Family businesses account for 80 to 90% of all business enterprises in North America 1. They also provide 60% of U.S. employment, 78% of all new jobs, and 65% of all wages paid 2. But, essentially all of these businesses will lose their primary owner by death or retirement by the middle of the century. For the business owner, retirement is a light at the end of the tunnel. For others it is a sense of freedom and reward or an oncoming locomotive at full speed. A business is only as valuable as the return a person is able to derive from ownership.

Seven out of ten businesses fail each year due to improper succession planning. Comprehensive succession planning may be the most critical issue facing the American economy over the next few decades. The creators / controllers of this wealth must decide how to best pass their ownership interests to subsequent generations while still trying to perpetuate these entities. Equity may easily constitute more than 90% of a family’s financial security, retirement nest egg, and potential legacy. According to statistics only about 30% of all businesses will pass to a second generation, less than 10% will pass to a third, and about 4% will go to a fourth 3. The three leading causes of failure to transition to the next generation are:

1) Inadequate estate planning
2) Insufficient capitalization
3) Failure to prepare the next generation

All of this leads to an increasing demand for better planning. It also leads to a need for integrated training systems, more carefully administered business issues, and the responsibility to think, act, and operate in a more formal business-like fashion.

The Succession Solution

A comprehensive succession plan will address the needs of the family, the desire of the owner, and the demands of the business. There must be a healthy progression in the life of a viable family enterprise and the current owner must connect the past and present to the future through a process of planned transition.

A proper transition is built on the framework of the following five steps:

1) A dynamic business plan
2) An ownership transfer / leadership development system
3) Wealth creation / capital management
4) A fully funded retirement option design
5) An estate plan

To avoid becoming one of the seven out of ten businesses who fail each year due to improper succession planning it is essential that a business understands and implements these five steps. “There is no escaping the passage of progress,” says Jeff Moore, local business planning expert. “Threats from outside, the lack of qualified skilled employees, and constant legislative administrative pressures did not all happen overnight.”

In the value based business, the successful business owner or manager concentrates on the unique value that his or her business offers to its customers. This ‘uniqueness’ is discovered only through depth of thought and rigorous analysis of the reason and purpose that one is in business for in the first place.

It involves listening intently to what customers are saying and understanding their particular needs. Engaging customers at this level creates a close bond between the business and the customer. It creates opportunities for working with and through customers in a way that delivers results that are mutually agreeable.

Deep critical reflection is demanded to arrive at effective decisions that will deliver what the customer really wants, and not just what we may want to sell to them.

The three key elements that must be adopted to ensure customer focus, create value and transform both the value-based business and its relationships with customers are:

Adopt a ‘Customer Needs’ Driving Force

The mindset required for establishing a ‘customer needs’ approach must be imbedded in an understanding of the vision of the business, through a clearly articulated statement about what drives the business.

Such a driving force must be chosen by the business owner as part of setting the strategic agenda of the business. This then ensures that strategic choices are aligned to business capabilities, customers and markets and that these are properly differentiated and segmented within small business plans.

Adopting a ‘customer needs’ driving force results in products and services being developed by the value-based business around the current and future needs of its customers.

Build Strong Customer Relationships

Helping others get what they want builds strong customer bonds.

Use your business capabilities to help your customer strengthen their position in the market. This means tailoring your products and services to the needs of the customer, within the bounds and context of a mutually beneficial and trusting relationship.

This approach also applies to the internal environment of the business. The value chain of the business that extends to customers in the external environment begins in the internal environment as a series of processes.

People accomplish these processes. Seeing employees as customers, along a continuum of service, focuses business activities at the highest level in all its dealings with each other and external customers.

“What do you want to achieve?” and “How can we help you achieve what you want?” should always be the first words out of our mouths in addressing the needs of the people around us, both in our business and to the customer in the external world. Such questions display a degree of emotional intelligence in business.

Customer requests, feedback and complaints provide the opportunity to improve products and services by incorporating the valuable information that they contain.

Develop Strategic Partnerships, Alliances and Networks

Successful business owners join up processes between their companies and those of their customers in order to build an interdependent network of relationships that delivers greater returns to everyone.

When we work with and through others, we add value to what is on offer. This continuum of service and product delivery expands the reach of the value-based business and the customer.

Strategic partnerships, alliances and networks must never be entered into lightly. They must be built on a firm foundation and a shared value base. This is critical to ensure that products and services that are offered are not degraded or watered-down, in any way.

When forming such relationships it is paramount that the Mission, Vision and Values of the business are not compromised in any way. A partnership matrix framework that aligns these elements between prospective partners must be generated, as part of the business policy development process.

Business alliance and partnership relationships must be evaluated diligently before they are entered into. They require sound skills for negotiation and must be reviewed regularly as part of the business planning cycle.

The very first step of your business career should be to start creating a highly focused Business Plan. Without a business plan you are setting out on the route to failure – guaranteed!

Look at it this way, when your build a house you must lay the foundations for the house to stand. The same rules apply for any business; whether it’s a home based business, high street business, or even an internet business; you simply MUST HAVE a business plan.

The problem is for the majority of aspiring entrepreneur’s, they do not know what to include in their business plane, or if they do, they put the business plan at the bottom of their drawer, never to be seen again!

So, the first step in writing a business plan that is guaranteed to bring you success is to get down the basics. The basics should include details of you as the primary business owner, and also any other ‘key players’ in the business. Within these details you should include contact details for every relevant person, just in case you need to contact them in an emergency. Once you have gained all of the relevant details should now start to focus on the following areas:

Your business idea Within this section you should write down your business ideas. Don’t worry, a business plan is a working document, and therefore you can change the business plan as your ideas and creativity progress.

The aim of the business Within this section of the plan try to detail what the main aim/objectives of the business are. You should try to include short, medium and long term aims of the business. Where do you want to be in 3 months time? Where do you want to be in 12 months/36 months and 60 months time etc?

Your product and services Within this section you should concentrate on providing details that are relevant to your product or service. Always, and I mean always, aim for quality in everything that you do. Who’s going to make your product? Who’s going to deliver the service and are they capable of delivering the same high standards that you expect? Remember, without other’s help, you will not succeed in business.

Trade accounts Within this section you should include define details that relate to your trade accounts. Are you going to meet with them face-to-face, or are you going to communicate b telephone and e mail? It is very important that you meet up with your trade accounts from time to time in order to build up a relationship/

Business funding Within this section of the business plan, try to define details that relate to the funding of your business. Are you going to fund the expansion yourself, or are you going to seek capital from a third party such as a bank or venture capitalists? Whichever you choose, make sure you can afford the repayments!

Other areas of your plan should include Business premises, staff details, further costs and expenses, inventory and action for progress.

The creation of a day care business plan can be a bit more complicated that the writing of many other types of business plans.

This is because a day care business plan will have to include information on the many state, local and federal laws which govern the day care industry.

That day care business plan will also need to include quite a bit of information detailing the various licensing requirements for the teachers and caregivers who will work in the day care.

Your Day Care Business Can Be Quite Rewarding

Even so, a day care business can be quite a lucrative one, and quite a personally rewarding one as well.

Helping parents find the affordable and high quality child care they need can provide a great deal of satisfaction, but it is important to create a detailed and complete day care business plan before seeking funding for that new business venture.

Turning Your Dream Of Running A Day Care Into A Reality

After all, starting a new day care business can be quite an expensive undertaking. There will be lots of little desks and chairs to buy, supplies to stock and space to rent or buy.

Creating a detailed day care business plan will help the business owner to attract the start up funding that will be needed to turn the dream of a well run day care center into a reality.

Using Your Business Plan To Help You Get Financing

The startup funding that the day care business plan is designed to attract can take many forms.

In some cases the new business owner will simply request a business loan from a local bank or other financial institution.

If this is the case the potential lender will no doubt want to take a good look at the proposed day care business plan before making a final decision.

Potential Business Partners And Investors Will Want To View Your Business Plan

In other cases the owner of the new day care business will want to take on investors and partners in order to get the funds needed to open the doors.

These potential business partners and investors will also want to take a look at the day care business plan that has been prepared before they make a decision.

Provide Accurate And Complete Information In Your Business Plan

No matter what the plans for raising startup capital, it is important for the day care business plan to provide accurate and complete information.

It is important that the day care business plan answer any questions that would be investors or lenders would need to have answered.

After all, important documents like the day care business plan will represent the businesses’ face to the world, and it is important to provide a positive picture of the new business.

A business plan will make or break any fledgling business’ attempts to secure funding. Often at meetings with potential investors, the first item requested for review will be the business plan. Your plan will literally determine if you will secure the needed funding to start your business.

A well written business plan is critical. This being said, many business owners lack confidence in their ability to craft a strong plan by themselves. Hiring a professional writer or business plan creation service may be out of reach for many small companies. Luckily, there is another option. Writing software is an affordable way to get the help that you need to create a stunning plan and secure funding.

Biz plan software is not only affordable, it is effective. Many programs offer a variety of templates that a business owner can use to easily format their business plan. The extensive selection of templates can inspire countless ideas. Once selected, a template serves as an easy to use base for your plan. Simply input your unique information in the areas provided for a perfectly formatted, custom start-up plan.

Of course, filling in the blanks is not an effortless process. It can be difficult to know what information should be included in each section and how this information should be phrased. Business plan software programs are ready to assist. Many programs will offer suggestions, guidance, and tips for completing each section of the plan.

This is not all. A good plan software program will also help business owners with the most important section of the business plan, the financial section. Your financial calculations and projections will help potential business investors realize the potential of your company. Business software will offer easy calculation and compilation of this critical section. A business owner simply needs to obtain the necessary information and input it into the program which will do the rest.

There are a few things to consider as you select the software program that is right for you. One of these elements is the availability of customer service and support. While business plan software makes plan creation much easier, some business owners will encounter questions. A software plan that includes telephone support will help you to quickly get answers to questions immediately. Email support does have its purposes, but phone support will prove to be the quickest and easiest way to get the answers that you need immediately.

Don’t struggle with creating a plan when you don’t have to. Invest in a quality software package today and quickly construct a professional, well-formatted plan. This plan will be your key to capturing investors and obtaining the funding that your business requires for success. These programs will help you to create a quality plan that you can be proud of.

It can be tricky to complete a start-up plan on your own. By selecting and utilizing a quality software package you can eliminate the hassle while producing a more professional end result. Business plan software is not only affordable, it is easy to use.