Eight people in the room. Seven of them are women. Two of them are instructors.
Both of the instructors are leading the Women's Business Center of North Alabama's workshop, "5 Steps to a Simple Business Plan," held at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.
They're in the Redstone Room on the third floor, huddled around a conference table.
"We think this really fits our market," Stephanie Sellers, the lead instructor, tells the six people who have enrolled. "It helps you not be scared to do a business plan. It doesn't have to be a 40-page business plan."
The
workshop participants are here for a wide range of reasons. One is here because she has been laid off recently and has started doing some volunteer work.
"We're writing a business plan to start what we need to do," she says.
Another is here because she's retired, wants to earn some extra income and "just to do something with my time," she says.
The only man among them is an X-ray technician at a local hospital who's also a full-time student. He's got big ambitions. For starters, he's considered opening a scrub store near the new hospital in Madison. "I'm wanting to do a little bit of everything," he says.
That's fine with Sellers. She wants aspiring entrepreneurs to be dreamers.
"What do you want to be like?" she says early in the workshop. "If you want to make tennis shoes, be Nike. No, be better than Nike."
To reach those goals, the Women's Business Center of North Alabama offers its workshop, advertised as a way for new or longtime business owners to put their business "on the right track."
"Ultimately," Sellers says, "the business plan is a map." That map, she said, is formulated by following "The One Page Business Plan" by Jim Horan.
Sellers and Stacy DeSmet, president and creative director of Synectics, are the instructors.
DeSmet tells the six participants that they're embarking on a journey. To embark on this journey, it takes fortitude, for one thing, she says. And it takes a plan.
The vision statement
Time to get creative.
"It's a passionate, idealistic picture of the business you want," Sellers says. "It's the dreamer's statement. This is my dream."
Some things to do: Don't overthink it.
"The first statement that pops in your mind is usually the best statement that you craft," Sellers says.
The mission statement
Time to get real.
"You describe the purpose for the product," Sellers says. "Why does it exist? It should be short and memorable. You should always answer why should customers buy this product or service."
Sellers gives the class some advice as they're pondering their mission statement.
"This is a personal thing when you become a business owner," she says. "What passions are you trying to satisfy?"
Objectives
Time to get basic. These are your goals.
"How does the business define success," Sellers says.
Some things to do: The objectives need to be specific and "measurable," she says.
"An example: Achieve a profit of 10 percent before tax," she says.
Formulating strategy
This is setting the direction - the methodology and philosophy - for managing your company.
"You need to address internal and external strategy, especially when starting out," Sellers says. "There is a lot of indirect stuff that can affect us. Look at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats when doing a strategy."
Putting your plan into action
Your plan, Sellers says, must relate to your objective and strategies.
She cites a quote from the book: It's not enough to talk about it - you must say how and why.
Another passage from the book: "Make your plans carefully. Execute them on time, within budget, and with excellence. Measure their impact routinely."
The workshop lasted about four hours, from 1 to 5 p.m. For Sellers, the program director for the Women's Business Center of North Alabama, it was her first time to teach to workshop "in an interactive format," as she calls it.
All in all, she consideres the workshop a success, mainly because of the feedback she began receiving as the class went on.
"My anxiety centered around, 'Are they really getting it?"' she says. "Did they get enough information?
"Turns out they got it."
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