All right, Now that I have a concept in my mind, I've got to put it on paper which is easier said than done.
See, I live in a world of constant struggle between creativity and logic. I am a creature of habit but dislike regimented structure, I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss but when it comes to the grunt and leg work, I do procrastinate. Coming up with new and captivating ideas is ideal but when I counter them with the pros and cons, sometimes I find myself sitting on the fence, seeing both sides of the picture and unsure of which way to turn, so I struggle and struggle. And so it is this time as well...
THE BUSINESS PLAN can be a daunting endeavor for anyone and I am certainly not the exception. Having never had to do one before, I checked out Google and saw the lists of names and company's that write plans as well as the "How To" web-sites, gathering as much information as I could. Cost wise the "How To" option seemed the best way to go but also it would require a fair amount of time and due diligence, researching and learning the necessary formula for a plan, being knowledgeable in using the Internet (which is a debatable issue), learning how to use an Excel worksheet for all the financial data (excuse me !), incorporating all of this into a format that was comprehensible and captivating at the same time. After a few weeks of trying this route, I realized that I was OVERWHELMED and STUCK and getting DEPRESSED!
So, on to Plan B, which was to hire someone to help write the Business Plan. After researching my options, which ranged from the low of $400 to the high of $3000, I found someone in Texas who was very reasonable and willing to work with me on the price and also be available over time for corrections and updates and would leave me with an Excel Worksheet Tool for all the financial data that could be adjusted at any time. Basically, I did my homework, gathered what information I could or had from my previous business, and then we had a recorded phone interview for a couple of hours blocking out the necessary info into his formula, discussing store philosophy, background history, competition and marketing strategy, customer buying profiles, staffing, location, demographics, industry analysis and then all the financial data for the staffing forecast, revenue , income statement and balance sheet formulas. Fortunately I had, at my fingertips, all my Quickbook ledgers from B.NY. to give me accurate figures for my expected operating costs, revenue and staffing payroll. Without that, it would have been difficult to guesstimate.
This process with Jeff, from Texas, took a number of weeks, going back and forth, adjusting and fine tuning it, so that it would read easily and impart a sense of ME into what could easily have been a technical and boring plan. Jeff is a numbers guy,very smart, but when it came to the writing aspect of the Plan it was pretty cut and dried. I needed more style and flow to the narrative portion of the Plan, especially the Mission Statement and the Executive Summary, which is very critical because it is the first thing an investor will read and if you don't grab them with that then you can forget about it. I sent it to another "professional writer" and she did her thing but it turned out to be TOO much in the other direction, to flowery and over-detailed, sort of lost in the translation if you know what I mean. Then it went to some good friends, Rick and Janice, who looked at the original and the "flowery" one and then roughed out a version that had a little of both and was more direct. They were a great help to talk to and brainstorm with, gave me a lot of food for thought.
I hope that this not too mundane and boring, but this is how I have worked best in the past, which is coming up with an idea, fleshing it out with 2-4 different people and their points of view and then looking at the whole picture, sitting down and piecing together what sounds right and then getting rid of the chaff. That is basically what I did here and I think I was successful in achieving what I had set out to do. The problem was, it was still in a standard business plan format and rather generic looking and that bothered me.
During my investigation of store web-sites I checked out Atelier New York ,which I had listed in my previous blog, and thought whoever designed this site did it in a very clean, detailed, sophisticated and captivating way. I liked the simplicity and the focus and point of view that the site gave to the store. I looked at the Contact page and saw the website designer's name, Steinhardt Design . His name is Alexj Steinhardt and when I Googled him, I was impressed with other work he had done in websites and in graphic design as well. He seemed to concentrate in the Music field designing a number of sites for renowned symphonic musicians as well as artists and book stores. This probably results from him growing up in a musicians family. His father is Arnold Steinhardt, a symphonic violinist, whose website Alexj designed, of course! This, I felt, was definitely the right direction I should be looking into,someone with an artistic sense-ability, pure of thought and not driven to the typical bells and whistles that seems to be so prevalent on websites these days.
I put a call into Alexj and, complimented him on his work and told him about my project and asked if would he be interested in designing the website for my new venture. We talked about timeline and the direction of the site which had to be integrated with the POS (Point of Sale) system in the store. He said that he would put together a proposal after he talked with one of his lead designers, Diane and would get back to me. It was a great feeling of relief and anticipation that I had after hanging up with him. I felt that he and I clicked and I looked forward to reading his proposal.
Which we will see...
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