Monday, July 16, 2012

Business 101: Create A Business Plan


My daughter and son-in-law are vacationing in Mexico for their 10-year anniversary. Hence, the "free" babysitters have the grand kids for 8 days. Each day we do a special project. It keeps them occupied and away from electronic devices. Yesterday, our project was robot inspired.


Miss O helped set out project trays and disburse robot parts.



I handled the spray painting and hot glue gun. The first step, and most difficult, was plotting the robot design.

It was intriguing to watch each child explore their options. As you can see, their ideas were all different and unique.

Carson made a TV and remote for his robot. Four year old, Fischer gave his robot a light bulb brain  (he pretends the light bulb glows when the robot is thinking "really hard").


Of course, Miss O designed a Princess Robot in pink and purple colors. I opted for an all silver robot that we call the Techno Robot.

Positioning the robots for a photo shoot, I was reminded of the uniqueness of the human mind. Each of our project trays contained the same parts; yet, each finished robot was distinctly different. The direction each person took to complete the project didn't matter. The bottom line was they finished.



In the early years of starting an online business, I was a "newbie" seeking to carve my company's identity. The competition was intimating. Assembling a business plan was not unlike the robot parts. What glue would I need to adhere all the ideas into something functional? If I failed, could my business plan be revised and reassembled?

Current economic woes have forced many into seeking alternative ways of making a viable living. With the growing number of small businesses trying to gain entry into the market, you need a plan. Especially if the Internet is your major marketing avenue. My next blog post will be address how to create a realistic business plan for success.

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