If you are looking for finance to either start up a business or expand your existing one you have to accept that if you want the Bank to say yes to your superb business idea, you are going to have to spend time preparing for the interview.

The chat with the Manager is your only chance to really sell yourself and your idea. It's rare that you'll get a second chance with the same Manager or Bank. So don't deny yourself the opportunity.

But many people have a problem in presenting themselves in front of strangers!

So let's consider why people find the idea of selling themselves and their business a daunting task.

Lack of Confidence

Some people just don't feel confident when talking in a public situation. You may not consider communicating on a one-to-one basis as talking in public, but it is. Outside of your own "self-talk" (conversations you have in your mind with yourself) and within your own home, all conversations are essentially public speeches.

Lack of Preparation

If you haven't prepared properly then this will show through in any stressful situation. Lack of preparation includes not knowing the ins-and-outs of your business idea or Business Plan and not anticipating the type of questions you'll be asked during the interview. It's comparable to going into an examination and knowing deep down that you haven't put the effort in - do you remember that feeling?

Poor Communication Skills

Some people feel that they can never communicate their ideas in a clear and coherent manner; their thoughts are jumbled up and are not in any order; words and explanation of concepts come out in a muddle. As a result, their body language and voice begins to reflect the uneasiness, which leads to even more mental anguish. And so the cycle continues ever downward!

Poor Self Image

Some business people don't see the interview as a meeting of equals in which both parties want a successful outcome. They see the Manager as some kind of ogre, someone, who given half the chance, will devour them up and cast them aside, just for his own evil pleasure! This enduring image stays with them right up to the start of the interview, dominating their thoughts and making the whole process a complete disaster!

Lack of Focus and Planning

On the day of the interview, some try to do a thousand-and-one other things before going along to the Bank. What happens? They get stressed out because something has not gone to plan - the man who was to come to repair the washing machine didn't turn up until an hour after the agreed time; they forgot that the car would need fuel on the way in and so this has added 10 minutes to the journey time; a friend turns up at the house and they don't have the courage to tell her to go, so an hour later she's still there!

By the time they get to the Bank, their heart is beating faster than that of a marathon runner and their mind is a complete blank! They don't see the day as having one job, that of seeing the Bank Manager, and so the day isn't properly planned.

All these unplanned diversions and delusions can take your mind off mentally preparing for the important task ahead.

Do any of these situations sound familiar? What can you do to put yourself in a better frame of mind?

Here are 3 suggestions out of my 9-step Interview Preparation Plan

Have Belief in Your Future Success

Before someone else can believe in you, you have to believe in yourself. You must absolutely have no doubt in your own mind that you will succeed in setting up your business or moving your current business forward. It's not about what you believe you are now but what you believe you can be in the future. You may have little in the way of money or assets now but you have to believe that in the future you will have all these things (if this is how you define your idea of success).

You have to be 100% sure that you are going to be one of the few people who will make a success of their life. You have to demonstrate an "I-will-get-to-the-top" attitude. If you don't believe you can climb to the top of the mountain then it's certain you won't! People, and this will include your Bank Manager, follow the person who believes what he is saying.

Know Your Business Plan Inside Out

If you have organised yourself properly, the Manager will have spent time going through your Business Plan before the interview. After reviewing your Plan he will probably have a list of questions to clarify the areas he's not sure of, or questions just to prompt you to give him a better understanding of certain parts of your business.

To deal with these questions confidently and competently you have to know your Plan inside out. In view of the time constraints people are under these days, it's possible that the Manager may only have skimmed through your Plan (what! After all your work? After all those hours? Yep, it's a fact of life I'm afraid!). The answers to his queries of course may actually be contained in the Plan. If this does happen, don't lose your cool or answer with an "attitude". Use this as an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of your Plan. Think how professional and organised you'll look when you tell him to turn to page 10 and he’ll find the answer to his question right there! If nothing else, it will make feel humble!

Knowing your Plan means that at least during the interview you're not going to contradict what you included in it. You have to be consistent. If you say something which doesn't tally with what you stated on paper, what do you think will go through the Manager's mind? "Does this person know what he's doing? They obviously don't have a clear direction or focus for the business if they keep changing their mind."

Knowing your Plan will demonstrate that you are meticulous, organised and consistent, the type of person a Banker really likes!

Put Yourself in the Manager's Shoes

One effective way of preparing for the interview is to imagine you as the Manager. Imagine you are seeing yourself and your plan for the first time; pretend you know absolutely nothing about you or your business. What would you ask? What would you want to know? What is likely to confuse an "outsider" about your business? What questions would you ask to get a better understanding? What challenging questions would you ask?

You have to get inside his mind so you can prepare well-researched and well-presented answers to his likely questions. It's all back to being professional in your presentation, demonstrating that you know your business and that you are worthy of support. You won't give this impression if you haven’t spend time thinking of possible questions you could be asked and preparing the answers in advance.

Banker's favourite questions are "What if……" ones:

• "What if your supplier fails you?"

• "What if the price of your raw materials goes up by 10%?"

• "What if you lose your number one customer?"

• "What if one of your critically important employees leaves?"

Set some time aside when preparing for the interview to think like a Banker. What would you want to know if you were in his chair? The list of questions could be endless and there is no way you can pre-empt all of them but at least you will be prepared for the majority of them.

These are just 3 of the steps you can take to prepare yourself for your interview.

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In last week’s article, we talked about why your small business needs a press kit. Because they’re not just for the press, I prefer to call them small business information package. To recap, you need a small business information package to augment your business card, which has only limited information about you and your company.
Your small business information package is the printed materials to give or send to prospective clients to tell them who you are, where you are, how to contact you, what you do, how to buy, and why to buy from you instead of your competition.

This week, we’re going to discuss what you should put inside your information package. For all intents and purposes, anything that promotes your company can go inside it. Some of the more common things include:

• Business card
• Small business brochure
• Letter of introduction
• Product or service review
• Price list
• Press releases
• White papers
• Recent articles written by you or about your company
• Biography of key officers
• Flyers, coupons or direct mail pieces
• Information pamphlets

So, let’s talk a bit about each. And let’s start with the big one—your small business brochure. Your small business brochure can stand alone. If you decide not to have a complete small business information package, at the very least, create a tri-fold brochure so you have detailed printed information to give clients.

If your prospective client reads only one thing in your whole information package, it will most likely be your brochure. Why? Because it captures the reader’s attention better than any other item in your information package. Most of your other items will be letters, articles or reviews. They’ll look good, and they’ll all match because they’re on your letterhead, but they won’t jump out at your readers like your full color tri-fold brochure will.

So, you want to make sure it’s the first thing people see when they open the front cover of your information package. If you can capture their interest with your brochure, they’re more likely to read the rest.

The first page of your small business brochure should have your business name and logo, and possibly a photo or some graphics. Make it colorful. Make it interesting. Add a slogan or motto on the front that will make people curious as to what’s inside. You don’t want them to just look at the front cover and put it aside!

Inside, try to introduce yourself and review your product or service briefly. If you can, keep the introduction and review to the length of the first inside page or so. Adding a few graphics or photos throughout the whole brochure, together with informative text helps keep your readers’ interest. And, make good use of your headings, remembering that most readers will scan from left to right, stopping at graphics and headings, and sometimes reading the last paragraph.

Now, this part is important, and is possibly the biggest mistake most small businesses make with their brochure—at least some of the other two inside pages could be better used to show prospective buyers how your product or service can benefit them, rather than to describe your product or service features.

I cannot stress this enough. Too many times small business brochures are used simply to talk about you, your company or your product/service. Most of your readers simply won’t care who you are, what you do or how you do it. What they really care about is how you can benefit them. How you can save them time or resources. How you can make their lives just a little bit easier.

Often, the last outside page of your brochure summarizes the inside pages, or lists products or services in point form. You could even add a price list, if you have one.

The next several items in your small business information package are all written on your letterhead, and the sky’s the limit as to what you can use.

You could put the letter of introduction just behind your brochure, or you could include it outside the information package cover if you’re mailing it. Usually this is just a short, one-page letter introducing yourself and your company, and thanking the recipient for taking the time to look at your information package.

Your product or service review could be long or short, depending on what you’re offering. This is not the place to stress benefits, but simply to list and describe your services or products. You can combine a product or service review with your price list very effectively.

Include any press releases about your company, and articles written by you or about your company. If you don’t have any, don’t worry. You can write some specifically for your information kit. Include announcements of your grand opening, for example, or a new line of products, or your new location. Or write an article about one of your products or services.

White papers are becoming increasingly popular. Are you an expert in a particular area? If you are, you might want to write a white paper to include with your information package. A white paper discusses specific business issues, products, technology or other such topics. It usually summarizes information about the topic, and then suggests a proposal for action, referencing research data to justify the reasons for the action. It explains your topic in terms most people can understand, with the goal of educating consumers and marketing your product or service. White papers help establish the writer as an authority.

The biography of your key officers is basically a resume. Include short one-page biographies of key officers to highlight areas of expertise and level of experience in your industry.

Fliers, coupons and direct mail pieces can also be included in your small business information package. Fliers and coupons emphasize current specials or discounts. Here’s a few tips. When you’re thinking about specials or discounts, try to create a sense of urgency with them by making them time- or quantity-limited. And, consider the 10/10 rule, which theorizes that people are most likely to buy when they see discounts of 10% or $10. Or, better yet, offer something extra free.

Recent direct mail sales letters can also be included. There’s simply too much to say about them to really give justice in this short article, but some things to remember are: to stress benefits, create a sense of urgency, the 10/10 rule and a bolded P.S. including a call to action.

Keep direct mail sales letter simple and relevant. Be enthusiastic, know your product, use your imagination and understand your target audience. Establish trust and credibility. Include testimonials. Give free nuggets of information. And, just like in your brochure, write your direct mail sales letter for how people will read it, scanning left to right, and stopping at graphics and headlines, and the P.S.

Now that you’ve gotten all your information package items written and printed, it’s time to put them all together. You can buy covers in your company colors and have your logo and business name printed on them. Put your business card in the front slot and your information in the inside pockets, making sure your brochure is the first item they’ll see. Then send it out, and sit back and wait for responses you’re sure to get!

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It all starts with a great idea, an idea that has probably been in your mind for a long time. You have the product sorted out, how you are going to deliver your service, where you are going to set up your office and how you are going to market your new business. But the stumbling block always seems to be the finance to get you going.

Finding the finance to get a small business off the ground is a major issue for any potential small business. Some new businesses lend themselves to very little start up capital because the main selling point is the owner’s skills and knowledge, for example consultants, web designers, PR specialists. Businesses which require stock holding, plant and equipment and other investment, face the real challenge of getting their start up finance together.

So what sources can you tap into to ensure your business gets off to a solid start?

Your Savings

The first port of call! If you have been in employment for some time then before going it alone you should hopefully have some spare cash behind you. Whether this be in the form of cash in a savings account or shares and unit trusts, this is a good start to your fund raising exercise.

You can be more focused in saving cash if you have had the goal of setting up your own business for awhile. Knowing you need to save to get your business off the ground will make sure you don’t spend your future nest egg on unnecessary items. Whilst a new Plasma TV or the latest DVD Recorder may seem to be an essential purchase, knowing that you have a business to set up in the future will be sufficient a deterrent to keep the cheque book firmly locked away!

Keep Your Job

Some business owners are lucky enough that during the early days of the business they can keep the day job while working on the business during the evenings and weekends. This has two benefits. Firstly, they are still earning thereby allowing more time to build up a cash reserve. Secondly, it’s an opportunity to test out the business to make sure there is a market.

Make sure that you can realistically keep both balls in the air at the same time otherwise you will end up doing justice to neither your job or your new business. The support of your family is also essential if you are to follow this strategy. They have to accept that what used to be ‘family time’ may have to take a back seat until you decide to concentrate on the business full time.

Family and Friends

These can be a useful source of finance for any start up. If you have harboured ambitions to run your business for some time, then many of your family and friends are already likely to know about your idea. You should therefore have an indication who is for it and who is against it.

If you haven’t shared your secret desire then it’s time to be slightly devious! If you are in the early planning stages start drip feeding your ideas to key people whom you think are likely to support you. Tell them your ideas, share your ambitions and goals and on a regular basis update them with your progress. The plan is to get them sold on you and your future business at an early stage.

Once you get to the point where you are ready to start asking for contributions hold an Investor Evening. Prepare a presentation outlining your plans, the business, the market etc. Show the potential investors what their return will be in recognition for supporting you.

Invite as many people as you can and promise an interesting and fun evening, Be bold at the very start; tell them exactly why they are there, so there are no misunderstandings. After you have done your presentation gather all the names of the people who may want more information or even a one-to-one with you.

Whilst this group are people who know you and so are more likely to trust you, don’t forget that you are developing a very different relationship which can quickly turn sour. Be prepared for rocky times!

Bank Line of Credit or Loan

Now you’re getting into the serious stuff! Getting support from a Bank for a new business is tough, as many entrepreneurs will testify. One sneaky way is to apply for an unsecured loan while you are still in employment. If you have planned things right you will know when you are starting up, so a few months before you pack your job in, apply for a loan based on your salary. However, make sure that you can comfortably meet the repayments. There is no grace period; you will be expected to pay back immediately, so your business will have to start earning very quickly.

The alternative is a business line of credit facility. There is no fixed repayment date, although they will be for periods from 6 to 12 months, and all you have to do is ensure that you keep within the overdraft limit. You will have to write a business plan to present to the Bank which outlines your idea and the business.

Mortgage or Equity Release

With the way house prices have been increasing over the last few years, the vast majority of people now have substantial equity in their homes. The cheaper alternative to a Bank overdraft or loan is a mortgage. The interest rate is lower and, as the repayments are spread over a longer period, the monthly repayment is less (although you will end up paying more interest in the long run).

The disadvantage of raising cash this way is that your home is potentially at risk. If meeting the monthly repayments is dependent on what the business can generate then a slow start could cause cash problems. So be very sure you can meet the repayments even during a lean period.

Credit Cards

If you haven’t got any savings, can’t get support from family or friends, or a Bank loan or mortgage, then there are your credit cards! However, whilst it’s easy to draw down on your card, be wary! Credit cards are the most expensive form of debt.

They are ideal because all you may have to do is pay the minimum amount but card debt, as most people have found out, can be a long term burden. But, if you need a cash lump sum to kick start the business and you know you can pay it off within a few months, then it’s an alternative source of finance worth considering, if somewhat unorthodox!

Business Grants

Business grants are available for specific industries, sectors and reasons. Grant providers will usually only give a portion of your requirement, so they cannot be used to totally finance a start up. However, they can be useful in filling a funding gap.

Business Angels

A popular way to fund a business are Business Angels. These are people, usually retired or successful business people in their own right, who are looking for opportunities to invest in new businesses.

In exchange for an investment they will typically look for a shareholding in the business and some hands-on involvement. They will have a vast business experience and so are useful people to have on board. However, you will have to accept an element of loss of control but that needs to be balanced against your desire for funding.

Getting finance for your new business can be a challenge but there are a number of avenues to explore and so with dedication and focus you could soon be on your way to launching your own small business.

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A business card is a great way to introduce your company name to a potential client and then in turn they will always have your name and number handy. This brings your company into your client’s world as a household name for your customers for their future needs or as a word of mouth company to pass on to their friends and family. Business cards that boost your sales need to be given out to every person you come in contact with or anyone who becomes interested in your company and the service that you provide. A business card should also have an eye-catching design and it should be memorable to help your business profit more.

Let us say that you are in the real estate business. A business card is extremely necessary in that line of work. Your name will be remembered when your customer is given your card and then they will have it to keep around and refer to when necessary. There are several templates available online that will give your business card the look that you desire. Real estate business cards can convey the message that you are an independent realtor or it can show what area that you work with. Rather this is a design for apartments or houses or a specific city like New York Cit or Los Angeles with beautiful layouts, those designs will definitely enhance the look and feel of your business card. Your company will benefit in sales from a real estate business card that shows the areas of real estate you work in and the design should catch a potential client’s eye and keep them intrigued while they are holding onto your card. Consider adding clip art to your business card if you want a simple, yet effective design for your real estate business.

There are magnetic business cards that give your customers the assurance that they can place your card on the refrigerator and forget about it. Then the next day and a couple of weeks later your business card will still be around when the needs of your services are required. Your business card is not just another paper card. It has a feature that is almost guaranteed to get you business and boost your sales. Magnetic business cards are easily accessible and are a lot harder to lose, once you stick them and forget them. The refrigerator is not the only surface that your magnetic business card will stick too. File cabinets, lockers, and even cars can become places of advertisement for your business and its services.

A business card should also have an eye-catching design and it should be memorable to help your business profit more.

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Evaluating business opportunities can be a bear. How do you know what is legit and what is not? Here are some thoughts regarding web opportunities.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Of Business Opportunities

Working for yourself is great, regardless of whether you are doing it for a bit of extra money or completely ditching your boss. Ironically, entire industries have evolved offering you, me and everyone opportunities to get away from The Man. From stuffing envelopes to MLM, there are a zillion different opportunities to sell people…business opportunities. All and all, it can get pretty confusing.

On the web, there are two business approaches that work over and over. One is a Google program called Adsense. The other is the affiliate program opportunity. Let’s take a closer look.

Google Adsense is a very unique program. Businesses pay Google to advertise in its search results. If you do a search on Google, the blue ads at the top of the results and down the right column of the page are such ads. In addition to search results, Google also will place these ads on independent sites. This is where you can make a bundle in the Adsense program.

Google needs sites to place its ads on. To entice webmasters to place the ads, Google will give you a share of the revenue the advertisers are paying it. When someone clicks one of them, Google pays the site owner part of the bid price per click the advertiser has agreed to pay. This is an opportunity you can take advantage of by building a site and putting Google ads on it. Google is a huge, legitimate company, so you can count on the check coming each month.

Affiliate programs have been the dominant on the web for years. Essentially, a company will build a site and want to promote it. Instead of carrying the marketing load on their own, they will let you promote their products on your site. In exchange, they give you a cut of the amount paid at the sale. The cut can be a one-time payment or a reoccurring payment each month.

There are a zillion affiliate programs. How do you know which one to promote? The best approach is to make a list of the sites you visit and buy from. You know the businesses are credible and have attractive prices, etc. Now go see if they offer an affiliate program. Many will and you can use them to make money.

From stuffing envelopes to MLM, there are a zillion different opportunities to sell people…business opportunities. All and all, it can get pretty confusing.

Figuring out which of the million or so advertised business opportunities are legit can be difficult. Google Adsense and affiliate programs are the best options on the web.

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Working from home has turn out to be more and more trendy in the past few years. More people are getting weary of having to rouse up early and make a extensive commute to a job they detest and working for a person or a company they don'’t want to work for. One of the best advantages to working from home on your own home business is that you can wake up when you want or need to and the commute is a long as it takes for you to walk to your home office. But it can be easy to get distracted when you are working from home so here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.

It’s critical that you become involved in all characteristics of your home business and become well-versed in the areas that you are unfamiliar with. This includes starting from the very idea on what you want your business to be about, to the formation of the service or the product all the way to the end when the product or service reaches the customer. If you assign things to other people, it can be easy to get induced into doing something that you end up not liking, so knowing what is going on in all aspects of the business is very important.

Exploration is a great thing. I know it can seem a little bit scary, especially if your home business is the lone thing contributing to your earnings. However a business should be about doing new things. The world is moving at a fast pace and people get jaded with seeing the same things over and over again and experimentation of ideas and products could be very useful and give you a step up above your competitors.

The biggest thing you need to be educated about when owning and operating a home business is the Internet. It is the most prevailing tool you can have when working from home. The Internet is the best place to tell people about what your business has to offer and there are several ways to not only inform people but also make money with different types of programs like advertising and affiliation. Having a website is one of the best ways to confront all of these things and you can either make it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. The bottom line is that any business needs to have an online presence.

These are just a few of the many things you need to think about when working from home and owning your own home business. Like I said before, it is crucial to become informed with all characteristics of operating a home business.

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Starting a business online could be much quicker than starting one offline. However, as a small business owner, you need to be prepared to spend a fair amount of time and energy to make your business profitable. After all, that is why you're going into business isn't it?

An online business is still one of the greatest work from home business opportunities on the planet. You may even have a grand vision for an online store, but find yourself struggling to handle the basic details of getting your store up and running. One essential detail is selecting the products you will use to "stock" your store. You will also have to decide if you want to keep an inventory or want to use dropshipping. Starting a store online can be as challenging as starting one offline, but it if you understand what's involved, this doesn't necessarily have to be the case. By identifying and using the right resources, you can make your start-up a smooth one.

The key to having a profitable online presence instead of just another online enterprise is creating or locating good quality products that you can sell for a profit. One way to do this is through drop shipping. Drop shipping allows small business owners, like you to establish a professional relationship with vendors who wholesale the products you want to sell. These vendors will ship customer orders directly to them rather than you having to stock inventory and do the product fulfillment yourself.

Prior to opening your store, it is critical to have the foundation of your business firmly established. Organization must be an integral part of this process. As your list of vendors and dropshippers increases, you should have all of their contact information in a convenient location for easy access. Don't short-circuit this part of the process, it is amazing how much time you can save by being organized and by having established contacts within your product market. Take the time you need to build your store right from the ground up and business will virtually run itself in due time.

A number of factors will contribute to the ultimate success of your business whether that business is online or offline. The Internet, especially, is often viewed as a way to "get rich quick" rather than as a way to build a good business with a greater reach. You will get out of your business what you decide to put into it. Today's technology allows small business owners to build their businesses faster.

However, as a small business owner, you need to be prepared to spend a fair amount of time and energy to make your business profitable. After all, that is why you're going into business isn't it?

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There are many reasons you might need to know the age of people who are frequenting your business. Maybe you run a nightclub and only want people over the age of 21 to be admitted. Or you could own a shop that sells cigarettes, or a restaurant that serves alcohol.

Whatever the reason you need to verify a person's age, you know that it is important to do so. As a conscientious business owner you don't want to sell to minors, and the fines and penalties can be heavy if you are caught.

But checking the identification of every patron and doing the math to make sure they are the right age can be time consuming. That's where electronic age verification software comes in.

Age verification software is built into a device that looks like a credit card scanner. The device reads the barcode or magnetic strip that is built into the patron's driver's license or state identification card.

When you swipe their identification card, you will be told immediately if this person is the proper age to buy tobacco or alcohol or for whatever other reason you might need to know their age.

This eliminates the need for someone to physically examine the identification card and makes it quick and easy for you to grant access to people who are of age.

Electronic age verification equipment can often be obtained from the same company that provides your credit card transaction equipment. It is no more difficult to use one of these devices than it is to swipe a credit card, so you can start using age verification in your business with minimal staff training.

A study from Brandeis University looked at the effectiveness of using electronic age verification hardware and found that customers were not uncomfortable with swiping their IDs. Staff who used the equipment said they were generally happy with it as well.

Getting into the habit of using the machines seemed to be the biggest problem, but once you get used to having the machine available you will be more likely to use it since it is a simple method of verifying age.

Adding electronic age verification is an easy way to ensure that you're not running afoul of the law by selling items to minors that they should not have access to. Getting one of these machines and using it faithfully should help you rest easy that you're not going to get in trouble for selling to minors. It's also a great way to get positive publicity in your community because you can prove you're checking people's identifications in the most high-tech way possible.

Whatever the reason you need to verify a person's age, you know that it is important to do so. As a conscientious business owner you don't want to sell to minors, and the fines and penalties can be heavy if you are caught.

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Every company aims to formulate good strategy and execute that strategy well. But many times it is found that it was either good strategy, bad execution or bad strategy and good execution. Why and how to avoid this?

Let us begin with what is a strategy? In simple terms, it means the plan to achieve the desired goals or results. If any organization has well defined goals, and can develop a strategy to achieve them, it should be half the battle won. But it is seen that execution fails. Why should that be so? It may be the fault of the team that executes the strategy, or certain unknown factors that unexpectedly or unknowingly creep in while executing the plan.

What should be done? Ideally the team that forms the strategies should consider the factors such as who are the people who will execute, does the company have the capacity to execute, what if any unexpected change or event occurs while executing, what are the risks involved, and so on. No strategy can be created without taking into account the ability of the people who will be executing it. One may create a great marketing plan but if the field marketing staff fails to understand and execute the game, it is bound to fail and then the blame game begins.

Can a company make a single team that not only creates the strategy but is also responsible to execute it? This will eliminate many such hiccups on the way. The problem is expertise. I am a good strategist and not a good executor. You are a bad strategist but a good executor on the ground. What if such arguments are presented by the team under formation? All right, how about creating a strategy and keep the execution team in the loop throughout the process of creating strategy? This creates another set of problems. The views of both the teams may be so different that no positive outcome will ever result.

I have discussed in brief about these factors above. In real life, more complications arise and especially in large organizations, the complexities increase. The only solution for the top management is to set goals and discuss them with every one. After getting every one in confidence, create strategies and let every one participate in the strategy formation. Decide about what is totally achievable and why may be achievable. Let the team that will execute commit itself to achieve what is totally achievable and promise them with rewards if they manage to achieve the other part also. The synergy between the strategy makers and the executors will ultimately decide the final outcome.

This creates another set of problems. The views of both the teams may be so different that no positive outcome will ever result.

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Why did you start your business? Most business owners start their businesses because they desire personal freedom. They want to be their own boss. They have a great idea that they want to try. They are in love with all of these ideas. When you started your business, I bet you were full of passion and excitement. It was like the first days of a new romance. All you could think about or talk about was your business. What an exciting time.

Today, on Valentine’s Day, I’d like to ask you to fall in love again. In the time since you started your business, you’ve been through a lot. You’ve worked hard. You’ve had some rewards. Your love of the business has ebbed and flowed. Ask yourself now, are you in love with your business still or has it just turned into a partner, a faithful companion?

If you answered the latter, I have some suggestions for you to rekindle the flame. Some of these are right out of a marriage counselor’s book.

1. Take some time away. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Take a little time off and reconnect with the reasons that you started your business. Reconnect with the excitement you had at the start. Relive the dream. Really let yourself feel what you felt at the start.

2. Ask yourself what you really love about your business. Some of the work you love, some of it is just plain old work. Focus on what you enjoy. Appreciate what’s working. Develop systems to make the hard work easier. Delegate the work you don’t enjoy. Get outside help. Do what you love and give the rest away.

3. Make a plan. Make a plan to get yourself out of overwhelm and back doing the work that you really enjoy. Put it in writing. Dust off your business plan. Read the first page where you wrote all the exciting stuff about what a great business you have. Having a written plan eases stress and gets you back in charge. You’ll feel powerful with a plan.

4. Share your excitement. With your new plan and your renewed vision get out there and tell people about it. Just like after your first dates when that’s all you’d talk about, share your enthusiasm. Share the feelings of freedom you enjoy. Being in love is contagious and you’ll be amazed at the difference this makes in your business and your life.

When you started your business, I bet you were full of passion and excitement. It was like the first days of a new romance. All you could think about or talk about was your business. Having a written plan eases stress and gets you back in charge. You’ll feel powerful with a plan.

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Fat Loss 4 Idiots Directions
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