JS Jenner - Small Business Success Roadmap: A Winning Step By Step Guide To Extraordinary Entrepreneurship

Small Business

Success Roadmap

A Winning Step By Step Guide

To Extraordinary Entrepreneurship

2012 JS Jenner

JSJenner.com

Book cover includes images by: Matthew Cole & TAlex - Fotolia.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, sold, reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, or by any means, mechanical or electronic including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, or transmitted by email without prior written permission from the copyright holder.

Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty: This book is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. The author and publisher are not offering it as legal, accounting, or other professional services advice. While best efforts have been used in preparing this book, the author and publisher make no representations or warranties of any kind and assume no liabilities of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness of use for a particular purpose. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be held liable or responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information or programs contained herein. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. Every company is different and the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should seek the services of a competent professional before beginning any improvement program.

Trademarks: This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders. They are the property of their respective owners and are used throughout this book in an editorial fashion only. The author is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Table Of Contents

Step By Step Guidance To Business Success

Are you determined to make your business a SUCCESS?

Then you have come to the right place to start your journey ... Not tomorrow ... Not in 12 months time ... But NOW!

Can You Beat The Odds?

ONLY 51% of new businesses survive 5 years.
(According to SBA.gov)

AND

The main reason for failure is inexperienced management.
(According to Statistics Canada)

Typically small business owners are doers. They know how to do something or make something and so start their own business doing what they know best.

Is that you?

If so, dont forget that whatever business you run, you are first and foremost a business owner and an entrepreneur. As such, you need to work ON your business, not just IN your business.

Do you make the time to work ON your business?

If not, STOP spending 100% of your time worrying about the day to day minutiae and START taking action to ensure you have a successful business left to worry about in 5 years time.

Take control of your business with a plan - a roadmap showing the way to Destination Success. Without one, you are leaving your future to chance. Some of your competitors will be planning their way to success, so can you afford not to?

If youre still thinking about burying your head in the sand, consider this:

The nicest thing about NOT planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise ...

~ Sir John Harvey-Jones

Dont Make This Fatal Mistake

Planning is only the beginning.
Implementation is the KEY.

If you dont execute your plan,
your plan wont work.

Many businesses plan but never implement their plan, as they miss the vital step of translating their high-level plan into manageable action steps.

But this book guides you through that crucial stage. You will not only come up with an overall plan for your business success, but you will also create two KEY reports to ensure you implement your plan:

1. a prioritized To Do list covering the KEY activities you need to tackle in the next 12 months to ensure you arrive at Destination Success, and
2. a Dashboard that will help you track your progress along the way.

What Is This Book And How Can It Help You?

It is NOT a theory-filled guide to writing an overly long business plan that will just sit and gather dust.

It IS a practical, step by step system full of thought-provoking Activity Sheets to help you:

• assess the state of your business and its marketplace to work out where and how you fit in,
• develop a different approach to your competitors to ensure your business achieves the success you envision,
• identify measures that you should track regularly that will act as an early warning system for when things are going off course.

It gives you a quick and easy way to create a roadmap that will help you proactively steer your business along the path to success.

You will:

• not be staring at a blank piece of paper wondering where to start as this only leads to procrastination. Instead you will be guided every step of the way with practical Activity Sheets that all piece together to steer you towards Destination Success.
• produce your roadmap and the two KEY reports as you work through the book , so you will come up with an action plan straight away. There is no chance for you to read the entire book only to forget it all by the time you get around to implementing it a week later.
• end up with peace of mind that you know where your business is going, how it is going to get there and that alarm bells will go off along the way if you veer off course.

Frequently Asked Questions

I dont have the time. What should I do?

I know time is precious and that your business and family are already competing for any spare moments you have, but I really urge you to make the time to complete your roadmap to success. A few days spent working your way through this book is a small investment in the future of your business. You will more than make up for it by eliminating the time you currently waste on unimportant day to day activities.

Do I need a strong business background to complete this book?

No, it is easy to follow and will take you through everything you need to consider. Rest assured, none of it is rocket science.

My business is pretty small. Is all this planning really necessary?

Due to their size, big companies can get away with managing their resources imperfectly on occasion, but small businesses do not have any slack so are in even more need of a plan. No business is too small to focus on its customers, to think about how it can beat its competitors, to envisage where it wants to be in 5 years time and to track its progress towards that goal.

I have a bookkeeper who sends me monthly reports. What else do I need?

Last months financial statements are not there to help you run the business. They record the results; they do not help you play the game. It is like trying to drive your car using last months dashboard readings. Instead you need to track measures that help you predict the success of your business (and most are non-financial).

Wont a plan be a waste of time as my business needs to adapt quickly to changing circumstances?

Planning is not a one off event that you do and then forget about. It is part of managing a business that is revisited as new information becomes available. Change is expected.

Its all in my head. Whats the point of filling in all these Activity Sheets?

The Activity Sheets will help you organize and manage all the KEY information that is in your head.

Cant I pay a consultant to do this for me?

You know your business inside out, so you really are the best person for the job. Unfortunately success is rarely an accident so you need to work at it. Sorry!