Build Your Business Plan Online with SBA’s Free Step-by-Step Tool

By Montrie Rucker AdamsFebruary 25, 2013 Blog business plans, Financial assistance, goals, sba, small business administration

The SBA is a useful resource for small businesses. If there is an office in your area, please take advantage of their services. If meeting face-to-face is difficult, peruse the information they have available online.

Do you have a business plan?

Most business owners are only required to have a business plan if they are seeking financial assistance from banks or other lenders. However, all business should have a business plan.

A business plan is a road map that sets the direction for your business. It outlines how you plan to make sales and grow revenue. It sets your business goals, why you believe they are achievable, and it provides detail on how you plan to reach those goals. Additionally, it provides the background information about your business, the owners, employees and other pertinent information.

Business plans are used as decision-making tools and are dynamic as your business grows and goals are achieved. A well-drafted business plan can help you become business credible. A business plan doesn’t guarantee “success” however, it can reduce the odds of failure.

SBA’s Business Plan Tool provides a step-by-step guide to help you get started. Not only can you save your plan as a PDF file, you can also update it at any time, which makes this a living plan to which you can often refer.

The tool can be found here – http://www.sba.gov/business-plan/1.

Below is just one of the many informative videos provided by the SBA.

So what are you waiting for? Get busy!

Why Your Nonprofit Needs an Annual Report

By Montrie Rucker AdamsFebruary 11, 2013 Blog accomplishments, achievements, annual reports, board of directors, donors, financial statements, goals, supporters

Writing an annual report for your nonprofit is a great idea. Annual reports can help your nonprofit to communicate activities, share your accomplishments, reinforce your core values to existing supporters, and help attract new donors. In addition, it can educate key decision makers about your organization’s work, recognize special people, including staff and volunteers, and serve as a vehicle to preserve your organization financial history.

Your annual report should include:

A letter from your Board and Executive Director regarding the years’ activities.
A list of the Board of Directors and Executive Staff
Accomplishments the organization made during the year, including goals set and met. Describe each one with a brief narrative.
Your financial statements will be very important in showing your supporters how their dollars were spent. Include diagrams in your report that show in layman’s terms an overview of those expenditures and why they were necessary.
A list of supporters/donors for the year. Depending on the size of your organization, it might be a good idea to ask them if they would be willing to share their personal story or provide feedback about the organization. You can then use some of these as pull-out quotes to place sporadically throughout the annual report.

Creating the annual report will take a team to develop. In addition to the accounting firm who provides the financial information, some organization hire outside public relations and/or marketing firms to assist them in formulating and creating the content. Depending on the size of your organization, you may need several people to interview the individuals you want included in the annual report.

Once all the information has been received, it’s time sit down and plan how all that information will be laid out – all the text, images, quotes, financials… everything will need a place.

Proofread, proofread, proofread! Everything must be read, read again, and read one or two more times. Select a few people who did “not” work on the project to take review it. Fresh eyes have a tendency to find things that the team may not have found or overlooked.

It’s FINAL! Ready to go! Make sure to your annual report is in a PDF format to have as a downloadable document on your website or to have handy should someone request one by email.

If you need assistance or guidance in pulling together your organization’s annual report, contact us at Visibility Marketing Inc. – (440) 684-9920.