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An Introduction to the Business Management Series

The ScanSource Business Growth Framework is a series of blogs designed to train and equip you to develop a comprehensive business plan. Once completed, you will have the tools necessary to complete a...

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Personal Goals Series Overview

The expression “begin with the end in mind” has never held truer than when planning and developing a successful business. As with any trip, you need to carefully consider where you want to go and what...

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Personal Goals Chapter 1: Defining What You Want

One of the most critical questions you can ask is this: “Why did you start your company?” Was it money? Fame? Fortune? Better than getting a job? Were you tired of the “man” keeping you down? Believe...

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Personal Goals Chapter 2: Making Meaning

Okay, we have talked about defining what you want, what factors to consider when answering the question and the entrepreneurial process that one follows when starting a business. The next step is to...

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Personal Goals Chapter 3: Mission Statement vs. Mantra

Okay, we have reviewed the basics of knowing what you want and defining how your organization makes meaning. In this module, we will discuss the wonders of having a mantra for your organization. Before...

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Personal Goals Chapter 4: Weaving a MAT

Let’s review our progress. We have covered what your personal goals are for your business, we addressed how your organization makes meaning and we discussed how to leverage mantra to motivate your...

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Personal Goals Chapter 5: Writing a Business Plan

The Small Business Association website (www.sba.gov) defines a business plan as “a blueprint and communication tool for your business. A device to help you…explain how you intend to operate your...

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Personal Goals Chapter 6: Profit Corporation – A Case Study

Let’s take a look at how Profit Corp addressed the modules in this step of the Business Development Framework: Personal Goals: John’s personal goals are to grow a successful IT firm that services the...

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Personal Goals Conclusion & Frequently Asked Questions

When should I look at giving up on my business? This is a very tough question. Unfortunately, only you can really know when it is time to give up on a business and start again. Some say that...

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An Introduction to Defining Your Market

In thinking about conducting meaningful market analysis, it will be helpful to think of it in terms of market opportunity. So what exactly is market opportunity? You could ask that question of twenty...

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Market Opportunity Chapter One: Identifying a Market Opportunity

When identifying market opportunity, it is first important to examine the difference between an idea and opportunity. An idea is a thought or hypothesis about how your business can make money. Ideas...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Two: Product Development: Testing Market Viability

Opportunities exist or are created and have what Harvard Business School professor Jeffrey Timmons calls a “window of opportunity”. The “window of opportunity” is the best time for an entrepreneur to...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Three: Customers and Verticals

We have closely looked at market opportunity, how to spot new market opportunities and criteria for evaluating market opportunities. In this chapter, we take a closer look at defining your customers...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Four: Product and Services Offering

To review, we have covered what market opportunity is, how to identify market opportunity, how to test for viability, defining your customers and total addressable market. The next step is to define...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Five: Positioning Your Business

Positioning your business may seem like an unnatural act best suited for marketing companies, but (in reality) it goes beyond consultants and meetings. Strong positioning represents the heart and soul...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Six: Defining A Value Proposition

A value proposition is simply a document or statement that clearly defines why your company is unique and how it provides value to customers. Unlike a positioning statement, (which admittedly is...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Seven: Writing a Business Plan

In this series, we have reviewed market opportunity and your company’s value proposition, product and services offerings and positioning statement. Now add the elements we discussed in the “Step...

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Market Opportunity Chapter Eight: Profit Corporation – A Case Study

Let’s take a look at how Profit Corp addressed the chapters in this step of the series: Market Opportunity: John Smith, Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Profit Corporation recognized that there is a...

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Market Opportunity Conclusion & Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I apply the ability to spot market opportunities to my business? By being able to spot new market opportunities early and understanding the “window of opportunity”, you will be able to grow...

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Business Operations Chapter One: Pro Forma Projections

One of the best ways to balance your infrastructure investments with revenue and gross profits is to develop basic costs and earning projections. Admittedly, this is where many entrepreneurs start to...

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Business Operations Chapter Two: Cost of Goods and Cost of Time

Now that we have covered the basics of developing a costs and revenues projection for your business, let’s dive a bit deeper into cost of goods and your organization’s overall cost of time. Cost of...

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Business Operations Chapter Three: Assumptions and Tasks

As we have previously commented, one of the most common mistakes that an entrepreneur makes is to not document their assumptions when planning their business growth strategy. Remember that this is...

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Business Operations Chapter Four: Hiring and Recruiting

When looking at competitive advantage, there is really only one aspect that is unique to any business: the people in your organization. When looking to hire new employees, it is important to make...

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Business Operations Chapter Five: Partners vs. Evangelists

One of the most common misperceptions about partnering is confusion over the difference between partners and evangelists. Many entrepreneurs (and even seasoned business professionals) look to partner...

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Business Operations Chapter Six: Profit Corporation—A Case Study

Let’s take a look at how Profit Corp addressed the chapters in this step of the Business Development Framework: Human Resources Salary Adjusted* By Period John Smith $55,000 $66,000 $5,500 Junior...

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Business Operations Conclusion & Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a right or a wrong way to “guess” what my projected revenues will be? Yes and no. To make a bit more sense, let’s take these one at a time. Yes, there is a wrong way to “guess” what your...

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Sales and Marketing: An Introduction to Sales and Marketing

In this step, we will discuss how to define your sales and marketing strategy for your business. We will determine how your sales infrastructure and marketing plan relate to your overall business...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter One: Business Goals and Objectives

Aligning your business goals, objectives and personal goals is essential to the success of your organization. It is virtually impossible to run a company without a plan, but a plan is useless without...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Two: Building a Sales Team

Your organization will fail without a solid sales team (even if that means that you are the sales team). Your sales team is the front line for advocating your company and establishing relationships...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Three: Understanding The Sales Cycle – Part 1

Every organization’s sales cycle will be different to some degree. This is due to the nature of the products or services that are sold. For instance, the sales cycle for reselling components (which is...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Three: Understanding The Sales Cycle – Part 2

Every organization’s sales cycle will be different to some degree. This is due to the nature of the products or services that are sold. For instance, the sales cycle for reselling components (which is...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Three: Understanding The Sales Cycle – Part 3

Every organization’s sales cycle will be different to some degree. This is due to the nature of the products or services that are sold. For instance, the sales cycle for reselling components (which is...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Four: Developing a Sales Pipeline

1-3-6-12 Month Forecasting vs. Actual Until you establish a clear sales history, your sales forecasts will be your best guess estimate (culminating the data you collected through market research). This...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Five: Partnering vs. Selling

One of the tempting habits of a new organization is to form “handshake alliances” with as many non-competing organizations as they can find; specifically those organizations that have a complimenting...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Six: How to Win a Price War

Price war challenges The unfortunate thing about price wars is that usually no one wins. The integrity of the true value-add offerings of your business can be compromised. Price war conditions exist...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Seven: Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom

Referrals can lower costs, enhance existing customer relationships and build your customer base. Referrals are often passed by advocates or evangelists that you have impressed and satisfied; which...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Eight: Developing a Strategic Marketing...

Step 1: Market Research Regardless of how much you plan on investing in your marketing strategy, you should always build a pool of intelligence and useful data that will aid you in developing your...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Eight: Developing a Strategic Marketing...

Step 4: Develop a marketing mix and choose your vehicles Your marketing mix is a strategic lineup of marketing vehicles designed to drive your customers to action and to achieve company objectives. Dr....

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Chapter Nine: Profit Corp Case Study: Implementing...

John Smith realized that the three people he has in his organization would have to wear many organizational hats. He sat down and wrote his business goals and objectives and developed a strategy for...

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Sales & Marketing Strategy Conclusion: Frequently Asked Questions

What are some ways that I can quickly increase sales? This is a tough question that is very dependent on your business. There are many ways to both motivate your customers and to motivate your internal...

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