3 Tips for Planning Your New Business

With reported unemployment still over 9% and underemployment estimated to be 19%, many people are looking at other options for providing for their families.

While most of us have some kind of idea about a new product or service, almost all of us fail in one respect, according to best-selling author Tamara Monosoff. Just as no one likes asking for directions, many of us go into a new business without the proper planning.

Monosoff, the author of last year’s Your Million Dollar Dream: Regain Control and Be Your Own Boss. Create a Winning Business Plan. Turn Your Passion into Profit (McGraw-Hill, April 5, 2010, $19.95, ISBN 978-0071629432), tells Family First the biggest mistake many entrepreneurs make is heading into a product launch without the proper due diligence about their new business.

She gives three tips that can help you boil down your thoughts and get laser-focused on your goals, right out of the gate.

Do What You Know

Your past experience is going to be a great help in helping you figure out what you might do as a next step. This doesn’t mean that if you were in accounting, you have to start an accounting practice but it does mean you should play up your skills in accounting to help you with your next venture. Is there an opportunity for you to offer a new service using your current skills?

Do What Others Do

Instead of reinventing the wheel, utilize the information from other entrepreneurs. This is where Monosoff says opening a franchise, or emulating a franchise, can be a good business venture because the company knows exactly how to get things done, which means you don’t have to walk alone in your venture. Also, look at what others do and think about how you can do it better, especially if it uses one of your skills.

Solve a Common Everyday Problem

Monosoff says this is the riskiest option because you may have a great idea that is not yet proven. You must become a student of the market you are looking into. “Gain knowledge first before you spend any money,” she says. “Everyone in America” is probably a little broad in terms of figuring out who will buy your product. Do some market research to get a realistic size of the potential market.  This step is very often skipped, says Monosoff.

She says people tend to jump right in because they are “super excited” and they don’t step back and think:

• What Am I Building?
• Who Am I Serving?
• What Promise am I Making to My Customers?

Once you determine these things, you can narrow your strategy to get your business rolling. Then, you can utilize all kinds of resources available to you from Monosoff’s website www.mominventors.com and her other books, especially The One Page Business Plan® For Women in Business (The One Page Business Plan Company,  January 1, 2010, 978-1891315015). Her website offers a ton of great resources, including an on-line community and programs such as mentoring, product evaluations and business documents. 

Monosoff has had many great experiences on her road to success. She never set out to build the empire she now oversees. When her young daughter pulled all the toilet paper off the roll into a big pile, Monosoff wondered where she could buy a product that would stop that from happening. She was met with the realization that most parents simply hid the toilet paper or closed the bathroom door. She decided she wanted a better way and invented the TP Saver – a toilet roll holder that stopped the roll from unrolling too much. Voilà! She was an inventor.

Then the fun began!  When she appeared on The Today Show, within minutes of her appearance, she had over 500,000 hits to her website. However, 90% of the visitors weren’t there to buy the TP Saver; they wanted to share their invention ideas. She knew there was a real need to help mom inventors incubate their ideas and so her business expanded to serve as a true resource for inventors.  

Check out Monosoff’s website at www.mominventors.com and also find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mominvented and on twitter at @mominventors.