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 »

Melodie Ellis knows what it’s like to work for somebody else. And she knows what it means to work for herself. In fact, she managed to do both for almost eight years, holding down a job as an employee at a private piano studio while also teaching students on her own in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In 2004, she decided to make the leap to full-time self-employment. She left her studio job and started her own business – Learn Piano in Your Home.

Melodie Ellis

“I guess I was tired of dealing with politics… When you work for somebody else sometimes it can seem like no matter what you do you’re not going to be able to make things better,” Melodie remembers. But she had learned that things are different when you are your own boss. “When you have your own business, you can change everything by your actions.”

Five years later, 14 contractors now work for Melodie, and Learn Piano in Your Home caters to over 200 students, providing private lessons not just in piano, but also in voice, guitar, drums, brass instruments, and more.

“As I started to grow, I saw the need to write a business plan,” says Melodie, but since her business was so small and she had such limited time at her disposal, it wasn’t a huge priority. “What really motivated me to do it was that I  wanted to apply for a grant.” As a member of the National Association for the Self-Employed, she was eligible to apply for a $5,000 Business Development Grant. Applicants are required to meet certain criteria, including submitting a business plan.

Melodie knew she would have to do some research. She bought a few books to help guide her through the plan-writing process, but says they weren’t nearly as helpful as she had hoped they would be. “I found them to be very theoretical and not practical at all. I didn’t get anywhere with them. I understood the concepts, but when it came down to putting it all on paper… the books were just really poor at trying to help me do that.”

Next she hit the Internet, looking for some business-planning software to help. “And that’s when I found Business Plan Pro. It was definitely worth it, because it allowed me to put everything together and it made it all practical and very real.”

One of the challenges Melodie faced in writing her plan was the fact that her business had been in operation for several years prior to putting the plan together. “I had to go back and think through things very concretely. I hadn’t always paid attention to the numbers or tracked them that carefully…  I had to get all those numbers from my history and somehow incorporate them into my plan. And that can be hard when you don’t have an MBA,” she says with a laugh.

In the end, Melodie’s hard work paid off. “I know that the fact that my business plan was well put together was definitely a major factor in getting the grant,” says Melodie.

“One of the most helpful things about the software was that, at the beginning, it asks you the question about whether you’re an existing business or a brand new business, and it tailors the plan based on your answer,” Melodie comments. She had tried other tools but found that they didn’t make this distinction, and in fact seemed to be based on the assumption that business plans were only for start-ups. That made the process harder for her, trying to fit details about an ongoing business into a start-up format.

“Just that one choice made all the difference in the world.”

Tags: customer spotlight, Small Busines, testimonial, testimonials
Posted on October 29th, 2009 | 4 Comments »

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 »

Don Barton’s family has been farming walnuts in the San Joaquin Valley for four generations. In 1912, his great grandfather, P.F. Barton, rode a boxcar west from Illinois and settled in Oakdale, California to grow prunes and walnuts on what became the Barton Ranch. Almost 100 years later, the walnuts are still growing in Oakdale, and his descendants have grown the family business to include processing, packaging, and shipping walnuts all around the world.

Don had left the ranch and moved to the East Coast after getting his MBA in Agribusiness, leaving his brothers, Brent and Gary, to manage the business. In 2002, Brent was approached by a neighbor who wanted the Bartons to take over his walnut shelling and packaging operation. Until then, the family had been involved only in the growing and harvesting of walnuts, but not processing. It was a logical step, but also a big one. Still, Don agreed when Brent suggested he come back to California and run the new arm of the family business, GoldRiver Orchards.

Securing Loans and Planning for the Future

While most of the funding for the new venture came from internal sources, the company did need to seek funding to purchase some new equipment. To write the plan the bank required for the loan, Don bought his first copy of Business Plan Pro. “It provided an excellent template to allow us to think critically about the business–not just in terms of the financial forecast, but also in terms of our intended markets, our competitive set, and how we would build a brand.” The business plan Don created using Business Plan Pro was presented to the bank and secured the loan in excess of $1 million. And business has been even better than he had planned. “I’m happy to report that our initial assumptions were conservative, but we never underestimate the value of planning.”

Don recently upgraded to Business Plan Pro Version 11. “We plan to build a new processing plant in time for the 2013 crop. As we begin the planning for the land purchase and build-out of the new facility, I thought it would be important to update our business plan with an eye on the new facility and its implications–both financially and in terms of sales volume–to our existing business.”

He quotes Dwight Eisenhower, when he says, ” ‘Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.’ We at GoldRiver Orchards could not agree more.”

There were a couple of challenges that came with writing the original plan for GoldRiver Orchards. One was figuring out how to incorporate “a long-established business culture on the ranch into the brand-new–and just evolving–business culture of GoldRiver Orchards. A second challenge was to cast our vision over the upcoming five-year period and try to envision where GoldRiver would be by the end of that five years. Many of the goals set in that plan have not only been achieved, but exceeded. Other goals have been set aside owing to the changing marketplace.”

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Don Barton

In the years Don was away from Barton Ranch, he worked in marketing at several large companies, including Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. and The H.J. Heinz Corporation. He finds many benefits to working for himself. “You’re learning from your own mistakes and seeing a direct correlation to the cost of those mistakes. You set your own work schedule and work hours. You are able to establish the tone and culture of your organization, and pass those values along to your employees.”

Those values run unusually deep at GoldRiver Orchards, when you consider that it is located right next door to the ranch that has been home to much of Don’s family. Recently Don’s son Josh joined his uncles, Gary and Brent, on the management team at Barton Ranch, making him the fifth generation involved in running that side of the business. Among the mementos of family that can still be found on the ranch is the small house that Don’s father was raised in. “It has housed at least three different families of Bartons throughout its history and is a living testament to the family’s roots on this land and our heritage as farmers.” One of the largest walnut trees in the country can also be found on the ranch. It’s the sole survivor of the original walnut crop P.F. Barton planted. “It’s healthy, thriving, and still productive after all of these years. And, as you might imagine, it gets a lot of tender loving care and personal attention from our family members.”

In his final comments, you get the sense that the spirit of P.F. Barton is alive and well at GoldRiver Orchards, and in Don Barton. Talking about the rewards of entrepreneurship, he says, “Best of all, you have the unique opportunity of being a pioneer–of building something that you hope and expect your grandchildren and great grandchildren will someday be a part of.”

Tags: business success, customer spotlight, family business, news, testimonial
Posted on September 24th, 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 »

There’s more than enough bad news in the world.

That’s basically how Paul Gerstenberger used to feel. Murders, fires, wars… Gerstenberger started feeling like the purpose of the daily news was just to make him feel bad on a regular basis. “I decided then to start trying to change that, and at least give people the option of also seeing some good going on in our world,” he remembers.

In 1996, Paul and his wife Celerina started GoodNewsDaily.com, a website dedicated to sharing only good news. “Since that time we have worked every day, for free, to find and post the good news of the day — not religious or politically leaning, but simply good news.” The site now receives stories from readers across the globe, and covers topics ranging from U.S. and international news, to sports, entertainment, even good weather news.
“We have grown to almost half a million readers….without any money or any advertising,” Paul notes, adding a television pilot for a 24-hour Good News channel is currently in the works.

Paul began using Business Plan Pro in 1996, and has written business plans for a number of businesses he has launched. Calling himself a serial entrepreneur, he says, “I have used Business Plan Pro for many years and within many different ventures. I have raised millions of dollars using the plan [software]… It is great and really gives the professional investor an insight into your company and your ability. It helps so much, I would be lost without it.”

The business plan for Good News Daily was an interesting one, Paul says, because it was the first one he’s written in which making money was not the objective. The process was, as always, a valuable one. “It helps me to clarify my thinking and to think of things that I did not consider,” he says. “The business plan process through Business Plan Pro is without any doubt the best available to help get your business on track.”

Paul’s ventures run the gamut from car rentals to self-defense classes, non-profit children’s health research to diamonds. He says he’s written plans for about 16 businesses, and hasn’t always used Business Plan Pro. The stories he could tell about those plans written without Business Plan Pro definitely would not be appropriate for his GoodNewsDaily.com website. “Frankly,” he says, “trying to write a plan without Business Plan Pro is a major mistake.”

Tags: business success, customer experience, customer spotlight, news, success story, testimonial
Posted on September 10th, 2009 | No 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 »

J. Peter Hendrikx is a native of The Netherlands who immigrated to New Zealand seeking a more laid-back lifestyle. After years working for large, international corporations, he went to work for the Business Migration Branch of the New Zealand Immigration Service. It wasn’t long before he decided to launch his own company, combining his knowledge of the governmental process with his interest in helping others succeed in business and his firsthand experience as an immigrant.

In October, 2002 Peter started Terra Nova Consultancy Ltd, a business migration consulting agency specializing in assisting people and businesses from all over the world in migrating to New Zealand. Terra Nova provides professional assistance to their clients in obtaining temporary or permanent residence by taking them through the daunting paperwork process and making sure they meet all the criteria required by the government.

You have to have a plan
As part of their application process, businesses must submit a business plan. “I must have written about 200 business plans using Business Plan Pro, covering a wide array of business types with a variety of investment levels,” he says, including the business plan for Terra Nova Consultancy itself in his estimate.

With that kind of plan-writing experience, it’s safe to say that Peter has an appreciation for the planning process. “The older you get, the more you realize that you do not have the answers to an increasing number of issues, compared to when you were young and you thought you knew everything,” he says. Writing your business plan forces you to “assess situations and look for possible solutions” in advance.

A living document
“I have always advised my clients to use their business plan as a guide for their company, and to be flexible enough to react to changes in the market,” Peter notes. “You need to know the market you are going into, your financial situation under at least two scenarios (a positive and a negative situation) and what you have to do to remain successful.”

To that end, Peter recommends his clients continue to use Business Plan Pro to adjust their plan regularly. He suggests revisiting the plan every six months, creating  a “pathfinder” plan that looks ahead five years, as well as a more detailed three-year plan, and a six-month action plan.
“This obviously means that the business plan is a living document,” says Peter.

Peter doesn’t write business plans for his clients just because the New Zealand government requires it of them. He feels a plan is a valuable tool for all businesses, whether they’re migrating to a new country or not. “Business planning is a must for all who go into business. Without it you bring yourself into a situation that may be a real challenge to get out of!”

Tags: news, success story, testimonial
Posted on August 20th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Most new businesses start out narrowly focused on the bottom line. With so much financial uncertainty in the market today, building philanthropy into a business plan can be a scary proposition. But that didn’t deter Christine Crowley Peters, President and CEO of Peters Path. Her philosophy is, “Don’t let fear hold you back.”

Christine Peters, President and CEO of Peters Path

Writing a business plan is like getting an MBA

Peters put that personal credo into action in 2008 when she left a career in cosmetology and started Peters Path Corporation, located in Atlanta, Georgia. The Peters Path website launched in March 2009, selling fashionable and hip clothing and providing customers with an opportunity to experience socially responsible shopping.

Peters Path is Christine’s first venture into entrepreneurship, and she says she found just planning the business to be quite a learning experience. When she started using Business Plan Pro to write her business plan, it broadened her ideas about her company. “Our business plan was developed as the primary tool for planning and managing our business. The process forced a rigor into both the breadth and depth of our thinking about the business. In many ways it led us into areas we might have preferred to defer, as they were difficult, time-consuming, and stressful. The education we got as a result feels like it would be an MBA.”

All that time spent was worth it. She says she and her partner, Vice President/CFO Ronda Balfe, work diligently to maintain the ‘for-profit/philanthropy’ business model they’ve adopted and have built into their business plan. “It was my focus and I made it fit. We do regular pro formas based on the data built in to our business plan. Further, the plan is a dynamic document which we flex with new information as it evolves.” In fact, says Peters, she has gone back to the software to update her plan so many times that the CD with her saved plan file “has scratch marks through all parts of it!”

Charities benefit from every sale

Peters Path donates a portion of the proceeds of every sale to non-profit organizations that promote equality and empowerment, fight poverty, aid those less fortunate, and foster community service. Customers choose from a select list of charities when they purchase online, letting the shopper select where they want their money to go. “Peters Path was started as a way for me to combine my love of fashion with philanthropic endeavors, which have played an important role in my personal life, and my children’s lives,” Peters says. The company’s products include comfortable, stylish clothing and unique, hip jewelry, from brands including Alternative Apparel, Johnny Was, Angel Court, Young Fabulous and Broke, DL1961 denim, and Acholi Beads, which are made from recycled materials in Uganda by women who fled the civil war. They also carry bamboo clothing, and Peters Path’s own label of organic T-shirts.

In addition to the money donated from each purchase, the company also holds online fundraisers, where 100 percent of the profits from the sales of their t-shirts are donated to a specific cause. A recent sale raised funds for Helping Children Worldwide and the Child Rescue Centre. In additional to aiding these charities financially, the company seeks to help raise awareness of their causes. “I know that everyone has the power to make a difference. Whether it is by purchasing a product, becoming active in your own community, volunteering your time… there are so many ways to help. We want to help others ignite their own flame and let their passion make the world a brighter place.”

Teamwork is a key to success

To be able to donate as much money as they do, Peters Path has to keep a watchful eye on spending. “We are operating on one corporate debit card, and only one credit card account with a $2,500 limit that has to be paid in full monthly. It is very difficult to operate with limited funds like that. I could never do that part of our business,” Peters say, praising Balfe for the skills she brings to the table. Peters is emphatic about the value of a good partnership that involves people with different skill sets working together. “She [Balfe] complements me perfectly, as we are very different, and she brings a perspective to the table that is vital and crucial to our existence — that of managing our finances and understanding our budget. She is the left brain and I am the right brain.”

Peters advocates doing “stress tests” on your business plan — she acknowledges that the term may have a negative association these days, but adds, “the concept is very important to every business. The factors to use to stress-test different business plans will obviously differ, but should be developed.” She suggests creating worst-case scenarios that are actually far worse than you would expect, reducing your best-case scenario numbers by 20%, even dropping income forecasts a significant amount to see just how much your business will handle. When you do this, you provide yourself with an idea of what your business would look like in a whole range of situations. And by planning for that range, you’ll be in a better situation should any one of those scenarios come to pass.

Learning from mistakes

Being an entrepreneur is a new experience for Peters and, as she says, “I’m loving it.” She says she actually enjoys the roller coaster ride that running a business can be — knowing that for every good day, there’s bound to be a bad one. “While hopefully there are many more victories than defeats, both are sure to transpire. The challenge, of course, is to be resilient after the knockdowns and keep increasing the ratio of victories.”

Peters has found great value in learning from her experiences, and from the people she brings in to help run her business. “When you fail in an area, which you will — I do regularly — learn from it and really consider how you will do it differently next time. It’s from my mistakes in my life that I have learned the most.”

Peters is a big believer in figuring out what you want to do and making it happen. She says there are all kinds of resources out there for people starting up businesses. “I have attended many classes given by SCORE, and their advice and informational resources are incredible. I would recommend starting there to anyone considering starting a business. If you spend some time researching small businesses, you will be amazed at what is out there and available to you.”

A final bit of advice from Peters is that it really doesn’t matter what you’ve done before or what you think you don’t know. “What matters is today and your desire to learn new things. You just have to learn how to combine [your fears] with perseverance, determination, and passion, and then let those emotions overpower fear and be your driving force.”

Tags: news, philanthropy, start up, success story, testimonial
Posted on August 13th, 2009 | 1 Comment »