Let’s merge and be full partners! Oh wait, never mind, you can be my employee.

[Fluvial]

^^ " In THIS economy ?!? "

:rotflmao:

 

[Capt Worley PE]

To quote an ex-boss, "You can't be afraid of the economy."

Of course, sales dropped 50% not too long after he said it.

 

[Dexman1349]

^^^ Just because you're not scared doesn't mean you can't become a victim of it, or at least proactive enough to protect yourself.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Oh, I think his point was not to be timid in the face of adversity. That was kind of his mindset.

 

[Slugger926]

Do you have a full blown Business Plan from when you started your business? Or have you been going by the seat of your pants?

If you don't have a Business Plan, I would start with that as your road map of where you are, and where you are going. I can paste an outline of a good plan later when I am at home. In the plan, there will be stuff like Risk Analysis, and a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. From the SWOT analysis, you can develop additional Business plans for expanding on the opportunities.

Don't get emotional with this guys offer. It is just business. You can counter with something ridiculous after going through details of your current business plan.

Since you are already partnering with him, or you are getting work from him that you rely on, I would also ask him for a copy of his business plan for your own financial security. This is done all the time between partnering companies, and with equipment providers, and is not just related to going to the bank for additional loans. Also, it can be prudent to ask for the business plan of companies that will force you to expand so that you know that the risk you are taking in expanding will be worth it.

 

[Slugger926]

I didn't mean to take the fun out of this discusion.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

Slugger,

Once you said Business Plan and used and acronym we all automatically put on our MBA filters and couldn't find the thread any longer.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

^Good one!!

(and pretty much what I did)

 

[Fluvial]

If you don't have a Business Plan, I would start with that as your road map of where you are, and where you are going. I can paste an outline of a good plan later when I am at home.

I had a kind of sketchy one when I first started, but I would be delighted to see your outline. Thank you.

I can guarantee you that Moe doesn't have one. He and Joe started the business as a hobby after they retired from their gov't jobs.

I am meeting with an attorney next Wednesday, to talk about all this stuff. I feel better already.

 

[Slugger926]

Here is the outline:

Once you add me to LinkedIN, I can email you the outline, and the business plan we did for the class that almost launched a new company. We did hide many of our strategic information along with our Venture capital information from the professor just in case the thing did take off.

I am interested in how you got subcontracting work from existing firms. I am getting sick of the stuff we are doing at work with no forseable future promotions, and only non stop layoffs. It looks like a good time to start something on the side.

---------------------

I. Introductory Page

A. Name and address of business

B. Name(s) and address(es) of principal(s)

C. Nature of business

D. Statement of financing needed

E. Statement of confidentiality of report

II. Executive Summary—Three to four pages summarizing the complete business plan

III. Industry Analysis

A. Future outlook and trends

B. Analysis of competitors

C. Market segmentation

D. Industry and market forecasts

IV. Description of Venture

A. Product(s)

B. Service(s)

C. Size of business

D. Office equipment and personnel

E. Background of entrepreneur(s)

V. Production Plan

A. Manufacturing process (amount subcontracted)

B. Physical plant

C. Machinery and equipment

D. Names of suppliers of raw materials

VI. Operational Plan

A. Description of company’s operation

B. Flow of orders for goods and/or services

C. Technology utilization

VII. Marketing Plan

A. Pricing

B. Distribution

C. Promotion

D. Product forecasts

E. Controls

VIII. Organizational Plan

A. Form of ownership

B. Identification of partners or principal shareholders

C. Authority of principals

D. Management-team background

E. Roles and responsibilities of members of organization

IX. Assessment of Risk

A. Evaluate weakness(es) of business

B. New technologies

C. Contingency plans

X. Financial Plan

A. Assumptions

B. Pro forma income statement

C. Cash flow projections

D. Pro forma balance sheet

E. Break-even analysis

F. Sources and applications of funds

XI. Appendix (contains backup material)

A. Letters

B. Market research data

C. Leases or contracts

D. Price lists from suppliers

Writing a business plan is like writing a proposal. Your proposal is to start a business, or modify the present path of a business. If you have never written a proposal before this is a good opportunity to practice. The outline above is a good one, but I have seen it where the production and operations plans would come after the organization plan. It just depends of the flow of your justification for starting a business.

When you write a proposal each section should have a theme: what is special about that particular section that you what people to know. That message should be able to be conveyed in some form of graphic, chart, or table. Your opening sentence and paragraph for each major section should embody the theme that you are trying to convey. Theme sentences have two major messages: (1) what is special about this section, and (2) what does that mean to the reader. E.g.,

XYZ has patented a unique business plan that offers a five-year, first-mover leadership advantage in the developing ABC industry. This leadership position enables an accounting break even of 2.5 years, and an economic break even of 3.25 years making the capital employed by XYZ an excellent investment. In addition, XYZ has developed several real business options that mitigate any risk that might disrupt the projected five-year, first-mover advantage.

 

[Fluvial]

Thanks for such an informative post! I really appreciate it.

I am interested in how you got subcontracting work from existing firms. I am getting sick of the stuff we are doing at work with no forseable future promotions, and only non stop layoffs. It looks like a good time to start something on the side.

It was in 2001, right in the middle of the huge building boom which was going on here. I did it all by word-of-mouth. I let everyone I knew at all the firms in town that I was going out on my own. I guess the key is to have a lot of contacts.

I read recently that clients pick engineering firms more for the people than for the technical expertise. That engineers are generally seen as all providing the same level of expertise. That was a little surprising, to me.

 

[Slugger926]

Thanks for such an informative post! I really appreciate it.




It was in 2001, right in the middle of the huge building boom which was going on here. I did it all by word-of-mouth. I let everyone I knew at all the firms in town that I was going out on my own. I guess the key is to have a lot of contacts.

I read recently that clients pick engineering firms more for the people than for the technical expertise. That engineers are generally seen as all providing the same level of expertise. That was a little surprising, to me.

You should be getting an email soon.

 

[Slugger926]

How did the discussion go?

 

[Fluvial]

My attorney friend suggested this: Set up an LLC which exists solely for the purposes of office expenses. Office rent, supplies, support personnel (if any) would be paid by this entity. The three of us would each contribute to an account for this 'office LLC'. We would keep the engineering practices separate.

I like that idea. I mentioned this to Moe on Tuesday when we were looking at the new office space. He said for right now he didn't mind signing the lease by himself. I don't think that's wise of him but I'm not going to try to talk him out of it. It would take a while to get the other LLC set up, and we need to be out of our current building in 3 - 4 weeks. He seemed willing to consider the proposed arrangement, anyway.

I appreciate you sharing your plan. I am polishing up my old one as time permits (it's slow going !).