April 2016
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The Silver Fox Advisor
Advising, Consulting And Mentoring Greater Houston Area Business Since 1986
From the Editor...

Richard Hendee

Business Plans 201 . Last month the "From The Editor" was titled Business Plans 101; it discussed the need to be creative and specific with the financing request in the Business Plan. This month's "From The Editor" is titled Business Plans 201; it provides some insight and suggestions on the text in the various sections of a Business Plan. As I tell my clients, when a Business Plan is submitted to a bank, it is like the first time you meet someone: You only get one chance to make a good first impression. If the Business Plan is not well put together, does not make too much sense, is too wordy or too technical, the overall Business Plan will likely be quickly dismissed. Further, if terms, concepts, financial numbers, and statements do not match up throughout the entire Business Plan, again the overall plan will be in question. It is well worth the time and effort to carefully re-read the finished plan more than once so you can catch any errors that may have been made as the plan was being prepared.

Thoughts On Entrepreneurship

By Al Spinks, a Silver Fox Advisor
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. The good news is that "the buck" begins and ends with you. And, the bad news is that "the buck" begins and ends with you. Therefore, in order to be successful, you must have a clear plan that, at a minimum, answers the following four questions:
  1. What is my product or service?
  2. Who are my customers?
  3. When will things get done?
  4. When are bills due and when do I get paid?
Now, let's start with: "What is your product or service?" Your product or service should provide a solution to the pressures and pain points of your client. It should also discuss any advantages that your product has over the competition as well.
For instance, when I started my personal computer service and repair business in the early 1980s our advantage was that we would troubleshoot and repair our clients' personal computers on site, at their location. Their only other alternative, at that time, was to box up their computer and take it to the manufacturer's computer repair center. They would have to leave it normally for 7 days, at a minimum. This required that they make two trips to the repair center and still did not guarantee that the problem was resolved. Can you see how much time we saved our clients?

The Book Of Acronyms
 
Re-defining Key Business Terms By What They Potentially Represent
 
By Hank Moore
Corporate Strategist™
Organizations are accustomed to looking at concepts and practices one way at a time. Clinging to obsolete definitions and viewpoints have a way of perpetuating companies into downward spirals.
By viewing from others' viewpoints on life, we find real nuggets of gold with which to redefine organizations. Companies that adopt new viewpoints and defy their conventional definitions will create new opportunities, organizational effectiveness, marketplaces and relationships.
As a Big Picture business strategist, I encourage clients toward adopting new ways of thinking about old processes, including those which brought past and enduring successes. Symbolic are these phrase definitions which I have created for familiar business words. I have created new acronyms for well-known business terms, in order to help us visualize opportunities differently.
 
  My acronym for BUSINESS:       Big-Picture                      WORK:    W indows of
Understanding                               Opportunity,
Symbiosis                                       Requiring
In                                                     Know-how
Nomenclature,
Economics,
S ystems, and
S ervices

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Silver Fox Advisors
 Silver Fox Advisors are current and former business owners, entrepreneurs and executives dedicated to assisting business owners to improve their enterprises through mentoring and consulting. Advisors have been sharing their knowledge, experience and skills since 1986. To work with a Sliver Fox Advisor, please visit our website at www.silverfox.org and select your advisor.
Upcoming Events
Lunch & Learn

April 28, 2016

Topic: "The Case for Texas Land Investing"

Presented by: Jim Hynes, Managing Director, Rockspring Capital

Time: 11:00 am - 1:15 pm

Location: The Houston Racquet Club
1079 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77024
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