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Friday, May 31, 2019
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
How to Start a Home Care Business: The Proposal (part 6)
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Executive SummaryProduct
Apex Home Health is both a home health and non-medical home care agency. Our non-medical home care services include personal care, assistance with daily living activities, meal preparation, housekeeping and transportation. Our medical skilled home health services administer skilled licensed nursing and rehab therapy services under physicians' orders.
Clientele The target audience for Apex Home Care is seniors and adults with disabilities who wish to remain in a community setting. Specifically, we specialize in consumer directed services (CDS). Future of the Company Home care agencies continue to grow in popularity due to our aging population and preference of many older Americans to be cared for in their homes. Starting a home care business to meet this great demand for in-home care may potentially be a rewarding business enterprise. Company DescriptionMission StatementTo provide necessary assistance in meeting the unmet needs of seniors and adults with disabilities and enable the individuals to remain in a community setting.Principal Member Charles Lamson---owner, business manager/sales, account manager Legal Structure
Apex Home Care is a Sole Proprietorship, operating out of St. Charles, Missouri.
Market Research
Now at this point in my proposal, I hit a little roadblock, because I have done absolutely no market research and I'm not quite sure how to proceed, so I went to the Small Business Administration's website sba.gov, clicked on Start and grow your business: see the guide, there I found the section on conducting market research.
Market Research and Competitive Analysis
Market research helps you find customers for your business. Competitive analysis helps you make your business unique. Combine them to find a competitive advantage for your small business. 
Use market research to find customers
Market research blends consumer behavior and economic trends to confirm and improve your business idea.
It is crucial to understand your consumer base from the outset. Market research lets you reduce risks even while your business is still just a gleam in your eye.
Gather demographic information to better understand opportunities and limitations for gaining customers. This could include population data on age, wealth, family, interests, or anything else that's relevant for your business.
Gather demographic information to better understand opportunities and limitations for gaining customers. This could include population data on age, wealth, family, interests, or anything else that is relevant for your business.
Then answer these questions to get a good sense of your market.
You can do market research using existing sources, or you can do the research yourself and go directly to consumers.
Existing sources can save you a lot of time and energy, but the information might not be as specific to your audience as you would like. Use it to answer questions that are both general and quantifiable, like industry trends, demographics, and household incomes. Check online or start with the Small Business Administration's list of market research resources.
Asking consumers yourself can give you a nuanced understanding of your specific target audience. But, direct research can be time consuming and expensive. Use it to answer your questions about your specific business or customers, like reactions to your logo, improvements you could make to buying experience, and where customers might go instead of your business.
Here are a few methods you can use to do direct research:
For guidance on deciding which methods are worthwhile for your small business, check out resource partner network.
Use competitive analysis to find a market advantage
John and Kelly want to open an auto repair shop. they write their business plan, then turn their attention to making sure this idea will actually work. They start with a competitive analysis of the local business landscape. A quick online search shows three auto repair shops within five miles of a nearby town called Henry, which rests on an interstate highway. Next, John and Kelly look into who lives in the area. market research from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that local college students make up more than half of the population. the college is roughly a two-hour drive from the nearest major city. that means there is a large number of students in the area who drive long distances to go to internships and visit family. Finally, John and Kelly check the websites for the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics. They find that the town's economy is buoyed by jobs at the college, and there is a strong market for non-student residents, most of which earn well above the region's average cost of living. John and Kelly found customers that will make their business successful.
Competitive analysis helps you learn from businesses competing for your potential customers. This is key to defining a competitive edge that creates sustainable revenue.
Your competitive analysis should identify your competition by product line or service and market segment. assess the following characteristics of the competitive landscape:
Several industries might be competing to serve the same market you are targeting. That is why you should make sure to differentiate your competitive analysis by industry. There are many methods for doing this, including Porter's Five Forces analysis. Important industry factors to consider include level of competition, threat of new competitors or services, and the effect of suppliers and customers on price.
Free small business data and trends
There are many reliable sources that provide customer and market information at no cost. Free statistics are readily available to help prospective small business owners.
Consider these types of business statistics in your market research and competitive analysis:
*SOURCE: https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/market-research-competitive-analysis*
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Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Monday, May 27, 2019
How to Start a Home Care Business: The Proposal (part 5)
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A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You will use your business plan as a road map for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It is a way to think through the key elements of your business. Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners. Investors want to feel confident they will see a return on their investment. Your business plan is the tool you will use to convince people that working with you---or investing in your company---is a smart choice. Pick a business plan that works for you There is no wrong or right way to write a business plan. What is important is that your plan meets your needs.
Most business plans fall into one of two common categories: traditional or lean startup.
Traditional business plans are more common, use a standard structure, and encourage you to go into detail in each section. They tend to require more work upfront and can be dozens of pages long.  Lean startup business plans are less common but still use a standard structure. They focus on summarizing only the most important points of the key elements of your plan. They can take as little as one hour to make and are typically only one page. I will be using a traditional business plan format, so that will be the focus of the rest of this post. Traditional Business Plan Format You might prefer a traditional business plan format if you are very detail oriented, want a comprehensive plan, or plan to request financing from traditional sources. When you write your business plan, you do not have to stick to the exact business plan outline. Instead, use the sections that make the most sense for your business and your needs. Traditional business plans use some combination of these nine sections. Executive Summary Briefly tell your reader what your company is and why it will be successful. Include your mission statement, your product or service, and basic information about your company's leadership team, employees, and location. You should also include financial information and high-level growth plans if you plan to ask for financing. Company Description Use your company description to provide detailed information about your company. Go into detail about the problems your business solves. Be specific, and list out the consumers, organization, or businesses your company plans to serve.  Explain the competitive advantages that will make your business a success. Are there experts on your team? Have you found the perfect location for your store? Your company description is the place to boast about your strengths. Market Analysis You will need a good understanding of your industry outlook and target market. Competitive research will show you what other businesses are doing and what their strengths are. In your market research, look for trends and themes. What do successful competitors do? Why does it work? Can you do it better? Now is the time to answer these questions. Organization and Management Tell your reader how your company will be structured and who will run it. Describe the legal structure of your business. State whether you have or intend to incorporate your business as a C or an S corporation, form a general or limited partnership, or if you're a sole proprietor or LLC. Use an organizational chart to lay out who is in charge of what in your company. Show how each person's unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture. Consider including resumes and CVs of key members of your team. Service or Product Line Describe what you sell or what service you offer. Explain how it benefits your customers and what the product lifecycle looks like. Share your plans for intellectual property, like copyright or patent filings. If you are doing research and development for your service or product, explain it in detail.  Marketing and Sales There is no single way to approach a marketing strategy. Your strategy should evolve and change to fit your unique needs. Your goal in this section is to describe how you will attract and retain customers. You will also describe how a sale will actually happen. You will refer to this section later when you make financial projections, so make sure to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales strategies. Funding Request If you are asking for funding, this is where you will outline your funding requirements. Your goal is to clearly explain how much funding you will need over the next five years and what you will use it for. Specify whether you want debt or equity, the terms you would like applied, and the length of time your request will cover. Give a detailed description of how you will use your funds. Specify if you need funds. Specify if you need funds to buy equipment or materials, pay salaries, or cover specific bills until revenue increases. Always include a description of your future strategic financial plans, like paying off debt or selling your business. Financial Projections Supplement your funding request with financial projections. Your goal is to convince the reader that your business is stable and will be a financial success. If your business is already established, include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years. If you have other collateral you could put against a loan, make sure to list it now. Provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. Include forecasted balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. For the first year, be even more specific and use quarterly---or even monthly---projections. Make sure to clearly explain your projections, and match them to your funding requests. This is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business. Appendix Use your appendix to provide supporting documents or other materials that were specially requested. Common items to include are credit histories, resumes, product pictures, letters of reference, licenses, patents, legal documents, permits, and other contracts. 
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Sunday, May 26, 2019
How to Start a Home Care Business: The Proposal (part 4)
5/25/2019, SaturdayHey everybody, Its me again, Charles Lamson, Editor and Chief Writer of The Rant with Charles Lamson. So I woke up bright and early this morning and started doing more research on how to set up my business entity by going to this website again, Starting a Business - Missouri Secretary of State. It was there that I came across this useful piece of information:
Sole Proprietorship/General Partnership
Sole proprietorships and general partnerships can be formed or created without the involvement of the Secretary of State. In fact, the Secretary of State does not receive or accept filings related to the creation of these business types.
However, Missouri law requires any person or business entity which transacts business in the state under a name other than their own “true name” to register that business name with the Secretary of State’s Office as a Fictitious Name Registration.
Online registration of a fictitious name with the Office of Secretary of State can be accomplished at Business portal.
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So I clicked on Business portal and found this link, Business Entity Fees & Forms. I clicked on that and found this link, Fictitious Names. I clicked on Fictitious Names and found this link, Creation, Renewal, Correction and Amendment of Fictitious Name. And, lo and behold, that took to me to the form I need to fill out to register my fictitious name with the Secretary of State. I can just fill it out online and print it out and mail it in.
The only problem is that I don't have a printer and I'm short on cash. So, I called my mom to see if she could help me out and she said she would. So I should be getting a cheap printer tomorrow.
But I'm still not very clear on the fees involved. So I still have to do more research on that. Which I'm going to do right now (be back in a few minutes). To find that out I went to the Fees and Forms site. And there I clicked on this link, Schedule of Corporation Fees and Charges and found the below information:
CHAPTER 417 FEES—Fictitious Name Registrations Fictitious Name Creation, Renewal, Correction or Amendment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7.00
So I have to fill out the fictitious name form, print it out, and mail it in to the Secretary of State with a money order for $7.00. Not too bad.
And I decided the name I am going with is Apex Home Care. Here's a little graphic I whipped up, just on a whim (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Apex Home Care
I'm not much of a graphic artist, but you get the idea. Its a work in progress.
5/26/2019 Sunday, 11:18 AM So my mom brought me a cheap printer by today. Just something I'll need to print forms and stuff for my business. Thanks Mom! (hehe). So tommorrow's a holiday (Memorial Day - for those of you in other countries) and today is Sunday, so I figure I'll Just fill out that form online, print it, sign it, and mail it in with a $7 money order on Tuesday. But until then, as you can tell, I have been sort of floundering around on this business proposal, trying to figure the best way to come at it, and what all exactly should be in it. But after I got clear on what I was supposed to do in setting up a business entity, I figured its time to quit dicking around and actually start the proposal. So I figured a good place to start was the Small Business Administration's website sba.gov. They have tons of useful information there on how to start an above-board, legal business. And sure enough, upon arriving at their great site with this pretty black lady on it (see Figure 2), I clicked on this link Write Your Business Plan. Your business plan is the foundation of your business. Learn how to write a business plan quickly and efficiently with a business plan template.Booyah! That's exactly what I needed! So starting next post, I will be borrowing heavily from the above mentioned website, first doing a brief overview of what should go into a good business plan (or proposal) And then the post after that, I'll begin my actual official proposal I plan to submit. 
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