Ilya Pozin is CEO of Ciplex. Ciplex is a full-service interactive and advertising agency that provides creative, technology, and marketing services. Ilya grew Ciplex revenue from $110,531 to more than $2,000,000 in less than three years in the middle of a recession.
A zeal for technology and the Internet coupled with an entrepreneurial bent prompted Ilya to found Ciplex in 1999. His vision of owning and managing a premier web development company is well on its way to fruition providing top tier web design and programming solutions to both large client such as Nike and Century 21, as well as many small and medium sized businesses throughout the US and abroad.
Ilya focuses his energies on managing the growing roster of projects and marketing. A graduate from Florida State University with a degree in Information Technology, Ilya applies his knowledge and expertise across Ciplex’s client base on a daily basis.
To listen to our interview with Ilya please click here: Ilya Pozin Ciplex – To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer
Ken Paradis is CEO of Crowe Paradis Services Corp. Crowe Paradis provides nationwide representation for Social Security Disability claimants as well as health plan selection and enrollment assistance for Medicare beneficiaries. In conjunction with employer-sponsored group life, disability, and health plan participants, Crowe Paradis works to guarantee that disabled employees receive education, advocacy, and benefit coordination assistance. Ken grew Crowe Paradis revenue from $1,300,000 to $16,700,000 in three years, an amazing 1,208% increase, in the middle of a recession.
Blending his insiders’ knowledge, legal expertise, and business acumen to the nation’s second injury funds, Ken’s first venture, Alternative Risk Concepts, Inc. (“ARC”), has capitalized on hundreds of millions of dollars in untapped recovery and reserve reduction opportunities for its clients. From humble beginnings in the back room of a law firm in 1999, ARC counts household name, top five largest insurers, TPAs and self-insured corporations as its clients.
Teaming up with co-founder Michael Crowe in 2002, Ken also launched Crowe Paradis & Albren (CP&A) to capitalize on SSDI advocacy opportunities for claimants and disability carriers throughout the country. With contracts held with six of the top ten long term disability carriers in the country, CP&A has experienced explosive growth and now stands poised to move from the nation’s second largest single SSDI advocacy company in the country to the top position in the near future. Here again, the application of business solutions to legal challenges in a niche industry continue to provide tremendous opportunities. As with all of the ventures, the tremendous talents of nearly 100 employees have both propelled CP&A’s growth as well as maintained its focus on quality.
A native Bostonian, Ken earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Classics, History and Political Theory with Honors from the Colorado College in 1990. He is a recipient of the US Congressional Truman Scholarship as well as former Scholar-In-Residence of its Foundation. Ken graduated from the University of Notre Dame School of Law in 1994 while serving on the editorial board of the Journal of College and University Law.
To listen to our interview with Ken please click here: Ken Paradis – Crowe Paradis – To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
Ivan Koon is CEO of YouSendIt, Inc. YouSendIt is a Web-based digital file delivery service that allows users to securely transfer electronic files that are too large or too sensitive to e-mail. With nearly 12 million users, it enables more than 15 million transfers monthly in 220 countries among creative designers, photographers, business consultants, and media producers. Its more than 10,000 corporate users include Levi’s, Ritz Camera, Vmware, and Reuters. Ivan increased revenue from $100,000 to $15,500,000 in three years, an incredible 1,415% increase in the middle of a recession!
Ivan manages the company’s core operations, business growth, strategy and key partnerships. In this role, he has transformed the company from an ad-based to a subscription-based model and has played an integral role in solidifying YouSendIt’s leadership in digital content delivery.
Ivan has a proven track record of more than 20 years of operational and management success. Prior to joining YouSendIt, Koon was senior vice president of the Acrobat Intelligent Document business unit at Adobe, where he more than doubled Acrobat’s revenue in less than three years and created an Enterprise Document LifeCycle Server business that grew to over $100 million in revenue.
Before Adobe, Koon was president of the New Technologies Division at BEA Systems, a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software. Under his leadership, his team quickly became the fastest growing business unit in the company. Earlier in his career, Koon also served in a variety of executive management roles at S2 Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stratus Computer, including president and COO.
To listen to our interview with Ivan please click here: Ivan Koon YouSendIt – To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
Patrick Husting is the CEO of Extended Results. Extended Results offers technology and business intelligence services to companies across numerous industries, including media/entertainment, financial services, government, health care, manufacturing, high technology, and retail. He grew revenue from $734,000 to more than $5,000,000 in three years, an amazing 578% increase, in spite of the recession.
Patrick founded the company with a passion for leveraging technology into unique and effective business solutions – ultimately to help maximize a company’s ROI. He is a business intelligence pioneer who has guided companies like Microsoft, Intel, HP, Dell, Honeywell, Nordstrom and Polo Ralph Lauren over the past 18 years – establishing a new way for organizations to leverage business intelligence solutions.
Patrick is revolutionizing the way companies evolve with PushBI for desktops, Smartphone’s, and iPhones. Prior to founding Extended Results Patrick spent a number of years as a senior consultant with Microsoft where his role was to identify, negotiate and manage strategic relationships with fortune 500 companies and technological partners. Working with the CEO and CFO at eHome, Patrick was instrumental in the formation of the company and raising capital of 40MM. He helped hire key management stakeholders, created worldwide technology support group, built and managed a team of 60 people and assisted in the product strategy development along with revenue planning and worked on strategic corporate development.
In his spare time he is busy enjoying life as a great friend and leader to his family with four amazing sons. He holds a bachelor of arts from Arizona State University in Management Information Systems.
To listen to our interview with Patrick please click here: Patrick Husting Extended Results– To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
Eric English is Founder & CEO of Silex Interiors. Silex Interiors imports semi-finished building materials, such as cabinetry and granite countertops, from around the world then finishes and installs them for its customers. Products are sold directly to builders and homeowners through its rapidly expanding chain of stores. Eric grew Silex interiors from 197,000 to over $3,000,000 in less than three years. Eric is also author of The Rise And Fall Of A Sandcastle: What it takes to create and build a thriving company.
Eric has followed an unorthodox path to success as most entrepreneurs do. After attending only one semester at a community college and two years at a technical school, he finished his first business plan at age 20. It took two years but he secured seed investment for Performance Composites Incorporated (PCI) start up funding.
PCI was profitable from year one and grew into an industry leader as an OEM and aftermarket supplier of composite products for the power sports industry. He steered the company through several growth cycles and sold half the company at age 30. Staying on as President, Eric navigated a diversification process that included the relocation of manufacturing to Mexico. In December 2005 PCI sold it’s assets, and he left to pursue other ventures.
He has been happily married since 1996, to Janelle, who provides loving support that keeps him going. They live outside Tulsa, Oklahoma and find much enjoyment in raising their three children together.
Eric also serves at Guts Church in several capacities, primarily as an advisor. He also manages humanitarian relief programs for the island of La Gonave Haiti, which includes road work, water well drilling and other projects. He enjoys teaching on wealth through the Second Mile training program.
To listen to our interview with Eric please click here: Eric English Interview – To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
Jania Bailey is the President and CEO of FranNet. FranNet is the first choice for quality franchisors and potential prospective franchisees when seeking a franchise consultant. They accomplish this goal by being the market maker for a select number of high-quality franchisors using franchise consultants in local markets. She grew FranNet from $984,000 to $9,700,000 in three years in spite of the recession.
Jania has more than 25 years of experience in the banking and franchise industries. She worked for more than eight years, and in several different managerial capacities, with Fantastic Sams International, a hair care franchise. In her last position, she served as the regional manager for Fantastic Sams in Texas. Before that, she oversaw operational support and development for franchisees in a five-state region.
Prior to joining Fantastic Sams, Jania spent 18 years in the banking industry in the commercial lending and business development areas. She has been a keynote speaker at several national events for organizations such as Skill-Path Seminars and Risk Management Associates.
Jania is the author of “Thriving – The Journey to Success in the Business World,” a book that was published in 1995. She also has received numerous industry awards and recognitions including: 1998 recipient of the “Woman of Achievement” from the St. Matthews Business and Professional Women Organization; 1997 recipient of the Louisville Business First “Forty Under Forty” Outstanding Business Leaders; and 1995 recipient of the Bell Award for “Outstanding Volunteerism in the Workplace.”
To listen to our interview with Jania please click here: Jania Bailey Interview – To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
Russ Mann, founder and CEO of Covario is building an award-winning, full-service search marketing firm that provides Fortune 500 companies with software and agency service solutions for paid search advertising (PPC), organic search engine optimization (SEO), display advertising and social media programs. He grew Covario from $1,900,000 to a 15,300,000 in three years in spite of the recession.
Under Russ’ leadership, Covario has grown a high performance team of over 125 members globally, expanded its client portfolio to include more than fifty Fortune 500® and Internet 1000 advertisers, and has won several industry awards from organizations such as ad:tech, Gartner & 1to1 Media, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch. Most recently, Russ was voted San Diego’s 2010 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in the Emerging Business category.
He is a frequent speaker at industry events such as ad:tech, Search Engine Strategies, and SMX as well as at industry investment banking conferences. A sought after commentator on the state of online marketing, Russ has been quoted in Advertising Age, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, MediaPost’s Online Media Daily and The New York Times. He is also a frequent contributor to Actionable Insights – a Covario blog.
For the past 20 years, Russ has been at the forefront of digital marketing, advanced analytics and CRM technologies for enterprise-class organizations. Prior to co-founding and raising $21M in two rounds for Covario, Russ was part of the management teams that sold Peregrine Systems to Hewlett Packard for $425M, sold HNC Software to Fair Isaac for $810M, and took Homestore.com public for over $1.4B. At each of these successful solutions companies, Russ worked in strategy, alliances, sales, marketing and product management.
Outside of Covario’s commercial clients, Russ directs the Company’s and his personal efforts to social good and community involvement. Under the banner “There’s no search more important than the search for a lost child or a missing pet,” Covario is a pro-bono SEM and SEO software and services provider to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Arizona Humane Society and the San Diego Helen Woodward Center.
He is also an investor in the green VC fund GO Ventures, which has investments in Class Green Capital Partners, a green municipal buildings investor and in California BioEnergy, who is turning cow manure into clean energy and creating carbon offset credits! Russ serves on the Board of Directors for the free home phone service device company Ooma and is an angel investor in meeting productivity software maker MeetingSense. He is also on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Software Industry Council and one of the co-founders of San Diego Analytics initiative, which hosts the annual SuperMath conference.
Russ earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Asian Studies from Cornell University, where he learned to speak Japanese and graduated magna cum laude. Early in his career, Russ was a Strategy Consultant for the Braxton division of Deloitte, and lived in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia. He lives with his wife and 50 animals on a small ranch in Temecula, California and competes at the national level in cattle herding with his border collie
To listen to our interview with Russ please click here: Russ Mann Interview - To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
Dhiraj Rajaram, founder and CEO of Mu-Sigma is building the world’s largest applied math factory and helps clients institutionalize data-driven decision making. He grew Mu-Sigma from $1,400,000 to a projected $71,000,000 in 2011 in spite of the recession.
Dhiraj is responsible for the vision, strategic direction and leadership in Mu Sigma. His key strengths lie in the area of managing teams, aligning organizational resources to a customer centric vision and delivering profitable growth. He has built Mu Sigma from ground up during which time he executed on activities that included raising seed and growth capital for the venture, securing key fortune 100 customers, incubating an offshore delivery unit and hiring key leadership members into the company.
Dhiraj is extremely passionate about data driven decision making and has made it his mission to help companies deploy the use of sophisticated analytics and develop an objective quantitative language to communicate marketing, risk and supply chain issues within and across businesses.
Before Mu Sigma, he advised senior executives across a variety of verticals as a strategy and operations consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
While at Booz Allen Hamilton, Dhiraj worked with clients across various verticals (Consumer Products, Auto, Hi-Tech, Telecom, and Financial Services) and authored white papers on globalization and innovation. Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton, he worked as a management consultant, providing a mix of strategy, systems integration and project management consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Dhiraj holds an MBA from the University of Chicago where he majored in Finance, Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He also received an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University. Dhiraj attended the College of Engineering – Guindy, Anna University to receive a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
To listen to our interview with Dhiraj please click here: musigma_interview - To download the interview for future listening please right mouse click on the link, then select “save as” and download to your computer.
This spreadsheet walks you through the process of developing an integrated set of financial projections.
The first six worksheets in this workbook are steps you will need to complete.
They are titled:
1. Required Start-Up Funds
2. Salaries and Wages
3. Fixed Operating Expenses
4. & 5. Projected Sales Forecast (2 sheets)
6. Cash Receipts and Disbursements
To download the integrated financial projection model click here: SCORE Financial Projections Template May 2010 v 1.1
The marketing plan template below should be used as a starting point when contructing your marketing plan. Customize your marketing plan outline based on your specific company and market.
I. Executive Summary
A high-level summary of the marketing plan.
II. The Challenge
Brief description of product to be marketed and associated goals, such as sales figures and strategic goals.
III. Situation Analysis
Company Analysis
- Goals
- Focus
- Culture
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Market share
Customer Analysis
- Number
- Type
- Value drivers
- Decision process
- Concentration of customer base for particular products
Competitor Analysis
- Market position
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Market shares
- Collaborators
- Subsidiaries, joint ventures, and distributors, etc.
Macro-environmental PEST analysis :
- Political and legal environment
- Economic environment
- Social and cultural environment
- Technological environment
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis of the business environment can be performed by organizing the environmental factors as follows:
The firm’s internal attributes can be classed as strengths and weaknesses.
The external environment presents opportunities and threats.
IV. Market Segmentation
Present a description of the market segmentation as follows:
Segment 1
- Description
- Percent of sales
- What they want
- How they use product
- Support requirements
- How to reach them
- Price sensitivity
Segment 2
- Description
- Percent of sales
- What they want
- How they use product
- Support requirements
- How to reach them
- Price sensitivity
V. Alternative Marketing Strategies
List and discuss the alternatives that were considered before arriving at the recommended strategy. Alternatives might include discontinuing a product, re-branding, positioning as a premium or value product, etc.
VI. Selected Marketing Strategy
Discuss why the strategy was selected, then the marketing mix decisions (4 P’s) of product, price, place (distribution), and promotion.
Product
The product decisions should consider the product’s advantages and how they will be leveraged. Product decisions should include:
- Brand name
- Quality
- Scope of product line
- Warranty
- Packaging
- Price
Discuss pricing strategy, expected volume, and decisions for the following pricing variables:
- List price
- Discounts
- Bundling
- Payment terms and financing options
- Leasing options
- Distribution (Place)
Decision variables include:
- Distribution channels, such as direct, retail, distributors & intermediates
- Motivating the channel – for example, distributor margins
- Criteria for evaluating distributors
- Locations
- Logistics, including transportation, warehousing, and order fulfilment
Promotion
- Advertising, including how much and which media.
- Public relations
- Promotional programs
- Budget; determine break-even point for any additional spending
- Projected results of the promotional programs
VII. Short & Long-Term Projections
The selected strategy’s immediate effects, expected long-term results, and any special actions required to achieve them. This section may include forecasts of revenues and expenses as well as the results of a break-even analysis.
VIII. Conclusion
Summarize all of the above.
Nearly everyone who has ever started a business has underestimated the costs, and then faced the danger of running with inadequate capital reserves. The key to avoiding this pitfall is to adopt a rigorous approach to your research and planning.
Our Startup Expenses worksheet will lead you through the process.
EXPENSES – Begin by estimating expenses. What will it cost you to get your business up and running? The key to accuracy here is attention to detail. For each category of expense, draw up a list of everything you will need to purchase. This will include both tangible assets (for example, equipment, inventory) and services (for example, remodeling, insurance). Then determine where you might purchase these goods or services. Research more than one vendor; i.e.: comparison shop. Do not look at price alone; terms of payment, delivery, reliability, and service are also important.
CONTINGENCIES – Add a reserve for contingencies. Be sure to explain in your narrative how you decided on the amount you are putting into this reserve.
WORKING CAPITAL – You cannot open with an empty bank account. You need a cash cushion to meet expenses while the business gets going. Eventually you should do a 12-month cash flow projection. This is where you will work out your estimate of working capital needs. For now, either leave this line blank or put in your best rough guess. After you have done your cash flow, you can come back and enter the carefully researched figure.
SOURCES – Now that you have estimated how much capital will be needed to start, you should turn your attention to the top part of this worksheet. Enter the amounts you will put in yourself, how much will be injected by partners or investors, and how much will be supplied by borrowing.
COLLATERAL – If you will be using this plan to support a bank loan request, use the section near the bottom to show what assets are offered as collateral to secure the loan, and give your estimate of the value of these items. Be prepared to offer some proof of your estimates of collateral values.
To download the Start Up Expense Worksheet click here: Start-up Expenses
The business plan consists of a narrative and several financial worksheets. The narrative template is the body of the business plan. It contains more than 150 questions divided into several sections. Work through the sections in any order that you like, except for the Executive Summary, which should be done last. Skip any questions that do not apply to your type of business. When you are finished writing your first draft, you’ll have a collection of small essays on the various topics of the business plan. Then you’ll want to edit them into a smooth-flowing narrative.
The real value of creating a business plan is not in having the finished product in hand; rather, the value lies in the process of researching and thinking about your business in a systematic way. The act of planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, study and research if you are not sure of the facts, and look at your ideas critically. It takes time now, but avoids costly, perhaps disastrous, mistakes later.
This business plan is a generic model suitable for all types of businesses. However, you should modify it to suit your particular circumstances. Before you begin, review the section titled Refining the Plan, found at the end. It suggests emphasizing certain areas depending upon your type of business (manufacturing, retail, service, etc.). It also has tips for fine-tuning your plan to make an effective presentation to investors or bankers. If this is why you’re creating your plan, pay particular attention to your writing style. You will be judged by the quality and appearance of your work as well as by your ideas.
It typically takes several weeks to complete a good plan. Most of that time is spent in research and re-thinking your ideas and assumptions. But then, that’s the value of the process. So make time to do the job properly. Those who do never regret the effort. And finally, be sure to keep detailed notes on your sources of information and on the assumptions underlying your financial data.
To download the Business Plan Template for a Startup click here: Business Plan for a Startup Business
Having a USP will dramatically improve the positioning and marketability of your company and products by accomplishing 3 things for you:
Unique – It clearly sets you apart from your competition, positioning you the more logical choice.
Selling – It persuades another to exchange money for a product or service.
Proposition – It is a proposal or offer suggested for acceptance.
It can also be used as a “branding” tool that deploys strategy with every tactical marketing effort you use such as an ad, a postcard, or web site. This allows you to build a lasting reputation while you’re making sales.
The ultimate goal of your USP and marketing is to have people say to you… “Oh, yes I’ve heard of you. You’re the company who…” – And then respond by requesting more information or purchasing.
The Federal Express example:
Federal Express (FedEx) dominated the package shipping market with the following USP: “Federal Express: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” The deployment of this USP allowed Federal Express to emerge as the dominant leader in the industry, taking market share rapidly, and also increasing its sales and profits.
Building your USP takes some effort, but it is absolutely worth it because of the added advantage you’ll have in the market. Using a powerful USP will make your job of marketing and selling much easier, enabling you to more easily increase your sales and profits for the same budget.
Winning USP examples
The following are 3 powerful USPs that alleviate the “pain” experienced by the consumers in their industries.
Example #1 - Package Shipping Industry
Pain – I have to get this package delivered quick!
USP – “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” (Federal Express)
Example #2 – Food Industry
Pain – The kids are starving, but Mom and Dad are too tired to cook!
USP – “Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free.” (Dominos Pizza) (This USP is worth $1 BILLION to Dominos Pizza)
Example #3 – Cold Medicine Industry
Pain – You are sick, feel terrible, and can’t sleep.
USP – “The nighttime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine.” (Nyquil)
Remember, a USP is all about perception. It’s not enough to have a USP – your target market must easily and quickly see that you stand out. Do this, and you’re going to dominate your competition and your niche!
It is possible to create geometric growth for your company by continuously working and improving on all 7 ways to grow a business at the same time. Each one is a crucial piece of the puzzle that can determine the scale of your success.
- Increase the number of leads you generate
- Improve your sales conversion (the number of leads you convert into
customers/buyers) - Increase the transaction value of each order or purchase
- Increase the frequency of purchase (the number of times customers buy from
you each year) - Increase the number of referrals
- Increase the amount of time your customers continue to buy from you
- Increase your profit margins, lower your overhead or both
Here’s an example of how you can grow your business by establishing a simple and proven sales and marketing
system that focuses on ALL 7 ways to increase sales and profit.
This first table shows the effect on new customers, and what happens over the next 12 months. The first column
shows the business performing as it is today. The second column shows the combined effect of improving each
area by just 10%.k
| Keys | Business Multipliers | Your Business | Increase | Results | Cumulative Increase |
| 1 | Annual Number of Leads | 500 | 10% | 550 | |
| 2 | Conversion Ratio | 30% | 10% | 33% | |
| Number of Customers | 150 | 182 | |||
| 3 | Number of Transactions Per Year | 4.0 | 10% | 4.4 | |
| 4 | Average Transaction Value | $500 | 10% | 550 | |
| Annual Turnover | $300,000 | $439,230 | 46.4% | ||
| 5 | Profit Margin | 50% | 10% | 55% | |
| Annual Profits | $150,000 | $241,577 | 61.1% | ||
| 6 | Annual No. of Referrals | 100 | 10% | 110.00 | |
| Conversion Ratio of Referrals | 50% | 10% | 55% | ||
| Number of Customers From Referrals | 50.0 | 60.5 | |||
| Annual Turnover From Referrals | $100,000 | $146,410 | |||
| Annual Profits From Referrals | $50,000 | $80,526 | 61.1% | ||
| Total Annual Turnover | $400,000 | $585,640 | 46.4% | ||
| Total Annual Profit | $200,000 | $322,102 | 61.1% | ||
| 7 | Average Buying Lifetime (Years) | 5 | 10% | 5.5 | |
| Lifetime Value of Customers (w/o referrals) | $750,000 | $1,328,671 | 77.2% | ||
| Total Lifetime Value (w / referrals) | $1,000,000 | $1,771,561 | 77.2% | ||
In this example, the total annual turnover increases from $400,000 to a massive $585,640, and profits increase from $200,000 to $322,102! That’s the geometric power of working on all 7 ways to increase sales and profit at the same time.
The table below shows the effect that these changes have on your existing customers – as you can see there are 400 existing customers (clearly only 3 of the 7 ways to increase sales and profit apply to existing customers)
| 8 | |||||
| 1 | Annual Number of Leads | Current Customers | Results | Cumulative Increase | |
| 2 | Conversion Ratio | ||||
| Number of Customers | 400 | 400 | |||
| 3 | Number of Transactions Per Year | 4.0 | 4.4 | ||
| 4 | Average Transaction Value | $500 | $550 | ||
| Annual Turnover | $800,000 | $968,000 | 21.0% | ||
| 5 | Profit Margin | 50% | 55% | ||
| Annual Profits | $400,000 | $532,400 | 33.1% | ||
| 6 | Annual No. of Referrals | 267 | 293.3 | ||
| Conversion Ratio of Referrals | 50% | 55% | |||
| Number of Customers From Referrals | 133.3 | 161.3 | |||
| Annual Turnover From Referrals | $266,667 | $390,427 | |||
| Annual Profits From Referrals | $133,333 | $214,735 | 61.1% | ||
| Total Annual Turnover | $1,066,667 | $1,358,427 | 27.4% | ||
| Total Annual Profit | $533,333 | $747,135 | 40.1% | ||
| 7 | Average Buying Lifetime (Years) | 5 | 5.5 | ||
| Lifetime Value of Customers (w/o referrals) | $2,000,000 | $2,928,200 | 46.4% | ||
| Total Lifetime Value (w / referrals) | $2,666,667 | $4,109,241 | 54.1% | ||
| 8 | |||||
So when we include existing customers the results improve dramatically. Turnover has increased by just under $300,000 and profit has increased by over $200,000.
For more information on how we can help you generate increased bottom line profits please call us at 800-946-8112 or click here
You have created a Facebook Fan Page. Now what? I bet these questions come to mind: “Is my page a success?” “Who is engaging with us?” “Is our engagement effective?” “Does our content strategy work?”
The Facebook Insights dashboard will help you answer some of these questions. As defined by Facebook, “Insights provides Facebook Page owners … with metrics around their content. By understanding and analyzing trends within user growth and demographics, consumption of content, and creation of content, Page owners are better equipped to improve their business with Facebook.”
So what’s the best way to use this relatively new tool? We’ve outlined some steps below that should have you measuring Facebook engagement in no time.
Note that only page administrators can view Insights data for the properties they own or administer.
Examine a Wide Range of Data
There are two types of Facebook insights:
- User Insights: Total page Likes, or a number of fans, daily active users, new Likes/Unlikes, Like sources, demographics, page views and unique page views, tab views, external referrers, media consumption.
- Interactions Insights: Daily story feedback (post Likes, post comments, per post impressions), daily page activity (mentions, discussions, reviews, wall posts, video posts).
The question then becomes: “What do you want to track and measure?” There is a lot of data offered, but you want to sort through it and identify what information is meaningful and will help you make decisions about your engagement and content strategy. If that data is not readily available, you might want to do some manual calculations to derive the numbers you’re looking for.
Below are the insights I recommend you pay attention to and track.
Monthly fan size growth: Record the number of fans (or “Likers”) you have on the first of every month to see what your growth looks like. I’d say if you are growing organically and you have 10 to 13% monthly growth, you are doing extremely well. That is probably the highest organic growth number anyone can achieve. You can even go more granular and calculate weekly growth. Whatever you decide to do, make sure to watch for the spikes in fan growth and try to identify what contributes to those spikes.
The average number of Likes or comments: These are your engagement measures. If you know the average number of times fans interacted with you for every single post, you will be able to identify which discussions are of more interest to your fans. Watch for unusual spikes or drops in this number. I love this metric because it is extremely helpful in making immediate decisions in your content strategy and changes to your editorial calendar. Increase the number of posts around the topic your fans are more engaged with and decrease the number of posts around topics they are not interested in.
Unlikes and attrition rate: The fact is that you will always have some unsubscribes, no mater how great your engagement is, but hopefully it is just a small number. I usually just watch for spikes in the unlike numbers. You want to try and correlate them with the activity on your page and understand why people are leaving your page. It is rather hard to nail down the exact reason, but if there is an unusual spike, you will usually have a pretty good idea.
The simple attrition rate formula is:
Daily Unlikes / Daily Fan Count
This metric will tell you how many of your fans are leaving your site. It is normal to have small constant attrition over time.
Demographics: No matter what your objectives are, you can always find the demographics data useful: the gender of your fans, their ages and where they are from.
Page views: I like this metric because it helps you identify the number of returned fans. If you take the number of page views and subtract the number of unique page views, you will see how many of your fans are actually coming back to your page. You can also look at the Daily Active Users metric.
Mentions: This is the number of times someone tagged you in their post. The reason why this metric is important is because it is the easiest way for your fans’ friends to click through to your page. Every time someone tags you, the name of your Page appears as a link. It is much easier for someone to click on that link and learn more than to search for your Page manually. One of your goals should be to increase the number of mentions by your fans.
Tab views: This is the new metric Facebook implemented a couple of months ago. If you have multiple tabs on your page, it will tell you which tab gets what percentage of traffic. This metric will help you decide on whether you would want to keep or maybe get rid of some of your tabs. This is especially helpful as you can only have six tabs visible on your page at one time, and this data will help you prioritize accordingly.
Referrers: Another new metric that tells you where the traffic to your page comes from. You want to increase exposure to your page on the sites that bring you the most traffic.
Impressions: If your page is over 10,000 fans, you will see the number of times your post was viewed –- impressions. This metric is not exact since every time someone’s page refreshes, it counts as an impression. This number is usually a little overblown, but can show you how many times your post has been seen.
Some of these metrics require constant manual tracking and analysis, which is a big downside. However, the above metrics will help you make decisions about your engagement and content strategy that would allow more effective interactions with your customers
A stool needs a minimum of three legs to stand on it’s own. Four would be nicer sometimes, but three will do. However, less than three won’t do. Loose a leg on a three-legged stool and it can no longer function properly at what is supposed to be – a solid base for a person to rest upon.
A well known and respected marketer explains it by using the Parthenon in Athens as an analogy. Think of the roof as income or revenue, and the pillars as channels of distribution. If you only have one channel of distribution then the roof is not only unstable but positively tottering. He calls this the ‘diving board’ philosophy.
Think about it, a few chips off the only pillar – your sole distribution method – could bring the whole lot down. Better to have multiple distribution channels – and therefore more pillars to hold the roof up – giving you more support, security and exponentially more revenue.
Your business may also be resting on shaky support if you are relying on just one or two marketing methods to keep things running in stable fashion. Too many businesses rely on print ads alone, for example. Even if they have print ads in multiple and diverse publications, the marketing effort is still one-dimensional. If, for some reason, the ads stop pulling, the business will crash and topple.
Another example is companies that rely solely on direct salespeople or representatives. If they fail to perform, or as often happens, defect and get bought off by a competitor, a business can face very difficult times indeed.
But even if your business doing well with a single marketing vehicle, it only makes sense to establish more avenues of marketing income – why not add direct sales letters, prints ads, form joint ventures or implement a strategy to get free publicity using press releases and other promotional methods. You could also start following up sales letter mailings with phone calls.
You’re simply not letting your business be all it can be by limiting yourself to just one or two methods of bringing in new customers. Furthermore, you are exposing
yourself to insecurity and danger.
When you develop multiple methods of marketing, you not only stand to make more money and more sales, but you inoculate your business against unforeseen failure.
Projecting your balance sheet can be quite a complex accounting problem, but that does not mean you need to be a professional accountant to do it or to benefit from the exercise. The desired result is not a perfect forecast, but rather a thoughtful plan detailing what additional resources will be needed by the company, where they will be needed, and how they will be financed. Using your last historical balance sheet as a starting point, project what your balance sheet will look like at the end of the 12 month period covered in your Profit & Loss and Cash Flow forecasts. How will the year’s operations affect assets, debts and owners’ equity? For example, if you are planning significant sales growth in the coming year, go through the balance sheet item by item and think about the probably effects of assets.
Ex. ASSETS: Inventory and Accounts Receivable will have to grow. New equipment may be needed for increased production. You may draw down on cash to finance some of this.
Now, since a balance must balance, you need to consider the effects on the other half of the statement, liabilities and equity.
Ex. LIABILITIES & EQUITY: Some of the growth may be financed by profits retained in the business as Retained Earnings. Your Profit & Loss Projection will tell you how much might be available from that source. Funds may be contributed by the owners through contributions of more Invested Capital or loans to the company (Notes Payable to Stockholders). Suppliers may provide some of the financing via increased Accounts Payable. The rest will have to be financed by borrowing, which can be: Short term loans (due within 12 months) such as a line of credit or by Long Term Debt (maturity greater than 12 months).
To download the Balance Sheet Worksheet click here: Balance Sheet, Projected
Using figures from your Profit and Loss Projection, enter expected annual fixed and variable costs.
Fixed costs are those that remain the same regardless of your sales volume. They are expressed in dollars. Rent, insurance and real estate taxes, for example, are usually fixed.
Variable costs are those which change as your volume of business changes. They are expressed as a percent of sales. Inventory, raw materials and direct production labor, for example, are usually variable costs.
Under the variable expenses column, use whole numbers as a percentage, not decimal numbers. For example, use 45%, rather than .45%.
For your business, each category of expense may either be fixed or variable, but not both.
To download the Breakeven Analysis Template click here: Breakeven Analysis
Forecasting sales of your product or service is the starting point for the financial projections. The sales forecast is the key to the whole financial plan, so it is important to use realistic estimates. Divide your projected monthly sales into “Categories”, which are natural divisions that make sense for your type of business. Typical categories might be: product lines, departments, branch locations, customer groups, geographical territories, or contracts.
To download the 12 Month Sales Forecast template click here: Sales Forecast, 1Yr
