Initially you may not be sure your Good Idea is actually so good. As part of the first enquiries we will be validating your plans and ideas. If it doesn’t make good business sense we will certainly tell you.

How quickly you need to draw money from your project is an important issue. As part of the Business plan we will be showing you how to draw up a Cash Flow forecast you can use time and again. It is probably the most useful tool in the box for planning. Money underpins all business. It is a measure of success and degree, a measure of size and a resource for anything you wish or need to do. It must not be ignored. The right systems for keeping it all under control have to be present.

There are a number of general resources to be considered, starting with you. In some cases you will simply not be the person to take this on. There is nothing wrong with that – each to their own! However being prepared to recognise your own skills and limitations is essential. To give a simple example many inventors are precisely the people who are least equipped to take their product to market. A different thinking is required.

More resources are needed than your time and energy. Money, property, space, vehicles, communication, marketing, equipment of various kinds, and people – always people! If not as staff then certainly as customers. How good are you with people? 

You may need to turn to our training page to get some coaching for you or your staff. Are you happy to present your business to the outside world? Do you have the personality and the skill for it? Get it right and it passes through without comment. Get it wrong and everyone notices and comments for the wrong reasons. Your credibility and that of your company are fragile plants that need constant attention.

Bob Shepherd Associates can help you identify what resources are needed and can help track down what you need. See our pages on finance and training for other guidance in these areas.

Past cases

Bob Shepherd Associates were approached by a couple wanting to set up a Livery Stable. The sale of their house would provide the funding to take a new mortgage and move to a small holding with substantial outbuildings. Both had on going careers and the question of how to spend the time developing the stables and keep their jobs going to provide the working capital needed for the development period until one could give up to run the new business was a question of balancing the resources and considering the options.