Attracting investors, part 4: What’s the opportunity?

Presenting a business plan usually entails a discussion followed up with a written document. Unlike the popular TV show Dragons Den, your potential investors will want to understand the opportunity that is being presented to them, and will probably give... 

Kickstart 2012 with a 5-point business tune-up

This is a repeat of a post we made at this time last year. But we feel it is worth repeating. Best wishes for a successful 2012! Instead of making a long list of New Year’s resolutions, here are five concrete things business owners can do right now... 

DOD’s headache? Save $3.5 billion a year on IT!

The lead story in the November 28th issue of InformationWeek (you should be able to read the story online at www.informationweek.com in another week or so) is about the challenges faced by the U.S. Department of Defense. The Pentagon has an IT budget... 

Attracting investors, part 3: Moving past the numbers

So far we’ve looked at the aspects that are table stakes for potential investors in your business — profit potential, IRR, and early cash flow. We also discussed quantifying risk and reward. Let’s say a potential investor hasn’t... 

Attracting investors, part 2: More numbers for start-ups

As we discussed in our previous posts, if your company can provide credible financial statements that indicate a positive financial position or outlook, you’ve passed a potential investor’s first hurdle. Explicitly, that means: the profit... 

Attracting investors, part 1: The numbers

We’ve blogged before about the need to step back and take a hard, cold look at whether your business plan will be attractive to bankers, lenders, and investors. This is particularly true for small private companies seeking investors, or those going... 

New links on Resources/Social page

We have just added some links to the “Links:Social” page of the “Resources” section on the Market Metrics web site that helps you perform a PEST analysis. As you probably know, a PEST analysis is a required step in developing a business plan.... 

Are you ready for a disaster at work?

After the recent tsunami and earthquake in Japan, I started to wonder about what — heaven forbid — it would be like if a disaster should ever hit our business premises. If you are able to, please donate or participate in a fund-raising activity... 

Why setting the right price is so important

“If you’ve got the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you’ve got a very good business. If you have to have a prayer session before raising the price by 10 percent, you’ve got a terrible business.”  –... 

A reality check for your business plan

When working on a strategic marketing or business plan, you need to step back every so often and take a reality check. Is your plan feasible? And will it be attractive to bankers, lenders and investors? Naturally, this depends on your goals. The first... 

Can your U.S. web site serve the Canadian market?

For our readers’ convenience, we’ve combined two previous blog posts into a downloadable PDF and made it available on our Resources/Downloads page.  The download is divided into two parts. Part 1 shows how you can ensure that your U.S.-based... 

Software review: Business PlanMaker Professional

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, there are more business plan templates, lists of suggested business plan content, and samples out there on the net than you can shake a stick at. There also are some free on-line (mainly offered by banks in case... 

Canadian market tips for U.S. e-commerce sites, part 2

In last week’s blog posting we discussed the most common barriers that U.S.-based e-commerce web sites face in serving Canadian customers. If your site can deal with those issues, you’ll be able to accept, bill, fulfill, and support international... 

Canadian market tips for U.S. e-commerce web sites

In today’s connected world, your customers may not come from your home town, state, or even country. If you operate a U.S.-based e-commerce web site, an easy way to expand your potential market by an extra 30 million people is to make sure that... 

Forget resolutions! Here are your back-to-work essentials

Instead of making a long list of New Year’s resolutions, here are five things business owners can do to prepare for 2011. Each one should only take about 30 minutes, and all you’ll need is last year’s financials, pen and paper, and some yellow... 

Better presentations, less PowerPoint

Recently I went to see a presentation by Jim Gray, who is described as “a leading speaker, communication skills coach and media strategist”. A former CBC journalist, Mr. Gray lives in Toronto and contributes to the Globe and Mail. You can find him... 

Gartner’s tech trends for 2011

This posting presents what Gartner believes are four converging trends that will impact enterprise business and IT for the next decade. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Gartner, Inc. is a leading global information technology research company with... 

10 tips for planning your business

People often ask us for tips about creating a marketing or business plan for their small business. We believe that the following steps are essential and can help you successfully develop an effective plan for any size of business. 1.  Make the Time... 

3 reasons why you shouldn’t use on-line business planning tools

There are more business planning templates, outlines, and articles on the Internet than you can shake a stick at. Some are terrific; others, not so much. But while you can shift through loads of online material and find some useful stuff, I really don’t... 

Just what is a strategic marketing plan, anyway?

This is a pretty common question. A strategic marketing plan is much like a traditional business plan. It has a thorough analysis of your business’ current situation and should include a business description; a description of the firm’s products and... 

Help for the first-time entrepreneur

With pragmatic advice for the would-be entrepreneur, the “Aboriginal Business Planning Workbook”  provides a realistic approach to figuring out if running your own business is really for you. The workbook is one of a series of business guides developed... 

A sad day for Silicon Valley North

It was a bittersweet event for Ottawa’s tech sector — and a sad day for Nortel fans, if there are any left — as the blue-and-white sign marking the entrance to the Nortel Networks Carling Campus was removed today. A highly-recognized...