Startup Business

Bruce Mayberry is what’s known as a serial entrepreneur. He’s been self-employed for over 20 years, and his business ventures have run the gamut from selling high-speed data circuits to owning an art gallery, and a lot of other businesses in between. He’s used both Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro to write plans for his own businesses, and has even written them for clients as a tax consultant. His first business, he says, “was all smoke and mirrors. I started a trucking firm with $20 and a big smile.”

Now he’s writing the business plan for his newest venture and he feels confident that he’ll secure the $4 million in funding he’s seeking. “As to the receipt of the funds, I’m not worried. With a good plan and good management, money is always around.”

Bruce’s new startup is a modern-day barter organization called BarterPX. It’s a website that allows users to easily post their goods and services and exchange them amongst a large member community. According to the website, bartering produces new business and allows users to expand their markets. At the same time, it conserves cash — instead of spending money to purchase needed goods and services, users can trade their own goods and services, keeping cash in their businesses for other purposes.

Bruce has been working on the BarterPX concept for a few years, and has been going at it full time now for about six months. A quick glance at the website reveals a vibrant trade community, using modern technology to barter goods the way it was done centuries ago.

In the past, Bruce has written business plans for businesses that were already up and running. “Sometimes you just need to re-focus to grind some more profit out. Those programs really help you get a new perspective,” he comments. For this current business, though, he has a different goal for the plan he’s writing. For a startup, he says, “The properly written business plan tells you how much capital you’ll need, and everything else is inaccurate, unsubstantiated guessing.”

Business Plan Pro is to credit for some of his successes, according to Bruce. “Every single time I have ideas and brainstorms, they pay off big when I use the software. The process of answering all [of the software's] inquiries really opens you up to some opportunity you’ll miss otherwise.”

Crafting a business plan isn’t easy. For Bruce, as for a lot of “idea people,” it’s the financials that pose the biggest hurdle. “For me the hardest part is the balance sheet. I’m an entrepreneur, not an accountant. I can do a balance sheet, but it takes days of detailed work that I rarely do. What a relief to enter the numbers and it happens,” he says, describing how Business Plan Pro handles the calculations in the balance sheet based on numbers the user inputs elsewhere.

When asked what he thought the most exciting part of being an entrepreneur was, Bruce’s answer was telling. “Exciting, are you kidding? Doesn’t everyone like 90 hours of work a week, biting their fingernails over payroll for a year, worrying about sales forecast, competitors, advertising cost, staffing…?”

“Well I love all that, but this is not for the thin-skinned. It gets in your blood like speed for a NASCAR driver. I’ve never sold a business and not had a huge emotional response — a sense of sadness and joy. It’s about more than the money, but it is always about the money.”

His obvious enjoyment of the process aside, Bruce is quick to point out that there are challenges, especially when dealing with investors. “You better be ready when you’re talking to venture capitalists. Business Plan Pro really helps — a lot!”

While not everyone may have the entrepreneurial spirit that Bruce Mayberry clearly has, he has some good advice for anyone starting down the entrepreneurship path. “More is lost by indecision than the wrong decision. The human mind is a powerful thing; so is hunger. Get out there and make it happen!!!”

Tags: news, success story, testimonial, testimonials
Posted on November 13th, 2009 | No Comments »

Pop-up shops seem to be going mainstream this year. A Time.com story, Why Pop-Up Shops Are Hot, looks at this new retail business model.

While pop-ups have had a dubious reputation in the past, of being fly-by-night outfits, they have recently been gaining respectability. The main indoor retail mall here in Eugene, Oregon has had kiosks for several years, modeled after NYC push-carts, positioned down the center of the main walkways. Some of those businesses, such as mobile phone sales, earrings, and sunglasses shops, have been in business a long time, month in and month out. Others have been seasonal, e.g., holiday decorations, and calendars, sprouting in October or November, disappearing in January, and returning again a year later.

This year some big-name retailers are experimenting with pop-up locations. Toys “R” Us, American Eagle, The Gap, and J.C. Penney have been taking advantage of the numerous empty retail storefronts to test product lines, or new target markets, or to maximize exposure for seasonal selling. Shop owners are realizing that even a short-term rent is preferable to no rent at all.

So, perhaps, a pop-up shop might be just the ticket for you to start your new venture, requiring less startup capital, no long-term leases, in potentially high-traffic locations. However, don’t think that a short-term, quick start eliminates your need to plan. Planning your cash needs up front and watching your monthly cash flow is still important.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: news, pop-up shop, retail, start up, startup, store front
Posted on November 12th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Diana Peloquin found out recently that she had secured the property she was hoping for: a much sought-after piece of commercial real estate in Surrey, British Columbia. She intends to turn it into Cafe Pelorina, a high-end cafe featuring not just coffee, but art, books, and a community involvement component.

When she first began exploring locations for her cafe, she says, “I was told by my commercial realtor that the developers would not even look at an offer unless I had a business plan. Being of the strong mind that you don’t re-invent the wheel, I went on the Internet to search programs that offered business plans.”

Peloquin needed to get the business plan together quickly, as there were several other businesses interested in the property she had her eye on. She had never written a business plan before. “Instead of taking time, which I didn’t have, trying to figure out what a business plan is even supposed to look like, I Googled business plan software.” And that’s when she found Business Plan Pro, and discovered how helpful it was.

She says the planning process provided a lot of insight into her business. “As I was going through I realized how much detailed information I really had to get to be better prepared. I also realized that it was going to actually cost twice as much as I had thought!”

Her cafe hasn’t even opened yet, but Peloquin is already going back and fine-tuning her business plan. “I have already had to go back a couple of times to adjust numbers when I would look at the final outcome and see where there could be a problem in prices I had set. I was going to be paying too much for some supplies, which led me to get new suppliers and allowed me to achieve the margins I needed to make to be successful.”

Now a big fan of business plans, Diana would hate to think of what would have happened if she hadn’t written one. “If the developer hadn’t required that I have one I wouldn’t have made one, and I now realize this could have led to a huge disaster.”

Peloquin believes there’s no substitute for having a concrete plan when you’re starting your business. “Until you have everything in writing in front of you, you don’t know everything you should know.” She adds that Business Plan Pro made the entire process painless for her to accomplish. “I was amazingly impressed by how easy it was to do and how very professional the finished business plan was,” she says.

“I feel that doing a business plan gives you a great idea of how your business is going to work. You will be amazed by everything you learn about your industry.”

Tags: news, small business tools, success story, testimonial, testimonials
Posted on November 5th, 2009 | No Comments »

“Unconsciously, everyone expects a startup to be like a job,” says Paul Graham, programming language designer, author, and venture firm partner. “It explains why people [in startups] are surprised…and why the surprises are so extreme.”

Graham’s recent post, What Startups Are Really Like, talks about the surprises in startups. He sent an email to all the business founders who had been funded by his venture firm Y Combinator, asking what things had surprised them in their startup.

Over 100 responded and their lists were summarized into frequently recurring patterns, including:

2. Startups take over your life — “I didn’t realize I would spend almost every waking moment either working or thinking about our startup.”
4. It can be fun — “The best way to put it might be that starting a startup is fun the way a survivalist training course would be fun…”
6. Think long-term — “For the vast majority of startups that become successful, it’s going to be a really long journey, at least 3 years and probably 5+.”
12. It’s hard to get users — “I had no idea how much time and effort needed to go into attaining users. ”
13. Expect the worst with deals — “Deals fall through. That’s a constant of the startup world.”
19. Things change as you grow — “Your job description … is completely rewritten every 6-12 months.”

Says Graham, “These are supposed to be the surprises, the things I didn’t tell people. What do they all have in common? They’re all things I do tell people.”

The answer to the puzzle is that our prior experience in business is our jobs — working for someone else. Being a founder of a startup is orders of magnitude beyond our experience and ability to imagine. Despite our preparation, we can’t believe it is as intense as others tell us, hence we are surprised.

So, go to Paul Graham’s site and read this essay, What Startups Are Really Like, and think about what surprised these other founders. Print it out, and stick it up near your desk where you can re-read it often. Take the advice to heart.

My thanks to my co-editor Sara Prentice Manela for sending this essay my way.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: job, news, Paul Graham, startup, startups, surprises, work
Posted on October 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

During his second year of law school, Philip Amoa began the process of searching for internships. He found the research stressful — he had to locate law firms in specific geographic markets, personalize application documents, and meet important application deadlines, all while trying to prepare for classes the next day. A joking suggestion from a friend to hire a personal assistant planted the seed in his mind to create some way to make the process easier, and a short time later, Amoa launched LegalSummer.com.

Legal Summer combines the use of proprietary technology and an extensive database of law firms to provide the services of a personal assistant to law students who are looking to further their careers, but who have limited time to devote to the search. It helps law students identify possible job/internship opportunities based on location, and gives students the ability to email their customized cover letters and resumes with a single mouse click.

When opportunity knocks

Amoa considers himself a “situational entrepreneur,” and says, “When I started law school and began applying for internships, I realized the process was time-consuming and that was the point I started to think of ways to make the process easier. Time and chance happen to us all, and once the opportunity came knocking to start my own business, I had to seize the day by following my passion.”

He admits that starting a business while attending classes at the University of Illinois College of Law was not easy. But, he says “I was able to overcome the challenge with the help of Business Plan Pro. I had this ‘aha!’ moment and I wanted to bring my idea to reality. Business Plan Pro definitely helped me organize my thoughts into a well-written plan which continues to serve me to this day.”

The business got off the ground without a business plan in place, but it wasn’t long before he saw the need for one. “I decided to just plan as I went along but soon realized that a business plan was essential to the success of my business,” said Amoa. “I had a lot of ideas and was full of passion, and the plan actually helped me to keep a steady pace instead of the ‘trying to see what works’ approach.”

Fortunately he was no stranger to business plans. As an undergraduate Business Administration major, Philip had learned all about the plan-writing process. “But the main difference in using Business Plan Pro was that Business Plan Pro had some really helpful formats and tools. The software prompted me to consider things I hadn’t thought about. It was also easy to arrange my ideas in a coherent fashion.”

Extending its reach

LegalSummer.com is continuing to grow. Currently they have started expanding to law schools across the country, giving law students “a fast, effective means of researching and applying for internships/jobs. We have an application tool that saves them a lot of time and we will try to reach as many students as possible.”

For Amoa, who worked for a large corporation prior to starting law school and then becoming an entrepreneur, there is a great deal of satisfaction that comes with owning his own business. “The most exciting part about being an entrepreneur is taking an intangible idea or thought and nurturing it until it becomes a reality. I enjoy the art of putting together a team of skilled people and convincing them that they can bring this intangible idea to life.”

When he graduates from law school later this year, Amoa will have quite a choice of careers to pursue. And future lawyers will have him to thank for making their career stepping stones a little easier to navigate.

Tags: news, Small Business, startups, Success, testimonial
Posted on October 1st, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Since start-up funding and growth financing for small- and medium-sized businesses has been in such short supply these past couple years, I thought posting about this CNNMoney.com / Fortune Small Business article on finding novel local investment would be a welcome change.

The article, originally published earlier in September, is about owners of several types of small businesses which opened, recovered, or expanded during the current economic crunch because local patrons were willing to invest in their favorite local businesses. Several types of money raising programs are discussed, including VIP cards/treatment for shareholders, $600 store and restaurant certificates sold for $500 (20% is a pretty good ROI), as well as “shares”.

Businesses showcased include restaurants, bookstores, pub/bar, and a fair-trade retail gift store. The focus of these financing efforts is on encouraging customers to become patrons or shareholders. And shareholders are a loyal customer base. Local shareholders feel vested in the company and want you to succeed.

Look to your customer base and your community. Including them as participants in your business and fostering a buy-local awareness could bring you that shot-in-the-arm financial boost to success.

Read the entire Love a local business? Buy a share article.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: community, existing business, financing, funding, investment, new business, news, patronage, shareholders
Posted on September 29th, 2009 | No Comments »

Sarah Lanphier was a sophomore at Elizabethtown College competing on the triathlon team. When the squad needed to raise money to attend a national meet, she thought outside the (cookie) box.  “Instead of selling cookies or something like that, I had this recipe for granola. So I packaged it and sold it. And it was very successful.”

Since then there’s been no stopping her. By the time she graduated from Elizabethtown in 2009, she and her mother, Gayle, had turned a one-time fundraising scheme into Nuts About Granola LLC, selling hand-made granola at farmers’ markets throughout South Central Pennsylvania and online, at www.nutsaboutgranola.com.

Getting Organized

Sarah was still in college when she decided to get serious about granola as a business. In December, 2007, she realized she needed a business plan. “The purpose of my plan was not to take to a bank. It was more to gather my thoughts and try to lay them out — to organize my thoughts and put them on paper.” It was a somewhat daunting

prospect, she remembers. As a business major, she was aware of a course called New Venture Creation, which took students through the process of writing a business plan.

“I thought… I have to write this 30-page document [for my business], I might as well get credit for it. Plus, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know how to write a business plan. I didn’t even know what-all was in a business plan!”

So she signed up for the class, and discovered Business Plan Pro. “We used the program as a step-by-step tool to guide us through the entire process. It made it easy; you’re not just pulling things out of thin air.”

Sarah says the examples found throughout the software were particularly helpful. “You could see the general descriptions that the software gave you. But it was sometimes difficult to… translate that into your business. Then you read a couple of examples of other businesses and how they interpreted the guidelines and it was really easy to then write it for your business.”

Fresh, local, and real

Sarah and Gayle Lanphier

Part of Nuts About Granola’s mission is to support local businesses and farmers. In addition to selling their products at farmer’s markets and online, they do sell their products wholesale. But the company requires vendors to be independently-owned businesses — no big corporate chains for Nuts About Granola, says Sarah. “It’s very locally focused.” As supporters of the Buy Fresh, Buy Local movement, Nuts About Granola products contain only all natural, local ingredients and have earned the “PA Preferred” seal from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Sarah creates all the granola recipes herself, and one of her favorite parts of the business is interacting with her customers at the farmers’ markets. “It’s fun for me to develop those recipes and test them out. I really enjoy that aspect of it.” With flavors including “College Staple,” “Lover’s Combo,” and “Orange Creamsicle,” her goal is to create unique flavor combinations that are delicious served with milk or on top of yogurt or ice cream, or eaten right out of the bag.

Nuts About Granola seeks to create support for local businesses and bring healthy, natural products to consumers who might be used to something more processed and artificial. “We’re trying to bring back the local bakeries and the local stores by offering fresh product. We serve real food. We don’t use preservatives and artificial ingredients. It’s just food. We want to bring back real food!”

Tags: business success, customer experience, customer spotlight, news, success story, testimonial
Posted on September 17th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Can you communicate the core of your business plan in just a couple of minutes? How about in a single 140-character tweet? Our new Bplans Business Pitch tool can help you develop and refine your core message.

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Tags: business plan, business plan pitch, elevator pitch, news, palo alto software
Posted on September 14th, 2009 | 6 Comments »

It sounds like a movie about the American dream. A native of Kenya moves to Massachusetts. He dreams of opening his own business, and begins writing his business plan on his commute to work at his first job in the U.S.

But then the economy falters and our hero gets laid off. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he sees it as an indication that it is time to get serious about his dream.

It’s not a movie premise. It’s Njoroge Kabugu’s life. “I decided that this was a great opportunity. I had to be able to dedicate the majority of my time to completing my business plan and working on my website.”

After his layoff, Kabugu got to work on the plan for Kijiji Republic, a website selling handmade African crafts, baskets, sandals, jewelry, personal accessories and home decor. The company, started in 2008, builds long-term relationships with the artisans whose work they sell. Kijiji Republic not only markets and retails the crafts, but also maintains a non-profit branch which reinvests money back into the communities where they acquire their products. The goal is to help the artisans meet their basic needs, such as providing clean drinking water, building and supporting schools for children, and providing health facilities. Kijiji Republic also helps its artisans establish their businesses in their local communities, providing them with additional revenue possibilities.

Kabugu feels so strongly about the connection to the villages where the artisans work that the name of his company actually means ‘village’ in Swahili. “The creation of Kijiji Republic LLC was based on the concept that a village would be elevated… by empowering the people.” Selling products in the previously untapped U.S. market was his goal, and in writing his business plan and doing the market research, Kabugu realized he was on to something. “I came to realize I was the only Kenyan selling the products online directly from the U.S.,” which helped give him the security to move forward with his plan.

Kabugu says that one of the greatest values of using Business Plan Pro was what it helped him learn about his business. He particularly appreciated being “forced to think systematically throughout the process.” He strongly encourages anyone starting out to do as he did. “It is important not to shy away from an idea. Put the idea on paper by writing a business plan. It helps you to be able to see those areas which you may otherwise not realize when you carry it in your head.”

With a story that sounds like it’s straight out of Hollywood, it might not come as a surprise that Njoroge Kabugu is a big proponent of following through on your dreams.

And of having a plan.

To read more stories about how Business Plan Pro has helped businesses success, click here to check out our Customer Gallery.

Tags: customer experience, customer spotlight, success story, testimonial
Posted on September 4th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Patty Shutt, of McHenry, Illinois, had worked in chiropractic offices for over 17 years when her boss decided he wanted to start a traveling clinic. So they set up a home office for Patty, creating a virtual connection between the chiropractor, his assistant, and his patients.

When business slowed down due to the economy, Patty found herself with a tough choice. “I considered going back out and finding another billing job. However, I really enjoyed being around the house for my daughter.” So instead of looking for a job working for somebody else, she embarked on a different path. “I decided to take a medical billing course online and take the plunge by opening my own billing business.”

She started Alternative Billing Solutions in early 2009, offering chiropractic physicians a virtual billing service. She positions herself as an additional team member, working in conjunction with the chiropractic office’s staff to enhance the clinic’s billing. “My main focus is to ultimately perform the entire suite of billing duties; however I will also customize a package to fill in the gaps for a clinic’s billing department as well.” She sees the service she offers not as a way for clinics to outsource jobs, but as a way to make them more efficient. “By allowing me to handle the billing, which is really time-consuming, the clinic’s staff can use the extra time to focus on the growth of the practice, which is then a win-win for everyone!”

Patty says she really enjoyed the process of planning her business. “It certainly was a challenge! I had a lot of really good ideas; however, I needed these ideas organized,” she says. So when a friend recommended Business Plan Pro, she checked it out. After working through her plan in the software, she decided to take advantage of another service Palo Alto Software offers, and signed up for Business Plan Pro Coaching. Her expert coach helped guide her in the right direction and keep her on task. “I was able to gather specific ideas and put them together so I could focus on where I wanted my business to go, focusing on which services I really wanted to offer and which services to keep away from.”

Regularly revisiting her plan is a scheduled event for Patty. She says she tries to review it monthly, though as her business takes off that isn’t always easy. Getting back into the plan and making adjustments as situations change helps her maintain the hard-won focus she found during the planning process.

“I have a new level of confidence because my business success depends on my dedication and hard work. It is definitely worth it,” says Patty, who adds that you have to believe in yourself in order to achieve your goals. It’s what she did, and she adds, “It is really the most fulfilling experience I have ever had.”

Tags: customer spotlight, news, success story, testimonial
Posted on August 27th, 2009 | 2 Comments »