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…

Business Expansion Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Some businesses are built for expansion, others are not.

A franchise is an example of a business model that’s scalable. Once a franchisor fine tunes the business systems to enable one outlet or unit to be both profitable and repeatable, it is said to be scalable.

After several years working in a business, many owners discover that their venture simply won’t scale up. Owner operated businesses often aren’t scalable because, in the mind of customers, the owner is the business. For this type of business, one owner will always equal one business.

The following six tips are for business owners who are thinking about scaling up. Continue reading Business Expansion Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Lots of Money for Viable Business Proposals

At times I hear entrepreneurs say they can’t find money to start or grow their businesses. I don’t buy it. There is always money available for great business ideas.

Of course, there are a number of reasons why investors might shy away from your golden opportunity, making funding appear scarce.

If you’re having trouble landing the funds to kick-start your next mousetrap, consider the following possibilities. Continue reading Lots of Money for Viable Business Proposals

Myths about Owning a Business

Successful business owners make running a business look easy. Observing from the outside, it’s easy to imagine that they harvest massive rewards with little or no effort. That is just one of many misconceptions about owning your own business. Here are a few more:

1. A Business Is a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme.
It’s more accurate to say that most “overnight successes” take at least 25 years of hard labour. An entrepreneur is a twisted individual who will work 15-hour days at minimum wage to avoid taking a real day job at $20 per hour.

2. You Need a Lot of Money to Start a Business.
Some businesses do have a high start-up price tag, many do not. If you are a tradesperson who owns all the necessary tools to work for someone else, you might already have most of what you need to start your own business. Many people start small enterprises by investing a lot of sweat equity and little or no cash. Continue reading Myths about Owning a Business

Seven Fool-Proof Ways of Going Broke

After years of getting cuffed around in the marketplace, it is my pleasure to share these foolproof strategies. No matter how well you are doing today, the following methods are sure to drive your small business into the ground.

  1. Be a know-it-all. Instead of adopting a learning attitude, be defensive and refuse to admit that anyone might know more than you about the business. Snub business analysts, counsellors, lawyers and bankers. Do not be curious.
  2. Don’t waste valuable time listening or talking to customers. Ignore them, they’re takers. They rarely say anything of substance and they can suck up a lot of your precious time. Why do you think the good Lord gave you one mouth and two ears? So you could growl at customers without pausing your IPod or interrupting your cell phone conversation. Reel ‘em in, get the money, kick ‘em out.
  3. Do not smile. Smiling is a sign of weakness. Be tough. Use the time-tested tools of terror: scowls, snarls and sneers. The slick thing about this method is that you only have to do it consciously the first few times, after that it happens habitually and you can effortlessly alienate customers without even having to think about it.

Continue reading Seven Fool-Proof Ways of Going Broke