Online business – The Wealth Maker

February 11, 2018March 11, 2018

Risk and Reward- The Vital Two R’s of Business

We are risk takers by nature, all of us, in varying degrees. But marching into the unknown is a human instinct that manifests itself in obvious, as well as mysterious ways. Every hour of every day we take risks. You may allow your mind to explore this idea and find examples. Traveling to a new country, hiking an unmarked trail, buying a gift for a loved one, tasting a weird- smelling food, going to war, getting married, asking for forgiveness, climbing the Himalayas, camping, skiing, driving, falling in love, leaving home, and doing nothing is also a form of taking risk, yet indirectly.

For the sake of our topic, let’s narrow down that endless list to just one: Starting your own business and deciding to become an entrepreneur.

Why do people leave the comfort and security of a guaranteed pay-check, and go on their own? For starters, that comfort has become unattainable lately. Downsizing, mergers, acquisitions, financial crisis, to name a few, have made job security a thing of the past.

But that is not the main reason entrepreneurs go out and face the world alone. It is something within each and every one, a calling if you will. I bet you’ve heard this before and you might be thinking: “OK, a calling, but what is the percentage of success of that calling? Show me the money!”

True, no matter how strong a calling was, and how enthusiastic the person would be, a business venture must yield financial results. In other words: Money 🙂

That’s why, before delving in the ocean of entrepreneurship, one must evaluate few traits that are vital to making that journey a pleasant and fruitful one.

So what are those traits? The first that comes to mind is risk tolerance. I’ve talked about this, giving it an acronym of RT in several posts about investing, and it still applies here, probably more so. A low RT isn’t going to help here. A very high one would result in taking too much risk, and again that is dangerously dangerous 🙂

We are looking for a healthy RT, which on one hand drives the entrepreneur to explore new, uncharted frontiers, most of the time alone and with little knowledge and tools, and on the other, keeps him/her aware of the potential challenges, and do enough research and preparation ahead of, during and after taking the risk. What is that called in plain English? Wisdom combined with courage. And in eloquent English: Courageously wise or wisely courageous 🙂

The heart of our discussion here is the following:

‘Risk and Reward are proportional: The more risk one takes, the higher the probability of reward. The opposite seems to be true, most of the time.’

Let’s start with a simple example: If you decided not to teach your four-year old child how to ride a bike, fearing the risk of injury, you denied him/her the rewards that come with riding a bike. One of them is innocent joy!

To get any reward, we must do something, right? And any doing involves taking a risk, no matter how small. That’s why they are related proportionally.

Raise the level of one, the other gets a boost. The challenge is to find that threshold where raising too much would result in unwanted results rather than rewards. And that threshold differs depending on the situation.

In the example above, rushing the learning curve increases the risk of injury. Taking the matter way too slow may delay the reward or even prevent it from happening.

We need to be patient with the whole process. We start by taking small risks and observe our emotional and mental reactions, just like building, you start with a foundation, then keep adding to it.

Another aspect of this building process is appreciating the results, no matter how small.

When it comes to building a new business enterprise, the principle would be the same, however, the application is different.

Does that mean you start with a tiny little venture then expand gradually? That’s one way to approach it. Say open an online store with only one product line, give it your best till it starts making profit, then add a second product line, and so on.

Nevertheless, if you know that your RT is high enough to get into bigger business adventures, especially if you know you have good financial and practical backing by trusted partners, then you may want to create a vision that would lead to more aggressive plans. For example, starting an eCommerce platform, where small business owners can open their one-product-line stores.

The web is full of tools and articles on how to assess your RT level. Here’s one, which I have no affiliation with, and can’t guarantee its results, but you may want to give it a shot, or look for something else in that line of tools:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/personal-finance/tools/risk-assessment-tools.html

In conclusion, know thyself before starting a new business. The time, money and energy spent doing that is worth the clarity that result from being aware where your next step will hit the ground.

All the best,

The WEalth MAker

January 31, 2018March 11, 2018

How to Show a New Product on Your Site

In the last post we talked about finding and acquiring a product into your online e-Commerce store.

Today we will cover few tips on how to make that product stand out and be easy to reach.

To begin with, I’d like to stress the importance of tags. Every product page should give a facility to list tags related to the product at hand. So what is a tag? Simply put, it is a searchable word that makes finding your product easier on search engines. Think of it as the hashtag you use when tweeting in order to attract the attention of people interested in that specific topic.

Then comes images. The more the better, but no repetition of the same pose or same outlook. You need your images to reflect the beauty, uniqueness, usability and quality of your product. And always put your best image upfront on ads and so forth.

A Product title is so important. It’s the punch line that would make it or break it. Select the words carefully and intelligently, both for SEO purposes and to tell customers what the product is about using as little and as meaningful words as possible. This is the ‘elevator pitch’ of your product. You need to practice being creative, direct and expressive in this department.

Finally comes the detailed description, which is usually the last to grab visitors’ attention, unless they are serious buyers. Here we need to give product specifications, so that the buyer knows what they are getting. Remember that the whole process is virtual and there is no physical appreciation. That’s why the description needs to compensate for that by being accurate and comprehensive.

Let’s have an example. Suppose the item you want to display on your storefront is a backpack bag. What kind of tags do you need to embed in the product page? Waterproof, light-weight, phone-pockets, school, business, laptop, and any other product-specific, unique features that would lead searchers to this item.

How about the title? Here’s a suggestion: “Waterproof, multi-purpose backpack for school or business.”

The images must show the bag from different angels, and must show the inside, where the user has ample space and good organization for their stuff.

The description specifies the bags material, interior and exterior, the brand, the dimensions and capacity, the colors and variants available, and any other detail that would help a buyer recognize the backpack as if they were holding it in their hands and going through its features.

The example below is from my store, storefour.ca. I’ll show all the details from the product page, which are hidden from site viewrs. This will aid our discussion with a real example.

Here are the tags:

And the extra images:

Heavy Duty Shockproof Armor Protection Case + Glass Screen Film for iPhone 7 6 6S Plus 5 5S SE

This page gives each visitor something they may be looking for: A certain use, dimensions, colors, etc.

The ultimate goal is to convert a visitor into a buyer. This attention to the way you post your product helps in that regard, but of course, it isn’t the whole story, something we will chat about in our next post. Stay tuned!

The Wealth Maker

January 29, 2018January 30, 2018

How to Choose the Right Product

In e-Commerce, products are represented by images, multiple images that aim to show site visitors how the product looks and feels, how it serves the need it is intended for, and how it is superior to other, similar products on the market.

As you can see, this involves several skills, tools and decisions. The first and most important decision must answer the question: Will this product appeal to the visitors of my site, and does it serve their needs effectively? The next question concerns the price: Is the product priced competitively, while still making a profit?

If you’re like many new e-Commerce entrepreneurs who decided to open their own online stores on platforms such as BigCommerec™ and Shopify™, you might have considered drop-shipping as an alternative to traditional approaches.

The idea is innovative, yet simple. Instead of keeping inventory and worrying about shipping to your customers, a drop-shipping model takes care of that. The products on your online store come from suppliers from all over the world, who, once an order is placed, process the request then ship directly to your customers.

In addition to saving time, energy, space and money, drop-shipping makes adding new products or deleting old ones a fun exercise. All you have to do is brows through a supplier’s catalogue, pick the items you like, modify few things to make the product fit your overall theme and categories, then push the product to your store, and it becomes ready to view, and hopefully sell.

But how would you know that what you have chosen meets your requirements? To begin with: Do you know your requirements? Before seeking anything in life, we must ask three questions: What, why and how. Requirements answer the ‘what’ question. But in order to get to the right answers, we need to have a clear idea of what the business is about; what values it serves, and what objectives it aims to achieve.

One of the collections in my online store, storefour.ca is named Digital. For any product to fit into that collection it must operate digitally, or has a digital aspect to it. Here’s an example:

So knowing your requirements is the first step to selecting the right product. The second is knowing the supplier. The e-Commerce landscape is so crowded. Finding the right supplier takes doing your homework diligently: reviews, returns, age on business, location, complains. The list is long, but you will figure it out based on what you’re looking for.

Now you know what you want and where to get it. The third step is to find the right channel and process to communicate with the supplier and secure the product.

If we go back to the drop-shipping model, the e-Commerce platform you use plays a key role in helping its merchants find credible suppliers as part of its service. Shopify™, for example, recommends an app named Oberlo™, which connects you to a pool of previously verified suppliers, making your life a lot easier. Yet, to be on the safe side and save your business future hassles, keep doing your research even on recommended suppliers.

The point here is to use all resources available to select and show the best product on your store.

More details on this in our next post, stay tuned!

The Wealth Maker

©Article Image Credit: https://storefour.ca

November 8, 2017September 3, 2020

StoreFour: Continuous Enhancement

Launching an online store requires a great deal of planning and attention to detail. From selecting the theme, to designing the logo. What will be the static content? How about navigation, payment processing, shipping rules, taxes, and a lot more.

Then once that’s been taken care of, comes one of the most important decisions to make at this point of store building: What exactly are we selling here? Is this going to be a general merchandise or a niche-oriented online experience? Who are the customers, and why would they buy from us?

Down the line from that is product strategy: What products should this store showcase and for how much?

As you move from one stage to the next you realize new understandings and, of course, learn new things.

The final ‘product’ just before the launch will never be perfect, and you know it. But does that mean you keep improving while delaying the launch? No! Continuous enhancement must hold a permanent place-holder on your project plan, just as sales and marketing. Failing to do so means choosing to fail in this fiercely competitive landscape.

Since the launch back in May, StoreFour has gone through several reviews, the last being just very recently. The depth and breadth of each review vary, but they all keep asking some essential questions:

In exchange for revenue, what value does this store offer?
Do current products serve that value?
Is there a clear line of sight between the products and the vision/mission of the business?
Are customers satisfied? How can we measure that, then improve it?
What products to keep, modify and/or delete?
What products to add?
Are marketing and sales efforts fruitful so far, and if not, why? How can they be enhanced?
What are the short and long-term objectives of this store?
Are the store’s design, look and feel expressive of its message and brand?
Is it easy to navigate and find information?

As you you can see, the questions do not follow a specific order. In these reviews, you capture questions as they arise, randomly. I like to use a large poster and a bunch of colored markers to write down whatever comes to mind. Then gradually move to a mind-map, before finally creating an action plan on a digital tool.

Casually writing down thoughts, questions and ideas allows something interesting to emerge: Clarity!

While just before you’d started your mind was processing everything simultaneously, and rapidly, now it can observe patterns and priorities, reasons and results. It’s much easier now to find answers and chart a new course, or adjust an existing one.

During the last review, which concluded around mid October, I realized that we need to have more focus on our brand, which means redefining or resharpening the concept behind that brand.

While the message has been to ‘Be, Love, Create and Live’, the products didn’t clearly trace back to it. The four dimensions sit on the titles of four product collections. However, when reviewing individual products, it wasn’t very obvious how each one would serve that message.

We finally came to an interesting conclusion: Let’s not try to find ‘Love’, or ‘Create’ products per say, but rather look a bit deeper and ask: Can a ring, for example, help the customer promote love in her or his life? How about a wallet or a bag? does any have a link to ‘Live’ or ‘Create’? And isn’t ‘Be’ a common thread underlying all others?

Of course, another concern is: What is the market pulse for any product we offer? On the one hand, we definitely want to provide true, authentic value. Yet on the other, the business must meet its financial objectives in order to continue serving that value and progressing to even higher levels of success.

From that understanding, and to bring more focus to the product offering, we decided to keep the main theme, but rename the collections: Rings, Bags, Wallets and Digital.

With few specs about what products to choose for every collection, including high-quality, trendiness, and usefulness, we did an extensive research and decided to have only nine products under each collection. This is a major shift from 30 or so products, some didn’t clearly reflect the theme. Now when a customer clicks ‘Rings’, she or he will only see rings under that collection. The same applies to Wallets, Bags, and Digital.

It’s logical and natural after feeling that comfortable with the content of your store to turn to marketing with a renewed will and a fresh determination.

On that, StoreFour now has its Twitter and Pinterest storefronts up and running, with new content and interaction on a daily basis. Facebook already showcases StoreFour, and all are ready from another round of ad campaigns.

We are very pleased to share these exciting developments with our readers, and as always, happy to hear your questions and comments.

Till the next post, be open to new, enriching ideas!

The Wealth Maker

November 5, 2017October 26, 2020

The Soaring Eagle Group™, SEG: An Overview

What’s in a name? Inspiration, motivation, direction? How about: ‘A fresh view through an Eagle’s eye, every day.’?

The Soaring Eagle Group™ (SEG) was born years ago before the launch of my poetry blog: “The Soaring Eagle, a free soul, like an eagle.” The blog’s URL still carries the original name: earlyeagle1. Our eagle is both early and soaring 🙂

The group now embodies our Multiple Streams of Revenue (MSoR™) strategy, which can be summarized in the following excerpt from the group’s charter:

‘MSoR is a wealth-generating strategy where two or more money-making-machines join forces to provide a stable, sustainable and flexible ‘river’ of revenue for a family or a business.

T = P + (N x S)

Where:

T: Total Revenue

P: Primary source (Established: business, employment, etc)

S: Secondary source

Why is MSoR important?

To level and streamline the cash-flow of an institution (diversification)
To provide financial safety in the face of the loss of one stream, and/or the fluctuation in one or more sources
An opportunity to keep learning, growing and giving
Change in this manner guarantees continuous sharpening of vision, creativity and will
Lots of fun and an antidote to boredom as opposed to doing just one thing all the time’

You may also refer to our previous post on the concept of Multiple Streams of Income

Right now, there are three online businesses under the SEG:

The Wealth Maker, TWM Blog
StoreFour
CanFour
The Soaring Eagle Poetry™ Blog

We will dedicate at least one post to each business in the coming weeks, but for now, here’s a quick highlight of each:

TWM has been a trusted source of original wealth creation and growth knowledge and practices for more than six years. Now the blog is assuming an additional role, to be the ‘voice’ of the SEG, extending its news and updates to readers all over the world. TWM has recently incorporated select online advertisement through WordPress’s WordAds™, to participate financially in the SEG’s MSoR strategy.

StoreFour is an innovative online store geared towards promoting vibrant, balanced lifestyles through products under the theme: ‘Be, Love. Create and Live.’ A new Venture is a previous post on TWM capturing some thoughts about StoreFour.

CanFour is an original art and craftsmanship online store, focusing on handmade wooden products. You may also read this previous post on woodworking.

The long-term vision is to keep these business elements integrated through digital links, as well as organizational solid and/or dotted lines.

The group is working on adding a fifth element during the coming months, and also investigating moving into a multidimensional business hierarchy, which would integrate the existing elements in a larger business model. More on that as relevant details become available and ready to share.

The SEG is active on Linkedin. You may visit the SEG business page here.

Stay tuned, and be truly wealthy!

The Wealth Maker

October 22, 2017October 23, 2017

Woodworking: A Sleeping Talent to Explore

‘A sleeping talent is a gift one has, but they are not fully aware of its existence.’

Most of the time it takes doing something that requires using such talent in order to wake it up. It doesn’t have to be artistic though. Being good with numbers, for example, is a gift, which could come in handy one way or another, and be awaken by a genuine need (trying to figure out where all the money is going to 🙂

Recently, I’ve noticed an increasing interest in anything wood. Also noticed liking to go to hardware stores, enjoying the smell of wood, and exploring woodworking tools, raw wood boards and blocks.

It turned out that that was an actual sleeping talent (which might have its roots back in the childhood days), and when put to the test produced two handmade products, now posted on an aspiring new Etsy store, CanFour.

Of course, monetizing a genuine/original talent comes with few considerations:

Is it going to stay fresh and vibrant as product and financial concerns come into play?
While producing one item is exciting and engaging, creating a product line is a different story
Is there a market and what would drive sales?
Is an online store the right business model?

Some might argue that business, namely marketing and sales, carries an artistic spirit. I’d agree, but this is a different flavor of art.

In this case, the business vision drove creativity! The decision to start an Etsy store as an element of a Multiple Streams of Income (MSOI) strategy preceded finding product ideas, let alone alone production. I’ve found that quite interesting. I guess the lesson here is the following:

‘It doesn’t really matter where and how innovation kicks in; whether it’s a hunch while taking a walk in the mountains, or an insight popping up during a deliberate planning session. What matters is how you capitalize on that and bring it to light.’

Going forward, you will notice that The Wealth Maker blog is becoming a proactive ‘voice’ of the emerging ventures. Furthermore, it will continue its mission to deliver quality knowledge and practical tips to wealth aspirants from all walks of life…

Till our next post, stay tuned and enlightened!

The Wealth Maker

August 24, 2017November 7, 2017

A new Venture

The world of e-commerce is an exciting, and potentially rewarding one.

Recently I decided to delve in, and went through the process of building an online store.

The result was a decent place for visitors to Be, Love, Create and Live. That is the theme, with products that promote a vibrant, balanced lifestyle; pertaining to the soul, the heart, the mind and the body.

My objective is to grow StoreFour to at least 20K Canadian dollars of net profit every month; ambitious yet achievable.

Here is something you can view and get from StoreFour right now:

So far, I’ve found that bringing interested customers to the storefront and convincing them to actually buy something is the real challenge of succeeding at e-commerce. Building the store, finding the right products, designing, putting and tweaking the processes, all of that was in my turf, and did enjoy it a lot.

That said, as I’m gaining more understanding of e-commerce marketing and sales secrets through learning and doing, I’m getting the hang of it, and gradually enjoying it as well 🙂

A key element of “customer conversion,” which refers to convincing a visitor to buy, is first to drive the right traffic to your website, then offer something that interests the visitors in terms of quality, usability, and price.

It takes consistent monitoring of analytics and learning how to spot the insights and apply their wisdom in action. It also requires getting busy with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), advertisement, and building a good customer list.

Will keep my readers posted on the progress and would appreciate your feedback on any aspect of this new venture…

Keep learning and growing!

Yaman, The Wealth Maker

December 2, 2015

Multiple Streams of Income (MSOI)

I was first introduced to this term by Bob Proctor, a prominent Canadian author and motivational speaker on matters of financial wealth, among other fields related to human success (the definition of human “success” varies depending on the paradigm we use).

The concept is fairly simple, but not simplistic. During and after the industrial revolution (1760-1840), most workers started earning their income through employment in factories and enterprises that supported factory work (banks, press, railways, post, mining, and so forth).

By the turn of the 20th century, more than 50% of the North American workforce had shifted to employment. Excluding the Great Depression period (1929-1939), that percentage had experienced an upward trend, reaching its peak during the era after WW2. Fewer people took farm jobs or started their own ventures. Large corporations absorbed small businesses, manifesting capitalism on a wide scale.

Most of the population had retired to a sense of financial security derived from a “guaranteed” paycheck. The widespread possibility of serving the same employer for prolonged periods of time had supported that disposition. Job security had been perceived as a reality.

The Information Revolution came to shake things up. By the mid Eighties, assured continuation of employment had taken a backseat. Clinging to a job that would end with a two-week notice turned out to be questionable.

Disruptive changes are not always bad. They serve the individual(s) who is open to learning and growing, riding the wave of change, instead of getting washed out by it. Rigidity is synonym to breakdown!

Where does all of that lead us to? Flexibility, autonomy, and being in command of one’s life. Blindly following the crowd is risky, and oftentimes, intellectually and financially fatal. Relying on one source of income in today’s economy is not a wise choice, to say the least.

What are the alternatives? Take multiple jobs at different companies? Work “harder” at the same job to the extent you forget your children’s names or birthdays?! Or rely on social programs, where they exist, to bail you out when the unfortunate happens?

None of these options is viable. We can easily discount the first once we consider the conflict-of-interest provision in any employment contract, let alone the strenuous stretch and excessive stress endured by the employee.

The second is possible, and so many people have traversed that rocky path. However, the impact on personal life is undeniable. Furthermore, those who put 70- and 80-hour work weeks are not immune to reorganization storms. Management by numbers has become the rule at the end of the day!

Social programs can help, but they are not enough. They are meant to supplement other incomes, not replace them.

Now we’ve come to a point in our study where we are ready to consider better alternatives. Alternatives that lay a strong financial foundation, upon which to pursue higher intentions. The tool must remain a tool. When making money becomes the chief concern amid the struggle to “make ends meet”, life loses its meaning, its exuberance and joy. Happiness seems like a mirage dancing on a sun-broiled horizon.

Here is a mathematical representation of the solution:

T = P + (n * S)

T: Total income

P: Primary income

S: Secondary income

n: Number of secondary sources

P could be a form of employment or an established business. What about S? It can be any legitimate, ethical activity that produces money in exchange for providing real value.

Investing is one example. Online stores, part-time teaching/training/coaching, freelance writing (blogging, publishing, technical writing), creating digital products and selling them online on sites, such as Amazon™ and ClickBank™.

You could discover more sources. The bottom line is to find something you love and have the skillset to produce, grow and maintain, without jeopardizing your personal life. Again, we’re building a foundation, not a whole structure.

I have covered investing in great detail throughout this blog. You can learn about online stores by reading this particular post: https://soaring-eagle.org/2012/07/04/making-money-online-online-stores/

Please share with us your comments and suggestions. This article is not comprehensive, as the possibilities are endless. Its aim is to open doors of exploration, to deliver the message that there is more to work-life than a single option…

The Wealth Maker

May 24, 2015June 29, 2015

Business and Technology: Allies or Adversaries?

Not long ago, trade was at the core of business: The exchange of value between the buyer and the seller, physically. People used to travel, on horseback, carrying their homeland goods, to distant territories. They would trade the goods they have with what the other country had to offer.

Nowadays, billions of dollars get exchanged everyday, across the globe, without anything physical being “traded”. The wonders of technology!

Millions go online to trade commodities they never own, or to bet on price movements of stocks, indices, currencies or commodities. What is being exchanged? Where is the value transferred from the seller to the buyer?

Has technology added an inherent value to business dealings?

Has it made making money easier or losing it faster?

A merchant in ancient times wouldn’t lose his shirt overnight. Today, a business may go down in days, due, in part, to a blind reliance on technology.

Technology is a tool, a means to an end. When a business adopts any new technology, it must “serve” the mission of that business. Failing to do so, is a sign of either picking the wrong technology, or not having the right expertise to correctly utilize it.

The other concern when it comes to entirely relying on the instantaneous availability of technology is the probability of the opposite! What would a business do in case of a power failure, a major software crash, a loss of connection to the intranet (the business’s own internet, sometimes called Virtual Private Network (VPN); a tunneled network that securely rides over the public Internet)?

Here are some guidelines concerning the “marriage” between business and technology:

What is the business about, regardless of “how” it’s going to reach its objectives?
Who are the “people”, human beings, whom will run that business?
Does this business need to rely “critically” on any technology? what is the percentage?
What is the technology strategy? One that is “derived” from the overall business strategy, not the other way around, even if the business is all about “making” technology. In other words, a hi-tech enterprise
Do we have, in-house, the expertise to select, procure, install, configure, test and run the technology we need, or do we need to outsource it?
Risk management: Document, in details, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to follow in case of a technical malfunction, no matter how small. The overarching objective is to keep the business running, at its best, and keep customers happy
Have we considered implementing five nines High Availability (99.999 % HA)? There is no such thing as 100% availability, but five nines is close, yet not enough, alone

The list could go on. Add to it what’s relevant and specific to your business.

This article is an invitation to be aware of the wonders of technology, its limitations, and the best approaches to utilizing it for the good of a business.

The author loves technology and comes from a scientific/technology background, yet the misuse of a wonderful tool turns it from being an ally to becoming and adversary…

The Wealth Maker

September 29, 2012December 6, 2015

The Wealth Algorithm (7) – Business Plan

In the last post, we concluded by listing few steps you’d need to take, in order to finance your dream via a partnership.

Before you can engage a potential business partner in the process, you must be ready in terms of your plan and strategy of developing the capital to reach the intended result.

According to Wikipedia.org, “A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals.”

In our case, there’s only one “goal”, which is the intention we clearly defined. Next, you need to explain “the reasons you believe that intention is attainable”.

There could be different reasons to different people. Imagine your potential partner asking you this question: “Why do you believe that you are able to grow this “X” amount of money into, say, one million, over the course of the plan”?

Here, one should look closely at his/her skills and talents related to managing money, and financial assets in general.

If you feel you don’t have what it takes to succeed at this task, don’t be disappointed, you’re not alone. That’s why lifelong learning is so important, not only for our bank accounts, but also for our physical and mental health.

Keep things simple, pick one or two methods from the ones we’ve covered here. Make sure you understand the ins and outs of each one, then use that in answering the above question.

Let’s assume you were interested in building an online store. After reading and fully understanding the article, expand your knowledge further. Do more research. Try to actually build a simple online store and see if your interest was still the same, more or maybe less. Take all of that into consideration while writing your business plan.

Once you’ve answered that question, the rest is much easier. You want to do your best to prepare a plan that is precise, presentable and convincing. Include a step-by-step action plan that specifies the activities, the desired accomplishment from each activity, the time-frame, and the resources you may need (financial, human, etc).

A good way to start would be to use a “template”. This is available online. Pick one that you understand and can fill out effectively, in light of our discussion above.

The following points cover major areas of a business plan as described on the BDC™ site (Reference: http://www.bdc.ca/EN/articles-tools/entrepreneur-toolkit/templates-business-guides/Pages/business-plan-template.aspx):

Business overview: A brief description of your company and where it stands in the marketplace;
Sales & marketing plan: The sales & marketing strategies that will be used to target your customers;
Operating plan: A description of the physical aspect of your business operations;
Human resources plan: Details on your key staff, HR policies & procedures;
Action plan: The planned actions of the business over the next 2 to 3 years;
Executive summary: A summary of the reasons you are seeking financing, together with a summary of your business operations;
Financial appendix: The facts and figures that back up what you say in your plan.

All the best,

The Wealth Maker