Malayzia Mag The Christmas Edition | Page 33

ALL IN YOUR BUSINESS more effective ways of doing things and these will be the things you include in your business plan. “Work smarter, not harder”. 4. You might get sponsors or partners along the way. You never want to exclude these people because “backing” means something to investors. Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. 5. Your financial situation WILL change. Rather you’re funding the business yourself or you need investors, you’re unlikely to stay in the same position and have the same outlook on how you will finance your business. Your financial need will also change because you’ll constantly be crossing things off your to-do-list. You should save your edits as an entirely new document because you’ll want to keep a record of your progress. Besides, you’re writing your own history! Be sure to back your business plan (as well as your other business documents) up on a flash drive or two. The most horrific thing that can happen to an entrepreneur is the loss of documents. This can happen due to a flood, a fire, a computer malfunction or loss etc. Protect yourself and your documents. Malayzia Mag, August 2013, 4th Issue Photos compliments of smallbiztrends.com Another thing you should do is join your local SBA. The Small Business Administration offers so many tools to the business owner (and aspiring entrepreneur) free of charge. The advice is useful and priceless as indicated on their website www.sba.gov. These folks will help tweak your business plan, mentor you and even suggest funding ideas to you. They offer grants and loans internally but they have several lists that include firms that fund small businesses externally. Even if you never set foot in one of their offices, (which you should) it would be in your best interest to dedicate at least an hour to accessing the many resources on their website. The next order of business (in my book) would be to take a couple classes. There are a few skills and concepts you will need to learn in order to run a business. I’m not saying you need a Bachelors Degree but I would at least invest in the classes that teach you the skills that will save you money in the long haul. For instance, if you learn small business accounting, it will be unlikely that you’ll need an accountant. If you take a couple business law classes, you won’t have to dish out thousands of dollars each time you Photos compliments of saptac.com need contracts and proposals drawn. Most community