All posts by Dan Boudreau

Dan Boudreau has devoted the last 20 years to coaching and mentoring regular folks into the captivating world of business. He authors and facilitates lively, transformative workshops on the topics of entrepreneurship, business planning, and training for trainers. He has inspired thousands of entrepreneurs to become successful business owners and leaders. Launching into his first venture in 1980 with barely enough knowledge to fill the back of a beer cap, he has embraced (and survived) the wide spectrum of business ownership, from single owner home-based enterprises to ventures employing more than 300 workers. Dan's top mission essentials are: laughing, loving, and learning. Armed with the business planning process as a teaching tool, Dan empowers ordinary women and men to create the financial stability and lifestyle they dream of. He is most proud of being acknowledged and appreciated by peers and friends for his ability to bring entrepreneurial ideas to fruition with a nod towards his warm, engaging personable style. In 2006, Dan compiled his knowledge (and bruises) into his first book, Business Plan or BUST! In writing this book, he combined his practical experience as a business owner with his expertise as a lender for an economic development agency, and tossed in his unique brand of wit. The end result: A refreshing perspective and practical style that makes the time-worn topic of business planning easy, fast and fun! When Dan takes those occasional days off from navigating the business world you might find him stuffed into a floating toothpaste tube sometimes referred to as a kayak (rarely right side up), or perhaps coaxing disturbing sounds from his guitar. His ultimate relaxation always involves fresh air, clean water and beaches—from botched attempts to outsmart fish in the rivers of northern British Columbia to flopping around in the waves or practicing applied inertia on just about any tropical sandy beach…
Entrepreneurship

Age Didn’t Stop The Colonel

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Age is not always a man or woman’s best friend.

If you’re getting long in the tooth and trying to get a loan to start a business, you might have a tough time borrowing money. Age means more risk for lenders. Unless you have solid, accessible security to offer, or unless you’ve got photographs of your bank manager committing indictable atrocities under the influence of tequila, you are going to have a tougher time nailing down business loans once you’re beyond your prime.

Other issues arise as you approach the 3-digit age bracket whilst simultaneously experiencing wholesale reductions in the number of functioning follicles on your head. For example, you might have less energy as time passes. On the best days we can smugly claim that slow and steady wins the race. I swear by that one more and more lately… But on bad days, there’s no doubt that we simply produce less than we did 10 or 20 years ago. Continue reading Age Didn’t Stop The Colonel →

Entrepreneurship, Owning a Business, Starting a Business

Ten Points to Consider When Choosing a Business Location

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LocationThere’s an aged saying in the business world, “There are three rules of marketing—location, location, location.” If you want to catch fish, you need to position yourself where there’s fish. If the fish can’t find your bait, if customers can’t find your shop, you’re out of luck and probably out of business. No customers, no sales, no go.

Selecting the right location means different things to different businesses. Here are a few things to consider when choosing the right location for your business.

  1. Clarify Your Business Vision. Determine what you see for your business in 1, 3 and 5 years. Envision what size it will be, what sort of traffic you want and who you want for neighbours.
  2. Identify Your Target Customer. You need to know who your customers are in order to pinpoint your business location. High foot traffic doesn’t automatically convert to lots of customers. Ensure the foot traffic is comprised of folks who match your customer profile and who will stop by to throw money into your cash drawer.
  3. Determine Where The Customer Traffic Is. And then place your business there. This is as true for physical locations as it is for virtual positioning. Whether you’re hoping for foot or click traffic, your business has to be visible to customers. Fish where the fish are.
  4. Locations Can Change. If you position your retail store between a major bank and a Starbucks because of the high foot traffic numbers—the game can change if either business closes, possibly triggering moving or upgrading costs for you.
  5. Consider Delivery Accessibility. While locating near customers is critical, accessibility to offload or pick up goods can be equally important. Is there a loading dock, and is it covered?
  6. Speak With Other Small Business Owners. Once you’ve narrowed your search to a few locations, check in with neighbouring leaseholders. They may have insights to help guide your decision.
  7. Assess the Location’s Impact on Your Marketing Costs. The less visible your location, the more it will cost to get customers to your site. While a highly visible mall location will have higher lease payments, a remote, free-standing location with lower rent payments is sure to have higher marketing costs.
  8. Check Your Neighbours. Determine whether the neighbouring businesses will be complimentary to yours and assess whether they will have an effect on your business once you’re set up. Will the anchor businesses attract the right traffic for your business?
  9. Assess Other Costs and Concerns. Will you be responsible for paying for signage and leasehold improvements? Make sure the location is zoned for your type of business, and that you’ll have access to washroom facilities, parking and sanitation services. As well, check out the crime rate in the area and familiarize yourself with any restrictions on hours of operation.
  10. Scrutinize Lease Agreements. Lease agreements are usually thick and thorny enough to warrant having your lawyer review them to ensure your interests are covered.

Setting up in a new location is not an inexpensive endeavor. It is sure to take a bite of your time, money and energy. The points above will help ensure you make the right choice and get your business on the path to success.

Market Research, Starting a Business

Rubik’s Cube and Market Research

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rubix-cubeA few years ago I received a Rubik’s Cube as a gift, and couldn’t put it down until I learned how to solve it. After the novelty wore off I forgot how until a cube fell into my hands last year and I relearned the solution.

Although I can take a messed up cube and put all the squares back into the right places, I really didn’t’ solve it myself. I simply took the time to learn a few sequences that were developed by others. Yet, to those who don’t know how to solve the cube, it looks almost magical.

What does a Rubik’s Cube have to do with market research? Well, I’ve noticed that during the last couple of sequences of the solution a cube looks wildly messy, like you’ve made it worse rather than better. But if you stick to the plan and follow the procedures, just a few spins later all the coloured squares are back in place – without peeling the coloured stickers off and moving them!

Actually, the Rubik’s Cube and market research have a few similarities:

  1. For the uninitiated, both tasks can seem impossible.
  2. Once you learn the method, what appeared to be impossible becomes achievable.
  3. Until you learn how, you can waste a lot of time spinning in circles and not be any closer to the solution.
  4. The first time is the most difficult. Once you have learned how, it’s easier to repeat.
  5. Those who don’t know how will usually be amazed when someone else does.
  6. The majority of people will never learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube, and most will not take time to learn how to research a business idea.
  7. Rather than learning the processes that make it easy, most people will invest time trying things that don’t work. Fine for playing with a cube, but business opportunities don’t always offer the luxury of enough time to learn by trial and error.

If you’re researching a business idea, there are times when things tend to get real messy. It can be time consuming and stressful – sometimes there is just seems to be too much information, making it difficult to connect the dots. No matter how confusing it gets, the solutions and answers to your questions are usually just around the corner.

The main difference between the Rubik’s Cube and market research is that the latter is useful. Effective market research can lay the groundwork for a lucrative business and even launch you into working at something you love to do. It is your cheapest form of insurance against losing equity you might invest in a business venture. At best, the cube might provide an opportunity to wax philosophical about market research.

Entrepreneurship, Starting a Business

Perseverance is the Key to Small Business Success

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successPerseverance is a cornerstone to all business success; in its absence, many new business owners strike out before getting a chance to hit that cherished home run. Success is determined by your drive to succeed, how hard you’re willing to work to get what you want, and having the patience and endurance to stick with your vision until it either bears fruit or proves to be a bad idea.

Perseverance is never easy. The way never seems to be straight forward or clear. It’s up to each entrepreneur to know whether to hold or fold.

It’s not surprising that many owners cut and run just short of success. The path to business success is littered with traps, including disgruntled customers, cash flow shortfalls, burnout, economic downturns, failed partnerships, plain old bad business ideas, and unworkable business models. These are just a few of the demons faced by business owners as they run the gauntlet.

Business killers can beat an entrepreneur down, opening the dark door to a business failure. Most issues can be remedied, and most failing businesses can be turned around if the owner has the vision and the drive to stay the course.

As always, it’s easy to look at bad situations and shout out remedies, but for those mired in a business, the view can be blurred and it’s sometimes harder to see solutions.

For the average working person, economic survival is always a driver; lack of money is easily a top reason to jump ship. Family problems trigger a number of other business failures. Debauchery, overspending, plain old laziness—there’s never a shortage of reasons to stray from your business plan. Only the entrepreneur in charge can identify what’s truly most important and therefore the right path for him or her to follow.

In The Dip, A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick), Seth Godin writes about how those who aspire to become the best must stay focused and go through incredible hardship to reach their goal. He also speaks to the importance of dropping the losers, having the courage to discontinue projects or directions that prove to be duds. This puts pressure on those who tackle long-term goals or aspire to any sort of greatness, because the critic within you will always question whether you’re headed for success or setting yourself up to look like an idiot.

So, how much perseverance is enough? That is something each business owner must decide for himself. Small business owners, particularly start-ups, walk this tightrope every day in the life of the enterprise.