Six-Week Start-Up. Rhonda Abrams

program.

      Contact management is so important that big corporations spend hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars on huge, powerful CRM systems. You don’t have to. You can get by with a much simpler contact management application.

      A contact management program can be as simple as an electronic “address book” such as one included as part of an email program, like Microsoft Outlook. As a start, that’s a good way to make sure you don’t lose important contact information.

      However, you’ll probably quickly outgrow the contact capabilities included in email programs and will want to get a dedicated contact management software application.

      Two of the benefits of cloud-based CRM programs for new entrepreneurs are that you pay as you go and that these applications can grow with you. So when you just start out and only have a short list of contacts, you can subscribe to a plan that suits your needs and your budget. Later, after you’ve grown, you simply upgrade to a larger plan—without interrupting your access to one of your company’s most valuable assets: your contacts. Two popular cloud-based CRM applications to choose from are Salesforce CRM and SugarCRM.

       Start It Free

      Take a look at free CRM solutions from Insightly (insightly.com), Zoho (zoho.com/crm), and Apptivo (apptivo.com).

      At the very least, set up a file on your computer for contact information. Don’t just let business cards stack up.

Keep track of your company’s vital statistics

      Throughout the life of your business, there’s certain information you’re going to be asked over and over again, such as your Tax ID number and your date of incorporation. You’ll save a lot of time and aggravation later if you start recording all important dates, numbers, and data relating to your company right from the start.

      Get in the habit of writing down—in one place—all of your company’s “vital statistics.” Otherwise, you’ll find it’s annoying to have to dig through files to find the same information repeatedly.

      You’ll find a worksheet to keep track of all the vital statistics about your business in Week Three on page 93.

Keep track of expenses

      In Week Five, you’ll deal with money matters, but don’t wait until then to start keeping track of the money you spend. After all, many of your expenses may be tax deductible, and you’ll want to save every penny you can when you’re first opening up shop.

      You can choose to wait until Week Five to ask your accountant for a recommendation of a bookkeeping software program, but at the very least, start right now to keep track of each and every expenditure you make.

       Start It Free

      Look online for free expense trackers like mint.com and expensify. com.

      week 2

       WEEK 1: LAY THE FOUNDATION

       WEEK 2: GET THE INFORMATION YOU NEED

       WEEK 3: CUT THROUGH RED TAPE

       WEEK 4: TAKE CARE OF OPERATIONS

       WEEK 5: DEAL WITH MONEY ISSUES

       WEEK 6: OPEN YOUR DOORS!

      Week 2

       Main accomplishments:

      #1 Learn more about your industry

      #2 Research your target market

      #3 Check out your competition

      #4 Find suppliers

      #5 Consider strategic partners

      #6 Broaden or establish your network

       Make appointments with:

       Attend a community, entrepreneur, or industry organization meeting

      Get the Info You Need

      This week you’re going to sharpen your skills at finding critical business information—whether it be about your industry, target market, competitors, or other business information you’ll need.

      Don’t be put off by the word “research.” It probably conjures up the image of term papers and school projects; this kind of research isn’t like that. Instead, this week, you’ll get shortcuts to finding reliable information to help you build your business and make decisions.

      The emphasis is on finding such information fast, easily, and hopefully free (or at least pretty darn cheap).

      Start with the “Learn more about your industry” section because many of the skills and sources you’ll use will be the same for other types of research (for instance, your target market or suppliers).

      To begin, get out your computer; most of the information-gathering will occur online. And get ready to find the information you need to build your company!

ACCOMPLISHMENT #1:

       Learn more about your industry

       My Checklist:

       Make a list of your research questions

       Contact your industry association(s)

       Do online research

Make a list of your research questions

      Once you start looking for information, you’re likely going to find more information than you need—or not find the right information at all. A good way to speed up the process of finding information is to start by making a general statement that defines the basis of your business.

      For example, if you are planning to start a company that provides online psychological therapy, your general statement might be: “There is a profitable way to provide psychological counseling via the Internet.” Next, make a list of questions that logically follow from and challenge that statement. Here are some questions you might ask about the online therapy business:

       What companies are already providing such a service?

       What is the market size for all kinds of psychological counseling?