Be committed to your BUSINESS, not your ‘business plan’

- As a way to capture your current plan and thinking about the business, business plans are inefficient. Shortly after you’re done writing it (or editing it), you will realize that the plan is a little out-dated and does not reflect your current reality.

- Start-ups change constantly, especially in the early days when you’re trying to find product market fit. The market changes, you get more feedback from your customers, and your understanding of the opportunity changes. Even more simply, you might just change your mind.

- In the early days, your startup is likely changing so frequently that going through the effort of making sure your business plan keeps up with your latest thinking is frustrating and futile. You’re much, much better off spending that time and energy talking to customers and making the product better. The risk is that you revise the plan so much, have toiled so many nights getting it just right that you actually start becoming emotionally attached to the plan. It becomes your baby — not the business itself. This can be fatal.

Avoid becoming overly committed to what you’ve written down. Stay pragmatic and willing to change.

Small business employment grows rapidly

The job market is looking up and small businesses are reaping the benefits.

The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, which tracks hiring at companies with 300 or fewer employees, reported a 1.66 percent increase in March, the highest month-over-month increase since June 2010.

“I think it’s an extremely positive sign, economically,” said Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services. He said that while employment gains at larger firms could be attributed to increases in overseas business, small business job recovery is encouraging because it implies growing demand within the U.S. economy.

Take time for your own business education

By nature, entrepreneurs are very busy. They tend to be understaffed and wear many, many hats. It is not unusual for an entrepreneur to juggle numerous responsibilities, including management, marketing, accounting and even IT.

Though being busy comes with the territory, it is imperative entrepreneurs make time for their own training and education.

With so many trends out there, the business environment is always evolving. Technology is one of the most obvious examples of this. Technological innovations are constantly occurring, and even if you plan to outsource the department, you must have adequate knowledge to make informed decisions.

TO READ MORE