“We call it infectious impatience. That’s his hallmark and we are trying to inculcate it in the entire organization. Infectious impatience. So that things not only get done but get done in double quick time.” ~ Mukesh Ambani

Impatience can be utilized two ways. It can be used to take advantage of great opportunities and thus raising capital, return customers & public visibility amongst other things. Or, it can be just jumping the gun, pushing away customers and thus loosing capital.

Of course everyone in business wants to utilize impatience in the first described manner. You want to seize the great opportunities that will best benefit your business. However, you need to be able to know when you need to slow down take a moment, and analyze the situation. Over analyzing can of course be bad for not only business but in your personal life as well. The difference between the two is that in your personal life, over analyzation can just mean you’ll take a little bit longer to get something accomplished but nothing is really lost. In business, it can mean great capital loss or a missed opportunity that may not present itself again. At least not for a long while or in it’s previous form.

If you end up impatient in the negative sense, especially on a regular basis, you may want to take a step back and take a hard look at yourself. Being impatient in business can also be seen as being childish. You yell & stomp your feet until what you want gets done. Qick to jump to conclusions while missing pertinent details. Or either not or not completely following direction given & ending up at an undesired end of a situation.

So, just be careful at which end of impatience you end up at. It could hurt. Or, it could be the saving grace of your business.

A business plan is an outline of the 5 W’s (you remember those from school, right? ) along with touching on some basic financial & marketing plans. So in case you hadn’t guessed it, the document can be very lengthy. Don’t worry though, there are bunches (yes I said bunches) of templates available online (some paid some free) to guide you along this part of your journey.

Here are my suggestions for templates you may want to check out:

· Microsoft office website – As you know, they have tons of templates available for not only personal use but just about every aspect of your business as well. Here’s the link to my search so that you may choose the template that works best for you.

· SCORE Business Tools – This site as I’ve mentioned before has tons of resources and they even offer a chance for you to meet with a business mentor who can help you along your way.

Five year plans can save you a lot of time spent running around in a directionless circle. If you don’t know where you’re going, then how do you get there? Success is a path well traveled by everyone. As a child, you’re taught that reaching for the stars will get you where ever you want in life. I like to teach my babies that a good balance of risk and planning will get you wherever you want. So today, we’re going to talk goals (planning).

Think of your ultimate goal as that star that’s so far away, you can barely see it. As time passes, hopefully that star is getting closer and clearer to you. So, do you already know where your star is and how much fuel, food and time it’ll take for you to get there? If not, then that’s a big problem, because having goals are great but evaluating them is just as important. If you don’t take time out to examine your goals, you may have (unknowingly) just set an unattainable goal. Which of course, will look like failure to you in the end.

This is what you need to do if you haven’t already. Start with six blank pieces of paper.

1. On the first sheet at the top, write your main goal. Then below it, write five goals that lead to that main goal.
2. On each of the five remaining pieces of paper you will write one of the five building goals and break it down into twelve building goals.

This will give you a sure fire path to success with what will feel like minimal effort. If you stick to your plan of goals, you’ll stay excited and focused because with each building goal, you’re that much closer to your main goal. Take a moment to do this – tomorrow we’ll talk business plans. Good Luck!

Jermel Winston ~ JW Design Studio
jermel@jw-designstudio.com

Setting yourself apart definitely takes time, effort and a smidge of imagination. But it’s not impossible. Either with the help of your partners, family or a professional, it can definitely be done. Check out this video from Erik Luhrs. I stumbled across this on the Gurus Selling System Blog. You can follow Erik Luhrs on Twitter too.

Jermel Winston ~ JW Design Studio
jermel@jw-designstudio.com

This quote lends to the question, “What is the form & content of my design?” When you create (or have created for you) a website, flyer, logo or letterhead, you have to be sure that the design accomplishes a few things aside from being ‘pretty’. It needs to be cohesive, well thought out, and functional. Nothing confuses your customers more than a design that seems unfinished. Or, something they just don’t “get”.

When you choose a designer for your brand, you have to be sure that their creations encompass all of the aforementioned elements. Including the “pretty”. The pretty part of the design albeit printed or digitally conveyed has to grab ones attention. So that means the design itself has to be innovative – innovative enough to be functional.

A cohesive design takes some time to create, because it is just that, a creation. It is an assembly of elements to convey one specific message. It can be used to provoke thought, evoke emotions, or just simply convince your customers to purchase your product over your competition.

Just use this food for thought while you’re on your journey to your successful & well known business.

Jermel ~ JW Design Studio

www.jw-designstudio.com

jermel@jw-designstudio.com

1. Microsoft Admin Center – Microsoft has free email hosting to small business owners. Their service boats 500 mailboxes, free live messenger for your business. Their Sky drive service which gives you 5GB of online storage space along with a host of other goodies. Here’s the link to check it out Windows Live Admin Center.

2. SCORE – This company is basically small business support. If you’ve started a business, but have no idea where to begin, check out this site. They have online courses, articles and offer free advice for your budding business. Articles range from Planning and managing your business to technology and internet resources. This is a great starting point for anyone with the drive to start their own business SCORE.

3. US Small Business Administration – The US government has a site to help budding businesses too. They have online courses and listings of local resources for the brand new business. check it out US SBA.

4. US Department of Justice, ADA – Did you know that there are rules for businesses of all sizes in the US to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Check out this site and be sure that your establishment falls within the requirements.ADA Business Center.

5. Google Local Lisings – Get listed locally free. Submit your business and you’ll be able to make printable coupons, send out newsletters and be seen for free on Google Local. Google Local Listings.

6. Yahoo Local – Create your free listing for yahoo local. Since there are a ton of people using online searches to find businesses locally, this could be a great tool. Yahoo Local Listings.