Starting a new business in 2016? Writing an effective business plan is a vital part of your business success. A business plan is a written description that usually projects the next 3-5 years of your business goals and how to achieve them. Here are some tips to help build your business plan.
Before building your business plan you should:
- Determine your goals and objectives
- Outline your financial needs
- Consider marketing your plan
Tips for Building Your Business:
- Be confident: Make sure that your ideas are realistic and represent what you are promoting your company to be.
- Make sure all of your visuals are intact: Graphs, charts, and images are a great way to bring your concept to life.
- Be creative: You want your plan and future company to grab the attention of others. Create unique tactics that would leave a lasting memory.
When writing a business plan, you should:
- Execute your business description
- Add marketing ideas and strategies
- Add competitive analysis to determine your strengths and weaknesses within your market
- Figure out the financial factors
These tips for building your business will help you jump start your success. For
more information on building your business, visit entrepreneur.com.
The Benefit of Government Contracts
First off, what is a government contract? A government contract is an agreement that outlines business transactions between specific companies and government entities.
Over $300 billion is procured each year by the U.S federal government and its various agencies. There is a lot of variety in the federal governments agencies from commercial airplanes to something as simple as a zipper. The U.S. government is one of the biggest buyers for many products and services in the United States.The U.S. Government is definitely someone you want on your side when running a business for many reasons, here are a few:
- The government is different from most markets because the government makes its needs publicly known and their list of numerous needs are easily accessible.
- Government sales ensure that the sales process is fair by conducting them in an open environment.
- The government can help grow your company because the government frequently buys in large volumes over long periods of time.
- The government is looking to support small businesses, minority-owned businesses, and many other types of firms.
If the U.S. Government is a customer of yours, this gives your business a stamp of approval and shows others the importance and reliability of your company. Meeting the governments requirements for your companies quality, price, service, and many other factors shows other companies that you are a reliable company to work with. If your company can meet the government's requirements, it will make your company a more attractive acquisition.
Where is a good place to start looking to sell to a government agency? The Small Business Association website is a great place to start. They have information on government agencies and how to get into contact with certain agencies if you are interested in a particular type of government agency.
Co-Working spaces have numerous perks for businesses. Most people think that co-working spaces are strictly for startup companies, but that is not the case. Co-working spaces can benefit any type of business at any stage of the businesses growth. These types of spaces have many benefits associated with them. The perks received from co-working space aren’t available for such low costs in a regular leased office space.
Take a look at some of the best perks associated with co-working spaces:
Access to Shared Resources
Resources such as printers, copiers, fax machines, furniture for the office, and internet connection cost a lot of money. While working in a co-working space every company has access to shared resources that cut down the costs of individually buying these pricey yet necessary office items. Not only initially purchasing these items but the costs of maintenance, repairs, and IT costs are no longer something to worry about in a co-working space.
Collaborative Benefits
The coolest part about working in a co-working space is the many different types of companies and people you come across. Just in one space there could be lawyers, IT companies, consultants, software engineers, government contractors, foundations, and many more types of businesses. This opens up opportunity to possibly collaborate on projects or new business ventures. Co-working spaces are like communities with unlimited benefits and opportunities to grow your business.
Meeting Rooms
Co-working spaces offer conference rooms that are available whenever you need them. If your business has a new client coming in or needs to conduct an interview, co-working spaces have these resources available. With co-working spaces you don’t have to run to the nearest Starbucks or squeeze into a small office in order to meet a potential client or host a meeting.
Virtual Receptionist
A huge benefit of a co-working space is the opportunity to have a virtual receptionist. These receptionists will answer your phone calls and make sure you get the information you need before taking the phone call. Co-working space receptionists are trained to handle calls for many different types of businesses, can take messages for you while you are in a meeting, and make sure that the information you need is given to you quickly and accurately. This way you do not have to hire your own receptionist, saving you and your business a lot of money.
It is very clear there are many perks of co-working space, no matter what your reason is for considering this type of work space. We often overlook the simple things like costs of maintaining an office, office resources, and how much easier co-working space is for everyone. There are many things you no longer need to worry about with co-working spaces that you would with your own office. With the availability of private offices you still get your private time to get work done and at the same time you get the benefits of not having to worry about utilities, maintenance, and other costs associated with your own space. There are designated meeting rooms readily available and an opportunity to expand your company with many other businesses and resources around you.
On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, NOMA Workspaces hosted a free Small Business Workshop for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. It was a chance for participants to network and learn from their peers. We want to make sure you are keeping up with your 2015 business goals. Participants learned tips on a variety of topics. From government funding to social media, they were given tools to help their business grow. David White (Vice President of Business, Wells Fargo) and Alexandra Piotrowski (Small Business Administration) spoke to the group about the Three C's: Capital, Counseling, and Contracting. Red Bull, goDCgo, and the Washington Business Journal all brought resources and information to the event.
Break out groups included:
Polina Bakhteiarov and Sandra Gomez (Great Streets) on defining and identifying grant opportunities and city resources and how businesses apply for the Great Streets program.
Shara A. Gibson (DC Department of Small and Local Business Development) on
leveraging partnerships and relationships.
TaKeyia Monique (C.E.O., Haute Hipster Media) on growing your business utilizing social media.
We offered this workshop via Skype for those who could not attend in person.We hope to host more events for local small businesses. If you are interested in hosting a workshop or event please contact Britany Gatewood at 202-380-3600.
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