POMA Business Planning Session Information

Image: "Fishing at Blenheim", by wit on Flickr.com, under Creative Commons Attribution License. Thank you, wit, for sharing this.

UPDATE (August 21, 2009): My schedule rather fell apart, but I am back on track and posting info to follow up from the POMA conference. Thanks for reading! I hope you'll get something useful here.


Hello!

Thanks for finding this blog. Although this blog is public (anyone can read it), the posts in the next few weeks will be addressed principally to those of you who were at the POMA business meeting.

I am writing this post on the night before the panel discussion with Jay Cassell, Tack Robinson, and me.

It's very possible that tomorrow we will run out of time, and even if we don't, I want to give you some bonus material.

How to get more info via this blog:

1. You can remember to check again. (Not the best method.)
2. If you would like an automatic email notification of every update, there is a box on the blog to sign up for that.
   
3. If you have an RSS reader and you use it, you can subscribe to the feed using the button on the blog.
   
4. If you want to "follow" the blog there is a button for that.

I plan to do a few updates after the POMA meetings end (during the week following the annual business meeting). Then I will respond to questions and update this occasionally.

During the next seven days, I will post a few things for your use:

• Business plan information (already done, see below. If you would like more, just ask.)
  
• Tips that I don't see in every advice website, but that I think are useful to you as a business owner.
• Something to pick up any loose ends from our live session. I am going to wait until after the session and give this a bit of thought.
  

Business Plan Info

It's not hard to find lots of links and information on the "how tos" of making a business plan. Here are two from reputable places. I like the second one (SBA), but what's important is that you find an approach you like and can comfortably work with. Other sources: your bank, your state government (business development agencies), your local library.

• Association of Retired Executives downloadable business plan for a start-up business. This is fairly detailed. You can skip the parts that clearly don't apply.

• US Small Business Administration website has links to a full online training course (slides and voice) in business planning.

Making a business plan imposes discipline on what can be an unruly process.

Don't give in to the temptation to plan, plan, and plan some more. Plan, do, review how you did, revise the plan if needed, and do some more. In the end the doing is the reason for the plan.

OK, that's enough for now. I'll be back.