OMG!  Where do I begin? I must say that so far, writing a business plan has been a very challenging and eye-opening activity.  Justin and I decided that we wanted to first focus on a business in the entertainment/recreational industry.  Since I have never written a business plan (unlike Mr. Serial-Entrepreneur-Himself), I decided to give it a try solo before I called in the cavalry to come save me.  I found a very thorough business plan template on the SBA site, and everyday I work on a little piece of it.  With the obvious complexity of the financial sections, I have found the competitive analysis to be slightly difficult as well.

While doing a little snooping on the site, I also found an online business planning course here.  It is an audio/visual presentation that takes you through the thought process of starting a business.  I believe that you can never have too much useful information…so long as it isn’t redundant.  I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck don’t need 10 articles on sales forecasting.  My all-time favorite tool on the site is the interactive business planner.  Its an online resource form provided by the Canada business services for entrepreneurs.  This handy planner guides you through your business plan through a series of questions.

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Tags: Canada Business Services for Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneur, how to write a business plan, Interactive Business Planner, SBA, Small business association, writing a business plan
Posted in Resources | Comments (2)

Hello Bizzy people! It’s Justin back to share with you a nice resource to hopefully help you be more efficient, a little more productive and a little less bizzy. That resource is Google’s “Google Apps.”

Google Apps is a service that allows users to use all of the great features of Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Calendar and Gmail, but with your own domain. What this means is that organizations can set up email accounts using Google’s powerful email systems, create a intuitive collaboration platform for team members using a hosted version of Google Docs, and integrate Google Talk into the company infrastructure with no heavy lifting. On top of all of the great features, organization can do it all with little or no cost. At this point you may be asking yourself, “what’s the big deal?” Well using Google Apps gives your organization greater control and a system that is exist entirely on the internet. This allows users to interact, collaborate and create anywhere there is an internet connection.
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Tags: Google Apps, Google Apps for your Domain, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Resources
Posted in Management, Resources | Comments (0)

One of the most difficult things for me, as an entrepreneur, is fulfilling all of the operational task required to maintain my businesses. Things like, finance, accounting, marketing, and client management are all jobs that have to get done but let’s face it, that’s not why I became an entrepreneur. That very reason may be why there aren’t more entrepreneurs in the market today. Most people just don’t want to have to wear all of the hats of a business, and really only want to focus on what their job description requires. Well I found a great piece of software that makes my life a little easier. That software is Freshbooks.

FreshBooks is an online invoicing and time tracking service that provides professional management of your accounting needs. Simply put, FreshBooks is an online tool that keeps; billing, time management, estimates, and so much more, easier.
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Tags: Accounting, Accounting Software, Client Management, Freelance
Posted in Accounting, Management, Resources | Comments (0)