Today I will exploit six single mothers in three different counties. And tomorrow I’ll do the same. I use Virtual Assistants. And in some people’s eyes, this has become a modern day slavery trade driven by the demon Internet.

Tim, who as an Irish Hurling Champion can’t be all bad, wrote the best-seller Four Hour Work Week, which is the definitive guide for outsourcing your life. Here’s how it works.

Are Virtual Assistants 21st Century Slaves?

This argument is pretty simple.

Outsource your mundane tasks to others and focus on activities that bring in more money.

For example?

Well, instead of writing a 40 page report that takes 8 hours to type up, send an audio file to a transcribing professional and get them to do it.

Do the math.

If they charge you $100 but you make $500 a day, then you’ve made a profit of 400 bucks. Hard to argue with isn’t it?

Or so I thought…

Remember when Prince was a slave?

In 1993, Prince, the rock/pop star, had the initials SLAVE written on his cheek.

“…during negotiations regarding the release of Prince’s album The Gold Experience, a legal battle ensued between Warner Bros. and Prince over the artistic and financial control of Prince’s output. During the lawsuit, Prince appeared in public with the word “slave” written on his cheek. Prince explained his name change as follows:

The first step I have taken towards the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to the Love Symbol.”

In his eyes, they had reduced him to the level of a slave and he was legally chained to an unfair contract. And maybe he was. I don’t know. It depends on your perspective. But most folks who live in 5 star hotels and travel by limo… well, that’s a slavery many of us yearn for. But, in his eyes, he was a slave and complained bitterly about it.

I am a slave, says Ronaldo

Yes, the Real Madrid player was also branded a slave as he was… forced to honor a legally-binding contract. He was earning close to $100 per week at the time at Manchester United but wanted to move to Real Madrid.

“Cristiano Ronaldo’s desire to join Real Madrid appeared stronger than ever last night after a television interview in which he reiterated he had not changed his mind about wanting to leave Manchester United and agreed with the Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s criticism about the way the European Cup winners had handled the situation. Blatter had urged United to allow the player to leave and, more controversially, complained that there was “too much modern slavery” in the sport.”

People have different definitions of slavery. While Prince, Ronaldo and other multi-millionaires may feel they are enslaved, the reality for most of us is different.

Are Virtual Assistants really Slaves?

One of the services my company provides in China is matching skilled US professionals with Chinese firms. It’s the opposite of Chinese, Indians or other minorities looking for work in the US. These days, it’s US graduates coming to Beijing looking for work.

Times change, it seems.

We’ve also provided Virtual Assistants as most projects are web-based. And this is where the slavery comes in. While I see this as a positive thing – giving work to those who want it – others take a dim view of this activity.

Reading through the emails, the argument against Virtual Assistants is that they deny local people work opportunities while exploiting labor laws. Like most arguments, the pros and cons are multi-faceted. Here’s someone who runs a successful web business that relies on VAs.

How to hire a Virtual Assistant

Is outsourcing worth the effort? Erica Douglass writes about how to do this on her excellent marketing site, “You don’t have a whole lot to lose–since you can expect to pay $3-$10/hour for most basic work, it’s low-risk if you hire someone and he/she doesn’t work out. Since you’re starting with basic tasks and expanding from there, you can quickly gauge if a person is competent. And, if someone doesn’t work out for whatever reason, you can simply “End Assignment” and start a new job with new candidates.”

But isn’t out-sourcing killing the US economy?

I honestly think Chicken Nuggets are probably doing more damage to the US’s health if obesity figures continue to rise, but let’s think it through. While most companies in developed countries have green initiatives and recognize minimum wages laws, they also employ staff in 3rd world countries to lower costs.

Others, such as Apple, outsource the work through third party firms. Technically, they’re not really using cheap labour but…

Why do we have out-sourcing?

In a word, it’s cheap. I can hire a degree-educated professional for less than $10 per hour. The quality is great. The turnaround is fast. The response is professional.

It’s hard to argue against this.

But in the US and Europe, we have minimum wage laws. These are to protect employees against exploitation. For example, the minimum wage is California is $8 per hour. In Georgia, it’s $5.15.

Of course, other developing countries don’t have the same laws. So, I can hire Ph.Ds for less than $10 an hour.

The question is whether this is good business practice or simply unethical.

What do you think? Would you hire someone in China over someone in your hometown because of price? And how do you justify it to your investors?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com

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In the real world, it’s not so cosy. Sometimes you’re the one that has to give the bad news, sometimes you’re the one that has to give negative appraisals. Sometimes you’re the one that has to fire people. In many respects, this may fall under the umbrella of your Communications Plan strategy.

‘All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me – consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.’ Donald Trump

Negative v Positive Business Writing

This week we look at how to write negative messages. Not nasty messages, emails and such but material with a negative edge.

For example?

In some ‘negative messages’, you may have to address faults or issues with a team member. When writing these emails, reports or messages such, keep a professional tone, avoid attacking your colleague – but make your position on the issue clear.

Don’t fudge it. That creates other problems.

‘Do you mind if I sit back a little? Because your breath is very bad.’ Donald Trump

One school of writing encourages us to ‘express bad news in a positive angle’.

To do this, avoid such words as:

• Cannot
• Deny
• Fail
• Forbid
• Impossible
• Prohibit
• Refuse
• Restrict

Look at these examples. The first draft is phrased in cold and negative terms; the second is positive, cordial and generous:

Negative writing:

The incredible amount of information you requested in your report is too much ad means that I cannot help you without disrupting our work schedule. Revision: I see in your letter that you require specific project information, which I will help you locate. However, due to our work load, I can answer only a few of the questions right now….

Negative writing:

If you do not complete and return this contract by Jan 1, 2011, you will not receive your apartment. If we have not heard from you by this deadline, we will sell the apartment to another person.

Positive writing:

Please complete the enclosed contract and return it to us by Jan 1, 2011. After this date, we will have to put the apartment back on the website. I hope we hear from you before then.

Negative writing:

While I am willing to discuss changes in the Functional Requirements, I am not prepared to change the project deadlines.

Positive writing:

I am open to suggestions and comments about specific Functional Requirements, or your thoughts on additional areas that you think we should examine. However, I want to ensure that this does not impact the project deadline as you can understand.

‘If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.’ Clint Eastwood

How to re-position negative communications?

Focus on the other persons:

• Needs
• Interests
• Purposes

If you must talk about yourself (or role) in a business letter, make sure it relates to your concerns for the other person (and their role).

Develop a You First Attitude

This recipient-oriented ‘you-attitude’ writing style means the recipient is the focus of the letter, not you.

Negative writing:

We have changed our pricing policy to save our company time and money. In an operation like ours, it costs us a great amount of labor time to clean our equipment…

Positive writing:

We will update our pricing policy effective December 15^th, 2015. This will enable us to serve your needs more often and without delay…

Like Donald Trump you will have to deliver bad news on occasion. The approach you use, and how you structure your arguments, will influence the outcome. Instead of creating conflict, you can help the Project Manager or Proposal Team Lead to see your side and try to accommodate your needs.

The trick is to acknowledge their needs first and then outline where you stand in relation to these. Don’t bulldoze them into submission. You may win the first battle, but you’ll lose the war.

What’s the worse piece of news you have to give someone in the office?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com

PS – The Communication Plan Template is here

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Business Plan – Executive Summary

Executive Summary Checklist

Like we said above, first impressions count. For this reason, you need to pay special attention to the Executive Summary. If your clients or investors don’t get past the Executive Summary, then the rest of your document will go unread.

This also raises the question: Should you write your Executive Summary before or after you’ve written your Business Plan? Some business writers prefer to do it first, others write it after the entire document is completed. I write it at the end as I want the complete text before me. That way, I can digest the document and write the Executive Summary based on what I’ve read.

The following is one suggested approach for an Executive Summary. Change this to suit your needs. In the Executive Summary, include the following:

Introduction

• Brief description of your product or service
• Identify when, where, and how the company was established
• Provide the current status, including funding, of your organization

Problem Definition

• What problem does the solution solve?
• How important is it to users over the next [x] years?
• What is the business and/or technical road map?
• Who are the customers and their needs?

Market Opportunity

• What is the market size?
• What is the timing of market development?
• What are the key market drivers?
• What are the inter-dependencies of this market to other markets, businesses or the government?
• What are the supply and distribution channels?
• Has the market been validated by a customer / partner?
• What is the marketing and sales strategy?

Competitive Analysis

• Who are your competitors?
• What are your advantages and the competitive products/services?
• What business models have been successful?

Management Team

• Who are the key management personnel? Cross-reference to Appendix if necessary.
• What is their track-record?
• How will you complete the management team if all the key members are not yet identified?

Technology

• How unique is the technology?
• Can any parts be patented?
• What is the current development status of product/service?
• How will the products be tested?

Financial Analysis

• Summarize projections for revenue, cost and return on investment
• Describe funding required to achieve the next milestones

Conclusions and final writing tips

While this looks like a lot of work, the key is to select the parts that you want to highlight in the Executive Summary and move the rest to the main document.

Most Executive Summaries are one to two pages max.

With this is mind, write the text and get all the information down first. Then revise the material and see where you can refine the wording to reduce the word count, for example, by merging points together and remove filler text. Also, look for phrases that can be pruned and made shorter. For example?

Instead of

In the event of

Write

If

Instead of

We have come to the conclusion that

Write

We decided

Instead of

The purpose of this document is to

Write

This document… (The purpose of is redundant)

Look for ways to remove these fillers. You’ll sharpen the prose in the process and give your document a nice, polished tone.

What have I missed?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter at ivanwalsh.

PS: You can get the Business Plan Template from our partner Klariti.com here.

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How to Anticipate and Deflect Criticism

For example. The project has fallen behind schedule. It is way over-budget, morale has collapsed, and your leadership is being questioned. It’s got real nasty. It’s your fault. They’re pointing the finger at you. What should you do?

If the criticism is from outside the organization, then define the ground rules for your Communications Plan. Identify who is responsible for what type of communication, how it will be delivered and what messages you want to convey. The benefit of a cohesive Communications Plan is the message coming from all staff will be consistent and ensure that your core values are communicated effectively.

8 Ways to Deal with Critics inside and outside an Organization

Recognize that the criticism leveled against you is a problem that must be resolved. You can’t wish it away regardless of how unfair it may seem. But, where do you start? Here’s an idea. Scan through the newspaper and see how Obama, Hilary Clinton and other prominent politicians handle their critics.

Why?

• They’ve been trained to handle criticism.
• They’ve spent thousands of hours learning how to argue their points, assert their opinion and
• They know (if they’re good) how to press people’s buttons and win over their harshest critics.

Maybe you don’t care for Clinton. It doesn’t matter. Put your feeling aside for ten minutes. Look at this as an experiment; observe as much as you can.

Obama ran into rocky waters recently with his healthcare reforms. The honeymoon period is well over; the knives were out. Let’s look at how he dealt with his critics. He had three options: send out a PR handler to deal with the press, arrange a state visit abroad, or face it head on. Guess which one he chose?

• Turn Up – Stand your ground. Turning up shows your opponents that you’re ready to take them on. Your first task is to get the situation under control. Be pro-active. Arrange a meeting. Set the time, place and agenda.
• Be Open – Circulate an agenda and emphasize that ANY questions can be asked. Remember, they’re going to do this anyway but you can preempt this by stressing your openness and commitment to dialogue. Obama invited the press to video tape his meetings. This forced his opponents to behave cordially on camera and to choose their words more carefully.
• Stay Calm – When they try to rile you, as they will, rise about it. Breathe deeply. The louder they shout, the quieter you respond. Practice ‘arguing’ with trusted friends, if possible. See it as a ‘performance’.
• Admit Your Imperfections – A small joke at your own expense is a great way to deflect criticism. No one is perfect. Remind them of past successes (in a casual, modest way) and how you (and your team) has worked to address the critical issues. Scan your notes occasionally; try to avoid reading your copy line by line.
• Don’t Get Defensive – This is where most people get caught. Wily operators know how to put others on the back foot, for example, by quoting something out of context and then asking for ‘clarification’. Proceed with caution, folks. Avoid defending your decisions; it makes you sound guilty.
• Criticize Your Opponents – Your opponents are not perfect, either. Find ways to highlight their short-comings but don’t get personal or sound petty. Be firm. Speak with confidence, don’t stammer or read from your notes. Look directly at your detractors and demand that they respond to your questions. This takes the heat off you, at least for a while.
• Remember to Smile – Don’t fidget with your clothes, pull at your sleeves, or chew on your pen. Breathe slowly. Smile occasionally but don’t smirk. It looks juvenile. Also, don’t clench your hands. Tension makes you sweat, which is never a good sign. Remind yourself: this will be over in less than an hour. Stay calm, smile, and relax.
• Engage – Asking for questions is another way to deflect negative attention. You can ‘up the ante’ by asking specific people if they have questions, especially if you think they are behind the back-biting. Stay calm. Listen very carefully. Then respond as politely as possibly.

…and, of course, thank them for asking.

Send Positive Messages To Your Team

Showing your face ensures you get your side of the story across. Putting your best foot forward sends out a positive message to your family, staff, and supporters, all of whom look to you for direction. And, by standing up to your opponents, you demonstrate that you have what it takes to lead.

What are your thoughts?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com

PS: The Communication Plan Template is here.

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Three Types of Business Consultant

In general, there are 3 types of consultants:

• Academic – Those with academic achievements, e.g. PhDs, who are brought in to solve/explore/test
• Management – Those with Management skills, such as in M&A, legal etc and
• Specialists – Those who’ve moved from 9-5 occupations and now want to work for themselves and/or have others working for them.

How to get started as a Business Consultant

Let’s look at how you can get started as Business Consultant and start your own business.

“They tend to be successful at starting new businesses because they do the right things,” says Mike Rogers, managing director of small business and start-ups at Barclays. “They do the planning, they are well-financed and they have accumulated wisdom. “They also define success in their own terms. They don’t want to take on the world, they just want to supplement their income or keep themselves busy,” he told BBC News Online.

As well as preparing business plans, new business owners need to make sure they are totally committed, says Mr Rogers from Barclays. “They have to take into account the demands on themselves and their time, and on their families.”

Research also suggested that older people find running their own business less stressful than their younger peers. Why? Only 27% of owners over 50 run their business as the only source of income in the household.

Ok, how do I get started?

1. Identify your top 3 business skills (not technologies).
2. Write a pen portrait (100 words max) of how you see this person. If you were introducing this person to someone you’d say “This is Robert,…” Focus on the benefits you offer, not the tools. Start to visualize the person/consultant you want to become.
3. Anticipate Problems – Chris Brogan made a very interesting observation recently when he said that he tries to be there before the fire starts. What he meant was that everyone wants to help (sell you something) when things go wrong but it’s the people you know before it happened that count. Tom Peters, Chris Brogan, Branson, ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ have all helped me in different ways.
4. Identify 3 business leaders and use them as role models.
   For me, Richard Branson is a good example, for you it might be someone else. Read everything about these people, soak up how they made it. It’s not in the words of their bio – but the energy, the drive they had. Having a role model gives you a frame of reference, something to use as a compass/anchor.
5. Join Foursquare and contact 10 people who are in a similar position/industry as you. Meet up on the weekends and see how you can help each other.
   Remember, you’re looking to link up with people for the long haul. Ignore the tire-kickers. Find 1 or 2 decent people that you trust and keep connecting with them.
6. Create one business target with these folks. For example, aim to run an event, workshop, training course (whatever) by a specific date. You have to have targets, otherwise nothing will happen.
7. Create an Action Plan and assign tasks to each member
8. Be consistent – If you keep this up for 3 months, you’ll change your perception of who you are. Also, by getting out and meeting people, you’ll learn things. The web is great for starting relationship but the human touch is what makes the connection more personal.
9. Define you USP – I know this sounds predictable but you have to differentiate yourself from the competition. This is the key. If you become ‘that guy’ who does, for example, Adobe Air training, Social Media business communications, Proposal development for biotechnology, then you can work towards dominating this one area.
10. Once you have all your ducks in a line, start getting the message out. Write guest articles in blogs, contribute to events, share information on LinkedIn, send free White Papers to people in your target market – do whatever it takes to promote yourself (and your colleagues) so that you become that guy.
11. Use Personal branding to get your site, business cards, sharp suit etc in place. People still judge on appearances. If you look successful…
12. Network. Look for places to get out and meet people. People do business with people they meet.

I bet there are people in this group in a similar situation as yourself. Try to connect with them and I’m sure it will start to happen. One last thing – the harder you try, the luckier you get.

Update: One of the paradoxes of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter is that everyone is in such a rush to get their opinion heard, that they ignore other folk’s comments. They miss the opportunity to create a dialogue.

Commenting on others’ comments helps explore topics and, if you’re considering moving into consultancy, gives you an opportunity to soft sell your expertise. Find sites aligned to your business area, join the conversation and then make some useful suggestions. Pretty soon you’ll build a following and start to get enquiries for people looking to pick your brains…

For some, the term ‘Business Consultancy’ seems a bit intimidating. “It’s not for me” I’ve heard some say. But, it may not be true. There are different types of Business Consultancies and maybe you’re a lot closer than you think.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh shares Business Tips for Hungry Entrepreneurs at Klariti. He also runs a blog on Writing Business Plans at www.IvanWalsh.com

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What I mean is to study how others write Business Plan first. Look at how they

• Create the Business plan outline and see what goes into it
• Develop a format for the Business Plan that you can repeat across all future Business Plans
• Understand how the Business Plan model really works.
• Design an attractive Business Plan layout that is easy to read and gives your document a nice professional look. While there are many free Business Plans on the web, invest in a nice template or suite of business documents. In the long run, it’s money well spent.

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What Google Thinks of Business Plans

A quick search on Google shows us that the business community has some strong opinions on the value of business plans. Some deride them as antiquated whereas others see them as the foundation stone for a business growth. Who’s right? Well, it would be nice if someone did some research on the value of business plans. Actually, they have and Tim Berry presented the findings.

can Business Plan Software really Help your Business?

Here is a quote from a paper presented to the University of Oregon Department of Economics by Eason Ding and Tim Hursey:

Results suggest that planning with software is highly correlated with subsequent successes for a variety of firms.’

Business Plan Software, a closer look

Tim Berry is the founder of the well-respected Palo Alto Software (Business Plan Pro software firm) and, in fairness, flags this upfront.

He explains, “Palo Alto Software asked thousands of Business Plan Pro users a couple of dozen questions about their businesses, goals, type of business, years in existence, and business planning. Almost 3,000 people responded.”

The research findings suggests that those who finished their business plans were about twice as likely to:

1. Successfully grow their business,
2. Get investment, or
3. Land a loan than those who didn’t.

You can see the numbers on the chart above

What’s the real reason Business Plan Software Makes A Difference.

The researchers used the completion of a business plan as the explanatory variable, the success of the business plan as the dependent variable, and a number of related results – original intent of the plan, type of company, stage of company growth, and so on – as controlling variables.

Tim’s interoperation, which I largely agree with, is that ‘

completing a business plan correlated with increased success in every one of the business objectives that came up in the study (which were: getting a loan, making a major purchase, getting investment, recruiting a new team member, thinking more strategically, and growing the company). In every one of these cases, well beyond the threshold of statistical validity, completing a business plan improved the proportion of respondents who achieved the goal.

The authors of the study said:

The analysis indicates that completion of a business plan is positively correlated with every success variable indicated, even when controlling for intent of using the business plan.

And here’s their conclusion:

Except in a small number of cases, business planning appeared to be positively correlated with business success as measured by our variables. While our analysis cannot say that completing a business plan will lead to success, it does indicate that the type of entrepreneur who completes a business plan is also more likely to run a successful business.

the problem with free

I’m not sure it’s to do with the software or the templates….

Why?

I feel that when you make an investment in something, for example, buying business planning software or templates out of your back pocket, then you’re more likely to follow through. It’s not guaranteed but no-one likes to buy something and then let it sit there on your hard drive doing nothing.

For example, the investments I make in my career, business and people ensure that I am more likely to follow through and less likely to take them for granted. I’ve invested in them financially or emotionally and dont want to see the investment wasted.

In a society where ‘Freemium’ is seen as a new business model, we may need to consider the true returns we get from paying for things.

If you get it for free, do you really value it? Does paying for something mean you value it more?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Plan Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com

PS: The Business Plan Template is here.Discloser: I work as a consultant for Klariti Ltd just so you know and all. I still think this template pack is the best ten bucks you’ll spend this week

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Do’s And Don’ts For Using Twitter

Twitter is about publishing. Twitter is about writing. And it’s about having fun, making connections and sharing things. Here are some ways I use Twitter and some ways I don’t!

I’ve made a focused effort to use Twitter a little more strategically since May as it tied in with some other business aims. And it’s started to work.

Don’t …

1. Thank me for following you. I don’t read DMs as I get over one hundred and fifty every day and it’s just not possible.
2. Get angry with me for not thanking you for following me.
3. Send me get rich quick schemes or introduce me to ‘Natasha.’ I’m fine thanks
4. Tweet every mundane details of your everyday life. Some is fine but I don’t need a running commentary of your daily life. No one does! No, really, they don’t.
5. Tweet embarrassing (for me to read) private details of your significant relationships. And your partner may not want it in the twittersphere either.
6. Moan, especially about Microsoft Word. You try and build a better office suite and see how far you get.
7. Start flame wars with people in twitter. They’re out there, just ignore them.

Do …

1. Use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck so you can track by keyword, monitor things, and share information quicker
2. Create lists like this http://twitter.com/ivanwalsh/thoughtleadership and follow all of these wonderful technical writers as they tweet.
3. Follow other lists like this http://twitter.com/tom_peters/cool-friends from @tom_peters
4. Retweet others tweets. This is the fastest way – by far – to increase your number of followers
5. Tweet things that are interesting. Such as… pictures, articles, websites, news items, exhibitions, shows, tutorials. You get the idea.  Share, share, share
6. Help others. Reach out to those who ask questions and see if you can point them in the right direction.
7. Tweet your own blog posts. I’m still amazed that so many business writers write so little. C’mon, folks get a blog like these guys.
8. Share quotes, sayings, and interesting thoughts.
9. Share jokes and humorous items. We all need a laugh during the day. I use Twitter at short breaks and catch up with friends. If you share something funny, I’ll pass it on to them.
10. Re-write tweets to make them more interesting. You’re a writer, go on, give it a go! Think of it as a challenge. How can I make this tweet more interesting?
11. Add hashtags like this #smb. But don’t go overboard. One is fine.
12. Track your Twitter stats on http://twittercounter.com/compare/ihearttechdocs/month/followers. This is my list. See how it’s grown in the past 30 days.
13. Think long-term. Remember that Rabbit and the Hare? Use Twitter for 15 minutes every day and stick with it.
14. Start conversations. Don’t always be in broadcast mode. Create a dialogue and get others to join in.Act as a conduit between different people.
15. Be the link that joins.
16. Parse your text back to 100 words. Why? So there is space for others to add to what you said.
17. Open with a question. This encourages others to think, consider, and act on what you said. Your goal is to get a response.
18. Add those who retweet you to your most important list. Retweet them every now and then.
19. Schedule tweets for 2am. Someone, somewhere is online at 2am. Don’t post at 9am when everyone arrives at the office. It will get lost in the deluge.
20. Tell people where you are. It adds a personal touch.
21. Connect Facebook to your Twitter account and also the other way around.

Write, re-tweet and be interesting.

What else?

I’m @ivanwalsh

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‘Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.’ Warren Buffett

Warren Buffet is from Omaha. Not sophisticated LA or cosmopolitan New York. Saying their simple folk is a bit patronizing. Rather they saw things as they see them. His Annual Reports are a joy to read. Most mainstream annual reports are like sedatives. You read a page or two and then the zzzzs.

Warren Buffet’s Nine Steps To Effective Business English

What’s this got to do with business writing? Well, if customers don’t understand what you’re selling, they won’t buy. If employees don’t understand your principles, they won’t follow. If you don’t understand your own vision, you can’t lead.

Writing is a process of clarification. We edit to make things clearer. Let’s start at the top.

1. Customer Focus – it sounds obvious but… write the letter so that it addresses ‘their’ needs, not yours. It’s easy to get caught up when under pressure to sell or promote your ideas but, step back, and look at this letter from the customer’s perspective. Put yourself in their shoes. What’s their impression of your letter?
2. Facts – likewise, stick to what you know. Don’t make up facts, figures, amounts, dates or other numbers to impress the reader. You’ll look very foolish when these are seen as ‘mis-informaton’. We all know what that word really means? Avoid saying, "I feel that". Rather use "I believe that" or "I think that" and then explain why you believe this to be true.
3. Include Technical and Legal Document As Attachments – if you need to refer to technical documentation or other such material, don’t insert it in the document, rather cross-reference in the Appendix. For printed material, print out the material and include it in a binder. This also applies to sales collateral, such as case studies and white papers.
4. Jargon – write in a professional tone, avoiding slang, jargon and acronyms. Few things annoy me more than unexplained acronyms appearing in the middle of a case study. Am I supposed to know what this means? If I don’t, I feel a bit stupid. Is that what the writer meant?
5. One Page Max – train yourself to keep business communication under one page. You can do this by compressing the main points together and using lists to break out the key points. If the document needs to be more than a page, then consider calling the person or arranging a meeting. Also, if it’s more than a page, it’s unlikely that the customer, employee, or colleague will respond to all the points.
6. Proof the letter – for business critical information pay special attention to the financial data. You can be forgiven for the occasional grammar or spelling mistake, but you won’t be forgiven if the numbers are wrong. Check these more than once. Where possible, get a colleague to check them also.
7. See The Big Picture – have the overview in mind before you start. Don’t start writing your next business plan when it’s still half cooked in your brain. Think it through first and then start writing.
8. Short Words – don’t write ‘utilize’ when ‘use’ will do. Don’t procure meat products when you mean get a sandwich. Use simple everyday words. There are no Nobel prizes for emails. Use direct, immediate language that describes the main topic. If you go over a page, the reader may leave it to later… and never get to read it. So, if shorter letters have a better chance of getting read, then use this approach.
9. Structure Your Letter – Before writing your business letter, make a list of the key points you need to cover. Prioritize them. For example, as prospective clients are more likely to read the first two or three bullet points, highlight these to convey their importance. Then work through the other points.

Conclusion

What I’ve learned from Buffet is that annual reports, proposals and other business documents can be written is a simple, easy-to-read format. They don’t have (and shouldn’t) intimidate the reader. Or bore them.

The next time your boss says the Annual Report needs to be more ‘serious’ and more professional, hand them a copy of Buffet’s letter and see what they think.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the Business Plan Consultant Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com

PS: The Business Plan Template is here

PPS: Another great read from Buffet is this Plain English Guide He wrote the Foreword for the SEC.

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Actually, I was offered a job with Apple in Cupertino many years ago and turned it down. I went to Intel instead. Yes, I know. Apple at the time struck me as a bit odd with its Think Different campaigns. I just didn’t buy into black turtle necks. Later I realized that most successful companies in the Valley are cult-like to some degree or at least have a strong siege mentality.

Trying to find the Apple Store on the map…

Why I’ve Resisted Apple Until Now?

I’ve resisted Apple for most of my career and done fine. But, for my recent 44^th birthday, I decided to treat myself to the best ‘toy’ I wanted. Whatever  I wanted… One thoughts was to get something that we could share with junior (the guy with the map above) so he’d grow up with the best. Kinda made sense…

We went to Japan for my birthday.

And while wondering around Tokyo bumped into the Apple Store. I entered. My first time ever in an Apple Store. It’s a very slick four story building with a busy atmosphere but not hectic.

First impressions of an Apple Store

A few things struck me.

• The staff spoke near perfect English.
• All the computers were web-enabled so you could read your email. Brilliant
• Free water was available from the coolers. A nice touch as it was boiling.
• The place was super clean. Well, all of Japan is spotless and this place was no exception.
• The staff persuaded me NOT to buy the Macbook Pro laptop.

Yes, read that again. The staff persuaded me NOT to buy the laptop.

Why?

If you buy in Japan (or wherever) and it gets damaged, you must bring it back to that store to be fixed. We’re heading back to Ireland soon. He said wait. Get it in Ireland.

But maybe the price is better here, I thought? What’s the catch.

No, prices are fixed across all stores.

Lessons Learnt: Apple’s Customer Service

When a salesperson goes out of their way to explain why you should buy elsewhere and then goes online with you to show that the price is the exact same, you can’t help but be impressed.

The other point was the high quality of English. How many US or European retailers hire Japanese, Chinese, Arabic or other foreign language staff? It’s a small touch but it made a deep impression.

No stilted conversations, no broken dialogues and the computer settings were setup in English too. I felt as home.

Over to you.

So, is Apple a friendly Cult? Maybe I was too harsh on Apple. What do you think?

Oh yeah, they have this mouse that doesn’t need a double-click. Who’d have thought of that?

I ordered the Macbook Pro and an iMac.

What was your first experience of Apple?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also writes for the Business Plan Blog at http://www.IvanWalsh.com

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Philip Koopman, at Carnegie Mellon University, reminds us that, “Writing an efficient abstract is hard work, but will repay you with increased impact on the world by enticing people to read your publications. Make sure that all the components of a good abstract are included in the next one you write.”

Photo Credit Pjern

Why We read Abstracts and Summaries?

When you open your inbox every Monday morning and see a stream of emails crying for attention. Which do you choose? I’d guess it’s the ones with the snappiest headlines, like these:

• Zen and the Art of Remarkable Blogging
• A Simple Four-Step Strategy for Developing Content That Connects
• The Benjamin Franklin Guide to Marketing Your Business Online
• Five Common Headline Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
• Become a Master of Metaphor and Multiply Your Blogging Effectiveness
• Metaphor, Simile and Analogy: What’s the Difference?

These are from CopyBlogger .com and show how smart headlines can tickle your fancy. So, when you read, ‘Are You Leaving Your Readers Out of the Conversation?’ you can’t help but start to answer the question in your mind. And when you do that, you open the article and start to read.

So, good headlines act like hooks bringing you into the story.

Abstracts are also important. We have an ever-increasing need for quick access to information we rely on abstracts and summaries to provide a snapshot of what’s in the article.

If you visualize it as a pyramid, on the top is headlines, then summaries, and then the body of the article. You can see how one leads to the other.

How To Write An Abstract

You have two options. Write it before you start on the main document or after you’ve finished writing, take a break and explore:

• What is the main subject in this article?
• What conclusion has the writer made?
• What message does the writer want to convey?
• What do you want the reader to do after reading the document?

Analyze this and define it in one sentence – this is your ‘topic’ sentence.

Write one topic sentence that covers the entire document, regardless of whether the document is a five page letter or a hundred page annual report.

1. Getting Ideas

Then, look at the recommendations, conclusions, summaries, and results in the final document. When abstracting a technical manual, look at the tutorials and see if these help form the topic sentence.

2. Don’t Use the Document’s Title

Avoid using the formal name of the document as this can be misleading and may not help you write the topic sentence. Chances are the ‘working title’ will be too vague. Parts of the title might serve as modifiers in your topic sentence, but you’ll probably need to go beyond the title.

3. Be Specific

Make the topic sentence as specific as possible.

Avoid writing

“This report describes [document title].”

Instead, write something like

“The results of this [subject] study show that [result].”

4. Use Supporting Sentences

After you identify your topic sentence, write supporting sentences. Make each of these supply specific details about the ideas in the topic sentence. Think of what supports the topic sentence.

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?
• How? and
• How much?

Give statistics, results, conclusions, or recommendations that back up the topic sentence. Only use two or three major supporting ideas. Include the less important evidence as subordinate clauses and modifiers.

5. Use Transitions

Arrange the supporting sentences in a logical sequence after the topic sentence. Add whatever transition is needed to connect the supporting sentences to the topic sentence and to connect ideas within the sentences to each other.

Re-write the sentences to improve the connections.

10 Other Ways to Write a Better Abstract

1. Write the abstract only when the document is finished. Abstracts written before then are just previews.
2. If you are forced to write an abstract before the document is completed, think about its purpose and write a topic sentence. Keep in mind that you’ll need to rewrite the abstract when the document is finished because it will no longer accurately reflect the contents of the document.
3. Before starting the abstract, list your thoughts on the document. Group related items together.
4. Prioritize the list and put the most important group first. The first few groups form the core of the topic sentence. The rest lead to supporting sentences.
5. If you can’t create a topic sentence, write the supporting sentences first. The topic sentence may then become obvious.
6. Write for an audience not necessarily up to speed in your subject area. This is important because you never know who will read your abstract.
7. Choose acronyms, abbreviations, and technical terms carefully as they may confuse many readers.
8. Define the scope of the project in the abstract.
9. Re-read your abstract after several days have passed and remove superfluous information and padding.

This technique works for documents of any length from a couple of pages to multi-volumes.

Using Keywords in Abstracts

I’ve added this in as many business documents are published directly to the web. This tip applies to writing abstracts, headlines and summaries.

Use keywords in your Titles, Abstracts, Headlines are documents are file electronically. As users search for documents by keywords, write the documents headings with these keywords in mind.

Likewise, your abstract must contain keywords that about the article, proposal, or report so readers can retrieve it quickly.

What other ways can we improve our business documents?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com

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Business Requirements – Excel Template

Difference Between Business Rules and Business Requirements?

One area where many Business Consultants get tripped up is confusing Business Rules and Business Requirements. We looked at how to write Business Requirements last week, so let’s look at what Business Rules and Business Requirements have in common and where they differ.

What is the difference between a business rule and a business requirement?

• Business Rules – these are statements (or conditions) that tell a person whether they can perform a specific action that relates to how the business operates. Business Rules also give you the criteria and conditions for making these decisions.
• Business Requirement – this may include what you need to do to enable the business rule to be implemented. In other words, a business requirement may not be valid if it contradicts or breaks an existing business rule.

Example of Business Rules

Let’s step back a minute. My Dad has three pet ducks at his home. One water duck and two land ducks. Yes, it gets very loud sometimes.

So, here are some rules regarding the ducks health and safety:

• Ducks cannot be given bread. It may choke them.
• Ducks cannot be left unattended when swimming. They are poor swimmers and may drown.
• Ducks must be given water with all meals. Helps them digest.
• Duck must have buddies. They’re very socialable and pine when alone.
• Ducks must be kept out of the kitchen. Yes, I see the irony

Ok, these are some of the rules we have for the ducks.

From Business Rules to Business Requirements

Now, imagine we were building a new apartment block for millionaire ducks. No doubt there will be many requirements about their lifestyle, feeding, entertainment and transport. While gathering and defining these requirements, we need to consider:

• The new apartment owners must not allow folks to give bread to the Ducks.
• If you’re building a swimming pool. They can have a pool if it’s a requirement, but they also need a life guard.

You get the idea, right?

Connection Between Business Rule and Business Requirements

Now that we’ve looked at how Business Rules work, let’s look at how and where they are connected:

1. Do business rules exist even when you can’t implement a requirement? Yes. The Business Rules inn independent of the requirements gathering process. It can and must exist independently of other processes.
2. Does implementing a business requirement mean complying with the business rule? Depends. In general, Yes, but there can be exceptions.
3. Does implementing the business requirement make it easier to comply with the business rule? Yes. The connection will be stronger across all business process and allow greater understanding of how the Business Rules to Business Requirements function.

Sample Business Rule

This is an example of business rules for a bank taking credit card applications over the web.

Example: Taking Credit Card Applications Over The Web

• Business Rule: Customer has an Email Address.
• Business Requirement: Ability for bank staff to send and receive emails to the customer.

Now if we change the business rule:

• Revised Rule: Customer must have a valid Email Address.

Note: A second rule is required to define ‘valid email address’. An Email Address is considered Valid if does not return as ‘undeliverable’ within 60 minutes of being sent out.

Additional Business Requirement to support Business Rule:

System will immediately send email to customer once email address is received. The email is not batch processed but sent in response to each email received.

Note: The smallest change in the wording of the business rule can have significant impacts on other business processes. When testing business requirements make sure that you consider all possible scenarios where the revised business rule will impact other parts of the business.

Recap

• Business rules describe what you may or may not do in a specific business scenario. It also gives the criteria, conditions and exceptions for making these decisions.
• Business Requirements capture what a user must do to implement and/or comply with a Business Rule.
• You may need different sets of business requirements to implement different sets of business rules, for example, when dealing with complex business processes with complicated conditions and exceptions.
• Business rules are independent of business requirements and shouldn’t be changed to accommodate a requirement.

Be careful when changing a business rule in case it impacts how a business process functions.

Conclusion

There is one final point I want to share. Make sure that ownership of the business rules is properly assigned to someone – and make the person accountable.

One approach is to assign this activity to a business analyst with strong skills in document control and with the ability to push through new versions of revised Business Rules.

Try to find the most practical solution for managing your business rules. We used a networked Excel spreadsheet at a large European bank and it worked very well. All documents were version controlled and we followed a strict naming convention which made it easier to retrieve and update the rules when needed.

Don’t get tripped up on the technology. Once the team understand how the documents are structured, written and shared, then you should be fine. Also, remember to purge out-dated business rules. This means you’ll have fewer documents to manage and should speed up annual audits if/when the auditors want to check your document repository.

Final tip: in the Excel spreadsheet, cross-reference the business rule to the business requirements so you can quickly identify where one change impacts another.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh runs the Business Plan Blog. He also shares Small Business and Small Business Information for Entrepreneurs at Klariti.

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“For more than forty years, I’ve studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I’ve been unable to decipher just what is being said or, worse yet, had to conclude that nothing was being said. If corporate lawyers and their clients follow the advice in this handbook, my life is going to become much easier.

In the late 90s, I found the Plain Language writing technique almost by accident. It’s also called Plain English, by the way. I was reading a lot about Warren Buffet a few years back and came across a nice, short document he wrote for the SEC. These are the folks who submit legal and business document to Wall Street when going on the stock exchanges. Buffet writes like he speaks. Direct, immediate and without pretension.

Audience Analysis worksheets.

From the handbook:

There are several possible explanations as to why I and others sometimes stumble over an accounting note or indenture description. Maybe we simply don’t have the technical knowledge to grasp what the writer wishes to convey. Or perhaps the writer doesn’t understand what he or she is talking about. In some cases, moreover, I suspect that a less-than scrupulous issuer doesn’t want us to understand a subject it feels legally obligated to touch upon. “

He adds that “Perhaps the most common problem, however, is that a well-intentioned and informed writer simply fails to get the message across to an intelligent, interested reader. In that case, stilted jargon and complex constructions are usually the villains.”

It’s a great read and you can download it here www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf in PDF.

Write Business Proposals in clear English

So, with this in mind, I wrote this short guide to help you write Business Proposals in clear English. It explains how to prepare an business documents that readers can digest in one reading. That’s the acid test. They shouldn’t have to read them twice and three times to get the meaning. It also covers how to use Plain Language writing techniques to win more business, accelerate your tender process, and encourage staff to contribute to the overall tender process.

1. Start Early

Developing a Plain English document takes time – the first time!. For your first Plain English proposal, allow extra time to write, edit, and revise. Add more time than you would expect to your usual schedule if possible. The next time it’s easier.

2. Study the principles of Plain English

Remember: you want your request for proposal to be understood in one reading. This means you need to:

• Identify your target audience i.e. Government departments.
• Consider what they need to know.
• Consider the technical terms they may, or may not, know.
• Develop plain English writing guidelines for your staff.
• Think about how to organize and format your Proposal.

3. Promote Plain English amongst your Staff

Once you’ve seen the benefits of plain English compared with other writing styles, you can promote its values to your own staff and senior management. You need to get your staff onside so that they will begin writing in this style. Likewise, you also need to convince your managers of its values and possibly funding for a training program. Explain to both camps how they will benefit. Outline a high-level roadmap with timelines for the overall program.

4. Contact an experienced proposal writer

The first time you write a plain English proposal, you may find it time-consuming and more difficult than you thought. If this is the case, you’re on the right track! Everything worthwhile is difficult the first time round – soon you will get the hang of it.

You can also approach a writing consultant, especially someone who has a proven track record of writing good, clear English.

5. Review previous Proposals and see where you can improve

Before you start writing, consider the following:

• Literacy level. What level of education is required to understand the Proposal? Use the Fog Index to test your proposal’s readability.
• Clarity. What parts of the Proposal are hard to understand? Are the sentences too long and complex? Does it use technical terms and acronyms that the target audience will not understand?
• Organization. How easy can you find relevant information? Would the Proposal be clearer if you reordered the main sections and possibly the sub-sections within it? Does the table of contents and index need sharpening? Are there too many/too few levels of information in the TOC.
• Repetition. Is the same information repeated in several sections? Does it have any real benefit?
• Headings. Should the headings be re-written in the form of questions that each section answers?
• Format. Do you need to add more bullet-point lists? Put keywords in bold? Use more white space?

6. Create an outline to help readers find information faster

One very effective writing style is to write headings as questions,which each section answers. If you include sub-sections, use a numbered outline format (e.g. 1.2, 1.3) for the section headings. This helps the reader find the main sections quickly and see the relationship among subsections.

7. Write the RFP, section by section, using plain language techniques

If some sections are hard to write, read them aloud and see where they are difficult to understand. Go through the document section by section.

Write the first draft of key sections first, and then work on the inside sections. Once you’ve written these, refine the text by editing each section tightly. However, make sure your text does not become too cold and dry. Write as if you were speaking to a colleague whom you respect; this often helps control the tone of the document.

8. Review and Revise

Once you’ve finished the first draft, get it reviewed internally by colleagues who can add value to the review process. Don’t choose colleagues who are too close to the Proposal, as they will not see errors. Instead, get a neutral reviewer if possible. After getting the feedback, make the required edits.

If possible, ask volunteers from the target population to review the draft Proposal. Ask them if they can locate information easily. When interviewing ask open questions and you will get a better response.

Avoid closed questions, such as, is this a great RFP? Most will say Yes, just to please you – and make you go away!

Ask how much they could read in one sitting. Again, revise as needed.

9. Create an easy-to-read format

Format the document to make it easy to read and attractive in presentation. If you have time, prepare a template that can be re-used for all future RFP’s. This will reduce the time spend on preparing the document.

• Leave a blank line between paragraphs
• Use bulleted lists
• Highlight main points with bold and italics
• Use boxes for examples
• Use white space generously
• Include margins of at least one inch all around the page
• Use two (2) columns to increase readability, if practical

Use several different type sizes for headings. In many documents, the headings are in San Serif font (i.e. Verdana) and the body is in a Serif font (e.g. Times New Roman). Use a contrast in style to add emphasis.

10. Get feedback – and share it

Lastly, see if the Proposal works! Ask the external reviewers how they felt using the ‘new’ plain English Proposal. Get feedback from personnel involved in the review process and collate it for distribution.

• Did they find that the plain English Proposal made a better application?
• Was it easier to write the application, and what made the most difference?
• What worked and what needs more refinement.

Summarize what you learned and share this information with colleagues. Encourage them to try writing plain English Proposals.

Track Your Proposal Wins

Keep a record of all the Proposals written in plain English and see if their success rate is higher than the previous styles of writing. There are more great writing resources are at: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter @ivanwalsh

PS: The Audience Analysis Template is here.

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Business Requirements Excel Matrix

Why Most Proposals fail

The problem is that they are offering solutions to problems we don’t actually have.

Maybe someone else does but these documents don’t address our ‘pain points’. My guess is that they read the RFP we sent out and got started pronto. But…

• Did they read the RFP in detail?
• Did they read out annual reports?
• Did they ask to see any feasibility studies we did?

I’m not sure.

How to write from the client’s perspective

One way is to step back and see how you can link your client’s strategic needs – what holds their business together – and what you have on offer. By doing this, you’re putting yourself in their shoes and writing the document so that it answers the issues they have. This actually makes your life simpler. Instead of writing about features, specifications, and other functionality you can dovetail your product offerings to their exact needs.

But…

First you need to identify their strategic needs.

Indeed, the fastest way to lose business is to write business proposals/business plan from your perspective and not that of your clients.

The second is to overlook how the proposed solution actually meets the client’s requirements.

You’d think this would be obvious, right? But many proposals I review miss this point. The proposed solution and the actual business requirements are very far apart.

Identify Strategic Goals
Your business proposal should focus on the client’s needs and how your solution or service solve their problem. This means that before you write the proposal,

You need to read the Request For Proposal, Business Cases, Annual Reports and other collateral that gives you an insight into their business operations. Ask yourself: what it is the client really wants to accomplish.

In other words, does the Request For Proposal, your solution and their Strategic Plan all connect. If not, revise your Proposal and close the gaps between their needs and your offering. Indeed, the more knowledge you have of the client’s strategic goals, and how they impact their business, the more likely your proposal will align with their needs.

How to do this?

Examine their strategic goals from these four different angles:

• Business Strategy – how can you increase their market share; raise profitability; reduce overhead and marketing the product line.
• Technical Strategy – how does your product automate labor-intensive processes, enhance quality with automated machining.
• Social Strategy – in what way can you enhance employee morale, reduce turnover, increase brand recognition, and change consumer attitudes.
• Personal Strategy – and how can you improve career development opportunities and improve employee issues.

Look at the material you have gathered about the client and

1. Identify
2. List
3. Number and
4. Rank

the strategic goals.

Revise the Business Proposal so that it addresses each of these strategic goals.

How to Prioritize Strategic Goals

I use an Excel spreadsheet (matrix) to captures the requirements in one column and then cross-references it against our products key features. You can develop something similar that allows you to map your technical solution against their Request For Proposal or other business documents.

In next week’s article, I will look at how to identify the client’s strategic goals. Once you have identified these, you can fine-tune your Proposal to match these goals.

Conclusion

The cardinal mistake that many novice business writers make is to focus on their product – and assume that the reader will have the time, patience and interest to read their material. This is forgivable when someone is charged up and wants to get the message out. And it works  to a degree. The message is sent out but does anyone likes what they read? And will they be so patient the next time?

Over to you.

How can we improve this? Where do you see the connection between Request For Proposals and identifying Strategic Goals? Also, what other points should business writers bear in mind when developing their Business Proposals?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the Business Plan Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/ivanwalsh

PS: The Business Plan Template is here.

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The second point to consider it that if your relationship with the client is sound, you can help them address the salient points in the business case, for example, if they approach you with a ‘rough idea’ of what they want. Business Cases can be seen as ways to ‘test the water’ from a financial perspective and see if the core concept is worth investing in.

Business Case Template

What is a Business Case?

The Business Case outlines the benefits, competitive edge, and other gains the company stands to make if it invests in this project. For certain projects, the Business Case is a fore-runner for a Request For Proposal (aka Invitation To Tender) where business proposals are accepted from external firms.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll look at how to write, review and assess business proposals. For now, let’s focus developing the Business Case.

I’ve put together this Business Case checklist which covers most all areas related to the project/service you are exploring. This checklist should help you address areas such as Achievability, Benefits, Costs, Critical success factors, Resources, Risks, Scope, Strategic fit, and Value For Money.

Business Case Checklist

To ensure that your business case is complete, examine the following points:

1. Achievability — this ensures that you (and other parties) have the experience, expertise, and resources to manage the project. Examine different approaches that can overcome any potential obstacles, e.g. additional resources, timelines, or budgets.
2. Assumptions — speak to all stakeholders and gather their main assumptions, e.g. in the case of outsourcing IT development, that the Intellectual Property Rights will be owned by your organization. Examine whether these assumptions are valid or not.
3. Benefits — outline the benefits, and opportunities, that each option provides. Identify the high-level benefits that align with your company’s main business objectives, and explore how these benefits can be measured
4. Costs — obtain indicative figures for the cost of the project over its entire lifecycle, not only the implementation costs. You may want to factor in 15-20% for scope creep, if appropriate. Also, determine who will pay for the project, if they have agreed to do this, and the payment method. Examine how to get an acceptable balance of cost, benefit, and risk.
5. Critical success factors — seek consensus with the other stakeholders on what constitutes success. If you do not take this step, stakeholder will have different expectations of the final deliverable. Define success factors that are specific, measurable, and achievable; identify any other factors that could affect success, such as the delivery of other parallel projects.
6. Dependencies — outline the internal (e.g. staff availability) and external dependencies (changes in the marketplace, new government legislation).
7. Options – gather details on all available options that could meet the business needs. Consider the trade-offs associated with each option, and the degree to which each option meets the project’s needs. Make sure that you have included the overall supply chain’s needs, i.e. the organization, partners, suppliers, staff and customers.
8. Procurement — send an Invitation to Tender (ITT) to prospective contractors. Evaluate their bids. Hold presentations with the most impressive bids.
9. Project Group — identify those (individuals, units, and departments) who are involved and/or affected by the project. Determine their interests and endeavor to resolve any potential conflicts.
10. Resources — scope the anticipated resource and capabilities requirements that you will need, such as staff, IT, workspace, equipment, and funding.
11. Risks – Capture all anticipated risks – plan contingences. Prepare a high-level estimate of the costs for each risk.
12. Scope – define what is in/out of scope with the existing budget; scope what can be delivered with a reduced budget, with indicative delivery dates; ensure that there are no conflicts with other on-going projects. Look at the impact that delaying the project or under-delivering could have.
13. Stakeholders — identify their role, responsibility, availability, and contingencies if they become incapacitated/released from the project.
14. Strategic fit – confirm that the project is still required and that its objectives are in line with the company’s business goals.
15. Value For Money — examine how to get Value For Money from the contractors, contractors and other third parties. Agree what constitutes VFM with the project stakeholders.

Once you have checked off these points, your business case should be ready to send to the project stakeholders.

What are your thoughts? What have I missed?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter @ivanwalsh

PS: The Business Case Template is here.

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