How to Write Business Plans That Work

Writing a startup business plan that works is not as hard as it may seem at first. You may hear dire statistics about the low rate of business plan acceptance by investors and lenders, but you must keep in mind that many fail to achieve funding because of entirely avoidable mistakes.

These are a couple of the common mistakes that can cause a business plan to miss out on funding:

Sections Fail to Fulfill Their Purpose

Every section of a business plan has a purpose, which you can read about in numerous articles and see demonstrated in sample plans and business plan templates. After reading over a section you have written, ask yourself the questions the section is meant to answer and be sure you were able to provide those answers in the text. If the answers were not given or could be clearer, there is room for improvement. For example, the marketing plan must answer the primary question “how will the business reach and win customers?” If a reader completes this section and still cannot tell how exactly you plan to do this, you have work to do.

Proofreading Errors

Don’t let your plan be discarded simply because of simple spelling or grammar errors. Simple errors like this will appear unprofessional and will not inspire confidence in your skill and thoughtfulness on the part of investors. When you feel the content is ready, read the plan multiple times through, then put it aside for a day and read it through again. Read word by word and try reading the plan aloud to be sure that the wording is natural. You must also have another person whose editing ability you trust read the plan with the express goal of finding typographical or grammatical errors that you’ve missed. If you take this kind of care you can be much more certain that your plan won’t fail for a reason as silly as a typo.

How To Bet On Sports Book

Betting on sports can be quite a tricky thing to do even if you are a very experienced bettor who knows his way around and has won a lot of money this way in the past. Betting and gambling have been as much a part of sports and events as much as the actual playing has been.

Even then, people do not just place bets blinded. This is because such a way of placing bets is very risky and you might have as much as a chance of winning as much as you have of losing all the money that you put at stake. That is why, people prefer to go in for trying out different kinds of tried and tested methods and strategies that have worked in the past and are sure to work even now.

Some of these methods and programs have become quite famous and you can buy them on the internet for a small sum if you are interested. They help a great deal in helping you realize the outcome of the game long before it is won and this way you can accordingly place your bets and win money. A sports book is something that a person can place a bet on. There are many different kinds of sports books, and they each are made according to the game that they belong to.

Football, baseball, and basketball are some of the more widely known sports for betting and you must be wondering how to bet on sports books that belong to these categories. Well, the idea is simple. If you are someone who is just starting to place bets and does not really know how to go about the entire way, then you should start by claiming only a small amount of money to your name and place your bet on the sports book that you want to bet on.

Every game is different and you must keep in mind that you should learn to be a disciplined bettor. If you go and place high amounts of money on every team, hoping to win in at least one, then you will only lose out on your money. You should not put so much at stake all at once.

You must learn how to gain experience and then go about the betting process by keeping at least one renowned method in mind. This will help you to keep your focus, and slowly you can build on your bets and stakes as you climb the ladder higher and higher. Risks and losses should not deter you from keeping at the betting either.

Keep in mind that as the season of any sport progresses, it is that time when you should properly be placing your proper bets in the sports book. This is because by the middle, people will have either lost interest, or given up on half the teams. But if you do your research well and keep a constant stand, then you can end up winning a lot of money.

India Paves the Way for Fast-Track Growth

The results of the recent Lok Sabha national elections in India are likely to have long lasting implications for the development of the country.

With the Congress Party winning all but an 11-seat majority, India finally has, for the first time in 20 years, a democratically elected government that has essentially a mandate to govern. With 261 seats, the Congress Party requires just another 11 seats to form a majority, and with plenty of allied parties wanting to lend a hand for the opportunity to govern, it can grab the chance to push through much-needed reform on its own terms.

This is in stark contrast to the previous two decades, where national political divisions resulted in a succession of often deeply divided coalition governments, and the consequent major adjustments, compromises or abandonment of many necessary reforms. The re-election of Manmohan Singh as prime minister as well is a sure sign that Indians require a strong government with a strong leadership to guide them. Dr. Singh’s reappointment marks the first time since 1961 that a sitting PM has been reinstated.

The importance of this victory by the Congress Party cannot be underestimated. With India in a literal state of emergency in 1991, the country has gradually clawed its way back from the brink of bankruptcy and economic chaos and into the 21st century. And who was the architects of all this? The Gandhi family – now with Sonia Gandhi as head of the Congress Party – who realized the need to bring into power respected economists and lawyers to drive the country away from its failed Soviet-era structures and into a more modern state. And who was charged with overseeing the economic redevelopment of the country at the time? Dr. Sing – then a respected international economist rather than a traditional politician, now a man on his second term as prime minister.

The Congress Party win is likely to accelerate India further along the pace of reform and redevelopment, and the election has also done much to clean out the old guard of “gangster” politicians, many of whom held seats while being held on convictions from murder to large scale fraud. In their place comes in a new breed of Indian politician, educated, increasingly in-tune with globalization, and willing to sacrifice to a life of struggle while helping shift the country along a new course.

Pro-business, pro-reform, many of the battles the Congress Party faces in its drive to upgrade and modernize India and its infrastructure will be hard fought. Old, minority interests, such as dealing with land reform in Mumbai, will be hard to win. However, India has voted, and how. A government mandate, and a unified party directed by economists and lawyers bent on legal reform are likely to have a huge impact in getting through legislation to open up to competition within India’s domestic markets, encourage foreign direct investment, deal with the legal and investment issues concerning infrastructure development, and place the nation on a fast track to reform much as China was able to achieve in the 1990s.

The implications are going to be huge.
 
This article was written by Chris Devonshire-Ellis for the blog 2point6billion.com.

Lead Generation Tips

Copyright (c) 2009 Drew Stevens PhD

The year has gotten off to a fast start and many sales managers and sales representatives are trying to get a jump on the year to offset losses from recessionary woes. Since the beginning of the year, my email has become inundated with questions about lead generation and cold calling techniques. Selling professionals are hitting stonewalls and getting nowhere.

The art of cold calling is serious business. Cold Calling requires patience, persistence and professionalism. The trick is to remain constantly positive and vigilant. More important, you must remember that cold calling is meant to generate leads… not business! Too many of you reading this believe that when you cold call you are to sell something, this is far from the truth. Whether stocks, insurance or any other product the concept behind cold calling is to generate a prospective lead that results in another appointment.

I want to give you some tips on generating leads and cold calling in this article. However, I want to get you in the proper framework so that before you pick up the telephone you remember the proper cold calling techniques. The comedian Jeff Foxworthy uses a moniker with every joke that states, «You might be a redneck if». Before you read each of the ten tips say to yourself, «You might be a cold calling nuisance if…»

1. You pick up the telephone and have no idea who you are calling. Someone called me recently and asked for the proprietor. Know whom you are calling.

2. After hello you begin with chitchat. Speak with conviction and have a purpose for every call.

3. You call and have conversations with gatekeepers. Call only decision makers. Stop wasting time with gatekeepers that are paid to detain you. Research the person you want to reach before you pick up the phone.

4. You do not know anything about the business or industry you call. I had a gentleman call me this morning to sell me a copier without an iota of knowledge of my business. Imagine the shock when he discovered I was a sales trainer.

5. Start your call with information about your company. Begin your call with a purpose and a value proposition. If you cannot articulate the value to the recipient do not make the call.

6. Begin your calls with inane questions. Questions such as «How you doin'» is for Joey Tribiani from the series Friends. Unless you desire a data dump comparable of being in a therapist office, stop. If you want conversation then speak articulately.

7. Operate each call without a clear purpose. Use a checklist for each call and have a path. A call should have a beginning, middle and an end.

8. Get over the myth that you are calling to sell something. NO YOU ARE NOT. You are simply calling for an introduction and to gain an appointment, any other reason is a mistake on your part.

9. You fear rejection. Get over it. Lead Generation whether you conduct it for your business or other complex organization is about the rejection business. In order to be successful get out of your comfort zone and deal with it.

10. Commence from call to call. I know of an organization that requires representatives make over 50 calls per day. This is unrealistic. What should be measured is not the call volume but the calls that lead to appointments. Success is should be measured by quality over quantity.

Lead generation is not for the faint of heart but from time to time is required for business development. Success is achieved with patience and most of all a plan. Do not fret rejection, set goals, provide value and do not fall into the trap of selling anything but an introduction and a second meeting.

How to get double interest on your savings account

If you are the kind who leaves a lot of money idle in your savings accounts, this news is going to make you happier and richer!

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in Tuesday’s monetary policy, made the regular repo and reverse repo rate cut announcements. These cuts are expected to bring down lending rates soon.

However, another key announcement that it made was the change in method of calculation of interest on your savings account. This change is effective from April 1, 2010.

Currently, banks calculate interest on your savings account as follows:

3.5 per cent per annum or 0.29 per cent per month on the minimum balance in your savings account between the 10th of the month and the end of the month.

What is a little unfair here is that interest is paid on the minimum balance in your account between the 10th of the month and the end of the month. But how many of us are left with large bank balances at the end of the month anyway!

While the rate of interest has been maintained at 3.5 per cent per annum, the good news is, that from next year, interest will be calculated as follows:

3.5 per cent per annum or 0.0095 per cent per day on the daily balance in your savings account.

If you can’t make sense of these numbers, allow us to explain.

Suppose your bank statement in April reads like this:

Date
Deposit (Rs)
Withdrawal (Rs) Balance (Rs) 1 April
    5,000 2 April
30,000   35,000 3 April
  4,000 31,000 5 April
  4,000 27,000 10 April
  12,000 15,000 13 April
2,700   17,700 18 April
  4,500 13,200 25 April
  5,500 7,700 30 April
    7,700

Now:

Under the current method, you would get an interest of Rs 22.46 for April, that is 0.29 per cent on Rs 7,700 (the minimum balance in your account between the 10th and the 30th of April).

Next year:

Your interest would be a handsome Rs 48.82 for April. That is, 0.0095 per cent everyday on your balance of that day.

Easily, your idle money is going to make you far richer!

That doesn’t, however, give you an excuse to leave your money lying idle in the savings account.

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