Lynne Franks talks about preparing a plan of action to start your own business.
A business timeline is essentially an action plan, with each activity aimed at being achieved within a certain timeframe.
To give you an insight into how much to prepare your own timeline, here is my first year's planned activity for SEED, which you may want to refer to as a model.
SEED TIMELINE 1999
January-March, 1999
structure legal and financial parameters
trademark SEED in appropriate markets
secure website names
confirm agreements with publishers
create separate timeline for book production
April-June 1999
prepare initial cover design for book
start planning website concept and partners
research case histories in Unites States, UK, and elsewhere
network with women's groups
begin writing initial business plan
open SEED bank account
July-September 1999
finish book
plan roadshows for 2000
negotiate roadshow sponsors and media partners
October-December
start PR programme for 2000 launch
open office
secure sponsorship for road shows
get initial website up and working
hire initial staff/team
write treatment for SEED TV series on women entrepreneurs
Create your timeline and action plan
If your initial funding is in place, you probably have a launch date in mind for your enterprise. It's obviously got to work in context with the type of business you're opening. For example, if you're starting a shop specialising in back-to-school recycled stationery, you're not going to want to open in the middle of the school year. On the other hand, if you're opening a healing centre, any time is good.
Regardless of whether or not you have your funding in place, write down an intelligent estimate as to when you're likely to open your SEED enterprise. Make a list of all the things you need to do within the coming year to get your business launched and off the ground.
Allocate each action to a realistic time period and when you're happy that it flows comfortably, put the information into your computer as part of your plan.
