Start making plans for business
Businesses located in function of the distance from home owner, small businesses run by many ‘chiefs’, lack of competition and financial calculations “a rule of thumb” are part of the common mistakes of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Mexico.
These and many other errors can be avoided if the entrepreneur uses a consultancy to design abusiness plan. With the support of Jorge Enrique Velarde, professor and consultant to the Technological de Monterrey, here are five useful steps to outline your business plan:
1. Define and justify the business well. The first step is to define the mission, vision and objectives of your business. The mission establishes the central purpose and rationale of a business: what business you want to do and why? What accomplishments you intend to accomplish in your environment and what benefits you will provide and obtain. The vision defines the goal or the path which runs a business in the long term. It also serves to set the course and as an incentive to guide strategic decisions: Will you be the leader in your segment or sector? Want to be the most innovative? The objectives are defined in terms of mission and vision: where you get settled in five years? What level of sales want to be?
2. Define the marketing and image. The entrepreneur must rely on a smart market research, where data serve to make clear decisions about the business, such as defining how many products you should manufacture or sell a new company. The market allows for an analysis of your business, hence leave the rest of the elements of marketing, advertising, promotion, image management and launch. It is also necessary to analyze the macro and micro sector. “If you want to sell your product in Mexico City, say, Santa Fe, you have to do a macroeconomic analysis of how is the area and then a specific analysis of the turn that will take the business: there are many companies and suppliers around who could be your customers, inveteracy.”Says Technology consultant.
3. Outline the operation of the company. Once you have defined business and marketing side, set the guidelines for the operation, from the location of the enterprise to the production and marketing processes. A good tip is to observe the production practices of the rotation chosen, not only national but international, and adopt in your business. This is also important to define the organizational structure and corporate governance of the company: who will be the CEO, who will be the administrator or the comptroller, who will be the counter and operatives who and what will work hierarchy . “This is a big problem with companies starting, do not define this from the beginning and everyone wants to give orders, everyone assumes they are directors and may make decisions without asking,” says Velarde.


