Before you write that plan, why not try a pop-up of your business idea? Even in your own front yard you can learn more than you will staring at a computer screen. Photo courtesy of Shawn’s Kettle Corn, Webster City, Iowa. 

by Deb Brown

At least, the old way of doing them

Writing a business plan is an intense project that takes up a lot of your time. You spend weeks and weeks on it, and you’re not even sure everything in it is correct. Your financial projections are just wild guesses. You’re not even open and they want you to guess how much money you’ll make! You can find out the amount of traffic that goes by your proposed location. But just because 10,000 people travel down that road doesn’t mean any certain percentage of them will be guaranteed to stop. 

What if you waited and wrote your business plan after you’ve run a few tests? 

How do you test out your products and market without having a brick and mortar business? 

Participate in a pop up event or two

Small towns have these kind of events. Car shows, town fairs, three day events for fun, goat eating contests, celebrations and many other kinds of parties. You can set up a table and a covering and sell your product. 

Do track your sales! It’s as easy as counting inventory at the beginning and at the end. Write down if you had to drop the price. Write down suggestions people give you for similar products they’d like. You’ll begin to get an idea of what products people like.

Try a longer pop up.

Does your town do seasonal popups in empty buildings? It’s worth asking the building owner to do that! You could partner with other entrepreneurs and give it a try.  

Again, track sales, price drops and suggestions. If possible, track the  number of people who came in the building. 

Let’s not forget online selling

Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Poshmark, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, eBid, and Ruby Lane are a few places. Be sure to choose the right site(s) for your type of product.

Many of these sites will do the tracking for you! If not, track them yourself.

Shared spaces

Is there a place in your area that has more than one vendor in the location? See if you could join them. This is a shared space, and they are operated in different ways. Some have one cash register, some have each vendor with a cash register. Both have been known to work. Get the details and see if they work for you. 

As you track results, don’t forget to write down your market

Who is buying your product? 

As you are trying these ideas (and making money) pay attention to the people who shop with you. Do they fall into a certain age category? Are they male or female? Of a certain social strata? This is all research for the kind of people who make up your market. 

Where do these people live? What do they look like? How old are they? What gender are they? Are they different nationalities? Where are they shopping for similar products? Are you satisfying a need in the marketplace? 

After this time of tracking sales, places, and people you’re really ready to begin writing a plan.

The difference is you’ll have actual figures and not made up ones. You’ll also want to write about your products, competition and staffing. You’ve already got the answers for these topics too.

You have everything you need for a simple business plan. You can show the banker, if you need one, exactly what you’ve been doing as you build your business. You’re not putting your dreams and wishes on paper. You’re putting facts and figures and proof that your business is working. 

Our next video is Before You Write Your Next Plan and you’ll hear about real people in real towns who are not writing business plans the old way anymore. 

Photo (CC) by Dana, on Flckr

Is your business a family business?

When most people hear that phrase they think in terms of some formal and regular involvement of family members in defined business activities with some payment for such activity.

Yet in the broadest sense, family businesses cover a much broader involvement of family members. The work might include the regular activities of the business or it may be an occasional job or it simply may mean help in planning and development. Taken to its extreme, the involvement may simply mean being there too help cover an emergency.

Also in a family business, payment for such work is not required.

Finally, the “family” connection is not fully defined. It may be blood-relative or an adopted child. It also may be an in-law, someone connected by marriage. Given our wide use of those considered family, there are many others who may be involved in the family business.

As a manager, it’s important to consider this as you operate the business. Your first step should be to determine who is working for your business who considers themselves “family.” Family members often have different ideas of their rights and responsibilities as well as their expected level of compensation. And certainly, they may have ideas about progression “up the ladder” as jobs become available.

Being aware of this can help navigate some of management decisions that will need to be made. Family relations are complex. Business relations are complex. Now mix the two together and you have great opportunities for unhappiness and dissension.

Avoiding, or at least minimizing, these potential negative aspects begins with understanding where everyone is coming from. Open communication is also important as is talking about certain sticky points before they become a problem.

Don’t assume that a one-time conversation, even if everyone seems in agreement, is the end, however. Keep revisiting and checking to see if feelings and desires have changed.

Family businesses can be a great place to work. Your proactive efforts as a manager can make them stay that way long into the future.

Photo (CC) by Dana, on Flckr

Earlier this year, I did a blog post on the importance of “Family Businesses in the Economy.”

Most of us patronize these businesses, but probably don’t think much about them. Who are the owners? What types of businesses do they run? How successful are they?

Prior to retirement, I was part of a group of individuals who looked at these and other questions. Some of our questions have focused on the exchange of resources between the family and the business. That exchange offers great opportunities but also can be a trouble spot if family members do not feel some sense of equality.

Recently, our team has completed a fourth survey with the same set of business owners giving us a look at how family businesses have performed over time. It also examined the strategies used during the U. S. recession of 2007 to 2009. Our review included how the businesses fared as well as more on the strategies used both during the recession and since then.

As might be expected some of our family businesses experienced a downturn during the recession with some closing their doors. Finances, health, and retirement were the leading reasons for closure.

Yet, other family businesses said it was a strong period for them. This was the case if they had steady customer demand, a strong market, and fewer competitors.

In terms of changing practices or strategies during the recession, nearly one-half of businesses who said they experience trouble made no changes. Those who did make changes more often had family members work without pay, changed the number of employees they had, and had other relatives work in the business without pay.

In our work, we also looked at changes in the global market place that impacted family businesses. During the period covered by our last survey (2006 – 2017), the growth in the online world occurred. Positive revenue increases were found when a family business focused on a single or small set of online options and either dedicated part of an employee’s time to do so or hired a outside consultant.

This overview is offered to give you some ideas of what worked and what didn’t in family businesses just like yours. Learning from others like us can have a great impact on your business.

To learn more about the early results of our study, check out:

• Webinar presented for North Central Regional Center for Rural Development – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjB0tgnjuzc&feature=youtu.be
• PowerPoint slides:
  • http://ncrcrd.msu.edu/uploads/files/NiehmMuskeFitzgerald.pdf
  • or
  • https://www.slideshare.net/glennmuske/family-business-contributions-to-sustainable-and-entrepreneurial-rural-communities-over-time

Family businesses build strong economies. Get some tips on how you can sustain and enhance your business and its contributions.

Photo (CC) by Dana, on Flickr

Did you know that:

• You will find a family business in one out of every 10 households.
• Family businesses contributed over $10 trillion, by one estimate, into our U.S. economy.
• Family businesses generate over 50% of U. S. business revenue.
• Family businesses employ over 50% of the U.S. workforce.

Do you get a sense of my topic this week? Yes, it’s the role and contributions of family businesses to the economy.

Family businesses are found in all segments of the economy, from large (Walmart) to micro in size (one person working in a corner desk after they have worked in another job all day and handled their family responsibilities). And you will find them in every segment of the economy, but dominating in farming and retail.

The family business is a unique entity as it combines the traditional business system along with the family system. And all of this while being a part of the larger community system.

With these connections, family businesses can, and do, have the ability to use the resources and time of family members in helping to get work done. This enables them to get more done when the pressure is one.

They also have been found to be more successful when the community is supportive of the business.

Strong family businesses and strong communities occur when the intermingling and exchange of resources is a two-way street. Family business provide community resources. It may begin with a paycheck to community members but it often reaches far beyond.

The most common community support provided by family businesses includes direct and indirect financial support to events, charities and even the paying of taxes. In communities that are struggling, the amount of this support often grows.

Next, there is the involvement in community leadership,  roles that various family members take on.

Technical assistance is another form of support offered by family businesses to communities.

I have had the good fortune to work on the Family Business Research group for some time.  Given the prevalence and importance of family businesses in rural communities, we wanted to dig deeper into who these businesses were and how they worked internally as well as interacted with the community.

Recently the group has released a 20-year highlight newsletter. You can find it at: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/smallbusiness/documents/family-owned-business-research-highlights-2016. You can also find a list of the over 400 publications produced by the group as well as a link to the group’s annual and project reports.

According to Heck and Stafford (1999), two members of the research group, the importance of family businesses to our economy and society is only exceeded by the family unit itself. They are a vital economic engine. Their support will help everyone grow.

If you operate a family business, thanks and good luck.  If you know a family business owner, stop in, say hello and check out their offerings.