Archive for the ‘Business Plans’ Category
Happy Belated Donut Day and Update on What We Are Doing
June 5th, 2010 | 
Author: Happy belated donut day everyone.... here is a video update of what we have been up to and where we are headed with us....
Be sure to check out MyConcessionBusiness.com
Having a Plan of Action
Having a plan of action is one of the most important keys to your success in business. Not only should you have a plan of action but you should stay organized and actually stick with your plan. Not having a plan for what you want to do is like traveling somewhere and not knowing where you're going or Having a map to get there. It is very important to write down the steps you need to take in order to get where you want to be. If you want to start a donut business You need to know exactly what is going to take to make that happen.
Everything starts with research. We've researched the donut business extensively on the Internet. We do not find a lot of information, or exactly what we are looking for. The product that we promote on our blog is very good and is the only thing that we have found that will tell you from start to finish exactly what you should be doing. It is very specific on what you should be doing with your donut business. Is a highly recommended resource, and will save you a lot of time and aggravation from doing a dead-end search. You also need to decide what kind of donut business that you want to have. Do you want one where you sell small doughnuts Or one where you have a variety of doughnuts and flavors plus sell coffee and other drinks. You need to know whether you want a donut franchise or simply a donut machine that you take to fairs and festivals. We have discussed in the past the advantages and disadvantages of having a donut franchise or taking a donut machine to fairs and festivals. Do a search on our blog for donut franchise and you will find topics related to that on our blog. We cannot emphasize enough having a plan of action and specify what you need to do in order to run and operate or even start your businesses.
Not only do you need to have a plan of action when you start a business, but you need to focus. I have had a lot of trouble focusing in the past. I tried to juggle more than one project at a time. Doing this I get nothing done. I have a lot of things I need to do but nothing ever gets done completely. Focus and zero in on what you need to do. If you want to operate a donut business start from the beginning, research do your homework, do everything necessary to get that started. Take a primer on starting a business. Then do your research on the donut business. After you do this focus on the donut business. I cannot stress this enough, to focus on what you are going after. You know want to start a diamond business, open a bar, then open a franchise of some sort. Have a plan of action, focus, then make it happen.
Getting to Know Your Customers
The donut business is like any other business and it is important that you get to know your customers. The more information that you have about what they like and don't like the more money you will make and the less money that you will spend on trying to find out that information. One of the best ways to get know your customers, and this is assuming that you have started your donut business already, is to ask for feedback. We are also assuming that you are catering to small groups of people and doing what we are doing and selling small doughnuts. We also assuming that you do not have a large franchise donut shop. But this will work for those as well.
There's several things you should do to get customer feedback. There's so many companies to ask for feedback from the customers but do not supply an easy way for the customers to give them that feedback. The first thing you should do is make it easy for the customer to give you feedback. Supply them with a pen and paper and simply ask them what they think about your donut business. Provide a website where they can give you feedback on their experience with your company. Maybe reward them for their information. Ask them what you can do to better serve them and provide a forum for them to do that. Take advantage of all the social websites that are available & sign your company up for them.
Organize and track your feedback and let customers know that you plan on resolving complaints and actually respond to their positive and negative feedback. A sickly established a process to adjust each complaint that you receive. Train your employees on soliciting and managing feedback that you get from your customers. The donut business is like any other business and it is important to know what your customers are thinking. A satisfied customer will tell their friends and family about you which will result in much more business. Be smart about your feedback process.
Posted in Business Plans, Marketing | 
Tags: customer feedback, donut business, doughnut business, how to start a donut business | 
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Importance of Having a Business Plan – Update
I realize we've discussed this before but I found some really good business plans on Ebay the other day and I wanted to share them with you... they are below... a few things to look for when purchasing a donut business plan:
Is it specific to the donut business?
Is it customizable and includes a template?
Does it automatically calculate spreadsheets, tables and graphs?
The above are important to make your life easier when developing your plan.....
Having Business Partners in Your Donut Business
There are advantages and disadvantages to having business partners in the doughnut business. In this post I will discuss the advantages of having business partners. As you know there are four people involved in our doughnut business and thus far it has not been a problem. The four of us are partners and other ventures, beside the doughnut venture, and we have been successful. I am not saying that we do not disagree on things, actually we disagree on a lot of things, but we end up agreeing to disagree. We are lucky that we all give and just enough and realize the role each one of us plays in the business. Respect is an important part of having a business partner and we all respect each other for what and who we are.
Having a business partner is not always a good idea. You really need to know the person and what they are about. How long have you known your potential business partner? Do they have good credit? Do they have money? What do they bring to the table that you do not have? Can you trust this person? Do they have other interests besides what you are trying to do? All these questions need to be answered before you even consider a person to be your business partner. There are many a horror story of partnerships gone bad. One of my business partners Brothers lost over $100,000 in a motorcycle shop business that did not turn out well, basically went out of business. He mortgaged his home for the money and lost every cent of it. There was no recourse against his business partner because he went bankrupt. It is a sad situation but one that he has recovered from nicely. There is no education like experience, though it can be costly.
So you think you have a potential business partner for your fledgling doughnut business? The question is, do you really need him? What are they bringing to the table that you do not have? Maybe it is money that they have and you do not have. If so, you need to spell out exactly what they want in return. Maybe it would be better if they were a silent investor instead of a partner. I have found a lot of times it works better for both parties if one has money and the other doesn't, that's a person who has the money simply invest the money and gets a set rate of return on their cash. Set up a venture capital deal with someone where they get a guaranteed rate of return. You can afford to pay a higher rate of return, make it attractive to a potential investor, especially considering that you could give up 50% of the business if you became partners. Plus the business partner would have control over your business and you would have less of a say than if they were just a venture capital investor.
Having a business partner can Be a good thing or a can be a living nightmare. Do your research on the person and find out how they will fit in to what you are planning on doing with your donut business. A lot of times not making them a business partner but giving them a guaranteed rate of return on their money Is the best thing to do for both parties.
The Downfalls of a Donut Business Franchise
We talked yesterday about the benefits of having a doughnut businessness franchise. Today we will discuss the downfalls of having a doughnut franchise. There are many reasons why going with a franchise may not benefit you or be best for your particular situation. The first reason why having a donut franchise May not be the best idea are the very high startup costs. Not only will you have a high startup costs, but the donut franchise will expect you to have a reasonable cash flow and high net worth. These two things alone will keep many people from being able to afford a donut business franchise. Opening a good business franchise usually requires that you have been successful in either another business or your job. Often times you can pool the resources of a few people in order to meet the requirements. It is never a good idea to get into a business, especially a franchise situation, when you are strapped for cash or do not have your financial affairs in order. Another downfall of the franchise system is you lose some level of control over your business. You will be told when to do it and how to do it, after all is not your brand, and you do not own the brand. If the franchise wants you to change the look of your restaurant, you will have to comply with their request. Anything that the donut franchise would want you to do, you will need to pretty much do what they say. You have little if any control over what they may request. You are at their mercy most of the time. Not only will the donut franchise control how you run your business, but they take a chunk of your revenue as a royalty. This royalty is rarely negotiated and is Told to you up front before you buy into the franchise. The cost of doing business under a donut franchise system is very high. You have the cost of the building, utilities and several employees to be concerned about. We want to keep things small and simple, this is why we are going with the single menu item donut business model. The cost or low end of profits can potentially be very high. When you start having to build buildings and being involved in a franchise it gets very expensive very quickly. You will need much more money in order to survive opening a franchise.
Want to Open a Donut Business? Know Your Startup Costs
Knowing your startup costs for any business venture is always a good idea. As we have previously discussed the capital needed to start a doughnut business can be very low or very high depending on where you are headed in the business. For example, if you want to start a franchise donut business, of course your start up cost will be much higher than if you start a simple one man operation small doughnut business, with one product to sell. You need to be aware of all the costs associated with starting your business, it just makes sense.
Do you know of anyone else in your network of friends or family who have started a business in the past? They are usually an excellent resource and can answer many of your questions for no charge at all. There are many similarities in businesses, so they do not necessarily have to have a donut business in order to give you good advice. There are many things that can suck money out of you, and you want to be aware of each one of them. There are so many unexpected cost in running and starting a business, you want to plan for the unexpected. It is never fun to realize you have unexpected expenses that you must attend to. Pay attention to the people that offer you advice, especially ones that have had their own business. They are an invaluable resource in your future endeavors. Also make sure you are comparing apples to apples, prices in some cities are different, so you need to be sure about licensing and taxes for different areas.
Remember there is no education like experience, you may find out after starting your donut business, that you have found out more by making mistakes on your own. Sometimes education is experience that is what you do with it that matters. Be sure you are aware of everything that goes on in your business, and the less surprises you have, the better off you are.
Having Partners in the Donut Business
What will each partner bring to the table? Agree on how much money each person will contribute to the venture. If outside funding is needed, like to purchase donut making equipment, who will ask for it and assume
the responsibility for payments? There are also more things to consider than just money including time and property.
Partners need to decide how decisions will be made before it is ever required. Perhaps one should give certain responsibilities to the other knowing that there may be some unpopular decisions made. There are disagreements in every type of relationship, and a business partnership is no different. Will every decision require the consent of each partner? Perhaps the various responsibilities of each partner should be spelled out in written form.
Will partners divide profits equally? The split could depend on what each one brings to the table, how much risk is taken, and how much work each puts into the success of the company. As with everything else this should be worked out ahead of time to prevent any misunderstanding once the company begins to make money. On a similar note, partners need to decide who owns any copyrights, physical property, and intellectual property that is obtained or created.
Partners should develop contingency plans ahead of time for when the relationship ends. A partner may want out or one my die. Will one partner be able to buy out the other and how will the the assets being transfered be valued? An exit strategy should also be agreed upon if the company becomes too much to handle so that partners part amicably, fairly, and legally.
Partners need to agree on what constitutes a conflict of interest. One may engage in other business activities that could compete with the company or have other ventures that take efforts away from the potential success of the company.
In summary, a partnership can be mutually beneficial by decreasing risk and start up costs for each individual making the idea of a business a reality. There are also many points that need to be considered to keep the relationship healthy and the business moving forward. To not discuss and plan for the issues mentioned could mean disaster.
Benefits of Having a Donut Business
There are many benefits to having a doughnut business. We are focusing on the small doughnut business, and not the franchise donut business model. The franchise donut business model Is not an effective way to sell small doughnuts, which typically are just one product. People who sell small doughnuts may sell milk, coffee or a different flavor donut but that is the extent of what they sell.
One good thing about the doughnut business are the low startup costs. You can typically buy the equipment anywhere from $5000-$20,000, depending on the route you want to go. If you just want a small fryer to set up shop at flea markets or even in your kitchen selling doughnuts, then you can get by with investing $5000 or less. If you want a concession type stand for your doughnut business then you will spend $20,000 or more on start up cost. Donut stands are good if you are selling your doughnuts at festivals, fairs, carnivals, sporting events or any other outdoor activity. Having a doughnut concession stand is a good way to generate a lot of revenue very quickly.
Doughnuts sell! As long as you have a crowd or an audience for your doughnuts, they will pretty much sell themselves. It is hard to avoid the smell of the doughnut, this is what gets them to your stand. Once they are there people can barely resist buying your doughnuts. The overhead is low for making doughnuts. You will have very little cost on the ingredients and equipment. The return on investment can be quite high.
If you can find a good place to sell your doughnuts, with a lot of traffic, you will make money. You will need to keep in mind the rent you are paying and how much you pay your employees for their time. As with all business endeavors, you will need to keep check of all expenses. Another thing that you will need to find, is a good donut recipe. You can try the recipes that can be found on the banner below this post, that website also will teach you how to start and operate your donut business. It is an excellent way to get the support and ideas from someone without having to purchase a franchise. It is well worth the money to invest in the system.
Getting Your Donut Business Legal
When starting your doughnut business, it is important that you comply with all state and federal regulations. There are legal issues and every business, and you want to prepare yourself for anything that arises. Anything from employee issues, problems with customers, and organizing with the state and federal governments, can pose a problem if not done correctly. Especially, when you are in the food business you need to be very careful on the laws that you may be breaking. It is a matter of public safety since you are serving food. The good thing is you will only be serving one item in your donut business. We are focusing on the small doughnuts on this blog and not the many variations and flavors of doughnuts that can be found in traditional donut shops.
Before starting any business endeavor you will want to find a competent attorney to help you along the way. Just as you do not want to put trust in any one person, you will not put all your trust in this one attorney. You will need to get a second opinion at times, it is just wise to do so.
The first thing you will need to do is organize your business with your state. Most businesses are better off being organized as either an LLC or Corporation. These structures will put a barrier between your business and your personal affairs. Never take someone's advice, whether they be professional or not, as gospel. Learn each business structure and their benefits, downfalls for each one. Depending on who you talk to, you'll get different answers as to what your business structure should be. Many accountants will tell you that a corporation is better and attorneys will lean toward a limited liability company. Find out which one is best for you and go from there.
The operating agreement for your donut business will outline how you will operate, regulate and rule the business. It is especially important to have your operating agreement if there are more than one person in your company, for example business partners. You do not want any misunderstanding about how your donu business is run. A lot of conflicts can be resolved when you have a carefully crafted operating agreement. There have been many failed businesses that were a good idea but failed because of misunderstandings with the business partners. What if your partner goes bankrupt, dies, or perhaps becomes a compulsive gambler? What will you do and how will your business handle this situation? What happens if he or she just quits? These are all legitimate questions that need to be discussed in the operating agreement. You need to pay a lot of attention to the operating agreement, it can save you a lot of trouble in the future.
Be familiar with any contracts that your company may be involved in. It is worth hiring an attorney to review and make any contracts that are necessary for you to run your business. Do not wait until your company is sued to deal with contracts, learn all about them from the get-go. Contracts can be very technical and when things go awry you can find yourself in serious trouble.
Employment law is one of the big things that gets small businesses in trouble. Employment law can be devastating to your business is not done correctly. Everything from employment taxes, terminations, recruiting and hiring employees can cause a lot of trouble if not done correctly.
This is not meant to scare you from opening your donut business, These are just facts that you need to be aware of before venturing into the world of business. Pay mind to the old cliché, don't quit your day job. Always have a backup plan, perhaps have some money saved before you start out on your own.
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