Veechi Curtis is a qualified accountant and consultant who loves the challenges and rewards of building successful businesses. She is the author of Bookkeeping For Dummies, MYOB® Software For Dummies and Creating a Business Plan For Dummies.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Where to Go from Here 3

Chapter 1: Is Small Business for You? 5

Working for Yourself - A Dream Come True? 6

Doing what you love to do 6

Earning pots of money (here's hoping) 6

Being your own boss 7

Staying home 8

Working for Yourself - Reality Strikes 8

Teetering on the edge 8

Working night and day for little pay 9

Weathering feast and famine 10

Factoring Yourself Into the Whole Deal 11

Staying Safe or Inventing the Wheel? 12

Playing it safe 13

Finding your own niche 14

Going out on a limb 15

Getting Clued Up 19

Joining the community 19

Seeking government advice 19

Believing in Yourself 21

Chapter 2: Finding the Path that Works for You 23

Deciding What Path You Want to Take 24

Doing the thing you love to do 25

Getting help and delegating what you can 26

Building a business that's separate from you 27

Creating a system for business 29

Wearing Different Hats 30

Building a Business with a Life of its Own 32

Defining your difference 32

Documenting and building systems 34

Setting goals for you and your business 36

Planning for a graceful exit 37

Appreciating the Limitations of Your Business 37

Chapter 3: Creating Your First Business Plan 41

Getting Started with Your Plan 42

Step One: Describing Your Business 44

Setting off on your mission 44

Saying what you're about 45

Step Two: Assessing the Environment 45

Analysing outside influences 46

Justifying market demand 48

Assessing your competitors 48

Staying alert to future threats 50

Spotting opportunities 52

Rating your strengths and weakness 52

Step Three: Plotting Your Plan 54

Connecting the dots 54

Identifying your secret weapon 56

Checking you've got the goods 58

Picking one competitive strategy (yes, only one!) 59

Step Four: Selling Your Marketing Plan 60

Step Five: Describing Your Dream Team 61

Step Six: Presenting Financials 62

Chapter 4: Getting the Legals Right 65

Picking a Business Structure 65

Independent and single 67

Tea for two 67

We've got company 68

Matching the Name to the Game 69

Using your own name 70

Thinking about how others will find you 70

Making sure you're not on someone else's patch 71

Checking for trademarks 72

Registering your business name 73

Avoiding trouble 73

Protecting Your Brand 74

Registering trademarks 74

Protecting other kinds of intellectual property 75

Registering with the Powers That Be 75

Getting that baby's number 76

Signing up for taxes (unavoidable, I'm afraid) 76

Checking out what else you need 77

Working with Contracts 78

Understanding when you're legally bound 78

Dealing with standard form contracts 79

Knowing what to look for in a contract 80

Signing on the dotted line 82

Negotiating Lease Contracts 83

Chapter 5: Projecting Your Profits 87

Forecasting Sales for a New Business 87

Understanding Costs 89

Costing services 90

Costing items that you buy and sell 91

Costing items that you make 91

Forecasting Expenses 93

Forecasting expenses for the year ahead 93

Allowing for loan repayments and interest 95

Building Profit Projections 97

Step one: Starting with sales 97

Step two: Adding variable costs 97

Step three: Showing gross profit 99

Step four: Revealing the bottom line 100

Chapter 6: Marketing With Your Heart on Your Sleeve 103

Laying Down the Elements of Your Plan 104

Going to the heart of the matter 105

Expressing your difference 105

Defining Who Your Customers Are 106

Analysing your customers 107

Understanding what it is your customers really want 108

Thinking creatively about channels 108

Researching the market 109

Analysing Your Competitors 111

Setting Sales Targets 112

Slicing goals into bite-sized chunks 112

Expressing goals in other ways 113

Building Sales Strategies 115

Growing a brand that people want 115

Pricing things right 116

Defining your social media strategy 117

Engaging customers and building trust 118

Expanding Your Reach Offline 120

Networking (yes, actually in person) 120

Investing in public relations 121

Creating marketing alliances 122

Keeping Yourself Honest 122

Measuring your speed 122

Monitoring customer satisfaction (CSAT) 122

Setting goals for customer retention 123

Tracking conversion rates 124

Chapter 7: Hiring Your First Employee 125

Becoming an Employer: The First Steps 125

Getting employees to fulfil their part of the deal 126

Covering employees for accidents 127

Ensuring your software is up to speed 128

Subscribing to super 129

Meeting Minimum Pay and Conditions 131

Understanding what laws apply 132

Choosing between part-time, full-time or casual 133

Playing Safe and Playing Fair 135

Being practical, not pedantic 135

Blonde jokes are over 136

Creating a Positive Workplace 138

Aiming for more 138

Rewarding with more than money 139

Chapter 8: Tracking Every Dollar 141

Figuring How Often to Do the Deed 142

Doing your books just once in a while 142

Doing your books regularly 143

Choosing Software that Fits 144

Creating Recordkeeping Systems 146

Keeping track of income 147

Tracking expenses 147

Treating receipts with respect 148

Storing your business records 149

Doing the bare basics 149

Reporting for business 151

Keeping Track of How Much You're Owed 152

Asking nicely 153

Getting drastic 154

Meeting Bookkeeping Deadlines 156

Budgeting for Tax 157

Planning for that difficult second year 158

Budgeting for personal tax 158

Budgeting for GST and PAYG 159

Owning up if you're short on cash 160

Chapter 9: Ten Tips For Getting Ahead 161

Focus on What Works 161

Remember You Need to Eat 162

Balance Reality against Ambition 163

Manage Growth Carefully 163

Play the Percentage Game 164

Recruit Staff Super Carefully 165

Deliver on Your Promises 165

Create a Customer Service Culture 166

Ask for (and Listen to) Feedback 167

Plan to Sell, Right from the Start 168

Index 171