Here ' s a business that, partly more than any other with equal
embryonic for real wealth, meets the most stringent requirements
of just about any skeptic. In fact, there ' s so much in favor of
the " mini fellow " with this business, it ' s a real mystery why more
people don ' t scrape together this one as the vehicle for their bitter end
independence and financial security.
This is a business that can make you flush very swiftly... It ' s a
clement of service business that can can very profitably be operated
by one person - - masculine or female.. The basic knowledge needed for
success is simple and easy to learn.. Very sparse capital
investment is needed for equipment - - usually less than
$100... There are virtually no storage space requirements... You
can operate out of your home for virtually as long as you like;
and yet, there ' s a real demand for this type of business
universal...
The success abeyant for window washing services is present in
the smallest of towns as well as the largest metropolitan areas.
Your risks will be deficient, while your prizes can far vanguard
even your wildest dreams. Recurrently, a one man operation in a
home of 50, 000 can expect to gross $4, 000 or more per month after
90 days. Operating expenses for one person operations grossing
this amount should be less than $1, 000 per month.
Ideally, your plan should be to solicit new accounts, do the
work yourself and endow a regular customer route. Once you ' ve
established such a service route, and you ' re kickoff to realize
a good profit, you should hire part - time help to do the work
while you solicit new accounts and inculcate more regular
customer routes.
You should gang around on providing regular window washing
services for all the one and two story office buildings and
storefronts in your area. Start with those coming to your home
and expand your efforts peripheral. Unite a buried thoroughfares
leading into your house ' s downtown area. Select the one adjoining to
your home and begin calling on business owners and store managers
all along the system into the downtown area.
Usually, you won ' t have to do much more than introduce yourself,
briefly define your services, and dispensation your business card. We
did this oftentimes on a once - a - life basis, and after 6 weeks, we
had enough business to keep one man occupied - - 6hours a day, 5 days a
lifetime.
Until you become well established, don ' t even bother soliciting
work on windows higher than the second story. However, it ' s best
to call on every business, one after the other as you make your
way to the downtown area. Successive on, you can call upon churches,
private schools, businesses located on side streets branching off
the main thoroughfares, and even homes if you ' d like to try that
market. Generally though, you ' ll find the residential market too
time - consuming to make your efforts really profitable, plus the
fact that you simply won ' t be able to charge enough to make it
worthwhile in comparison to your call customers. Apartment
houses and condominiums are quite a different story however,
particularly when you can land several customers in the same
building.
As mentioned earlier, you can headquarter in and operate
completely out of your home. You can store your cleaning
equipment and supplies in a corner of your garage. Your
bookkeping and other paperwork can be taken care of at the
kitchen muckamuck, with whatever office supplies your need, easily
stored in a dresser drawer.
Speaking of office supplies, you should have a supply of
business cards - - and an adequate supply of billing statements with
your business name and address, plus mailing envelopes and return
reply envelopes. You can get away with rubber - stamping your
business name and address on your statements and envelopes, but
your business will mature faster - - you ' ll probably save time and
money as well - - by ball game with printed supplies from the source.
There are nor " real reasons " not to list your home address as
your business address, but sloping a post office box number - - if
you prefer - - wil not really harm your form. Te important goods is
personal contact - - someone from your company usually calling
upon prospective customers.
Talk with them. Listen to them. Get to know them. Find out
who ' s currently doing their windows for them, if they have any
complaints and how you can offer them a better deal. When you ' ve
in fact investigated the service they ' re culpable for, and
you ' re certain you can offer them a better deal, put your ideas
into the form of a written proposal and give it to them. Don ' t be
worried to charge a proposal for a better deal, extract when you
do, your proposal should offer more than just a price break.
Under - cutting a competitor ' s price usually means less profit for
you, and an overall deterioration of your reputation. It may
temporarily arrangement in more work for you, but you ' re in business
to attain wealth - - not work yourself into an early grave.
If your spouse is home during the day, missy can answer the phone
for you and regularly set up appointments for you, while you ' re
out making sales calls. Queen can also type out your account
statements, see that they ' re sent out on time, and pretty much
hilt your bookkeeping for you. Should it not be feasible, or
for some reason obnoxious for your wife to hilt your
entering calls for you, look around until you find a good,
dependable Telephone Answering Service. Many of these telephone
answering services shaft typing jobs as well, so if you ' re
misplaced someone to knob these chores for you, chances are you
can find all the services you need without much of a search.
It ' s important with this type of business that you have a
" conscious " roar answering your calls. selecting the right people to
shaft your calls, and spending the extra time necessary to train
them according to your desires - - even paying a dwarf more to have
things done the way you want them done - - is nearly always well
worth the time and innumerable expense. Commemorate, this is a service
business with your production dependent upon the personal contact you
and your representatives have with prospective clients. Work on
it, develop it, and cultivate your personal contact transactions.
As the size of your company increases and you hire crews of
people to knob work assignments, you can usually get your
answering service to take on the wider duties of activity assignments
orientation or dispatcher. All of this simply points up the
possibilities of operating your business out of your home
indefinitely, should you gang around to do so.
If someone along the line you decide to set up an office in a
whereabouts other than your home, you might want to make an offer or
otherwise induce one or two of the people from your telephoning
answering service. Regardless of how large your work power
becomes, it ' s always best if you supply the window washing
equipment and supplies.
Employees should be allowed to take the equipment home with
them, and required to use their own vehicles for transportation
to each undertaking site. By all means, spend the extra money to supply
your duo with uniforms. Matching shirts and trousers with a
big patch on the back of the shirts, slanted your company name
and phone number, is not only impressive in overhanging photograph,
it ' s also one of the cheapest and best advertising methods.
Once you ' ve hire people to do the actual window washing for
you, get a couple of magnetic signs showing your company name and
telephone number. Be sure to " wear " these signs on your car as
you make your sales calls and spot check on the progress of your
work crews. Later on, you can get similar signs for your crew
chiefs. If you should opt for company - owned vehicles, you ' ll find
vans to be the most convenient and serve your needs most
efficiently. Be sure to have your company name, phone number and
logo painted on each side of these vehicles - - and allow your crew
chiefs to drive them home at night - - all of which benefits you
with practically free advertising.
The kind of equipment you ' ll need to professionally wash
windows is relatively simple... A12 or 18 inch window brush,
aluminum telescopic brush handle... 6 inch, 10 inch and 18 inch
squeegees with replacement rubber blades... A couple of plastic or
galvanized water pails, one 2 gallon and the other 5 gallon... And
an 8 - foot step ladder, plus maybe a 16 foot straight ladder...
Your start - up should include 5 gallons of liquid soap.. a good
supply of clean rags, towels and chamois.. And a sharp razor blade
scraper...
This entire list of supplies and equipment should total no more
than $250 in cost. You ' ll need to add to your equipment only as
your business grows and you have need to hire more personnel...
Some professional window washers are proclaiming an alternative
or " better method " than with the use of window brushes and
squeegees. They ' re advocating the use of " strip washers. " These
are 3 / 4 inch pieces of aluminum pipe covered with a nylon sleeve
that fits the pipe. These are similar in appearance to the handy
do - it - yourself paint rollers, and are used in much the same
manner. These strip washers reportedly work very well on all but
the dirtiest of windows.
Another alternative is an extension pole and brush device.
Water is pumped thru the handle and out the brush in a
rinse - wash - rinse cycle. Most professionals claim this device is
ideal for second story windows, but for best quality workmanship,
they still prefer the basic brush and squeegee approach.
Still another alternative is a hose - water - fed brush that
utilizes de - ionized water where ladders aren ' t feasible.
De - ionized water is a kind of water from which all minerals and
foreign elements have been removed. Using this kind of water
assures the window washer an easier and faster job with no
worries about streaking or water drops.
Your prices should range between $20 and $25 per hour. Pay for
hired help should start at $5 per hour. It ' s important that you
do some homework on the various glass treatments in vogue these
days. Many of these coatings and coverings require special
treatment such as the use of soft towels instead of brushes that
might scratch the surface of the window coating.
The professional technique for washing windows cleanly and in
the least amount of time is as follows: A few drops of cleaning
solution in your bucket of water. remember, too many soap suds
are detrimental to quality work. Wet your brush from the bucket
and then scrub the window. Take your squeegee and make one wiping
pass across the top of the window. Be sure to keep the end of the
squeegee pressed firmly against the molding or top sill of the
window frame. Wipe the squeegee, and then do the same thing down
each side of the window. from this point on, it ' s just a matter
of wiping the window clean with one continuous stroke. You do
this by arching and looping your wiping strokes across the window
pane, back and forth, never stopping or lifting the squeegee
blade from the glass. With this in method, you can wipe even the
largest window clean in just a matter of seconds. Practice at
home on your own windows and those of your neighbors. You ' ll
quickly develop a knack for this method and wonder why you never
discovered it before.
When you ' ve finished with the squeegee, take a chamois and
carefully " blot - wipe " any excess water that may have not have
been picked up along the sides and bottom of the window frame. In
reality, that ' s all there is to it.
You ' ll find the spring and summer months to be the busiest, but
because of the increasing popularity of painting holiday scenes
and special sale announcements on business windows, be alert for
year ' round opportunities along these lines as well. Keep
plugging away and offering your services to businesses throughout
your area, particularly along those busy thoroughfares where
moving traffic contributes to the build - up of dirt & grime on
windows.
When you ' re ready to hire helpers or people to do the work for
you, a simple ad in your local newspaper ' s " help Wanted " column
should bring you more applicants than you ' ll ever use. After
you ' ve hired the one or the ones you want, keep a record of the
ones you liked but didn ' t hire, and check with them when you want
to add onto your crew of workers again.
Bulletin Board notices will also bring in a surprising number
of applicants. Another good idea is to spread the word that
you ' re looking for part - time help, amongst your local firemen,
policemen and teachers. depending on your area ' s pay scale, you
can do pretty well by contacting the temporary help services in
your area.
About the only regular advertising you ' ll need to do is a
medium to large display ad in the yellow pages. This is a must
because once you ' re established you ' ll find at least
50 % of your business coming from having seen your ad in the
yellow pages. An " insider ' s " trick to advertising in the yellow
pages - - Try to name your business with the very first letter of
your business name beginning with A - B - C, or X - Y - Z. Statistics and
surveys tend to prove that when people look for a service in the
yellow pages, they invariably pick from either the top or bottom
of the alphabet.
Aside from the yellow pages, your next best advertising will be
the " reminder " kind, such as note pads with your company name
imprinted on them, special calendars or holders, special date or
appointment books, and / or sports caps with your company
name / emblem on them. However, as this kind of advertising is
quite expensive, it ' s good to keep in mind, but best to hold off
until you can well afford it.
Any radio, television, newspaper and / or direct mail advertising
efforts will cost you much more than any business you receive
from it, so don ' t even consider this type of advertising.
However, do think about, and submit " press release " material to
these media as often as you can, because any publicity coverage
they give will surely be well worthwhile.
Telephone soliciting for business works well, but you should
have a list of businesses and their telephone numbers, plotted
out according to new routes you ' re trying to build. Time spent
travelling between jobs will cost you money, just as time spent
looking up telephone numbers along a certain planned route will
seemingly take forever. If and when you decide to drum up new
business by phone, you ' ll have much greater success if you can
offer some sort of promotional gimmick to get them to try your
service.
We had great success one time by offering to do windows for
free if they ' d let us put a sign in the window - - These windows
cleaned by AAA Window Cleaning Service - - 666 - 5824... Another time,
we did the windows for half price as an introductory offer.. And
still another time, we joined with our telephone answering
service - - on a combined promotion... half price on three months of
telephone answering service just for trying our window washing
service... The ideas, gimmicks and promotions you can use are
limited only by your imagination...
Later on, we hired some good - looking college girls - - on a
commission basis - - to call on businesses along the new routes we
are trying to develop. They just introduced themselves as
representatives of our firm, explained our services and offered a
half priced introductory service. They ended up selling better
than 60 % of the business they called upon.
During one summer, we even tried a crew of these young ladies
as window washers - - they weren ' t the best... We dresses them in
snappy red & white suspender - type short - shorts and drew quite a
crowd on each job. It was good advertising for us - - we got free
newspaper and television coverage, and an untold number of new
business leads - - but the glamour of the whole thing grew old very
quickly. But it was a gimmick that brought in new business,
caused a lot of people to recognize that we were in the window
cleaning business, and made our selling job easier.
Truly, this is an easy business to start... and with just a bit
of imagination on your part, as well as persistence and quality
workmanship, you can easily become financially secure as you
want... And it takes is action on your part, so reach for it and
may you always enjoy the fruits of a bountiful success!
THE END OF THIS REPORT
Kamis, 14 November 2013
HOW TO START YOUR OWN HIGHLY PROFITABLE CATERING SERVICE
People with money seem to be on a binge to prove their rank and
expose their wealth by staging large, catered parties. As a
matter of fact, in some circle of affluency, a party or social
get - cool isn ' t considered an occurrence of any significance unless
it ' s a catered affair.
With the same compassionate of reasoning, businesses of all sizes are
using catered lunches, cocktail parties and bee meetings to
build their images and increase company sales. It ' s a matter of
keeping up with the competition in promoting a company and / or
product.
On a smaller, but just as busy marketing scale, more and more
working mothers are paying to have catered birthday and
graduation parties, as well as marriage receptions handled by
caterers. The reasons are simple to follow - - if debutante ' s working
outside the home, today ' s lusty just doesn ' t have the time or
the energy to do all the alignment and staging of a memorable
party.
Besides those reasons for turning device over to a caterer,
working mothers fondle a wee bound about the time away from
their family they lose because of their jobs. In consequence, they ' re
ready and willing to make it all to them by paying for a plentiful
party the child will brood over for years to come.
Caterers handgrip goods from birthday parties for young, to
breakfast in bed and intimate candlelight dinners for two, to
company riot parties for 50 and marital receptions involving a
thousand or more guests. This affectionate of entreprenuerial business is
certainly growing and becoming more popular with people of all
income levels.
An acute caterer in a large metropolitan area can easily
gross $150, 000 per year, while a small part - time caterer in a
small property can count on at least $10, 000 to $15, 000 per year. One
small, but very onerous caterer is reported to have grossed
$250, 000 after only 2 - years in the business!
You don ' t need earmarked education or training to become a
successful caterer. You do need a affinity for people and a congenial
of intuition as to what people enjoy in different environmental
settings.
A quick survey of successful caterers across the nation shows
that began with zero capital by working out of their homes. The
basic starting up investment would come to be around $500, with
some big spenders capitalizing their idea with as much as $15, 000
in order to get off to a fast start.
This seems to be an prototype business for an heavy couple to
start and operate with very tiny capital investment required.
One person can spend his time engrossed up business while the
other would do the forming, structure and actual catering.
As with any business, your success will be directly related to
the soundness of structuring and the working of that plan.
Sense exactly what your client wants, and give him what he
wants in the way of service that reflects upon the client in a
for free procedure.
Fundamentally, you can start with an advertisement in your local
newspapers. This advertisement need not be much more than a
simple announcement: Creative Catering - Specializing in personal
service - We can hilt any party or special conjuncture from start to
finish - no idea to small or too large - Your pleasure is always
guaranteed! We can handle goods for you.. Call us, and let
us make your parties worth remembering...
Naturally, the first instrument you want from anyone calling to ask
about your services, is that anyone calling to ask about your
services, is that person ' s name, address and phone number. Then
you want to know what clement of party or deed they have in mind.
As soon as you have this information, relax a stubby bit and
inquire to find out about the person or the company - - the
people - - sponsoring the party and their chips down goals or reasons
for the party.
If it ' s to celebrate birthday, graduation, anniversary or a
matrimonial party - - finding out about the interests, background
and titanic of the guest of glory will be of monetary worth to you in
your arranging. Bewitching a few minutes to learn concern you can
about whoever the party is for, and the people giving the party,
will also make it much easire to close the sale than any sales
pitch or designated persuasive tactics.
People like to chatter about themselves, and they especially like to
tell everyone why they ' re honoring someone, even when they
pretend to keep it a secret who initiated the idea. So, it ' s
important that you be a good listener, that you have the ability
to get people to natter about themselves, and that you take notes
on the things they tell you.
This same principle applies to business people, regardless of
who ' s talking to you or the meaning of the catered affair. The
more polished and skilful you can become in getting your prospects
to talk about themselves, the more information relative to their
background you can derive, and the more you listen; the better
your parties will be, and the greater success you ' ll attain in
the catering business.
You take the information you glean from this first talk and
plan / codify the incident on paper. This means you ' re animation to have
to have contacts or at least working relationships with
innumerable service businesses.
If your client wants to stage a birthday party for a 12 - year
old - - - he or she greets the guests as they arrive, makes sure
everybody knows who he is - - - then what about party favors - - - a soft
drink and a conversation leader until all the guests arrive - - the
opening of presents - - icecream and cake - - and games to play, a
thank you gift for coming, and a reason to end the party at a
pre - determined time...
Do you greet the guests, does the mother or father, or the little
boy or girl? Where do you come up with the party favors at less
than regular retail prices? Where are you going to get the soft
drinks - your cost and the glasses or paper cups to serve them in?
What about ice? What kind of games to play? Who ' ll be the
conservation leader? Will there be a clown or someone special to
keep everything moving according to plan? Where do you get the
ice cream and cake? What games to play? How to get everyone
involved? And finally, a feasible and polite reason for ending
the party and sending everyone home...
All this takes planning, organization, and if you ' re going to
make a profit, a definite awareness of cost control. Get it all
down on paper as a proposal to the people who want to pay you to
carry it off. Figure out your costs, the time involved in putting
it all together, and then get back to your prospect.
Always leave room for changes in your proposal. In fact, expect
them - - invite input and suggestions from the client - - and always
have an alternate idea in your mind for each of those on your
written proposals. Discuss your proposal with the client just as
you would a script for a television show, make the suggested
changes and ask for a 50 - percent advance deposit. From there,
it ' s just a matter of following your plan.
Regardless of size or type of party - - whether your client is a
working mother or a giant corporation - - the format is always the
same: initial inquiry, interview, your proposal, 2nd interview
for any changes, agreement, deposit, staging the party itself,
and your final payment. As mentioned earlier, success in this
business comes from your planning - - having a lot of contacts - - and
working your plan.
An important word of caution: Try not to get " boxed in " to
setting or even revealing a tentative price until you ' ve had a
chance to listen to what the prospect wants, to study your own
capabilities, and to make a formal written proposal. If a
customer wants to know how much you charge - - and if you feel it
necessary in order to eventually close the sale - - you can tell him
50 to 100 dollars per hour, plus expenses, and of course,
depending on the type of event the customer wants.
As for how much the average party costs, again tell him that it
varies anywhere from 50 to 5, 000 dollars.
Always keep in mind that you are a professional, and that if the
ordinary person had your knowledge, contacts and ambition to do
it himself, he wouldn ' t be calling you on the phone. He needs
your help for any number of reasons. You specialize in this kind
of work or service just as a doctor specializes in medicine and a
lawyer in legal matters. Therefore, you should, and do expect to
be paid accordingly.
Something else - - this business thrives on word - of - mouth
advertising - - referrals - - and thus, is direct " freeway ' to the kind
of customers where money is of no concern. However, on order to
gain access to this market, your business emphasis has to be on
service.
This means the capability of handling everything for the
customer, from having the invitations printed and sent out to
cleaning up after the last guest has left. Businesses and people
in the upper income brackets, like to pick up the phone - - tell
someone they want a party on a certain date - - and then forget
about it, knowing everything will be taken care of without
further worry or time involvement from them. Once you ' ve
developed your expertise and clientele to this level, you ' ll have
a business in the $200, 000 to $250, 00 per year range.
Definitely arrange for a display ad in the yellow pages of your
telephone directory. You ' ll probably get 40 % of your inquires
from this source alone. Generally speaking, radio and / or
television advertising will be too expensive when compared with
the immediate results. However, it is recommended that you
consider these media prior to special holidays.
Working with restaurants, supper clubs, bridal shops and
entertainment business in general. can bring in hundreds of
referrals for you. Rubbing shoulders with, and circulating as a
part of your area ' s civic and service clubs, should also result
in more business for you.
Keep your eyes and ears on the alert. Where ever you go, and with
whomever you associate, always be ready to promote and sell your
services, if not on the spot, at least make a note to follow up
when conditions are more in your favor. Promoting and selling
your services will require at least half your time, and that ' s
why two people operating catering services are so successful from
the start.
The actual selling is quite simple so long as you emphasize the
service and time - saving aspects. The more time - consuming work you
can handle for the client, the easier it ' s going to be for you to
close the sale.
Handing out business cards is one of the least expensive ways to
advertise, promote and sell your services. One enterprising
caterer makes arrangements with the sponsors of all his parties,
to see that each of the guests gets one of his business cards.
Another gives each of his clients a stack of his business cards,
and tells them he ' ll pay them $25 for each prospect they refer to
him. He tells them to write their name on the backs of the cards,
and to hand them out to their friends. And then, whenever a
person tells him that John or Jane suggested he call, and he
presents the card with John or Jane ' s name on the back, this very
successful caterer sends John or Jane a $25 check.
Another very successful caterer pays commissions to a group of
housewives and college students who solicit - - via their home
phones - - interviews for him with brides - to - be. They get their
leads from announcements, and pictures of brides - to - be in the
local papers.
Many caterers pay sales people a commission for letting them know
when they hear about a party or special event being planned by
one of their business customers.
The possibilities go on and on, and are seemingly un limited.
Time is becoming more valuable to a lot more people every day,
which means there are more and more opportunities for great
wealth and personal independence as a professional caterer. In
reality the success for just about any person entering this
field, will be limited only by his or her own imagination and
energy.
There is definite opportunity for great wealth within the
catering field. Anyone with a sense of service to others can
succeed. Very little " readycash " is needed to begin. Therefore,
the only thing standing between you and the realization of your
dreams, is the action it takes on your part to get started...
expose their wealth by staging large, catered parties. As a
matter of fact, in some circle of affluency, a party or social
get - cool isn ' t considered an occurrence of any significance unless
it ' s a catered affair.
With the same compassionate of reasoning, businesses of all sizes are
using catered lunches, cocktail parties and bee meetings to
build their images and increase company sales. It ' s a matter of
keeping up with the competition in promoting a company and / or
product.
On a smaller, but just as busy marketing scale, more and more
working mothers are paying to have catered birthday and
graduation parties, as well as marriage receptions handled by
caterers. The reasons are simple to follow - - if debutante ' s working
outside the home, today ' s lusty just doesn ' t have the time or
the energy to do all the alignment and staging of a memorable
party.
Besides those reasons for turning device over to a caterer,
working mothers fondle a wee bound about the time away from
their family they lose because of their jobs. In consequence, they ' re
ready and willing to make it all to them by paying for a plentiful
party the child will brood over for years to come.
Caterers handgrip goods from birthday parties for young, to
breakfast in bed and intimate candlelight dinners for two, to
company riot parties for 50 and marital receptions involving a
thousand or more guests. This affectionate of entreprenuerial business is
certainly growing and becoming more popular with people of all
income levels.
An acute caterer in a large metropolitan area can easily
gross $150, 000 per year, while a small part - time caterer in a
small property can count on at least $10, 000 to $15, 000 per year. One
small, but very onerous caterer is reported to have grossed
$250, 000 after only 2 - years in the business!
You don ' t need earmarked education or training to become a
successful caterer. You do need a affinity for people and a congenial
of intuition as to what people enjoy in different environmental
settings.
A quick survey of successful caterers across the nation shows
that began with zero capital by working out of their homes. The
basic starting up investment would come to be around $500, with
some big spenders capitalizing their idea with as much as $15, 000
in order to get off to a fast start.
This seems to be an prototype business for an heavy couple to
start and operate with very tiny capital investment required.
One person can spend his time engrossed up business while the
other would do the forming, structure and actual catering.
As with any business, your success will be directly related to
the soundness of structuring and the working of that plan.
Sense exactly what your client wants, and give him what he
wants in the way of service that reflects upon the client in a
for free procedure.
Fundamentally, you can start with an advertisement in your local
newspapers. This advertisement need not be much more than a
simple announcement: Creative Catering - Specializing in personal
service - We can hilt any party or special conjuncture from start to
finish - no idea to small or too large - Your pleasure is always
guaranteed! We can handle goods for you.. Call us, and let
us make your parties worth remembering...
Naturally, the first instrument you want from anyone calling to ask
about your services, is that anyone calling to ask about your
services, is that person ' s name, address and phone number. Then
you want to know what clement of party or deed they have in mind.
As soon as you have this information, relax a stubby bit and
inquire to find out about the person or the company - - the
people - - sponsoring the party and their chips down goals or reasons
for the party.
If it ' s to celebrate birthday, graduation, anniversary or a
matrimonial party - - finding out about the interests, background
and titanic of the guest of glory will be of monetary worth to you in
your arranging. Bewitching a few minutes to learn concern you can
about whoever the party is for, and the people giving the party,
will also make it much easire to close the sale than any sales
pitch or designated persuasive tactics.
People like to chatter about themselves, and they especially like to
tell everyone why they ' re honoring someone, even when they
pretend to keep it a secret who initiated the idea. So, it ' s
important that you be a good listener, that you have the ability
to get people to natter about themselves, and that you take notes
on the things they tell you.
This same principle applies to business people, regardless of
who ' s talking to you or the meaning of the catered affair. The
more polished and skilful you can become in getting your prospects
to talk about themselves, the more information relative to their
background you can derive, and the more you listen; the better
your parties will be, and the greater success you ' ll attain in
the catering business.
You take the information you glean from this first talk and
plan / codify the incident on paper. This means you ' re animation to have
to have contacts or at least working relationships with
innumerable service businesses.
If your client wants to stage a birthday party for a 12 - year
old - - - he or she greets the guests as they arrive, makes sure
everybody knows who he is - - - then what about party favors - - - a soft
drink and a conversation leader until all the guests arrive - - the
opening of presents - - icecream and cake - - and games to play, a
thank you gift for coming, and a reason to end the party at a
pre - determined time...
Do you greet the guests, does the mother or father, or the little
boy or girl? Where do you come up with the party favors at less
than regular retail prices? Where are you going to get the soft
drinks - your cost and the glasses or paper cups to serve them in?
What about ice? What kind of games to play? Who ' ll be the
conservation leader? Will there be a clown or someone special to
keep everything moving according to plan? Where do you get the
ice cream and cake? What games to play? How to get everyone
involved? And finally, a feasible and polite reason for ending
the party and sending everyone home...
All this takes planning, organization, and if you ' re going to
make a profit, a definite awareness of cost control. Get it all
down on paper as a proposal to the people who want to pay you to
carry it off. Figure out your costs, the time involved in putting
it all together, and then get back to your prospect.
Always leave room for changes in your proposal. In fact, expect
them - - invite input and suggestions from the client - - and always
have an alternate idea in your mind for each of those on your
written proposals. Discuss your proposal with the client just as
you would a script for a television show, make the suggested
changes and ask for a 50 - percent advance deposit. From there,
it ' s just a matter of following your plan.
Regardless of size or type of party - - whether your client is a
working mother or a giant corporation - - the format is always the
same: initial inquiry, interview, your proposal, 2nd interview
for any changes, agreement, deposit, staging the party itself,
and your final payment. As mentioned earlier, success in this
business comes from your planning - - having a lot of contacts - - and
working your plan.
An important word of caution: Try not to get " boxed in " to
setting or even revealing a tentative price until you ' ve had a
chance to listen to what the prospect wants, to study your own
capabilities, and to make a formal written proposal. If a
customer wants to know how much you charge - - and if you feel it
necessary in order to eventually close the sale - - you can tell him
50 to 100 dollars per hour, plus expenses, and of course,
depending on the type of event the customer wants.
As for how much the average party costs, again tell him that it
varies anywhere from 50 to 5, 000 dollars.
Always keep in mind that you are a professional, and that if the
ordinary person had your knowledge, contacts and ambition to do
it himself, he wouldn ' t be calling you on the phone. He needs
your help for any number of reasons. You specialize in this kind
of work or service just as a doctor specializes in medicine and a
lawyer in legal matters. Therefore, you should, and do expect to
be paid accordingly.
Something else - - this business thrives on word - of - mouth
advertising - - referrals - - and thus, is direct " freeway ' to the kind
of customers where money is of no concern. However, on order to
gain access to this market, your business emphasis has to be on
service.
This means the capability of handling everything for the
customer, from having the invitations printed and sent out to
cleaning up after the last guest has left. Businesses and people
in the upper income brackets, like to pick up the phone - - tell
someone they want a party on a certain date - - and then forget
about it, knowing everything will be taken care of without
further worry or time involvement from them. Once you ' ve
developed your expertise and clientele to this level, you ' ll have
a business in the $200, 000 to $250, 00 per year range.
Definitely arrange for a display ad in the yellow pages of your
telephone directory. You ' ll probably get 40 % of your inquires
from this source alone. Generally speaking, radio and / or
television advertising will be too expensive when compared with
the immediate results. However, it is recommended that you
consider these media prior to special holidays.
Working with restaurants, supper clubs, bridal shops and
entertainment business in general. can bring in hundreds of
referrals for you. Rubbing shoulders with, and circulating as a
part of your area ' s civic and service clubs, should also result
in more business for you.
Keep your eyes and ears on the alert. Where ever you go, and with
whomever you associate, always be ready to promote and sell your
services, if not on the spot, at least make a note to follow up
when conditions are more in your favor. Promoting and selling
your services will require at least half your time, and that ' s
why two people operating catering services are so successful from
the start.
The actual selling is quite simple so long as you emphasize the
service and time - saving aspects. The more time - consuming work you
can handle for the client, the easier it ' s going to be for you to
close the sale.
Handing out business cards is one of the least expensive ways to
advertise, promote and sell your services. One enterprising
caterer makes arrangements with the sponsors of all his parties,
to see that each of the guests gets one of his business cards.
Another gives each of his clients a stack of his business cards,
and tells them he ' ll pay them $25 for each prospect they refer to
him. He tells them to write their name on the backs of the cards,
and to hand them out to their friends. And then, whenever a
person tells him that John or Jane suggested he call, and he
presents the card with John or Jane ' s name on the back, this very
successful caterer sends John or Jane a $25 check.
Another very successful caterer pays commissions to a group of
housewives and college students who solicit - - via their home
phones - - interviews for him with brides - to - be. They get their
leads from announcements, and pictures of brides - to - be in the
local papers.
Many caterers pay sales people a commission for letting them know
when they hear about a party or special event being planned by
one of their business customers.
The possibilities go on and on, and are seemingly un limited.
Time is becoming more valuable to a lot more people every day,
which means there are more and more opportunities for great
wealth and personal independence as a professional caterer. In
reality the success for just about any person entering this
field, will be limited only by his or her own imagination and
energy.
There is definite opportunity for great wealth within the
catering field. Anyone with a sense of service to others can
succeed. Very little " readycash " is needed to begin. Therefore,
the only thing standing between you and the realization of your
dreams, is the action it takes on your part to get started...
Rabu, 06 November 2013
HOW TO START AND OPERATE YOUR OWN VIDEO TAPING SERVICE
This is a fabulously profitable business that ' s still opener.
And for sure, if you want a business that takes no gala
training, expensive office set - up or large investment - - yet is
capable of fair halfway immediate profits - - this is it!
Now is the nonpareil time to get coeval with your own Video Taping
Service. Purchasing and learning how to operate, as well as
maintain the necessary equipment, and the operating procedures
have been so simplified that halfway anyone with the ability to
read, can study a video instruction manual for a couple of hours
and like now produce professional quality, highly marketable
video tapes. Without a waver, video cd technology has go after
Super 8 home movies as the most - belonging memory - saving system.
One and two - person video aping services around the country are
reporting gross earnings of $50, 000 to $100, 000 per year. One
operation we looked into, reported an income figure of $80, 000
during the preceeding 12 - month duration. They were accepting taping
jobs from all residence and keeping 4 - hired teams overloaded.
Marketing imagination, chemistry, and attention to detail are
the keys to success in operating this business. Ideas and petition
for a new things or events to record and preserve for later
playback / glance, are coming in faster than one can list. Then,
there are so many things to keep forever and minor details to take
care of, that the only way to operate successfully is with a
series of checklists.. for the person selling the service as well
as the man or woman on the cd camera.
But don ' t let mentioning of details to educe, petrify you off.
On the contrary, you ' ll find video equipment easy and inexpensive
to practice on, especially when compared to attaining a
comparable degree of expertise with film. You can use the same
record over and over again, and this is certainly a business where
the period " practice leads to genuineness, " applies without
qualifications or reservations.
To start a video taping service, You ' ll need a video " porta - pack "
scanner, and at least a half dozen tapes. Check around in your
area. Start by " recital up " on all the available equipment used
for video taping. A trip to your public library and few hours
browsing thru the periodicals on video equipment should give you
greater interest and a basic indoctrination. Next, check out the
suppliers listed in the craven pages of your telephone directory.
A few phone calls to those places listed, plus a few in - person
visits, should supply you with enough catalogs and " idea
material " to keep you radically industrious for a interval or more. These
elementary learning steps are necessary as the foundation of your
business.
You should be able to buy a good quality video porta - pak scanner
for about $850, with blank tapes for $20 or less. When you buy,
always dicker with the dealer - - explaining to him that you ' re in
the development of establishing a video taping service, and if he
will include a supply of tapes with the watchdog, or at least
give you an especially good price on them, you ' ll probably buy
all your tapes from him. It may not be your regular way of buying
things, but when you ' re starting a business, every dollar counts,
so always shop around for the best prices.
Once you have your video monitor, take it home and start
practicing with it. Think of yourself as being on a afafir for a
homeowner or an insurance company, beguiling a photographic
inventory of the house and / or the inhabitant ' s sovereignty.
Practice by making a disc record of your own household
furnishings. Make a vinyl, then play it back and critique your
work. Then do it again, and again, until you have a video you can
use in sales presentations to homeowners and insurance companies.
Video video recordings of this humanitarian are becoming extremely popular
with homeowners and insurance companies alike.
Then, look thru your weekend newspaper and make a note of the
girls announcing marital dates. Open your telephone directory and
call these girls on the phone. Ask them if they ' d mind if you
came to their nuptial and make a video disc of it, without any
obligation to them of course.
So you go to the connubial, introduce yourself and practice making
a video disc of the nuptial go. Take the record home and
critique it. Keep this up until you have a disc you ' re
moderately majestic of, and then call the bride. Ask to come over
and let her see the record. Point out to her that you ' re just getting
existent in the business, and you simply want her comments and
suggestions. Chances are, when wench sees the recording, chick ' ll want to
buy it.
While you ' re in this learning incident of your new business, talk
an apartment building and arrange with the manager to make a
video vinyl of her view the apartment to you as a a implied
occupier. Contact, a couple of property management and real estate
firms, and do the same concept with condominiums and houses for
sale.
You might want to listen in on the police radio frequency, and
make tapes of auto accidents, particularly those involving
injuries. Another idea might be the taping of golfers practicing
at the local driving ranges. Other ideas include any softhearted of
sports practice audience, birthday parties, definite anniversaries,
baptisms, bar mitsvah ' s, publicity stories, sales presentations,
and " fireside chats " by company presidents or general managers.
These are just a few idea suggestions you might want to pursue.
You may find a certain big of video tapping assignment
especially enjoyable and want to specialize in that area. Or you
may want to consent the door open for any thoughtful of assignment and
hilt each as the opportunity presents itself.
Whatever you decide, there are a few " sure success " points to
keep in mind as you begin to sell your services. Go back, the
idea of having a video cassette system in one ' s home, is gaining
in homage every day. There area already some two - million
videocassette recorders in American Homes, with an estimated
100, 000 being really into to new customers every month. Further
estimates indicate that by 1990, at least one half of all U. S.
households will own either a videocassette watchdog or a
videodisc performer. All this means your market is growing and is
expected to continue growing thru the end of this decade.
Virtually everyone would like to see himself as a star in home
movie. Thus, when you show him a video tape of himself in the
starring role, he ' ll either buy the tape on the spot or want you
to make a similar tape for him. Regardless of false modesty,
everyone likes to show pictures of himself, and explain to his
friends the different highlights of his or her life. With this
understanding about your prospect in mind when you make a sales
presentation, your closing rate should be quite close to 100
percent.
The best way to sell your services is to run a regular ad in your
area newspaper. Such an ad might be similar to this one:
VIDEO TAPPING SERVICES
Whatever your idea or assignment, we can
handle it for you! No job too large or
too small! We ' re experts at taping weddings,
anniversaries, birthdays parties and other
special occasions. Commercial assignments
also welcomed. Your satisfaction is guaranteed,
so give us a call - - - 123 - 4567, right now!
When you receive calls in response to this ad, your objective
will be two - fold: Find out what kind of taping job they have in
mind, and set up an appointment to show them an example of the
kinds of tapes you can produce for them. Show them an example of
your work. Once you ' ve met with them, and shown them a
demonstration tape, you should have the sale in your pocket.
Never meet with a prospect in a selling situation without some
sort of demonstration tape to show him. Try to match the tape you
show them, as closely to their wants and needs as possible.
Wedding tapes you have made for prospective wedding clients, and
shots of golf practice or instruction to golfing prospects.
Besides an ad in the newspaper, and the yellow pages of your
telephone directory, make copies of the ad and get it up on the
bulletin boards in your market area. Send news and publicity
releases to all the media in your area, definitely whenever
you ' ve got an unusual or special kind of assignment.
Have some impressive business cards printed, and hand them out to
whomever, and as often as you can. The slogan on your business
card might read: Have Video Tape Recorder, Available for ANY kind
of assignment - - You name it and I ' ll tape it...
Radio and / or television advertising will probably be more
expensive than the resulting job assignments will sustain, so be
very cautious when considering this type of advertising. However,
it will very definitely be advantageous for you to pursue guest
interviews on just about any kind of broadcast talk show. Talk
show appearances and free write - ups about your business in your
local newspapers are promotional angles to reach for at every
opportunity. Always be on the lookout for promotional ideas and
gimmicks that will result in area - wide publicity for your
services.
The bottom line is simply this: Don ' t be adverse to creating a
story or set of circumstances if it results in a talk show
appearance or newspaper write - up for you.
How much should you charge for your services? Basically, the
going rate in most large metropolitan area is about $50 per hour
you spend on the assignment. Thus, you ' re going to have to learn
to estimate pretty accurately just how long each job is going to
take you to produce a quality recording. It ' s always a good idea
to check out what other video taping services in your area, or in
a comparably sized city in your neighboring states are charging.
Newsletters and trade publications serving businesses of this
type are available, however we don ' t know of any that have
attained national prominence as of the date of this report. Check
with your equipment supplier on any that he might know of...
Success with a business of this kind does not require an office
set - up or any special education or training. You can start it on
a part - time basis from your home, and parlay it into a full - time,
very high profit profession. The prestige this business will
afford you is similar to that of a doctor.
Starting with a young couple ' s wedding, if you follow up on each
sale properly, you ' ll probably end up making tapes for the
birthdays of each of their children, school graduations,
anniversaries, more birthdays, family histories, last wills &
testaments, and into a whole new cycle with each generation.
You will need imagination, an affinity for people and selling
moxie. Imagination is important because in many instances, you ' ll
have to suggest an idea for your taping services. Although just
about everybody would like to have a taped record of some event
or part of their life to pass along to future generations of
their family, most will not be able to decide what to tape until
you suggest something to them. You ' ll also find that almost no
one is aware of even half your capabilities until you make
suggestions.
Taking pictures of people requires an ability to get along well
with people - - get them to relax, and immediately feel comfortable
in your presence. You ' ve got to be persuasive while exercising a
great deal of tact and diplomacy. Make friends easily and
quickly. Be aware of, and understanding of wants, desires and
ambitions.
Actually, selling and getting along with people, are almost
synonymous. Life is and on - going program of selling yourself to
achieve your own wants and ambitions. Read a few good books on
the art of selling, such as: HOW TO SELL YOURSELF by Steve
Girard; and HOW TO SELL ANYTHING TO ANYBODY by Tom Hopkins.
remember, selling is really just a matter of recognizing
someone ' s needs and then satisfying those needs with a product or
service.
Your customer will automatically accept it as fact, that you have
the professional knowledge and equipment to fulfill their needs.
All you have to do is reassure them, listen to their reasons for
these needs, and in closing the sale, become a good friend to
them.
And that ' s it - - the plan can enable you to get started with your
own Video Taping Service. By following our suggestions, and with
a bit of energy as well as persistence, you should be able to
begin with very little start - up investment and quickly begin to
realize the fruits of your own profitable business.
If you have any questions, or run into special problems feel free
to call me or drop me a line. Having laid it all out for you, the
rest is up to you - - - Your future is in your own hands...
And for sure, if you want a business that takes no gala
training, expensive office set - up or large investment - - yet is
capable of fair halfway immediate profits - - this is it!
Now is the nonpareil time to get coeval with your own Video Taping
Service. Purchasing and learning how to operate, as well as
maintain the necessary equipment, and the operating procedures
have been so simplified that halfway anyone with the ability to
read, can study a video instruction manual for a couple of hours
and like now produce professional quality, highly marketable
video tapes. Without a waver, video cd technology has go after
Super 8 home movies as the most - belonging memory - saving system.
One and two - person video aping services around the country are
reporting gross earnings of $50, 000 to $100, 000 per year. One
operation we looked into, reported an income figure of $80, 000
during the preceeding 12 - month duration. They were accepting taping
jobs from all residence and keeping 4 - hired teams overloaded.
Marketing imagination, chemistry, and attention to detail are
the keys to success in operating this business. Ideas and petition
for a new things or events to record and preserve for later
playback / glance, are coming in faster than one can list. Then,
there are so many things to keep forever and minor details to take
care of, that the only way to operate successfully is with a
series of checklists.. for the person selling the service as well
as the man or woman on the cd camera.
But don ' t let mentioning of details to educe, petrify you off.
On the contrary, you ' ll find video equipment easy and inexpensive
to practice on, especially when compared to attaining a
comparable degree of expertise with film. You can use the same
record over and over again, and this is certainly a business where
the period " practice leads to genuineness, " applies without
qualifications or reservations.
To start a video taping service, You ' ll need a video " porta - pack "
scanner, and at least a half dozen tapes. Check around in your
area. Start by " recital up " on all the available equipment used
for video taping. A trip to your public library and few hours
browsing thru the periodicals on video equipment should give you
greater interest and a basic indoctrination. Next, check out the
suppliers listed in the craven pages of your telephone directory.
A few phone calls to those places listed, plus a few in - person
visits, should supply you with enough catalogs and " idea
material " to keep you radically industrious for a interval or more. These
elementary learning steps are necessary as the foundation of your
business.
You should be able to buy a good quality video porta - pak scanner
for about $850, with blank tapes for $20 or less. When you buy,
always dicker with the dealer - - explaining to him that you ' re in
the development of establishing a video taping service, and if he
will include a supply of tapes with the watchdog, or at least
give you an especially good price on them, you ' ll probably buy
all your tapes from him. It may not be your regular way of buying
things, but when you ' re starting a business, every dollar counts,
so always shop around for the best prices.
Once you have your video monitor, take it home and start
practicing with it. Think of yourself as being on a afafir for a
homeowner or an insurance company, beguiling a photographic
inventory of the house and / or the inhabitant ' s sovereignty.
Practice by making a disc record of your own household
furnishings. Make a vinyl, then play it back and critique your
work. Then do it again, and again, until you have a video you can
use in sales presentations to homeowners and insurance companies.
Video video recordings of this humanitarian are becoming extremely popular
with homeowners and insurance companies alike.
Then, look thru your weekend newspaper and make a note of the
girls announcing marital dates. Open your telephone directory and
call these girls on the phone. Ask them if they ' d mind if you
came to their nuptial and make a video disc of it, without any
obligation to them of course.
So you go to the connubial, introduce yourself and practice making
a video disc of the nuptial go. Take the record home and
critique it. Keep this up until you have a disc you ' re
moderately majestic of, and then call the bride. Ask to come over
and let her see the record. Point out to her that you ' re just getting
existent in the business, and you simply want her comments and
suggestions. Chances are, when wench sees the recording, chick ' ll want to
buy it.
While you ' re in this learning incident of your new business, talk
an apartment building and arrange with the manager to make a
video vinyl of her view the apartment to you as a a implied
occupier. Contact, a couple of property management and real estate
firms, and do the same concept with condominiums and houses for
sale.
You might want to listen in on the police radio frequency, and
make tapes of auto accidents, particularly those involving
injuries. Another idea might be the taping of golfers practicing
at the local driving ranges. Other ideas include any softhearted of
sports practice audience, birthday parties, definite anniversaries,
baptisms, bar mitsvah ' s, publicity stories, sales presentations,
and " fireside chats " by company presidents or general managers.
These are just a few idea suggestions you might want to pursue.
You may find a certain big of video tapping assignment
especially enjoyable and want to specialize in that area. Or you
may want to consent the door open for any thoughtful of assignment and
hilt each as the opportunity presents itself.
Whatever you decide, there are a few " sure success " points to
keep in mind as you begin to sell your services. Go back, the
idea of having a video cassette system in one ' s home, is gaining
in homage every day. There area already some two - million
videocassette recorders in American Homes, with an estimated
100, 000 being really into to new customers every month. Further
estimates indicate that by 1990, at least one half of all U. S.
households will own either a videocassette watchdog or a
videodisc performer. All this means your market is growing and is
expected to continue growing thru the end of this decade.
Virtually everyone would like to see himself as a star in home
movie. Thus, when you show him a video tape of himself in the
starring role, he ' ll either buy the tape on the spot or want you
to make a similar tape for him. Regardless of false modesty,
everyone likes to show pictures of himself, and explain to his
friends the different highlights of his or her life. With this
understanding about your prospect in mind when you make a sales
presentation, your closing rate should be quite close to 100
percent.
The best way to sell your services is to run a regular ad in your
area newspaper. Such an ad might be similar to this one:
VIDEO TAPPING SERVICES
Whatever your idea or assignment, we can
handle it for you! No job too large or
too small! We ' re experts at taping weddings,
anniversaries, birthdays parties and other
special occasions. Commercial assignments
also welcomed. Your satisfaction is guaranteed,
so give us a call - - - 123 - 4567, right now!
When you receive calls in response to this ad, your objective
will be two - fold: Find out what kind of taping job they have in
mind, and set up an appointment to show them an example of the
kinds of tapes you can produce for them. Show them an example of
your work. Once you ' ve met with them, and shown them a
demonstration tape, you should have the sale in your pocket.
Never meet with a prospect in a selling situation without some
sort of demonstration tape to show him. Try to match the tape you
show them, as closely to their wants and needs as possible.
Wedding tapes you have made for prospective wedding clients, and
shots of golf practice or instruction to golfing prospects.
Besides an ad in the newspaper, and the yellow pages of your
telephone directory, make copies of the ad and get it up on the
bulletin boards in your market area. Send news and publicity
releases to all the media in your area, definitely whenever
you ' ve got an unusual or special kind of assignment.
Have some impressive business cards printed, and hand them out to
whomever, and as often as you can. The slogan on your business
card might read: Have Video Tape Recorder, Available for ANY kind
of assignment - - You name it and I ' ll tape it...
Radio and / or television advertising will probably be more
expensive than the resulting job assignments will sustain, so be
very cautious when considering this type of advertising. However,
it will very definitely be advantageous for you to pursue guest
interviews on just about any kind of broadcast talk show. Talk
show appearances and free write - ups about your business in your
local newspapers are promotional angles to reach for at every
opportunity. Always be on the lookout for promotional ideas and
gimmicks that will result in area - wide publicity for your
services.
The bottom line is simply this: Don ' t be adverse to creating a
story or set of circumstances if it results in a talk show
appearance or newspaper write - up for you.
How much should you charge for your services? Basically, the
going rate in most large metropolitan area is about $50 per hour
you spend on the assignment. Thus, you ' re going to have to learn
to estimate pretty accurately just how long each job is going to
take you to produce a quality recording. It ' s always a good idea
to check out what other video taping services in your area, or in
a comparably sized city in your neighboring states are charging.
Newsletters and trade publications serving businesses of this
type are available, however we don ' t know of any that have
attained national prominence as of the date of this report. Check
with your equipment supplier on any that he might know of...
Success with a business of this kind does not require an office
set - up or any special education or training. You can start it on
a part - time basis from your home, and parlay it into a full - time,
very high profit profession. The prestige this business will
afford you is similar to that of a doctor.
Starting with a young couple ' s wedding, if you follow up on each
sale properly, you ' ll probably end up making tapes for the
birthdays of each of their children, school graduations,
anniversaries, more birthdays, family histories, last wills &
testaments, and into a whole new cycle with each generation.
You will need imagination, an affinity for people and selling
moxie. Imagination is important because in many instances, you ' ll
have to suggest an idea for your taping services. Although just
about everybody would like to have a taped record of some event
or part of their life to pass along to future generations of
their family, most will not be able to decide what to tape until
you suggest something to them. You ' ll also find that almost no
one is aware of even half your capabilities until you make
suggestions.
Taking pictures of people requires an ability to get along well
with people - - get them to relax, and immediately feel comfortable
in your presence. You ' ve got to be persuasive while exercising a
great deal of tact and diplomacy. Make friends easily and
quickly. Be aware of, and understanding of wants, desires and
ambitions.
Actually, selling and getting along with people, are almost
synonymous. Life is and on - going program of selling yourself to
achieve your own wants and ambitions. Read a few good books on
the art of selling, such as: HOW TO SELL YOURSELF by Steve
Girard; and HOW TO SELL ANYTHING TO ANYBODY by Tom Hopkins.
remember, selling is really just a matter of recognizing
someone ' s needs and then satisfying those needs with a product or
service.
Your customer will automatically accept it as fact, that you have
the professional knowledge and equipment to fulfill their needs.
All you have to do is reassure them, listen to their reasons for
these needs, and in closing the sale, become a good friend to
them.
And that ' s it - - the plan can enable you to get started with your
own Video Taping Service. By following our suggestions, and with
a bit of energy as well as persistence, you should be able to
begin with very little start - up investment and quickly begin to
realize the fruits of your own profitable business.
If you have any questions, or run into special problems feel free
to call me or drop me a line. Having laid it all out for you, the
rest is up to you - - - Your future is in your own hands...
HOW TO MAKE IT BIG WITH A USED BOOK STORE
Operating a used book store is a lot like owning a recycling
center - not too glamourous until you take a look at the publician ' s
bank account.
This is an example " absentee - hotelier " type of business, or a small
investment type business for someone to start while gate down
a regular, full time job. The type of person " best - profitable " to
running a successful used book store, is a man or woman who loves
to read, has cool books over the years and enjoys
associating with people of consonant interests.
Start - up risks average high, with the average time expression needed
to become firmly established, about 3 years. After that " becoming
established " stage however, you should be able to enjoy clout
of a business without extreme market fluctuations, plus an income
close to $50, 000 per year or more.
Ideally, a used book store will need a market family of at
least 50, 000 persons to platform it. Try to locate your store in a
" high traffic " area, as near as possible to a college or
university campus. Something to bear in mind is the shopping
habits of the average used book buyer: First, he is a browser. He
notices your shop, drops in and begins looking around to see what
philanthropic of books you have available. If he spots something that
really interests him, he ' ll probably buy then and there. If not,
and provided you ' ve made him stroke in clover this first time in
your store, he ' ll be back - dropping in to browse whenever he ' s in
the area.
Shopping Malls are an select locations for book stores.
Locations near other, or " new " books stores are also very good -
if the buyer doesn ' t find what he wants in the " other " book
stores, he ' ll check your store. Grocery store shopping centers
are oftentimes fortuneless locations for book stores of any considerate.
It ' s important that there be a lot of casual strollers in your
setting area, and that you revivify these people to drop in,
and browse around.
If you want the entire front of your store to be a show
window... take pains to arrange your window display in an
unstopped fashion, pageant the kinds of books you
have... However, a window display is not really necessary... more
important is a window for the passers - by to see into your
store... At any degree, if you do go with a window display, keep it
low - never more than 36 inches high flying start a lot of room for the
people passing to see in youe store, and notice the people
browsing thru your books. We know of one successful operator who
had members of his family, connections and friends, purposely
" browsing " thru his store, just to project that affectionate of carved figure for
the store.
Once you have your store locality selected, stain the entire
interior in a rayless, broiling color, such as mahogany. Stick a
lighter shade of indoor / outdoor carpet throughout. The lighting
should be indirect, and reasonably subdued to give the store a warmish
perception.
Locate your checkout obverse counterpart to one of the side
walls... You don ' t want it blocking or guarding the easy entry or
exit from your store. You want your customers to endure opulent
just visiting your store. in other words, do gadget you can
to spur the browser, because it ' s proven time and time winnings
that the browsers are the book buyers. Allow the people to come
and do oftentimes as they please; to pick up swing thru the books
that interest them; to read them and " fall in enjoyment " with them.
These will be your real book buyers.
Your book shelves should run along each side wall, and across the
back of the store. Don ' t build them more than six feet high.
Factor these shelves into sections about four feet wide, and
at the top of each section, place a sign
indicating the general subject matter of the books to be start up
in that section.
Paper the walls of your store, from the top of your book shelves
to the ceiling with posters - - colorful and descriptive junket
posters, broadway show billboards, operate posters and full color
dust jackets from books that are perennially popular.
The next apparatus is to build or buy half shelves, tables and
revolving racks for other or more books. The half shelves - - about
4 feet wide by 4 feet high and akin to book cases in your
home - - should be located at right angles to your wall shelves, and
in the rear of your store. The tables should be about 3 feet wide
by 4 feet long, and about 30 inches high. These also should be
located at right angles to your wall shelves, but closer to the
front of your store. A revolving wire form, to clasp currently
popular or specially featured books, and located at the front of
your store, will be a momentous extra merchandising effort that ' ll
really pay off in sales of your books.
In locating your half shelves and tables down the middle of your
store, stagger them - - one 3 feet from the wall shelves, the next
one 6 feet out, then 4 feet and so on. This will allow people to
be " seen " in your store; cut down on the appearance of a formal
or military layout, and project a more casual tactility for
browsing and this is precisely what you want. This amicable of
arrangement will cost you some space, but it will be worth it
with another traffic.
Another merchandising idea that works very well is a couple of
revolving wire racks on wheels... These you push outside and
position near the entrance to your store. You can characteristic popular
paperbacks, and a few oversize hard cover books with golden,
flashy colors in these racks.
Your store hours should match those of your neigbors... In fact,
you cold " jump off to a quick start, " by opening a half hour
earlier than your neighbors. Use his opening half hour to take
care of paperwork, and get yourself organized for the day. When
the early shoppers see you ' re open early, they ' ll begin coming
into your store to " browse and snuff time " while they wait for the
other stores to open.
If you cannot be there to " open the store, " then hire part time
help. The best arrangement is house wives or college students in
4 hour shifts at the minimum dinero.
First off, write out a list of duties you want each clerk to
perform while he ' s on shift. In addition to captivating care of sales
transactions, you might want him to do some stocking, dusting,
cleaning, sorting and prcing.. Regardless, you ' ll have fewer
problems and enjoy prominent profits if you formally write these
" shift duties " out, and post them as business requirements, and
tell them when you visit for hired help.
Look for, and try to hire only book lovers who are personable,
outgoing, and have some sort of business aptitude. You the train
these people in all phases of your operation, with the knowing in
mind that they will run the store in your absence, and eventually
be your store executive. the best way to find such people is by
talking with your customers, observing which might be willing to
work for you, and which of them might best fulfill your needs.
You ' ll need a outside sign for your store - preferably one that
hangs right angles to the flow of traffic in front of your store.
Many successful used book stores utilize hand - carved wooden
symbols, while others display painted symbols with calligraphic
lettering. By all means, spend the extra hundred dollars or so to
have spotlights installed on your store front, focusing on your
store symbols. Backlit resourceful symbols just don ' t create the
moneyed spitting image necessary for the success of a good used book
store
Newspaper and / or broadcast advertising will be much more
expensive than it ' s worth. Your best stake is to create a
well-off sensibility and open supplication for browsers, price your
stock fairly, scrape together on personal service, and let
word - of - ingress advertising and time do the rest.
Even so, you should run an ad in the unprincipled pages. feasibly and ad
in the college paper, and from time to time, personal sales ads in
your local shopping papers. Inexpensive flyers inviting people in
to exchange books, or to just browse, can be printed at your
local quick print shop and handed out or placed under the
windshields of cars in the larger shopping center parking lots.
Advertising, and special sales during holiday periods such as
Christmas, Gigantic ' s Day and Father ' s Day are much quite
effective in bringing new customers into your store.
Most used book store entrepreneurs use their own book collections
as start - up inventory base. In addition, talk to as many
neighbors, friends and relatives as possible for the donation of
books. Then start making the rounds of all the garage sales and
flea markets. You should have at least 10, 000 books in stock when
you open for business - and that ' s a lot of books. Search for
books to sell - those you can buy for 25 cents or less - - in all
thrift shops, Goodwill stores and Salvation Army outlets. Church
bazaars and estate sales also sometimes provide you with almost
" complete " libraries.
You might place a small ad in your newspaper announcing that
you ' re looking for good used books to buy. Generally, you
evaluate a book according to the price you think you can get it
for in your store. Then you subtract two thirds of that total,
and offer that as your " buying " price. Always separate the books
you feel certain you can sell from those you aren ' t sure about.
It ' s going to take awhile for you to become proficient as a book
buyer, but with practice and some experience, you ' ll quickly
develop the " intuition " you need to realize a profit on every
book you buy. Always flip thru the pages of each individual book,
and be sure of its condition before you quote a price. In many
instances you ' ll also find that out of a box of 25 books, you ' re
only interested in buying 10... The seller will generally be
wanting to get rid of his books, now... And for a couple of
dollars more than your " bid price " on the 10 books you want,
he ' ll let you have all 25 of them.. This is like a windfall to you
because you can always use the " unwanted " books as leader items
or extras to generate traffic during two - for - one sales; all books
on a certain table for just a nickel each; or your choice of free
books for everyone coming in to browse on certain days..
You should carry hardcover as well as paperback books. Pay no
more than 25 % of new price for a mint condition hardcover book,
and buy only those you are certain can be sold in your store. pay
no more than 10 % of the new price for a mint condition used
paperback, and steer clear of the hard - core sexually oriented
books.
Visit the libraries and book stores in your area. Observe what
people are interested in reading and what they ' re checking out or
buying. Stock your store with these kinds of books.
below is a listing of the kinds or types of books you should
consider stocking in your used books store:
BUSINESS BOOKS: These should include books on leadership, career
advancement, time management and people management.
HOW - TO BOOKS: These should include all the self - help and
self - improvement manuals you can find - - mail order, auto repair,
carpentry, metalwork, home building, gardening, and business
start - up.
COOK BOOKS: You ' ll probably be surprised at how many people buy
books relating to the culinary arts. A well stocked cookbook
section will mean definite profits for you. Forget about books on
dieting, home economics, and etiquette - - these just don ' t do well
in used book stores.
SPECIAL INTEREST BOOKS: Watch and listen to the people of your
area... Be on the lookout for people into World War, history,
aviation, sports perfection, movies and just plain old book
collectors...
PAPERBACKS: Women ' s romance, science fiction, mysteries, and
historical novels are all good movers - - currently enjoying an
upsurge in popularity and sales. These will be the " best movers "
in your inventory, so develop good sources of supply, and price
them for fast sales.
Building and maintaining your inventory, while continuing to
rapidly turn that inventory over, can be handled in a number of
different ways. It ' s not a good idea for you to exchange two or
three of your customer ' s books for one of yours. There ' s always a
variance in price, plus you may not want the type of books your
customer is offering to trade.
The most feasible plan seems to be to give the customer a " credit
chit " for each book you buy from him. Simply
have a supply of business cards promoting your store, printed at
your local quick print shop. On the back of the card, have them
print something along these lines:
" The bearer of this card is entitled to _______________ cents
credit on 50 % of the listed price of any book at Ye Olden Book
Store / s / Your Signature. "
Then when someone brings in a couple of books to sell, you pay
him in credit chits, marking in the amount and signing your name
on the card. An easier way might be to have your signature
printed on the cards when you order them - - you or your clerk would
simply fill in the credit amount, and emboss the card with a
notary - type embosser.
Usually, you allow 20 to 25 cents for mint condition paperbacks,
and about one quarter of your selling price for hardbacks. Always
make sure the customer understands that regardless of how many
' credit chits " he has, the credit chits can only pay for half the
purchase price. This of course, is to protect your cash - flow
problems, and your income of " hard money. "
Many used book stores add to their income potential by adding
tape cassette lending libraries. These are a real money makers
with a kind of service tat lends out " books on tape " and special
learning programs where portions of the rental fee applies to the
purchase of the original tape cassette.
A great many used book stores add to their income by running mail
order book selling operations in addition to the retail business.
This is a natural, either for a retail operator wanting to expand
his market or a mail order operator wanting to increase his
income.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE START - UP COSTS....
1, 000 TO 1, 500 SQUARE FOOT STORE
RENT ( 1st and Last month ' s ).......... $1, 000 to $2, 000
UTILITY & PHONE DEPOSITS............. $50 TO 300
INSURANCE ( 1st Quarter Payment )....... $100 TO 200
LICENSES & PERMITS................... $50 to 250
INVENTORY............................ $2, 500 to 5, 000
SHELVING & REMODELING................ $2, 000 TO 5, 000
MISC ( Decorating, checkout counter
cash register, supplies........ $1, 000 to 1, 500
LEGAL & ACCOUNTING................... $600 TO 1, 200
ADVERTISING & SIGNS................... $1, 000 TO 3, 500
__________________
TOTAL................................ $8, 250 TO 18, 950
OPERATING CAPITAL.................... $5, OOO TO 12, 000
Entrepreneur should have enough operating capital in reserve to
not only keep the store operating for the first year, without
counting on anticipated profit, but also enough for unseen
emergencies without having to count upon income from the store to
see him through.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE MONTHLY OPERATING COSTS...
PAYROLL............................. $1, 500 to $2, 500
OWNER / OPERATOR SALARY............... $1, 000 to $2, 000
RENT / LEASE.......................... $ 600 to $1, 000
ADVERTISING........................ $ 500 to $ 1, 000
DEPRECIATION........................ $ 100 to 150
UTILITIES & PHONE................... $ 150 to 300
PRINTING & STATIONERY................ $ 100 to 200
SHIPPING COSTS...................... $ 100 to 150
INSURANCE........................... $ 50 to 100
MAINTENANCE......................... $ 50 to 100
MISCELLANEOUS....................... & 100 to 150
____________________
TOTAL............................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
OPERATING COSTS..................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
ANTICIPATED SALES................... $5, 000 TO 8, 500
NET PROFIT BEFORE TAXES............. $ 800 TO 850
PRO FORMA ANNUAL INCOME ( B / T )....... $9, 600 to 3, 000
A word of caution: Though you must project an open, COMFORTABLE
invitation to browsers and would - be book buyers, you MUST also
inconspicuously guard against shoplifters and outright thieves.
The best is to place mirrors strategically throughout the store
so you can see your customers from the checkout desk at all
times. Your smaller and more expensive books should be kept up
front SO that you can see them and what your customers are doing
with them, without seeming to be guarding them. There are a
number of theft prevention gadgets and devices available, but
even more important is alert hired help that can keep an eye on
the customers without making them feel they ' re being watched.
The risks of starting a used book store are high for the dreamer
unaware that it ' s just another retail business and should be
handled as such. Well organized and intelligently - operated used
book stores are very stable, and they provide a very comfortable
income for the owner - operator willing to persist thru the
start - up period.
This can be the kind of business you ' ve always dreamed of owning,
but you ' ll have to have the patience to let it grow and the
perseverance to see it thru to its ultimate success. With these
thoughts in mind, I say reach for the sky and may the angels of
paradise always be smiling upon you with endless good fortune!
center - not too glamourous until you take a look at the publician ' s
bank account.
This is an example " absentee - hotelier " type of business, or a small
investment type business for someone to start while gate down
a regular, full time job. The type of person " best - profitable " to
running a successful used book store, is a man or woman who loves
to read, has cool books over the years and enjoys
associating with people of consonant interests.
Start - up risks average high, with the average time expression needed
to become firmly established, about 3 years. After that " becoming
established " stage however, you should be able to enjoy clout
of a business without extreme market fluctuations, plus an income
close to $50, 000 per year or more.
Ideally, a used book store will need a market family of at
least 50, 000 persons to platform it. Try to locate your store in a
" high traffic " area, as near as possible to a college or
university campus. Something to bear in mind is the shopping
habits of the average used book buyer: First, he is a browser. He
notices your shop, drops in and begins looking around to see what
philanthropic of books you have available. If he spots something that
really interests him, he ' ll probably buy then and there. If not,
and provided you ' ve made him stroke in clover this first time in
your store, he ' ll be back - dropping in to browse whenever he ' s in
the area.
Shopping Malls are an select locations for book stores.
Locations near other, or " new " books stores are also very good -
if the buyer doesn ' t find what he wants in the " other " book
stores, he ' ll check your store. Grocery store shopping centers
are oftentimes fortuneless locations for book stores of any considerate.
It ' s important that there be a lot of casual strollers in your
setting area, and that you revivify these people to drop in,
and browse around.
If you want the entire front of your store to be a show
window... take pains to arrange your window display in an
unstopped fashion, pageant the kinds of books you
have... However, a window display is not really necessary... more
important is a window for the passers - by to see into your
store... At any degree, if you do go with a window display, keep it
low - never more than 36 inches high flying start a lot of room for the
people passing to see in youe store, and notice the people
browsing thru your books. We know of one successful operator who
had members of his family, connections and friends, purposely
" browsing " thru his store, just to project that affectionate of carved figure for
the store.
Once you have your store locality selected, stain the entire
interior in a rayless, broiling color, such as mahogany. Stick a
lighter shade of indoor / outdoor carpet throughout. The lighting
should be indirect, and reasonably subdued to give the store a warmish
perception.
Locate your checkout obverse counterpart to one of the side
walls... You don ' t want it blocking or guarding the easy entry or
exit from your store. You want your customers to endure opulent
just visiting your store. in other words, do gadget you can
to spur the browser, because it ' s proven time and time winnings
that the browsers are the book buyers. Allow the people to come
and do oftentimes as they please; to pick up swing thru the books
that interest them; to read them and " fall in enjoyment " with them.
These will be your real book buyers.
Your book shelves should run along each side wall, and across the
back of the store. Don ' t build them more than six feet high.
Factor these shelves into sections about four feet wide, and
at the top of each section, place a sign
indicating the general subject matter of the books to be start up
in that section.
Paper the walls of your store, from the top of your book shelves
to the ceiling with posters - - colorful and descriptive junket
posters, broadway show billboards, operate posters and full color
dust jackets from books that are perennially popular.
The next apparatus is to build or buy half shelves, tables and
revolving racks for other or more books. The half shelves - - about
4 feet wide by 4 feet high and akin to book cases in your
home - - should be located at right angles to your wall shelves, and
in the rear of your store. The tables should be about 3 feet wide
by 4 feet long, and about 30 inches high. These also should be
located at right angles to your wall shelves, but closer to the
front of your store. A revolving wire form, to clasp currently
popular or specially featured books, and located at the front of
your store, will be a momentous extra merchandising effort that ' ll
really pay off in sales of your books.
In locating your half shelves and tables down the middle of your
store, stagger them - - one 3 feet from the wall shelves, the next
one 6 feet out, then 4 feet and so on. This will allow people to
be " seen " in your store; cut down on the appearance of a formal
or military layout, and project a more casual tactility for
browsing and this is precisely what you want. This amicable of
arrangement will cost you some space, but it will be worth it
with another traffic.
Another merchandising idea that works very well is a couple of
revolving wire racks on wheels... These you push outside and
position near the entrance to your store. You can characteristic popular
paperbacks, and a few oversize hard cover books with golden,
flashy colors in these racks.
Your store hours should match those of your neigbors... In fact,
you cold " jump off to a quick start, " by opening a half hour
earlier than your neighbors. Use his opening half hour to take
care of paperwork, and get yourself organized for the day. When
the early shoppers see you ' re open early, they ' ll begin coming
into your store to " browse and snuff time " while they wait for the
other stores to open.
If you cannot be there to " open the store, " then hire part time
help. The best arrangement is house wives or college students in
4 hour shifts at the minimum dinero.
First off, write out a list of duties you want each clerk to
perform while he ' s on shift. In addition to captivating care of sales
transactions, you might want him to do some stocking, dusting,
cleaning, sorting and prcing.. Regardless, you ' ll have fewer
problems and enjoy prominent profits if you formally write these
" shift duties " out, and post them as business requirements, and
tell them when you visit for hired help.
Look for, and try to hire only book lovers who are personable,
outgoing, and have some sort of business aptitude. You the train
these people in all phases of your operation, with the knowing in
mind that they will run the store in your absence, and eventually
be your store executive. the best way to find such people is by
talking with your customers, observing which might be willing to
work for you, and which of them might best fulfill your needs.
You ' ll need a outside sign for your store - preferably one that
hangs right angles to the flow of traffic in front of your store.
Many successful used book stores utilize hand - carved wooden
symbols, while others display painted symbols with calligraphic
lettering. By all means, spend the extra hundred dollars or so to
have spotlights installed on your store front, focusing on your
store symbols. Backlit resourceful symbols just don ' t create the
moneyed spitting image necessary for the success of a good used book
store
Newspaper and / or broadcast advertising will be much more
expensive than it ' s worth. Your best stake is to create a
well-off sensibility and open supplication for browsers, price your
stock fairly, scrape together on personal service, and let
word - of - ingress advertising and time do the rest.
Even so, you should run an ad in the unprincipled pages. feasibly and ad
in the college paper, and from time to time, personal sales ads in
your local shopping papers. Inexpensive flyers inviting people in
to exchange books, or to just browse, can be printed at your
local quick print shop and handed out or placed under the
windshields of cars in the larger shopping center parking lots.
Advertising, and special sales during holiday periods such as
Christmas, Gigantic ' s Day and Father ' s Day are much quite
effective in bringing new customers into your store.
Most used book store entrepreneurs use their own book collections
as start - up inventory base. In addition, talk to as many
neighbors, friends and relatives as possible for the donation of
books. Then start making the rounds of all the garage sales and
flea markets. You should have at least 10, 000 books in stock when
you open for business - and that ' s a lot of books. Search for
books to sell - those you can buy for 25 cents or less - - in all
thrift shops, Goodwill stores and Salvation Army outlets. Church
bazaars and estate sales also sometimes provide you with almost
" complete " libraries.
You might place a small ad in your newspaper announcing that
you ' re looking for good used books to buy. Generally, you
evaluate a book according to the price you think you can get it
for in your store. Then you subtract two thirds of that total,
and offer that as your " buying " price. Always separate the books
you feel certain you can sell from those you aren ' t sure about.
It ' s going to take awhile for you to become proficient as a book
buyer, but with practice and some experience, you ' ll quickly
develop the " intuition " you need to realize a profit on every
book you buy. Always flip thru the pages of each individual book,
and be sure of its condition before you quote a price. In many
instances you ' ll also find that out of a box of 25 books, you ' re
only interested in buying 10... The seller will generally be
wanting to get rid of his books, now... And for a couple of
dollars more than your " bid price " on the 10 books you want,
he ' ll let you have all 25 of them.. This is like a windfall to you
because you can always use the " unwanted " books as leader items
or extras to generate traffic during two - for - one sales; all books
on a certain table for just a nickel each; or your choice of free
books for everyone coming in to browse on certain days..
You should carry hardcover as well as paperback books. Pay no
more than 25 % of new price for a mint condition hardcover book,
and buy only those you are certain can be sold in your store. pay
no more than 10 % of the new price for a mint condition used
paperback, and steer clear of the hard - core sexually oriented
books.
Visit the libraries and book stores in your area. Observe what
people are interested in reading and what they ' re checking out or
buying. Stock your store with these kinds of books.
below is a listing of the kinds or types of books you should
consider stocking in your used books store:
BUSINESS BOOKS: These should include books on leadership, career
advancement, time management and people management.
HOW - TO BOOKS: These should include all the self - help and
self - improvement manuals you can find - - mail order, auto repair,
carpentry, metalwork, home building, gardening, and business
start - up.
COOK BOOKS: You ' ll probably be surprised at how many people buy
books relating to the culinary arts. A well stocked cookbook
section will mean definite profits for you. Forget about books on
dieting, home economics, and etiquette - - these just don ' t do well
in used book stores.
SPECIAL INTEREST BOOKS: Watch and listen to the people of your
area... Be on the lookout for people into World War, history,
aviation, sports perfection, movies and just plain old book
collectors...
PAPERBACKS: Women ' s romance, science fiction, mysteries, and
historical novels are all good movers - - currently enjoying an
upsurge in popularity and sales. These will be the " best movers "
in your inventory, so develop good sources of supply, and price
them for fast sales.
Building and maintaining your inventory, while continuing to
rapidly turn that inventory over, can be handled in a number of
different ways. It ' s not a good idea for you to exchange two or
three of your customer ' s books for one of yours. There ' s always a
variance in price, plus you may not want the type of books your
customer is offering to trade.
The most feasible plan seems to be to give the customer a " credit
chit " for each book you buy from him. Simply
have a supply of business cards promoting your store, printed at
your local quick print shop. On the back of the card, have them
print something along these lines:
" The bearer of this card is entitled to _______________ cents
credit on 50 % of the listed price of any book at Ye Olden Book
Store / s / Your Signature. "
Then when someone brings in a couple of books to sell, you pay
him in credit chits, marking in the amount and signing your name
on the card. An easier way might be to have your signature
printed on the cards when you order them - - you or your clerk would
simply fill in the credit amount, and emboss the card with a
notary - type embosser.
Usually, you allow 20 to 25 cents for mint condition paperbacks,
and about one quarter of your selling price for hardbacks. Always
make sure the customer understands that regardless of how many
' credit chits " he has, the credit chits can only pay for half the
purchase price. This of course, is to protect your cash - flow
problems, and your income of " hard money. "
Many used book stores add to their income potential by adding
tape cassette lending libraries. These are a real money makers
with a kind of service tat lends out " books on tape " and special
learning programs where portions of the rental fee applies to the
purchase of the original tape cassette.
A great many used book stores add to their income by running mail
order book selling operations in addition to the retail business.
This is a natural, either for a retail operator wanting to expand
his market or a mail order operator wanting to increase his
income.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE START - UP COSTS....
1, 000 TO 1, 500 SQUARE FOOT STORE
RENT ( 1st and Last month ' s ).......... $1, 000 to $2, 000
UTILITY & PHONE DEPOSITS............. $50 TO 300
INSURANCE ( 1st Quarter Payment )....... $100 TO 200
LICENSES & PERMITS................... $50 to 250
INVENTORY............................ $2, 500 to 5, 000
SHELVING & REMODELING................ $2, 000 TO 5, 000
MISC ( Decorating, checkout counter
cash register, supplies........ $1, 000 to 1, 500
LEGAL & ACCOUNTING................... $600 TO 1, 200
ADVERTISING & SIGNS................... $1, 000 TO 3, 500
__________________
TOTAL................................ $8, 250 TO 18, 950
OPERATING CAPITAL.................... $5, OOO TO 12, 000
Entrepreneur should have enough operating capital in reserve to
not only keep the store operating for the first year, without
counting on anticipated profit, but also enough for unseen
emergencies without having to count upon income from the store to
see him through.
TYPICAL USED BOOK STORE MONTHLY OPERATING COSTS...
PAYROLL............................. $1, 500 to $2, 500
OWNER / OPERATOR SALARY............... $1, 000 to $2, 000
RENT / LEASE.......................... $ 600 to $1, 000
ADVERTISING........................ $ 500 to $ 1, 000
DEPRECIATION........................ $ 100 to 150
UTILITIES & PHONE................... $ 150 to 300
PRINTING & STATIONERY................ $ 100 to 200
SHIPPING COSTS...................... $ 100 to 150
INSURANCE........................... $ 50 to 100
MAINTENANCE......................... $ 50 to 100
MISCELLANEOUS....................... & 100 to 150
____________________
TOTAL............................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
OPERATING COSTS..................... $4, 200 TO 7, 650
ANTICIPATED SALES................... $5, 000 TO 8, 500
NET PROFIT BEFORE TAXES............. $ 800 TO 850
PRO FORMA ANNUAL INCOME ( B / T )....... $9, 600 to 3, 000
A word of caution: Though you must project an open, COMFORTABLE
invitation to browsers and would - be book buyers, you MUST also
inconspicuously guard against shoplifters and outright thieves.
The best is to place mirrors strategically throughout the store
so you can see your customers from the checkout desk at all
times. Your smaller and more expensive books should be kept up
front SO that you can see them and what your customers are doing
with them, without seeming to be guarding them. There are a
number of theft prevention gadgets and devices available, but
even more important is alert hired help that can keep an eye on
the customers without making them feel they ' re being watched.
The risks of starting a used book store are high for the dreamer
unaware that it ' s just another retail business and should be
handled as such. Well organized and intelligently - operated used
book stores are very stable, and they provide a very comfortable
income for the owner - operator willing to persist thru the
start - up period.
This can be the kind of business you ' ve always dreamed of owning,
but you ' ll have to have the patience to let it grow and the
perseverance to see it thru to its ultimate success. With these
thoughts in mind, I say reach for the sky and may the angels of
paradise always be smiling upon you with endless good fortune!
Selasa, 05 November 2013
THE INSIDE SECRETS OF FREE PUBLICITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Product publicity is the " secret lane " to business success
everyone wants. In simple terms, product publicity is a gracious of
advertising that costs you nothing, yet brings in the orders for
you.
Regardless of what indulgent of business you are operating, you
should want, and strive for, as much publicity for your business
and your products or services, as possible. After all, it ' s
" free advertising " that is essential to the success of your
business. However, your publicity efforts should be well
knowing out, and pre - planned for maximum results.
The first, and basic form of recipient publicity is through what
is known as the press or announcement release. This is recurrently a one
page story about your business, your product / service or an
function / happening related to your business that is about to, or
has recently occurred. These publicity stories are often
" shot - gunned " to all the various media: local newspapers, radio
and TV, and trade publications.
Problem number one is getting the people to whom you ' ve sent
these publicity stories, to use them - publish or broadcast
them. And this leads us back to the " right way " of writing
them and sending them in.
In every case, send a short cover letter addressed to the person
you want your material to be considered by... This means that
you send your story to the site editor of the newspapers; the
story directors of the radio and TV stations; and the managing
editors of the various trade publications. It will do you no
good what - so - ever, to send your material to the advertising,
circulation or business managers - describing how you ' re a
long - time advertiser, subscriber or listener. The most
important individual is that you make contact with the person who has
the final say as to what is to be published or broadcast, and at
the bottom line - this person ' s use of your material will
somehow make him a " ideal " to his or her readers, viewers or
listeners.
The cover letter should be a short note. Go to a paper supplier
- tell him you want a hundred or so sheets of good bond paper -
8 1 / 2 by 11 " preferably in a pastel color such as dispirited or transparent
- and that you want this paper cut into quarters, giving you a
grand total fo 400 sheets of note paper. " From the desk of... "
note sheets are too motley until the people you ' re contacting
get to know you - first time around, and until they use your
material, don ' t use these semi - formal note sheets...
On this note sheet, begin with the date across the top - skip a
couple of spaces and then briskly tell the obtaining of the
note: the attached material is new and should be of real
interest to his readers, viewers or listeners. We advise our
dealers and distributors of MONEY MAKING Witchcraft - our regular
publication for steady wealth builders and extra income seekers
- to send the following note to the editors and announcement directors
of the media in their areas:
" Here ' s something that ' s new, and for a change, considerably helpful,
to people trying to cope with accession - the uplifted costs of
conscious - and those engaged in building extra income businesses
of their own. Should be of real rate - interest - to your
readers. Please take a look - any questions, or if you need
more scoop, give me a call at: ( 503 ) 666 - 5824... " Then, of
course, you skip about four spaces, type your name, your
business name, and your address - sign your name above where
you ' ve typed it, and staple this note in the most right hand
corner of your data release. This note should be typed and
paired - spaced.
So now, you ' ve got a cover letter, and you know who to send it
to... We type up one such note, and take it to a near - by
quick - print shop. They xerox the note 4 times, preceding these
4 - copies onto one sheet of paper, print 50 to 100 copies, and
cut the paper into individual notes, all for less that $10... Do
not try to save money by photo - copying or xeroxing - a
photo - copy is a photo - copy is a photo - copy, and will not do the
job for you...
Now you need the actual publicity release, which also must be
" properly " written if you expect it to be used by the media.
Above all else, there ' s a proper form or style to use, plus the
fact that it must be typed, coupled - spaced, and short - about a
half page in total roll.
About an inch from the top of the paper, with an inch and a half
margin on each side of the paper; from the unsocial hand margin,
type in all capital letters: PRESS RELEASE: Then, pinpoint
these words. Instantly following the colon, but not in all
capital letters, put in the date. Always set the date forward
by at least one day after the day you intend to mail the release.
On the same line, but on the right hand side of the page, and in
all capital letters, write the words, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Articulate this, and instantly below, but not in all capital
letters, type your name - your phone number - and your address...
Skip a couple of spaces, then in all capital letters - centered
between the margins - type a story headline, and prioritize it...
Skip a couple of spaces, and from the solitary hand margin, all in
capital letters, type the words, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: From
there on, it ' s the news or publicity story itself.
You can write the headline before the story, and then a story to
fit the headline - or the story before the headline, and then a
headline to fit the story - either way, it ' s climactically the same
as writing a space ad or a sales letter... You trail attention
and interest with the headline and fill in the details with your
story.
Here ' s an example of the intelligence we use on publicity blurbs
for MONEY MAKING Voodoo:
HELP IN MAKING ENDS Just
NEW PUBLICATION FOR EXTRA INCOME SEEKERS
Notice how we continue to sell or involve the editor - His
readers are always looking for better ways to make ends meet,
and he ' s specifically interested as to what our promise
involves... He wants his readers to " think well " of him for
enlightening them with this source of help, so he reads into the
story to find out who, what and how...
Suffice it to say that your headline, and the story you present
to the editor, must sell him on the benefits of your product or
service to his readers. Unless it specifically does this, he ' ll
not use it. You must sell the first person receiving your
materials. Keep this fact uppermost in your mind as you write
it. The person you send your press or publicity release to,
must quickly see and understand how your product or service will
benefit his readers - thereby making him a hero to them - and he
must be assured it will do what you promise in your headline.
Come right to the point and say your product is lower in price,
more convenient to use or in what way your product or service is
useful to the people in general. It ' s also a good idea to
include a complimentary sample of your product or an opportunity
for him to sample your services.
Remember, the editors receiving your information are fully aware
of your purposes - Free Advertising! They are not in the least
interested in you or your credentials - If you ' ve sold them on
the benefits of your business to their readers, and they want
background details, they ' ll call you. That ' s why you list your
telephone number and address...
These people are busy people. They have not got the time nor
the interest in reading about your trials and tribulations or
plans for the future. They want only " a flag " that alerts them
to something new and of probable real interest to their readers.
Sell the editor first. Convince him that you ' ve found the
better mousetrap. Show him that your product or service - that
your business - fills a need and / or will interest a large
segment of his readers, his viewers or listeners.
When an editor uses your publicity release, always follow - up
with a short thank you note. Never, but never send a publicity
release to an editor and then call or write demanding to know
why he didn ' t use it, use it as you wrote it, or only gave you a
quick mention. Do this once, and that particular media will
" round - file " any further material received from you, unopened!
If your first effort is not used, then you should review the
story itself; perhaps write it from a different angle; make
sure you ' re sending it to the proper person - and try again!
As stated earlier, these people are busy, with hundreds of
publicity releases passing across their desks every day - They
only have so much space or time - therefore, your material has
to stand out and in some way, fit with the information they -
the editors - want to pass along to their readers, viewers or
listeners. Regardless of your business, product, or service,
you must build your press release - write it - around that
particular angle or feature that makes it beneficial or interest
to the readers, viewer or listeners of the media you want to run
your press release. Without this special ingredient, you ' re
lost before you begin!
The timing of your press release is always important. Try to
associate your press release with current events in the news. A
story on job lay - offs and increased unemployment carried in the
newspapers, on TV and radio would prompt us to get a publicity
release out to all the media on the help and opportunity offered
by MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Say there ' s a deluge of chain letters
and pyramid schemes making the round - the media picks up on it
and attempts to warn the people to beware... Within 5 days, we
would get a publicity release out, explaining the availability
of our report on chain letters and pyramid schemes - a report
that explains everything from A to Z - who ' re the winners and
who ' re the real losers.
There ' s another kind of timing also to keep in mind...
Publication deadlines... For best results, always try to time it
so your material reaches the editor in time for the Sunday
paper. This is because that ' s when the papers have their
greatest circulation; the most space is available; and the
people, the most time to read the paper.
For articles you ' d like to appear in the Sunday paper, you ' ll
generally have to get your release in at least nine days prior
to the date of publication. If you ' re in doubt, call and ask
about the deadline date.
IN SUMMARY:
Choose the media most likely to carry your press release.
Select those that carry similar write - ups on a regular basis.
Always use a cover letter of some kind. It pays to call ahead
to find out the name of the person you should be sending your
press release to.
Use the proper press release form, complete with a headline that
will interest the man deciding whether or not to use your item.
Be sure your press release is letter perfect - no typo ' s or
misspelled words - and don ' t photo - copy - always have each
letter or press release individually typed or printed.
When your item is used, send a thank you note or call the editor
on the phone and thank him for using your press release.
Never, but never call or write an editor demanding to know why
he didn ' t use your press release, why he had it rewritten or cut
it short - just try, and try again!
everyone wants. In simple terms, product publicity is a gracious of
advertising that costs you nothing, yet brings in the orders for
you.
Regardless of what indulgent of business you are operating, you
should want, and strive for, as much publicity for your business
and your products or services, as possible. After all, it ' s
" free advertising " that is essential to the success of your
business. However, your publicity efforts should be well
knowing out, and pre - planned for maximum results.
The first, and basic form of recipient publicity is through what
is known as the press or announcement release. This is recurrently a one
page story about your business, your product / service or an
function / happening related to your business that is about to, or
has recently occurred. These publicity stories are often
" shot - gunned " to all the various media: local newspapers, radio
and TV, and trade publications.
Problem number one is getting the people to whom you ' ve sent
these publicity stories, to use them - publish or broadcast
them. And this leads us back to the " right way " of writing
them and sending them in.
In every case, send a short cover letter addressed to the person
you want your material to be considered by... This means that
you send your story to the site editor of the newspapers; the
story directors of the radio and TV stations; and the managing
editors of the various trade publications. It will do you no
good what - so - ever, to send your material to the advertising,
circulation or business managers - describing how you ' re a
long - time advertiser, subscriber or listener. The most
important individual is that you make contact with the person who has
the final say as to what is to be published or broadcast, and at
the bottom line - this person ' s use of your material will
somehow make him a " ideal " to his or her readers, viewers or
listeners.
The cover letter should be a short note. Go to a paper supplier
- tell him you want a hundred or so sheets of good bond paper -
8 1 / 2 by 11 " preferably in a pastel color such as dispirited or transparent
- and that you want this paper cut into quarters, giving you a
grand total fo 400 sheets of note paper. " From the desk of... "
note sheets are too motley until the people you ' re contacting
get to know you - first time around, and until they use your
material, don ' t use these semi - formal note sheets...
On this note sheet, begin with the date across the top - skip a
couple of spaces and then briskly tell the obtaining of the
note: the attached material is new and should be of real
interest to his readers, viewers or listeners. We advise our
dealers and distributors of MONEY MAKING Witchcraft - our regular
publication for steady wealth builders and extra income seekers
- to send the following note to the editors and announcement directors
of the media in their areas:
" Here ' s something that ' s new, and for a change, considerably helpful,
to people trying to cope with accession - the uplifted costs of
conscious - and those engaged in building extra income businesses
of their own. Should be of real rate - interest - to your
readers. Please take a look - any questions, or if you need
more scoop, give me a call at: ( 503 ) 666 - 5824... " Then, of
course, you skip about four spaces, type your name, your
business name, and your address - sign your name above where
you ' ve typed it, and staple this note in the most right hand
corner of your data release. This note should be typed and
paired - spaced.
So now, you ' ve got a cover letter, and you know who to send it
to... We type up one such note, and take it to a near - by
quick - print shop. They xerox the note 4 times, preceding these
4 - copies onto one sheet of paper, print 50 to 100 copies, and
cut the paper into individual notes, all for less that $10... Do
not try to save money by photo - copying or xeroxing - a
photo - copy is a photo - copy is a photo - copy, and will not do the
job for you...
Now you need the actual publicity release, which also must be
" properly " written if you expect it to be used by the media.
Above all else, there ' s a proper form or style to use, plus the
fact that it must be typed, coupled - spaced, and short - about a
half page in total roll.
About an inch from the top of the paper, with an inch and a half
margin on each side of the paper; from the unsocial hand margin,
type in all capital letters: PRESS RELEASE: Then, pinpoint
these words. Instantly following the colon, but not in all
capital letters, put in the date. Always set the date forward
by at least one day after the day you intend to mail the release.
On the same line, but on the right hand side of the page, and in
all capital letters, write the words, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Articulate this, and instantly below, but not in all capital
letters, type your name - your phone number - and your address...
Skip a couple of spaces, then in all capital letters - centered
between the margins - type a story headline, and prioritize it...
Skip a couple of spaces, and from the solitary hand margin, all in
capital letters, type the words, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: From
there on, it ' s the news or publicity story itself.
You can write the headline before the story, and then a story to
fit the headline - or the story before the headline, and then a
headline to fit the story - either way, it ' s climactically the same
as writing a space ad or a sales letter... You trail attention
and interest with the headline and fill in the details with your
story.
Here ' s an example of the intelligence we use on publicity blurbs
for MONEY MAKING Voodoo:
HELP IN MAKING ENDS Just
NEW PUBLICATION FOR EXTRA INCOME SEEKERS
Notice how we continue to sell or involve the editor - His
readers are always looking for better ways to make ends meet,
and he ' s specifically interested as to what our promise
involves... He wants his readers to " think well " of him for
enlightening them with this source of help, so he reads into the
story to find out who, what and how...
Suffice it to say that your headline, and the story you present
to the editor, must sell him on the benefits of your product or
service to his readers. Unless it specifically does this, he ' ll
not use it. You must sell the first person receiving your
materials. Keep this fact uppermost in your mind as you write
it. The person you send your press or publicity release to,
must quickly see and understand how your product or service will
benefit his readers - thereby making him a hero to them - and he
must be assured it will do what you promise in your headline.
Come right to the point and say your product is lower in price,
more convenient to use or in what way your product or service is
useful to the people in general. It ' s also a good idea to
include a complimentary sample of your product or an opportunity
for him to sample your services.
Remember, the editors receiving your information are fully aware
of your purposes - Free Advertising! They are not in the least
interested in you or your credentials - If you ' ve sold them on
the benefits of your business to their readers, and they want
background details, they ' ll call you. That ' s why you list your
telephone number and address...
These people are busy people. They have not got the time nor
the interest in reading about your trials and tribulations or
plans for the future. They want only " a flag " that alerts them
to something new and of probable real interest to their readers.
Sell the editor first. Convince him that you ' ve found the
better mousetrap. Show him that your product or service - that
your business - fills a need and / or will interest a large
segment of his readers, his viewers or listeners.
When an editor uses your publicity release, always follow - up
with a short thank you note. Never, but never send a publicity
release to an editor and then call or write demanding to know
why he didn ' t use it, use it as you wrote it, or only gave you a
quick mention. Do this once, and that particular media will
" round - file " any further material received from you, unopened!
If your first effort is not used, then you should review the
story itself; perhaps write it from a different angle; make
sure you ' re sending it to the proper person - and try again!
As stated earlier, these people are busy, with hundreds of
publicity releases passing across their desks every day - They
only have so much space or time - therefore, your material has
to stand out and in some way, fit with the information they -
the editors - want to pass along to their readers, viewers or
listeners. Regardless of your business, product, or service,
you must build your press release - write it - around that
particular angle or feature that makes it beneficial or interest
to the readers, viewer or listeners of the media you want to run
your press release. Without this special ingredient, you ' re
lost before you begin!
The timing of your press release is always important. Try to
associate your press release with current events in the news. A
story on job lay - offs and increased unemployment carried in the
newspapers, on TV and radio would prompt us to get a publicity
release out to all the media on the help and opportunity offered
by MONEY MAKING MAGIC! Say there ' s a deluge of chain letters
and pyramid schemes making the round - the media picks up on it
and attempts to warn the people to beware... Within 5 days, we
would get a publicity release out, explaining the availability
of our report on chain letters and pyramid schemes - a report
that explains everything from A to Z - who ' re the winners and
who ' re the real losers.
There ' s another kind of timing also to keep in mind...
Publication deadlines... For best results, always try to time it
so your material reaches the editor in time for the Sunday
paper. This is because that ' s when the papers have their
greatest circulation; the most space is available; and the
people, the most time to read the paper.
For articles you ' d like to appear in the Sunday paper, you ' ll
generally have to get your release in at least nine days prior
to the date of publication. If you ' re in doubt, call and ask
about the deadline date.
IN SUMMARY:
Choose the media most likely to carry your press release.
Select those that carry similar write - ups on a regular basis.
Always use a cover letter of some kind. It pays to call ahead
to find out the name of the person you should be sending your
press release to.
Use the proper press release form, complete with a headline that
will interest the man deciding whether or not to use your item.
Be sure your press release is letter perfect - no typo ' s or
misspelled words - and don ' t photo - copy - always have each
letter or press release individually typed or printed.
When your item is used, send a thank you note or call the editor
on the phone and thank him for using your press release.
Never, but never call or write an editor demanding to know why
he didn ' t use your press release, why he had it rewritten or cut
it short - just try, and try again!
HOW TO PREPARE A BUSINESS PLAN THAT GUARANTEES BIG PROFITS
Success in business comes as a fruit of alignment. You have to
have a sweeping, written plan that shows what the ultimate intention
is, the reason for the ambition, and each exploit that must be
passed in order to reach your target.
A business plan is written worth of, and useable plan
for achieving your ground zero. You need a complete but
success tool in order to define your basic product, income
objectives and specific operating procedures. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A
BUSINESS PLAN to draw investors, obtain financing and mastery
onto the confidence of your creditors, particularly in times of
cash flow shortages - - in this instance, the amount of money you
have on hand compared with the expenses that must be met.
Aside from an overall directional policy for the production,
sales effort and profit goals of your product - - your basic " voyage
guide " to business success - - the most important plan your
business plan will serve, will be the basis or foundation of any
financial proposals you proffer. Many entrepreneurs are under the
mistaken impression that a business plan is the same as a
financial proposal, or that a financial proposal constitutes a
business plan. This is just a misunderstanding of the uses of
these two separate and different business success aids.
The business plan is a long radius " pattern " to guide your business
to the object you ' ve set for it. The plan details the what, why,
where, how and when, of your business - - the success make-up of
your company.
Your financial proposal is a requisition for money based upon your
business plan - - your business history and objectives.
Get the differences. They are closely related, but they
are not interchangeable.
Writing and putting well-organized a " winning " business plan takes
study, research and time, so don ' t try to do it all in just one
or two days.
The easiest way to start with a loose blade jotter, terribly of
paper, pencils, write up sharpener, and several erasers. Once you
get your mind " in gear " and begin thinking about your business
plan, " 10, 000 thoughts and ideas per minute " will begin brisk
thru your mind... So, it ' s a good idea when you aren ' t purely
working on your business plan, to transact a pocket jotter and jot
down those business ideas as they come to you - - ideas for sales
promotion, recruiting distributors, and any other thoughts on how
to operate and / or build your business.
Successive, when you ' re all told working on your business plan, you
can take out this " idea register " evaluate your ideas, rework
them, clear them, and integrate them into the overall " big
picture " of your business plan.
The best business plans for even the smallest businesses run 25
to 30 pages or more, so you ' ll need to " duration " each page and
arrange the different aspects of your business plan into
" chapters. " The format should pretty much run as follows:
Word Page
Statement of End
Fare of Contents
Business Description
Market Analysis
Competition
Business Whereabouts
Management
Current Financial Records
Explanation of Plans For Vegetation
Projected Profit & Loss / Operating Figures
Explanation of Financing for Fleshing out
Label
Summary of Business & Outlook for The Scheduled
Diagonal of Business & personal References
This is a logical structuring of the information every
business plan should cover. I ' ll clarify each of these chapters
titles in greater detail, but first, let me complicated upon the
reasons for proper organization of your business plan.
Having a set of " questions to answer " about your business
forces you to take an disinterested and critical look at your ideas.
Putting it all down on paper allows you to change, erase and
refine materiality to function in the manner of a smoothly oiled
machine. You ' ll be able to spot weakness and strengthen them
before they develop into big problems. Overall, you ' ll be
developing an operating manual for your business - - a worthy tool
which will keep your business on passageway, and guide you in the
profitable management of your business.
Because it ' s your idea, and your business, it ' s very important
that YOU do the assembling. This is YOUR business plan, so YOU
develop it, and put it all down on paper just the way YOU want it
to read. Travel out the advice of other people; say with, listen
to, and recognize, other people running matching businesses; enlist
the advice of your accountant and attorney - - but at the bottom
line, don ' t ever fail it has to be YOUR BUSINESS PLAN!
Remember too, that statistics show the greatest causes of
business failure to be needy management and lack of
harmony - - without a plan by which to operate, no one can direct;
and without a direction in which to aim its efforts, no business
can attain any real success.
On the very first page, which is the interval page, put down the
name of your business - ABC Turmoil - - with your business address
below. Now, skip a couple of produce, and write it all in
capital letters: PRINCIPAL Lessor - - followed by your name if you ' re
the principal landlord. On your finished report, you would want to
center this information on the page, with the words " principal
lessor " off - set to the troglodytic about five spaces.
Examples: ABC Liveliness
1234 SW 5th Ave.
Anywhere, USA 00000
PRINCIPAL Landlord: Your Name
That ' s all you ' ll have on this page except the page number
- 1 -
Following your expression page is the page for your statement
ulterior motive. This should be a simple statement of your primary
business function, such as: We are a service business engaged in
the business of selling business success manuals and other
information by mail.
The expression of the page should be in all capital letters across
the top of the page, centered on your final draft - - skip a few
commodities and write the statement of bourn. This should be direct,
clear and short - - never more than ( 2 ) sentences in roll.
Then you should skip a few wares, and from the withdrawn hand margin
of the paper, write out a sub - patronymic in all capital letters,
such as: EXPLANATION OF What for.
From, and within this sub - epithet you can briefly decipher your
statement of mecca, such as: Our surveys have set up most
entrepreneurs to be " sadly " mislaid in basic information that
will enable them to achieve success. This market is estimated at
more than a 100 million persons, with at least half of these
people actively " searching " for sources that arrange the gracious of
information they want, and need.
With our business, advertising and publishing experience, it is
our object to capture at least half of this market of information
seekers, with our publication. MONEY MAKING Charm! Our market
research indicates we can achieve this object and realize a profit
of $1, 000, 000 per year within the next 5 years...
The above example is ofttimes the way you should write your
" explanation of will, " and in fugacious pith, why you need
an explanation. Point to conjure up: Keep it short. Very few
business proposition explanations justify more than a half page long.
Next comes your pabulum of contents page. Don ' t really worry
about this until you ' ve got the entire plan ended and ready
for final typing. It ' s a good idea though, to list the subject
( chapter titles ) as I have, and then check off each one as you
complete that part of your plan.
By having a list of the points you want to cover, you ' ll also
be able to skip around and work on each pass of your business
plan as an idea or the interest in construction that particular
accident, stimulates you. In other words, you won ' t have to make
your thinking or your harmony conform to the chronological order
of the " chapters " of your business plan - - another reason for the
loose bract register.
In describing your business, it ' s best to begin where your
statement expectation leaves off. Communicate your product, the
production advance, who has responsibility for what, and most
importantly, what makes your product or service unique - - what
gives it an edge in your market. You can briefly summarize your
business beginnings, present position and potential for future
success, as well.
Next, describe the buyers you ' re trying to reach - - why they need
and want or will buy your product - - and the results of any tests
or surveys you may have conducted. Once you ' ve defined your
market, go on to explain how you intend to reach that market - - how
you ' ll these prospects to your product or service and induce them
to buy. You might want to break this chapter down into sections
such as.. publicity and promotions, advertising plans, direct
sales force, and dealer / distributor programs. Each section would
then be an outline of your plans and policies.
Moving into the next chapter on competition, identify who your
competitors are - - their weakness and strong points - - explain how
you intend to capitalize on those weaknesses and match or better
the strong points. Talk to as many of your " indirect " competitors
as possible - - those operating in different cities and states.
One of the easiest ways of gathering a lot of useful
information about your competitors is by developing a series of
survey questions and sending these questionnaires out to each of
them. Later on, you might want to compile the answers to these
questionnaires into some form of directory or report on this type
of business.
It ' s also advisable to contact the trade associations and
publications serving your proposed type of business. For
information on trade associations and specific trade
publications, visit your public library, and after explaining
what you want ask for the librarian ' s help.
The chapter on management should be an elaboration on the
people operating the business. Those people that actually run the
business, their job, titles, duties, responsibilities and
background resume ' s. It ' s important that you " paint " a strong
picture of your top management people because the people coming
to work for you or investing in your business, will be " investing
in these people " as much as your product ideas. Individual
tenacity, mature judgement under fire, and innovative
problem - solving have " won over " more people than all the AAA
Credit Ratings and astronomical sales figures put together.
People becoming involved with any new venture want to know that
the person in charge - - the guy running the business knows what
he ' s doing, will not lose his cool when problems arise, and has
what it takes to make money for all of them> After showing the
" muscle " of this person, go on to outline the other key positions
within your business; who the persons are you ' ve selected to
handle those jobs and the sources as well as availability of any
help you might need.
If you ' ve been in business of any kind scale, the next chapter
is a picture of your financial status - - a review of your operating
costs and income from the business to date. Generally, this is a
listing of your profit & loss statements for the six months, plus
copies of your business income tax records for each of the
previous three years the business has been an entity.
The chapter on the explanation of your plans for the future
growth of your business is just that - - an explanation of how you
plan to keep your business growing - - a detailed guide of what
you ' re going to do, and how you ' re going to increase your
profits. These plans should show your goals for the coming year,
two years, and three years. By breaking your objectives down into
annual milestones, your plan will be accepted as more realistic
and be more understandable as a part of your ultimate success.
Following this explanation, you ' ll need to itemize the
projected cost and income figures of your three year plan. I ' ll
take a lot of research, an undoubtedly a good deal of erasing,
but it ' s very important that you list these figures based upon
thorough investigation. You may have to adjust some of your plans
downward, but once you ' ve got these two chapters on paper, your
whole business plan will fall into line and begin to make sense.
You ' ll have a precise " map " of where you ' re headed, how much it ' s
going to cost, when you can expect to start making money, and how
much.
Now that you know where you ' re going, how much it ' s going to
cost and how long it ' s going to be before you begin to recoup
your investment, you ' re ready to talk about how and where you ' re
going to get the money to finance your journey. Unless you ' re
independently wealthy, you ' ll want to use this chapter to list
the possibilities and alternatives.
Make a list of friends you can approach, and perhaps induce to
put up some money as silent partners. Make a list of those people
you might be able to sell as stockholders in your company - - in
many cases you can sell up to $300, 000 worth of stock on a
" private issue " basis without filing papers with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Check with a corporate or tax attorney
in your area for more details. Make a list of relatives and
friends that might help you with an outright loan to furnish
money for the development of your business.
Then search out and make a list of venture capital
organizations. Visit the Small Business Administration office in
your area - - pick up the loan application papers they have - - read
them, study them, and even fill them out on a preliminary
basis - - and finally, check the costs, determine which business
publications would be best to advertise in, if you were to
advertise for a partner or investor, and write an ad you ' d want
to use if you did decide to advertise for monetary help.
With listing of all the options available to your needs, all
that ' s left is the arranging of these options in the order you
would want to use them when the time come to ask for money. When
you ' re researching these money sources, you ' ll save time by
noting the " contact " deal with when you want money, and whenever
possible, by developing a working relationship with these people.
If your documentation section, you should have a credit report
on yourself. Use the Yellow Pages or check at the credit
department in your bank for the nearest credit reporting office.
When you get your credit report, look it over and take whatever
steps are necessary to eliminate any negative comments. Once
these have been taken care of, ask for a revised copy of your
report and include a copy of that in your business plan.
If you own any patents or copyrights, include copies of these.
Any licenses to use someone else ' s patent or copyright should
also be included. If you own the distribution, wholesale or
exclusive sales rights to a product, include copies of this
documentation. You should also include copies of any leases,
special agreements or other legal papers that might be pertinent
to your business.
In conclusion, write out a brief, overall summary of your
business - when the business was started, the purpose of the
business, what makes your business different, how you ' re going to
gain a profitable share of the market, and your expected success
during the coming 5 years..
The last page of your business plan is a " courtesy page "
listing the names, addresses and phone numbers of personal and
business references - - persons who have known you closely for the
past five years or longer - - and companies or firms you ' ve had
business or credit dealings with during the past five years.
And, that ' s it - - your complete business plan. Before you send it
out for formal typing, read it over once a day for a week or ten
days. Take care of any changes or corrections, and then have it
reviewed by an attorney and then, an accountant. It would also be
a good idea to have it reviewed by a business consultant serving
the business community to which your business will be related.
After these reviews, and any last - minute changes you want to
make, I ' ll be ready for formal typing.
Hire a professional typist to type the entire plan on ordinary
white bond paper. Make sure you proof - read it against the
original. Check for any corrections and typographical
errors - - then one more time - - read it through for clarity and the
perfection you want of it.
Now you ' re ready to have it printed and published for whatever
use you have planned for it - - distribution amongst your partners
or stockholders as the business plan for putting together a
winning financial proposal, or as a business operating manual.
Take it to a quality printer in your area, and have three
copies printed. Don ' t settle for photo - copying.. Have it printed!
Photo - copying leaves a slight film on the paper, and will
detract from the overall professionalism of your business plan,
when presented to someone you ' re trying to impress. So, after
going to all this work to put together properly, go all the way
and have it duplicated properly.
Next, stop by a stationery store, variety store or even a dime
store, and pick up an ordinary, inexpensive bind - in theme cover
for each copy of your business plan. Have the holes punched in
the pages of your business report to fit these binders and then
slip each copy into a binder of its own.
Now, you can relax, take a break and feel good about
yourself.. You have a complete and detailed business plan with
which to operate a successful business of your own. A plan you
can use as a basis for any financing proposal you may want to
submit.. And a precise road - map for the attainment of real
success...
Congratulations, and my best wishes for the complete
fulfillment of all your dreams of success!!!
have a sweeping, written plan that shows what the ultimate intention
is, the reason for the ambition, and each exploit that must be
passed in order to reach your target.
A business plan is written worth of, and useable plan
for achieving your ground zero. You need a complete but
success tool in order to define your basic product, income
objectives and specific operating procedures. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A
BUSINESS PLAN to draw investors, obtain financing and mastery
onto the confidence of your creditors, particularly in times of
cash flow shortages - - in this instance, the amount of money you
have on hand compared with the expenses that must be met.
Aside from an overall directional policy for the production,
sales effort and profit goals of your product - - your basic " voyage
guide " to business success - - the most important plan your
business plan will serve, will be the basis or foundation of any
financial proposals you proffer. Many entrepreneurs are under the
mistaken impression that a business plan is the same as a
financial proposal, or that a financial proposal constitutes a
business plan. This is just a misunderstanding of the uses of
these two separate and different business success aids.
The business plan is a long radius " pattern " to guide your business
to the object you ' ve set for it. The plan details the what, why,
where, how and when, of your business - - the success make-up of
your company.
Your financial proposal is a requisition for money based upon your
business plan - - your business history and objectives.
Get the differences. They are closely related, but they
are not interchangeable.
Writing and putting well-organized a " winning " business plan takes
study, research and time, so don ' t try to do it all in just one
or two days.
The easiest way to start with a loose blade jotter, terribly of
paper, pencils, write up sharpener, and several erasers. Once you
get your mind " in gear " and begin thinking about your business
plan, " 10, 000 thoughts and ideas per minute " will begin brisk
thru your mind... So, it ' s a good idea when you aren ' t purely
working on your business plan, to transact a pocket jotter and jot
down those business ideas as they come to you - - ideas for sales
promotion, recruiting distributors, and any other thoughts on how
to operate and / or build your business.
Successive, when you ' re all told working on your business plan, you
can take out this " idea register " evaluate your ideas, rework
them, clear them, and integrate them into the overall " big
picture " of your business plan.
The best business plans for even the smallest businesses run 25
to 30 pages or more, so you ' ll need to " duration " each page and
arrange the different aspects of your business plan into
" chapters. " The format should pretty much run as follows:
Word Page
Statement of End
Fare of Contents
Business Description
Market Analysis
Competition
Business Whereabouts
Management
Current Financial Records
Explanation of Plans For Vegetation
Projected Profit & Loss / Operating Figures
Explanation of Financing for Fleshing out
Label
Summary of Business & Outlook for The Scheduled
Diagonal of Business & personal References
This is a logical structuring of the information every
business plan should cover. I ' ll clarify each of these chapters
titles in greater detail, but first, let me complicated upon the
reasons for proper organization of your business plan.
Having a set of " questions to answer " about your business
forces you to take an disinterested and critical look at your ideas.
Putting it all down on paper allows you to change, erase and
refine materiality to function in the manner of a smoothly oiled
machine. You ' ll be able to spot weakness and strengthen them
before they develop into big problems. Overall, you ' ll be
developing an operating manual for your business - - a worthy tool
which will keep your business on passageway, and guide you in the
profitable management of your business.
Because it ' s your idea, and your business, it ' s very important
that YOU do the assembling. This is YOUR business plan, so YOU
develop it, and put it all down on paper just the way YOU want it
to read. Travel out the advice of other people; say with, listen
to, and recognize, other people running matching businesses; enlist
the advice of your accountant and attorney - - but at the bottom
line, don ' t ever fail it has to be YOUR BUSINESS PLAN!
Remember too, that statistics show the greatest causes of
business failure to be needy management and lack of
harmony - - without a plan by which to operate, no one can direct;
and without a direction in which to aim its efforts, no business
can attain any real success.
On the very first page, which is the interval page, put down the
name of your business - ABC Turmoil - - with your business address
below. Now, skip a couple of produce, and write it all in
capital letters: PRINCIPAL Lessor - - followed by your name if you ' re
the principal landlord. On your finished report, you would want to
center this information on the page, with the words " principal
lessor " off - set to the troglodytic about five spaces.
Examples: ABC Liveliness
1234 SW 5th Ave.
Anywhere, USA 00000
PRINCIPAL Landlord: Your Name
That ' s all you ' ll have on this page except the page number
- 1 -
Following your expression page is the page for your statement
ulterior motive. This should be a simple statement of your primary
business function, such as: We are a service business engaged in
the business of selling business success manuals and other
information by mail.
The expression of the page should be in all capital letters across
the top of the page, centered on your final draft - - skip a few
commodities and write the statement of bourn. This should be direct,
clear and short - - never more than ( 2 ) sentences in roll.
Then you should skip a few wares, and from the withdrawn hand margin
of the paper, write out a sub - patronymic in all capital letters,
such as: EXPLANATION OF What for.
From, and within this sub - epithet you can briefly decipher your
statement of mecca, such as: Our surveys have set up most
entrepreneurs to be " sadly " mislaid in basic information that
will enable them to achieve success. This market is estimated at
more than a 100 million persons, with at least half of these
people actively " searching " for sources that arrange the gracious of
information they want, and need.
With our business, advertising and publishing experience, it is
our object to capture at least half of this market of information
seekers, with our publication. MONEY MAKING Charm! Our market
research indicates we can achieve this object and realize a profit
of $1, 000, 000 per year within the next 5 years...
The above example is ofttimes the way you should write your
" explanation of will, " and in fugacious pith, why you need
an explanation. Point to conjure up: Keep it short. Very few
business proposition explanations justify more than a half page long.
Next comes your pabulum of contents page. Don ' t really worry
about this until you ' ve got the entire plan ended and ready
for final typing. It ' s a good idea though, to list the subject
( chapter titles ) as I have, and then check off each one as you
complete that part of your plan.
By having a list of the points you want to cover, you ' ll also
be able to skip around and work on each pass of your business
plan as an idea or the interest in construction that particular
accident, stimulates you. In other words, you won ' t have to make
your thinking or your harmony conform to the chronological order
of the " chapters " of your business plan - - another reason for the
loose bract register.
In describing your business, it ' s best to begin where your
statement expectation leaves off. Communicate your product, the
production advance, who has responsibility for what, and most
importantly, what makes your product or service unique - - what
gives it an edge in your market. You can briefly summarize your
business beginnings, present position and potential for future
success, as well.
Next, describe the buyers you ' re trying to reach - - why they need
and want or will buy your product - - and the results of any tests
or surveys you may have conducted. Once you ' ve defined your
market, go on to explain how you intend to reach that market - - how
you ' ll these prospects to your product or service and induce them
to buy. You might want to break this chapter down into sections
such as.. publicity and promotions, advertising plans, direct
sales force, and dealer / distributor programs. Each section would
then be an outline of your plans and policies.
Moving into the next chapter on competition, identify who your
competitors are - - their weakness and strong points - - explain how
you intend to capitalize on those weaknesses and match or better
the strong points. Talk to as many of your " indirect " competitors
as possible - - those operating in different cities and states.
One of the easiest ways of gathering a lot of useful
information about your competitors is by developing a series of
survey questions and sending these questionnaires out to each of
them. Later on, you might want to compile the answers to these
questionnaires into some form of directory or report on this type
of business.
It ' s also advisable to contact the trade associations and
publications serving your proposed type of business. For
information on trade associations and specific trade
publications, visit your public library, and after explaining
what you want ask for the librarian ' s help.
The chapter on management should be an elaboration on the
people operating the business. Those people that actually run the
business, their job, titles, duties, responsibilities and
background resume ' s. It ' s important that you " paint " a strong
picture of your top management people because the people coming
to work for you or investing in your business, will be " investing
in these people " as much as your product ideas. Individual
tenacity, mature judgement under fire, and innovative
problem - solving have " won over " more people than all the AAA
Credit Ratings and astronomical sales figures put together.
People becoming involved with any new venture want to know that
the person in charge - - the guy running the business knows what
he ' s doing, will not lose his cool when problems arise, and has
what it takes to make money for all of them> After showing the
" muscle " of this person, go on to outline the other key positions
within your business; who the persons are you ' ve selected to
handle those jobs and the sources as well as availability of any
help you might need.
If you ' ve been in business of any kind scale, the next chapter
is a picture of your financial status - - a review of your operating
costs and income from the business to date. Generally, this is a
listing of your profit & loss statements for the six months, plus
copies of your business income tax records for each of the
previous three years the business has been an entity.
The chapter on the explanation of your plans for the future
growth of your business is just that - - an explanation of how you
plan to keep your business growing - - a detailed guide of what
you ' re going to do, and how you ' re going to increase your
profits. These plans should show your goals for the coming year,
two years, and three years. By breaking your objectives down into
annual milestones, your plan will be accepted as more realistic
and be more understandable as a part of your ultimate success.
Following this explanation, you ' ll need to itemize the
projected cost and income figures of your three year plan. I ' ll
take a lot of research, an undoubtedly a good deal of erasing,
but it ' s very important that you list these figures based upon
thorough investigation. You may have to adjust some of your plans
downward, but once you ' ve got these two chapters on paper, your
whole business plan will fall into line and begin to make sense.
You ' ll have a precise " map " of where you ' re headed, how much it ' s
going to cost, when you can expect to start making money, and how
much.
Now that you know where you ' re going, how much it ' s going to
cost and how long it ' s going to be before you begin to recoup
your investment, you ' re ready to talk about how and where you ' re
going to get the money to finance your journey. Unless you ' re
independently wealthy, you ' ll want to use this chapter to list
the possibilities and alternatives.
Make a list of friends you can approach, and perhaps induce to
put up some money as silent partners. Make a list of those people
you might be able to sell as stockholders in your company - - in
many cases you can sell up to $300, 000 worth of stock on a
" private issue " basis without filing papers with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Check with a corporate or tax attorney
in your area for more details. Make a list of relatives and
friends that might help you with an outright loan to furnish
money for the development of your business.
Then search out and make a list of venture capital
organizations. Visit the Small Business Administration office in
your area - - pick up the loan application papers they have - - read
them, study them, and even fill them out on a preliminary
basis - - and finally, check the costs, determine which business
publications would be best to advertise in, if you were to
advertise for a partner or investor, and write an ad you ' d want
to use if you did decide to advertise for monetary help.
With listing of all the options available to your needs, all
that ' s left is the arranging of these options in the order you
would want to use them when the time come to ask for money. When
you ' re researching these money sources, you ' ll save time by
noting the " contact " deal with when you want money, and whenever
possible, by developing a working relationship with these people.
If your documentation section, you should have a credit report
on yourself. Use the Yellow Pages or check at the credit
department in your bank for the nearest credit reporting office.
When you get your credit report, look it over and take whatever
steps are necessary to eliminate any negative comments. Once
these have been taken care of, ask for a revised copy of your
report and include a copy of that in your business plan.
If you own any patents or copyrights, include copies of these.
Any licenses to use someone else ' s patent or copyright should
also be included. If you own the distribution, wholesale or
exclusive sales rights to a product, include copies of this
documentation. You should also include copies of any leases,
special agreements or other legal papers that might be pertinent
to your business.
In conclusion, write out a brief, overall summary of your
business - when the business was started, the purpose of the
business, what makes your business different, how you ' re going to
gain a profitable share of the market, and your expected success
during the coming 5 years..
The last page of your business plan is a " courtesy page "
listing the names, addresses and phone numbers of personal and
business references - - persons who have known you closely for the
past five years or longer - - and companies or firms you ' ve had
business or credit dealings with during the past five years.
And, that ' s it - - your complete business plan. Before you send it
out for formal typing, read it over once a day for a week or ten
days. Take care of any changes or corrections, and then have it
reviewed by an attorney and then, an accountant. It would also be
a good idea to have it reviewed by a business consultant serving
the business community to which your business will be related.
After these reviews, and any last - minute changes you want to
make, I ' ll be ready for formal typing.
Hire a professional typist to type the entire plan on ordinary
white bond paper. Make sure you proof - read it against the
original. Check for any corrections and typographical
errors - - then one more time - - read it through for clarity and the
perfection you want of it.
Now you ' re ready to have it printed and published for whatever
use you have planned for it - - distribution amongst your partners
or stockholders as the business plan for putting together a
winning financial proposal, or as a business operating manual.
Take it to a quality printer in your area, and have three
copies printed. Don ' t settle for photo - copying.. Have it printed!
Photo - copying leaves a slight film on the paper, and will
detract from the overall professionalism of your business plan,
when presented to someone you ' re trying to impress. So, after
going to all this work to put together properly, go all the way
and have it duplicated properly.
Next, stop by a stationery store, variety store or even a dime
store, and pick up an ordinary, inexpensive bind - in theme cover
for each copy of your business plan. Have the holes punched in
the pages of your business report to fit these binders and then
slip each copy into a binder of its own.
Now, you can relax, take a break and feel good about
yourself.. You have a complete and detailed business plan with
which to operate a successful business of your own. A plan you
can use as a basis for any financing proposal you may want to
submit.. And a precise road - map for the attainment of real
success...
Congratulations, and my best wishes for the complete
fulfillment of all your dreams of success!!!
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