Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

Software can help you make a good business plan

Tim Berry, President, Palo Alto Software

What makes a good business plan? Is it the length? The information it covers? How well it’s written, or the brilliance of its strategy? No.

This illustration shows business plans as part of a process. You can think about the good or bad of a plan as the plan itself, measuring its value by its contents. There are some qualities in a plan that make it more likely to create results, and these are important. However, it is even better to see the plan as part of the whole process of results, because even a great plan is wasted if nobody follows it.

A business plan will be hard to implement unless it is simple, specific, realistic and complete. Even if it is all these things, a good plan will need someone to follow up and check on it. The plan depends on the human elements around it, particularly the process of commitment and involvement, and the tracking and follow-up that comes afterward.

Successful implementation starts with a good plan. There are elements that will make a plan more likely to be successfully implemented. Some of the clues to implementation include:

1. Is the plan simple? Is it easy to understand and to act on? Does it communicate its contents easily and practically?
2. Is the plan specific? Are its objectives concrete and measurable? Does it include specific actions and activities, each with specific dates of completion, specific persons responsible and specific budgets?
3. Is the plan realistic? Are the sales goals, expense budgets, and milestone dates realistic? Nothing stifles implementation like unrealistic goals.
4. Is the plan complete? Does it include all the necessary elements? Requirements of a business plan vary, depending on the context. There is no guarantee, however, that the plan will work if it doesn’t cover the main bases.

Use of Business Plans
Too many people think of business plans as something you do to start a company, apply for a loan, or find investors. Yes, they are vital for those purposes, but there’s a lot more to it.

Preparing a business plan is an organized, logical way to look at all of the important aspects of a business. First, decide what you will use the plan for, such as to:

• Define and fix objectives, and programs to achieve those objectives.
• Create regular business review and course correction.
• Define a new business.
• Support a loan application.
• Define agreements between partners.
• Set a value on a business for sale or legal purposes.
• Evaluate a new product line, promotion, or expansion.

No Time to Plan? A Common Misconception
“Not enough time for a plan,” business people say. “I can’t plan. I’m too busy getting things done.” A business plan now can save time and stress later.

Too many businesses make business plans only when they have to. Unless a bank or investors want to look at a business plan, there isn’t likely to be a plan written. The busier you are, the more you need to plan. If you are always putting out fires, you should build fire breaks or a sprinkler system. You can lose the whole forest for too much attention to the individual trees.

Keys to Better Business Plans

• Use a business plan to set concrete goals, responsibilities, and deadlines to guide your business.
• A good business plan assigns tasks to people or departments and sets milestones and deadlines for tracking implementation.
• A practical business plan includes 10 parts implementation for every one part strategy.
• As part of the implementation of a business plan, it should provide a forum for regular review and course corrections.
• Good business plans are practical.

Business Plan “Don’ts”

• Don’t use a business plan to show how much you know about your business.
• Nobody reads a long-winded business plan: not bankers, bosses, nor venture capitalists. Years ago, people were favorably impressed by long plans. Today, nobody is interested in a business plan more than 50 pages long.

Author

Tim Berry is president of Palo Alto Software and principal author of its Business Plan Pro software for developing business plans. He was a cofounder of Borland International, which was founded in 1983 and went public in 1986. Before creating his own company, he was a planner for Business International and Creative Strategies, and a consultant in business planning to Apple Computers. He is also the founder of bplans.com, the world’s most well-known business-planning resource site.

The Trouble with Software

Dave Mount, Founder, jSoup Software

The other day, I called my local auto shop for an appointment. Before long, I could tell that something was wrong. “Do you still live at Park Place?” I had moved from that address almost 4 years ago. “What kind of service do you need?” Typically, I turn that question around. Since I only take my car one place for service, someone usually can tell me what service is due within a few seconds. This time it took a few minutes and a lot of extra effort to boot. As she was piecing together bits of history, the receptionist admitted that they were having some trouble with their new computer system. Of course, I already knew that.

I write software for a living, so I have learned to expect certain things from computers. Number one: computers always do what someone has told them to. That does not mean that computers always do what you want them to, but behind every drop-down list, button click and spinning hourglass is a set of instructions that can be traced back to a programmer’s fingers at a keyboard. The problem is that life can get complicated and difficult to describe in logical terms. Unfortunately, all a computer understands is logic.

Number two: all software has bugs, which can be the result of incorrect instructions (bad programming) or design flaws (bad thinking). Usually what is called the “point oh” release, as in version 1.0, has the most bugs. As bugs are discovered and fixed, new “patches” or “point releases” are provided and the software becomes more reliable. Software backed by good support should, at some point, become virtually bug free because the remaining problems are obscure or insignificant.

Number three: new things cause problems. While this point likely applies to more than software, it is especially pervasive in dealing with computer systems. Any time you change your hardware or software, even to make improvements, some amount of pain is involved. It is wise to be prepared for system glitches, to make a practice run or two with the new before unplugging the old, and to work with vendors that offer helpful customer support. A little discomfort shouldn’t stand in the way of progress, and to some degree it is unavoidable.

My local auto shop will get past the pain it is having, and the new system is likely to be an improvement over the old one. The couple of extra minutes I had to spend on the phone didn’t bother me. I am loyal to them because they are honest with me and provide a great service. If anything, my sympathies go out to any company struggling with a new computer system. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll get a chance to help them fix it.

Author

Dave Mount is the President of jSoup Software, which he founded in 2004. He has been in the software industry for almost 14 years as a software architect and developer. Dave graduated from Cornell University in 1993 with a degree in Engineering Physics and lived in Japan during the mid-90’s. He now lives in San Ramon, California, with his wife and kids.

These days, jSoup is focused on developing interactive websites. We are also happy to answer any questions you may have, especially about software and Web development. Direct inquiries to ask@jsoup.com.

Logotypes or Types of Logos: What is the Difference?

David Dresen

I’ve talked to you about not getting too personally attached to your logo design process, and how strong of an impact a good logo can have. I believe that in most cases a clean, simple, unique logo is the way to go for longevity and success in marketing your image. That being said, there are multiple other types of logos that can, and have, helped many business reach the next level of success. Choosing which style of logo would best fit your company is an extremely important decision, and one that you and your designer should decide.

I came across the following article when I was researching for material to put into this column, and realized that everything I was reading was exactly what I had hoped to put into this. So without further adieu, I give you some exerts from an article written by Kelly Dailey that I think explain very well the different types of logos you may want to use for your organization:

Wordmark or Logotype Logos

“The most widely used of all logo types, the workmark focuses on text and typeface but can incorporate other elements as well. A wordmark may be best suited for companies whose name effectively describes what they do (Office Max, Home Depot) without graphical elements to convey that message, a literal interpretation of the words is often necessary. (For example, we know that Gilmore and Rey are accountants because the logo literally tells us so.) A wordmark is often text only with unique typographical treatments ( Microsoft, Sears, Yahoo, Google ). Most often however, the company name is incorporated together with simple graphic elements to create a clean, simple identity. The representation of the word essentially becomes a symbol of the companies’ name.

Here are some instances for choosing a Wordmark or Logotype;

• Communication funds are limited and should be focused on name recognition.

• Your name is reasonably distinctive but not (yet) a household word.

• You want to associate products or subsidiaries with the parent company more clearly and directly than a symbol permits.

Lettermark Logo

“Similar to a wordmark, a lettermark is a wholly typographic mark, usually involving initials or abbreviations. Monograms and anamgrams are lettermarks. The representation of the letter(s) essentially become a symbol of the companies name.

Here are some instances for choosing a Lettermark;

• Your initials translate graphically better than your actual name.

• You need to link subsidiaries to the patent and can’t easily use the name.

• You can afford to teach the public what the lettermark means.

Brandmark Symbol

“A simple but strong graphic symbol, often abstract, that complements an aspect of a business or service and represents a company by association. (NIKE or Apple Computers)

Here are some instances for choosing a symbol;

• You need an emblem on a product.

• Your name is too long, too generic, doesn’t translate well globally and/or has no personality.

• You need to link subsidiaries to the patent and can’t easily use the name.

• You can’t afford to teach the public what the symbol means.

Iconic Logotype

“Iconic logotypes are also referred to as combination marks, An iconic logotype generally combines a brandmark symbol with the wordmark. The combination can be loose or integrated with a loose combination, the elements can be used together or separately. A well designed iconic logotype can effectively communicate what a company does as well as reflect what the companies personality is.

“Here are some instances for choosing an Iconic Logotype;

• You are a startup enterprise or small business with limited funds.

• Your name is reasonably distinctive but not (yet) a household word.

• You need an emblem on a product, but want more than just a symbol.

“Since Iconic Logotypes communicate more readily than other logotypes, less marketing is required for the logo to be effective. Therefore, iconic logotypes are the most cost effective type of logo design available and are ideal for startups or small businesses with limited marketing budgets.”

I would like to add one more category that Kelly didn’t address.

Illustrative Logos

Illustrative logos usually include a graphically represented scene or image. Since these type of logos are derived from an actual image or scene, and the intent is to portray that in a graphical manner, this type of logo is more involved to produce, and likewise more costly to create, and later more costly to reproduce and market. This seems to be the type of logo that most startup businesses think they want. The problem is, this is the last one they should choose. The logo may have the most color, and imagery, but it is definitely not the most recognizable or memorable.

Remember, an effective logo should portray to the viewer, who you are, and what you do, in less than 5 seconds. ( The average time a viewer will actually look at it.) If it’s used wisely, a successful logo will be able to do just that.