The road to business ownership: Find your map

Anyone who plans to venture down the road of small business ownership needs a map -- a written business plan.

A business plan is an important management tool, said Bill Vickery, director of the Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University. When you're looking at where your startup money is going to come from and how much cash it will take to get the business up and running, it's a good idea to have a plan to follow.

"We think it's best suited to be used as a feasibility plan to see if the venture you're considering going into has a likelihood of being successful," Vickery said.

Vickery says a potential business owner should research and chart trends and competition. He should decide who his target markets are going to be, a specific customer profile or "everybody is going to be my customer."

"Look at pricing and profitability of a business, at cash flow so you don't run out of money," Vickery said.

Too often, he said, many good businesses fail because there just wasn't enough money to get them off the ground. Accountants, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and banks can assist a hopeful business owner. The SBDC is designed to do specifically that, Vickery said. Often, banks will refer applicants to the SBDC prior to making decisions about business loan applications.

The SBDC -- funded by the university, SBA, and the city of Cape Girardeau -- hands out startup kits free of charge to help a fledgling business owner make the right determination. In the past fiscal year, he said, the office sent out 345 kits to potential businesses. Last year 256 new businesses opened their doors.

Vickery estimates that the SBDC staff spends about six hours with each person who seeks help. In addition to determining if there is a market for the product or service you want to offer and what the competition is, Vickery advises business owners to look in another direction.

"Make sure your life goals match your business goals," he said "If those two don't match then you're really pitting one against the other. It takes a whole lot of work to operate a business. You will have to give up family time. Are you willing to do that?"

Some really profitable businesses with a good future folded, he said, because the owner's life goals did not mesh with the demands of the

business. Sometimes after making up a business plan, analyzing all the trends and looking at work versus family, the potential business owner will decide not to take that step.

"We consider that a win," Vickery said. "It's much better to make that determination up front before spending all your money and becoming a statistic than to go out and let experience make that determination.

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Free online courses for small businesses

The United States Small Business Administration offers free online classes for small business owners, including:

• Small Business Primer: A guide

to starting a business

• The Beginning: Developing a successful business plan
• Business plan workshops
• Hot shot business simulation for young entrepreneurs
• Starting for teens
• Mind your own biz
• How to write a business plan
• Strategic planning and execution
• How to find start-up funding
• Accounting 101: The fundamentals
• Building your own brand
• E-mail marketing
• Marketing 101: The fundamentals
• Assessing financial needs
• Guide to government contracts
• Computer security
• Building your Web site
• Introduction to federal

taxes for small businesses

• Small business tax workshop

Log on to http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses for details.