion – the advertising, sales promotion, public relations, exhibitions, direct mail, Internet etc are some ways which you can run promotions.
In addition, there’s another term you ought to learn, and that is SWOT analysis.
Here’s what SWOT means:
Strengths – what do you think are your business’ strengths, advantages or reasons for success? Eg. experience, creative product, strong management team etc.
Weaknesses - problems that you/ business may face, bringing you
disadvantages over your competitors. Eg. Lack of experience, lack of funds/ money, delayed time to market etc.
Opportunities – what are the market opportunities available which allow you or your business to get ahead of your competitors? Eg. the size of the market, rising trend of consumption, government policies etc.
Threats - challenges you may face, which is bad for the business. Eg. competition, legal problems, price cutting etc.
From the marketing research and SWOT analysis, you now know why customers want your products and services. Most importantly, you know how the products/ services in your entire range relate to each other in your business. Creative and intelligent interpretation of all the information you’ve obtained is key to helping you establish the right marketing objectives for your company.
"Recipe" for Producing a Strategic Marketing Plan
- Start with a mission or purpose statement.
- Include a financial summary that illustrates graphically revenue and profit for the full planning period.
- Carry out a market overview:
- What is the market?
- Has the market declined or grown?
- What are the trends in each market? - Identify the key segments and do a SWOT analysis for each one:
- Outline the major external influences and their impact on each segment.
- List the key factors for success.
- Give an assessment of the company’s differential strengths and weaknesses compared with those of its competitors’. - Make a brief statement about the key issues that have to be addressed in the planning period.
- Summarize the SWOTs using a portfolio matrix in order to illustrate the important relationships between the key points of your business.
- List your assumptions.
- Set objectives and strategies.
- Summarize your resource requirements for the planning period in the form of a marketing budget.
IDEA
So as to let your mind run freely and work as quickly as possible, let the map grow naturally, reflecting the way your mind makes associations and connections and organizes information.
3. Dreamwork
Do you like day dreaming? Does your mind often wander away on something else even though you are studying or working? Albert Einstein once wrote that the art and science are two of the greatest forms of escape from reality that humans have devised. Great art and great science involve a leap of imagination into a world that is different from the present.
In fact, dreams contain more than just our conscious awareness of events; they are an expression of our deeper mental processes and emotions. They often have vivid images and thus are a route to our deep creative knowledge.
So, the next time you try so hard at finding an idea or being creative, you’ll be surprised how easy it is actually. Imagine the possibilities, (day)dream about how they would happen, and you might just come out with several ideas which you have not thought of.
3. Dreamwork
Do you like day dreaming? Does your mind often wander away on something else even though you are studying or working? Albert Einstein once wrote that the art and science are two of the greatest forms of escape from reality that humans have devised. Great art and great science involve a leap of imagination into a world that is different from the present.
In fact, dreams contain more than just our conscious awareness of events; they are an expression of our deeper mental processes and emotions. They often have vivid images and thus are a route to our deep creative knowledge.
So, the next time you try so hard at finding an idea or being creative, you’ll be surprised how easy it is actually. Imagine the possibilities, (day)dream about how they would happen, and you might just come out with several ideas which you have not thought of.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)