Six-Week Start-Up. Rhonda Abrams

point down the road when you ask yourself, “Why did I start all this?” Reread what you’ve written here when you need to be “re-inspired,” or just to get a reminder of what your goals were from the beginning.

      The worksheets in this section are also the starting point for articulating your business concept and identifying your niche and customer base.

       Check It Out

      What are the qualities of a successful entrepreneur? Read Rhonda’s “Think Like an Entrepreneur” article www.planningshop.com/thinkentrepreneur

       My role models

      Do you want to be another Bill Gates? Do you see yourself as a future Oprah Winfrey? Or do you look up to your uncle who ran his own store or your older sister who has been self-employed for 10 years?

      Many of us are fortunate enough to know of people in business whom we admire or would like to emulate. You may know them personally, or you may have read about their business practices or success.

      Thinking about your role models can help you clarify your own business vision. If your business hero is Bill Gates, what about him do you admire? His ability to make a great deal of money? Build a huge business? His marketing and strategic capabilities? Or do you admire his technical knowledge?

      Take a moment to think about whom your business role models are, by completing the “My Role Models” worksheet on page 11.

       My “bright idea”

      What excites you about your business idea? If you have two or three ideas, what do you like best about each one? Where did the idea come from? How has it evolved since you started the process of turning the idea into a business?

      By looking at how you initially got the inspiration for your business, you can take the next step toward determining how you might get others excited about your business also. That’s the start of taking an idea and turning it into a plan, which becomes a successful business. You will also find it useful to have a record of what initially inspired you, to which you can refer from time to time, especially as your business grows. Use the worksheet on page 13 to record your initial business idea.

MY “BRIGHT IDEA”

      Use this space to record your initial business idea(s). This will become a starting point for defining your business concept and why it can be competitive in the marketplace (on page 14). It will also be useful as you prepare your marketing materials and write your “Elevator Pitch” in Week Six.

What is your business idea?

How did you come up with it?

What excites you about it?

MY BUSINESS CONCEPT

       Answering the following questions will help you clarify your concept:

Is yours a retail, service, manufacturing, distribution, or Internet business?

What industry does it belong to?

What products or services do you sell?

What improved features/services or added value do you provide? What makes you unique or special?

Whom do you see as your potential customers?

What is your overall marketing and sales strategy?

Which companies (or types of companies) do you think of as your competition?

What do you think will make customers buy from you instead of your competitors?

Describe your business concept

      Meeting needs is the basis of all business. You can devise a wonderful new machine, but if it doesn’t address some real and important need or desire, people won’t buy it, and your business will fail. Even Thomas Edison recognized this fact when he said, “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent.”

       Identify needs

      Now that you know what your spark and passion is regarding your idea, use the worksheet on page 14 to determine how your product or service will meet new or existing needs in the marketplace.

      A concept’s success often hinges on whether it does something newer or better than anyone else. Being new or better can take many forms:

       Something new. A new product, service, feature, or technology.

       Something better. This could be an improvement on an existing product or service—encompassing more features, lower price, greater reliability, faster speed, increased convenience, or enhanced technology.

       An underserved or new market. This is a market for which there is greater demand than competitors can currently satisfy, an unserved location, or a small part of an overall market—a niche market—that hasn’t yet been dominated by other competitors. Sometimes, markets become underserved when large companies abandon or neglect smaller portions of their current customer base.

       New delivery system or distribution channel. For example, the Internet enables companies to reach customers more efficiently, creating opportunities for businesses to provide products or services less expensively, or with far greater choice, to a wider geographic area.

       Increased integration. This occurs when a product is both manufactured and sold by the same company, or when a company offers more services or products in one location.

BASIC BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

       Use this worksheet to develop