Page 104 - Social Media Marketing

Assembly Line Selling 85

significantly improve the chances that your new venture will
achieve its goals.

I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I didn't write my first business
plan until I had been in sales for nearly 15 years. I wrote it out on a
pad of yellow legal paper, 10 sheets in all.

At the time, I was running a business in excess of $50 million a
year, and I'm writing on yellow sheets? I went to the bank to get a
credit line to buy some foreclosed homes. The banker said, "Let me
see a copy of your business plan." I gave it to him. He said, "Well,
it's good, but is this how your keep your business plan?" I said,
"Well, that's the written copy; I could show you the typed copy, but
we keep it back at the office for the staff."

Of course, I didn't have a typed copy, and the staff didn't know
what I was going to do or where we were going. Just repeating this
scenario makes me shudder.

Before you set out on any new venture, draw up a comprehen-
sive business plan. Several books can lead you through the pro-
cess, or you can visit the Small Business Administration web site at
www.sba.gov, where you will find plenty of guidance on compos-
ing your business plan along with information about SBA offices in
your area.

Beginning to Change

Several years ago, superstar salesman Stanley Mills, from Memphis,
Tennessee, visited me and my family during the week between
Christmas and the New Year. We spent a week writing a business
plan. That one week spent developing that business plan changed
my life forever. I realized how important it was to have a business
plan at the beginning of every year and that I needed quite a bit
more time to develop a solid plan.

The following year, I started my business plan around Thanks-
giving and finished it just after the first of the year. It was now
109 pages, covering everything, including how much revenue I was
going to generate per hour. I shared the plan with everyone in my