Like everything in life, setting goals gives us drive and determination. Without a focus or a deadline, weak humans tend to drift down an endless road of confusion and despair. By setting some well defined and realistic business goals early on, you will feel an accomplishment when you have achieved them and you will also get a clear definition of how your business is growing according to your expectations.
You need to determine where you want your business to be in one year, two years, and three years. As difficult as it is to judge, you should try to estimate the number of weddings you think you can undertake in your first, second, and third years. You should also evaluate where you are going to advertise and how much to spend on this in these years, from whom you are going to get funds, how much profit you would like to achieve, etc.
Here is an example of some typical business goals:
Year 1
- Secure financing in accordance with anticipated financial needs
- Buy all the necessary equipment
- Set up a website and get it up and running
- Analysis of good advertising channels
- Build relationships with other local wedding providers
- Create 3 distinctive albums for display purposes
- Accepts 10 weddings
- Participate in 3 contests for experience
- Get 2,000 winnings
Year 2
- Accept 20 weddings and raise prices by 50%
- Employ a digital imaging assistant to process weddings
- Make 2 wedding parties
- Rent your own studio and start expanding the vertical side of the business
- Take advantage of established relationships with other wedding providers
- Reach LBIPP status
- Make a profit of 10,000
Business plans
A complete business plan is absolutely vital and its importance cannot be stressed enough. The business plan is not just something that needs to be done to secure funding; every company needs to do one. You need to sit down and build a well thought out business plan, detailing all aspects of your business. You have to do this, not only to focus their minds, but it is also a requirement for grant providers and bank lenders who will not take you seriously otherwise.
It is equally important to modify the plan on a regular basis, as time passes and priorities change. The whole purpose of the written plan is to focus your mind on the key elements and objectives of your business. Just preparing your plan will keep you on the lookout for your competition; the services they provide and their pricing structures; yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. This allows you to identify potentially problem areas that you may experience and turn them positive.
You should also identify all the financial implications and make a cash flow forecast. (explained later).
You can certainly guarantee that your business plan will generate things that you didn’t already have. For example, your operating costs and expected expenses and billing, as well as identifying your need for additional financing.
By preparing a detailed business plan, you will be aware of market trends, your business objectives and strategies, your place in the market, resources, and expected cash flow. This is vitally important, especially with a new business venture, as you will undoubtedly be looking to reinvest your hard-earned money in the business. Being mindful of your cash flow can save you from the potentially crippling situation where one month you can pay for that new AppleMac laptop until the next month without being able to put fuel in your car to get to work. The Business Plan will help you decide how much you can afford and when. Remember, forewarned you are forewarned!
To repeat, a good plan is very important:
- If you want to apply for a bank loan / grant, as these institutions often insist on seeing a well-thought-out and well-thought-out plan.
- By measuring success within your business.
- In detecting problem areas before they arise.
- Focusing on key areas of development.
The key elements of a business plan are as follows:
Company Name
Executive summary of your business
This should list the highlights of each of the other sections of the business plan, so it is a good idea to leave this part until the rest of the business plan is completed. It is also necessary in this section to detail if your company is a sole trader, limited, etc. The purpose of this section is to interest the reader and briefly inform them of the whole purpose of your business. If you are applying for funding, it is sometimes the only part that is read!
Mission status
This is a clear and concise statement of your company’s long-term mission. It should incorporate your ultimate goals and aspirations (mission) for the Company.
Products and services
This section should detail how you are going to rate your business and its products. You are going to do weddings only or plan to offer portraits, commercials, etc. You also need to think about and detail which market you are targeting (for example, low-end, high-end). It should detail when it started operating, any history (for example, was it an acquired business), and plans for the future, etc. Also detail the service you intend to provide to the clientele and how it compares to the competition. Don’t limit yourself to technical jargon; Keep it simple because those who read it may not appreciate the industry you’re in, but they still need to be able to grasp the concepts.
Sales and Marketing
This section is vitally important and time and effort needs to be put into this area to ensure your business is successful. You should think about:
Where to position your business in the market (e.g. high quality, low volume, etc.) Pricing your products – This is one of the most important and difficult decisions as you need to set your prices at the correct level to be profitable .
You need to analyze the competition to see what they offer and what they charge and then establish your own niche. If you charge more, there must be tangible reasons for a customer to want to pay more for your product or service.
Advertising: It is important to identify the most effective routes to promote and advertise your products or services, that is, how you are going to reach your potential customers profitably and how you are going to monitor the effectiveness of your advertising. In addition, what means do you intend to use for your advertising; is this through websites, editorials, social media sites like Facebook / MySpace / Twitter, YouTube, magazine / newspaper ads, shop windows, wedding parties, published emails, flyers and brochures, etc.
It is important to identify in the business plan why people would choose your product at that price and why it is different from the competition (for example, quality, price, extra benefits or unique accessories, etc.).
The team
Although you can start on your own initially, due to financial constraints, you will eventually need help. You need to establish what personal requirements will be necessary and at what stage. You should also identify the skills they will need to possess and the areas of weakness in which they may need training.
Commercial facilities and equipment
Most of the time, it is best to start your business from home, as this keeps your overhead low. This section should detail where the business operates from (from home or otherwise), the advantages and disadvantages of its location, rented or owned, and for how long, the equipment purchased or the investment required. In addition, the IT facilities, the necessary outsourcing, the management and accounting systems necessary to control the business and the plans to improve in the future in these areas.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
This is known as SWOT analysis and is a useful exercise to analyze exactly what it says: strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is helpful to divide a sheet of paper into 4 areas and build a list in each section. Think carefully about all of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and your goal is to eventually turn your weaknesses into strengths.
Some examples:
Strengths:
- Excellent location with a potentially elite customer base
- Qualified member of BIPP
- Excellent photography skills
Weaknesses:
- No help – you have to juggle photography, marketing, accounts, etc.
- Photoshop skills need to be improved
- You don’t have a lot of sales and marketing experience.
Opportunities
- Some lovely wedding venues around us.
- Many wedding companies that I can affiliate with
Threats
- Many photographers looking for the same business
Competence
Although the competition is included in the Sales and Marketing section, it is a valuable exercise to establish the names, locations, prices, products and services, sales tactics of all your main competitors in your niche; basically find out everything you can about them. . Call them and pretend to be a customer who wants their services. This will give you a real idea of where you are in the market and what you can offer that they don’t, as well as how to sell against them. This is an ongoing process throughout the life of the company.
Goals and Objectives: One and Five Year Goals
A written statement of where you see yourself one year from now and five years from now, both financially and in terms of market share. Visualizing where you want to be is the key to success and drives you forward.