In Search of Answers

[MowersWife]

Hi everyone:

I know you are probably surprised to see a girl on this board,but i'm in seach of answers.

My husband has been working with a landscaper for 7 years and through the years he has built a small base of customers. He is seriously thinking of starting his own business. Nothing on a grand scale, at least not yet. Since he has a fascination with tractors,mowers;he managed to refurbish alot of tractors,mowers that were given to him.

I've been trying to help him out by searching the internet and finding what he would need to get started as in license,and other paperwork that he would need,but trying to find out anything on the net has become a "hair pulling" experience to say the least. I saw this forum during one of my searches and thought maybe i could get some answers,if not a point in the right direction.

Question such as....

Does he need to be insured?
Will he need an Employer Identifcation Number?
Will he need a business license?

Anything would be helpful and thank you!

p.s. We live in Northeastern PA if that helps any.

[Phil Nilsson]

After 7 years time it's time!

Good luck

[Sammy]

Welcome aboard MowersWife !

Hi everyone: I know you are probably surprised to see a girl on this board, .........

There are a couple of other gals on here also.

........ point in the right direction.

Use the search feature at the top.
Lots of info here. Some of the Pa. guys may be able to help with some of your questions.

[MowersWife]

Thank you so much for the kind welcome and the information. I appreciate it very much

[Phil Nilsson]

70% of all new biz starts fail mostly due to the lack of business planning. Knowing this, I work out business success and business models for them to follow because they don't have the time or whatever, and I don't want them to fail ... but if you're the ambitious type ... read the following article:

Business Planning in 3 Easy Steps

By Phil Nilsson, Green Industry Consultant

What if we had all listened to our grandmothers years ago when she told us to save 10 percent of every paycheck we ever earned? What if back then we had invested that money in growth stocks? What if at an early age we had given serious thought to exactly, precisely who we were, where we were going, and how we would get there? What if after having understood and analyzed those things we could see clearly as to how to position ourselves in the world (For example, choosing a career field or business that was right for us and focusing our energies and time on an exact target because we knew what it was we were after.)? Well, I'm sorry to say that I didn't do all those things - but then again I guess it's never too late to start. There is always tomorrow - at least until we run out of them.

Business planning, or better yet personal planning (because you are the business), is a good idea. Anyone who has lived long enough to make some bad choices in life will testify to that fact. So if you're not dead yet - and I'm assuming you're not because you're reading this article - it's never too late to plan the remaining portions of your life, like reinventing yourself. Hindsight is 20-20, and as we all go along in time, planning gets easier because of the mistakes we have already made. Now we can avoid making those mistakes again ... hopefully.

THREE STEPS IN PLANNING...
Business happens in three steps.

You get the work by selling it.

You do the work by producing it.

You manage inputs and outcomes all along the way.

The more of an expert you become in selling, producing and managing, the better the expected outcomes. The better you plan and manage, the better your chances of hitting profit and growth levels above average. Why is that? When you plan, you improve your odds. I don't know of any "average person" who gave it an "average try" and achieved extraordinary results. The grade of "A" is reserved only for those who do their homework. In fact, in the landscape industry, about 70 percent fail at it. Those people came into the industry, took a casual look around, took a lot for granted, didn't do their homework and became history. The other 30 percent learned, applied and survived.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
Lots of people are under the impression that business planning is about accounting spreadsheets, budgets and all kinds of number-related issues. That's part of it, but it’s merely the end result of having done a lot of soul searching in looking ahead. The real benefit of planning is to uncover those aspects of business that you need to learn more about, filling in the blanks to see the whole picture. What is it you should know but don't? What do you need to do to become an expert and enhance your chances of developing your business so it provides you with a meaningful source of income?

Think of the entire process as a series of college courses with "X" amount of credits needed to graduate. Planning involves a lot more than just knowing the numbers. Look at your business and each part of it as course content. To help you see the many subjects that need to be addressed, study the diagram below. These are the many things that make up your business. It's broken down into the three sections of getting the work, doing the work and managing the business.

Get The Work ... Do The Work ... Manage The Business

Get the work
Service Offering
Competition
Selling Technique
Advertising Methods
Pricing Strategy
Contract Proposals
Customer Service

Do the work
Plant and Facility
Equipment
Personnel
Operating Methods
Quality Control

Manage the business
Work Measurement
Costing Methods
Business Direction
Financial Outcomes
Accounting
Taxes
Evaluation
Regulations
Contingency Plans

MASTER BUSINESS PLAN.
The master business plan above is like an outline of college courses on how to succeed in business. It’s a lineup of individual areas of study. Your business will eventually test you on each item on the list. You could know how to sell but not be good at doing the work. You could know how to do the work but have a deficiency in costing and pricing the work. You could be good at pricing, but when it comes to managing people, you may not be so good.

Business planning is to fill in the blanks of knowledge and expertise so that you form a complete picture. The plan asks you to be honest with yourself. Do you have a handle on each of the areas required? That's the real purpose of planning: finding out what you don't know and then taking the initiatives to learn. It's not easy. Unlike big business where each area of expertise is departmentalized into such departments as sales, marketing and management, small business people must wear all of those hats. That's the problem - you need to become an expert at so many disciplines. Business planning helps you recognize what the requirements are. The rest is up to you.

Copyright Nilsson Associates 2002