My Personal Finance Blog

Before embarking on writing a business plan for starting a car wash, a definition of what a business plan is in order. A business plan is a document to identify an opportunity, research why this opportunity is profitable and the steps needed to capitalize on the opportunity. The business plan can be a formal document or it can be written on the back of a napkin but the mere act of writing the idea down forces you to get the idea out of your head and on paper which helps find hidden business flaws and makes you think carefully about each phase of your business.

Creating a business plan is something anyone can do, even if you don’t know anything about business or finances. Even though the business plan is critical to getting the idea off of the ground, many entrepreneurs procrastinate when it comes to preparing a written plan. If you don’t know anything about business or finances, this is the best time to begin learning as the chances of your business being successful will be limited without this knowledge. Just as a builder won’t begin construction without a blueprint, entrepreneurs shouldn’t rush into new ventures without a plan. The old saying that “those who fail to plan, plan to fail” is very relevant when talking about starting a business. SBA’s statistics claim over half of new businesses fail in the first three years and the common factor is poor planning or under-capitalization (which is also poor planning).

Getting Started

The first step in creating a business plan is just getting started. Writing the business plan may seem overwhelming at first, but if you break the plan down to bite sized pieces and work on one section at a time won’t seem as daunting. Begin with what you know first and describe your business and your product or services. Work towards the more difficult subjects such as marketing, operations and financials. Don’t worry about it being perfect now, just get the concepts on paper – expand and refine later. If you get stuck on a section in the plan, skip it for now and come back later when you have more details.

Who is your audience?

When writing your car wash business plan, you need to keep in mind who your intended audience is and why you are writing the plan. Why? A plan for the bank will be less interested in the exit strategy and return on investment than one for equity investors. Additionally, a plan for written for internal use will be different than one looking for financing as a bank is not necessarily interested in detailed operations of the business.

Structure

Business plans tend to have a lot of elements in common. While there is not a format that all business plans follow, there are generally accepted guidelines that most follow as the order in which the subjects flow are not random. The Business Description of a business plan is aimed at painting a picture of your business and why this business will be successful. The Marketing, Management and Operations sections are researched and a strategy of how your business will compete and operate is developed. Last financial projections show in numbers what you explained in the business plan for the sales and expenses.

Breaking these three major sections down even further, a business plan consists of six key components:

Executive Summary

Business Description

Marketing

Managers & Employees

Operations & Location

Financial Projections

In addition to these sections, a business plan should also have a cover, title page and table of contents.

How Long Should Your Business Plan Be?

The answer that nobody liked in school applies to a business plan which is, “as long as it needs to be”. The more complex a business or the more sophisticated investors or funds requested will increase the length of a plan. An average car wash business plan narrative should be 4-15 pages plus financials and appendix items.

Business Plan Outline

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the first part of the business plan but is the last to be written. It gives the reader a quick glance of what your business proposal is about and what you are asking for. This part is critical as most readers will scan this section before deciding whether to read further.

The executive summary should typically be about one-half of a page in length and include what you would cover in an elevator pitch such as:

Explain the condensed version of the business concept

Product description or service proposition

This section should emphasize any unique features or benefits that what is currently in the industry or area, aka why would someone buy your product over the competition.

The demographics of your market

The Management team

When the anticipated start date is

Your equity position

How much are you asking for

Concise is the key in the executive summary. You will go into more detail later in the business plan.

Business Description

The purpose of the business description is to objectively describe the car wash business details and future potential include:

Mission

What the business does

Description of products and/or services

Industry information

Business Organization

Status of the business (start-up, expansion or purchasing)

Current and future goals

Any facts or figures should be noted and sources included in the business plan. This information is important should you need to defend your data and assumptions. The business description is where you are trying to paint a picture of the potential of your business along with the facts to support it. Try to inject energy and excitement to get the reader enthusiastic about the idea, without going overboard of course.

After describing the business, it is time to describe and additional products or services your car wash is selling. Keep in mind that it is important to show how your products and services are better than the competition. If you don’t have a good answer than you should rethink your strategy. What is it about your car wash that is going to get the customer to change doing business with the competition?

Marketing

A very important part of your business plan is the marketing section. Regardless of the quality of your products and your services, your business will be lost in the clutter of advertising. If you don’t know your customers, how will they ever find you? All of this begins with doing some research.

Customers: Who Is Your Market

The first step is to determine who you are going to sell to by identifying common characteristics of your market such as age, income, race, religion, education, interests and/or geographic locations. While everyone will want to wash their car product how are you going to effectively advertise to everyone and still make a profit? What you need to do instead is determine the group or groups of people who are most likely to use your car wash services and market to them. After all you are trying to generate a positive return on your marketing dollars, so use them wisely.

Competition

In today’s ultracompetitive marketplace, there is going to be competition, no matter how creative your business concept is. Attempting to run a portion of your car wash business better than the competition may be a difficult challenge so it is often better to focus on planning on being different and competing with them less directly. Can you serve a particular market niche such as the elderly that isn’t being looked at? Can you identify a unique operations/marketing/distribution strategy with a mobile approach? Even if you don’t have direct competition in your area meaning someone selling the same or similar products/services, you will have indirect competition for replacement products/services. If you indicate in your plan there is no competition it will be viewed that there is either no market for your product or you have not done your research.

Optimally you will want information on at least three but no more than five competitors. List information about who they are, how long they have been in business, location, products or services offered, perception on pricing, quality, etc. and compare your advantages and disadvantages. If the information you are looking for is not available online, you may need to pretend you are a customer to get some of this information.

Distribution – How Will You Get the Product To The Customer: By looking at who your market and competition is, you will have an idea of how to get your product to them. Perhaps through your research you will find a strategic advantage to serve the customer that the competition does not.

Promotional Strategy

With the above steps researched, the promotional strategy follows. The promotional strategy is where most entrepreneurs fail as they use the blanket statement that they are going to advertise in the newspaper, radio and/or television without thinking through the process or the customer. The promotional strategy provides you a map of how you are going to reach your market in the most efficient manner possible. Advertising is expensive, use it wisely.

Sales Projections

On of the more difficult areas of the business plan is coming up with sales projections. This number is probably going to be wrong and that’s ok. What you want is a figure backed up with justifiable data. Just grabbing a number out of the air saying you will make $300,000 won’t work. There are many sources to help come up with this number including:

Industry journals

Trade groups

Car washes in similar demographic areas

Industry experts

Census data

Pricing

The effects of pricing play a large role on how your product is perceived in the marketplace. Price too low compared to the competition and your product could be perceived as cheap and unreliable. Price too high with the features and benefits of your product and few customers come through the door. While this is a complex issue, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Make sure you can make a profit at whatever price you are selling at.

If you want to have lower costs and “get your foot in the door” it may be better to offer discounts or coupons initially until your business is better known.

Don’t be afraid to charge more for your product or service than the competition if you have something of more value to offer.

Pricing is the easiest of the marketing mix to change. You may find that a large competitor will under price you to ensure you can’t make a profit and your car wash goes out of business.

Management & Employees

In this section you would describe who is going to manage the business on a daily basis as well as provide strategic direction (if these positions are separate). Each of these people need to have a brief biography included as well as a resume in the appendix. Try to show how the experience and education of these people will be able to successfully execute the strategy in the business plan and succeed. Many times the owner may not have the specific experience for this business, so it is very important to pull their other professional experience in and explain how it will make for a successful operation. Next, a brief explanation of the employees is in order including:

What positions need to be filled

When they need to be filled (This is important in developing financial projections as you may have some employees come on after you start)

How much they get paid (Be sure to calculate payroll taxes as well, estimate 15% if not sure)

It is also recommended to add the professional and advisors to your business. These people include:

Board of directors

Consultants

Accountants

Attorneys

Bankers

Mentors

Operations & Location

The operations and location section of the plan illustrates how you are going to make or acquire your product and information about your business location.

Operations – Explain how and where your products or services are made. A few points to include in your plan

How does your car wash operate, what steps are in your service?

Who are your suppliers?

What are the terms and lead time for this product?

Location – Location is where you will be doing business out of. If you are in the classic, I can’t get my location until I get a loan so I can’t finish my business plan scenario, list what features you are looking at in a building along with average prices or rents and pad that number a little just in case. A few things to add:

Department of Transportation traffic count – most states have this information online to show how many vehicles pass your location each day.

Building description

What is the size

Where is it located

Specific reasons for this property

Proximity to suppliers, roads, airports, railroads, and shipping centers, etc.

Zoning

Average utilities – Be sure to get the last 12 months from the electric company if the building had been occupied. This could be an expensive lesson from a dishonest landlord. If you are opening a new location, try to talk with other car wash operators in a non-competitive area to get a estimate

Add pictures to the appendix

Add a floor plan to the appendix

Purchase price or monthly rent/lease

Include sales/rent/lease agreement in appendix

If building or renovating be sure to include quotes as this is an area frequently underestimated in costs.

Financial Projections

Financial projections are placed at the end of your business plan, before the appendix but it a very critical piece to the plan. The three must-have financial statements are a cash flow statement, a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet. The information already provided in the narrative portion of the business plan must match the financial projections. Most financial projections are three years in length. It is a good idea to include a Notes & Assumptions to Financial Projections page to both help make sure all of your numbers come through and provide an itemized list to provide clarity for the reader.

Notes & Assumptions to Financial Projections

Loans

Break out each loan (building, equipment, inventory)

Amount

Interest rate

Length

And any monthly costs not discussed in business plan narrative

Cost of goods/inventory

Advertising

Employee wages

Insurance

License & fees

Miscellaneous

Professional fees

Rent/property taxes

Repairs & maintenance

Supplies

Telephone

Utilities

Vehicle expense

Etc.

Anything else that needs to be explained in the financials that is not in the narrative

Financial Projection Sections

Startup Expenses – These are all expenses you will incur prior to opening your car wash. It is recommended to have quotes available or in the appendix for the larger items. It is also recommended that you pad your numbers some as there will always be unexpected expenses that were not accounted for.

Sources and Uses of Funds – This section details how the loan money will be used (inventory, car wash equipment, repairs and improvements, working capital, etc) and who is providing it (bank, investor or owner). You will likely need to be injecting 20% of your own money and maybe more depending on the risk assessment of the business and your personal finances.

Cash Flows – The cash-flow statement is one of the most important pieces of your business plan. It shows a schedule of the money coming into the business and expenses that need to be paid and whether you have enough cash to sustain the business gained during the warm month to cover the costs during the winter months. Every part of your business plan is important, but none of it means a thing if you run out of cash. Should this number be negative, you either need to raise sales, reduce expenses or have more cash. Your cash flow statement will typically be three years in length with the first year analyzing the monthly figures and later years by quarter. Don’t be intimidated with the cash flow statement as it is merely a future look into your checking account.

Profit & Loss – This statement, while similar to the cash flow statement but illustrated annually looks at the effects of non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization to get an accounting overview of the operations of your business.

Balance Sheet – The balance sheet is a summary of the value of all assets, liabilities and equity for an organization at the end of each year. A balance sheet is often described as a “snapshot” of a company’s financial condition and will show the value of the business over time.

Personal Financial Statement – If you are looking at bank financing every person who will have a 20% or more ownership position will need to provide a personal financial statement to show how effective they are at managing your money. This statement will show your assets (checking & savings accounts, cd’s ira, 401K, valuables, home, vehicle, etc) as well as assets (mortgages, credit card bills, installment accounts, etc)

Appendices

Appendix items are various pieces of information that help make your case. Include details and studies used in your business plan; for example:

Quotes for items over $500

Resumes of the management team

Industry research

Demographic data and trends

Maps/floorplans/blueprints of location

Leases and contracts

Letters of support

There is a lot to creating your business plan but will definitely make your business stronger. While it may seem easier to have someone else write your plan, there is no substitute to writing it yourself. This is your business and by writing it yourself you will have a better understanding of your business and strategies for success. There are also many free business plan templates and workbooks available on the web to help you get started. You can use these to help get started creating your business plan and then modify it for your car wash business.

For more free articles and resources for starting a car wash are available at www.StartingACarWash.com.

Additionally, business plan help can be found at www.TheBusinessPlanFactory.com

You want to install granite countertops for the kitchens and you are looking at all the slabs. As you look at the different granite slabs, you notice that some of them are more expensive than the others when all them looks the same in color, size and shape. As laymen, it is impossible for us to know about the factors which will determine the price of the granite slab. In fact there are different factors apart from color, size and shape which actually determine the price of the granite slabs. What are these factors? How is the price of a granite slab determined? What makes some granite slabs more expensive than others? Read on as we analyze all these facts.

Granite is found near all the mountain ranges and some of the quarries where the granites are found are located in South America, China and the European mountain ranges. As the workers dig deep inside the quarries, they look for all the possible sources from where they can unearth this natural stone which is in great demand. It is an extremely strenuous process which is also time-consuming. Blasting is not possible, as granite will break into thousands of pieces. This makes it all the more tough to recover this stone. Special cutters are used by the workers to take out the granite from the quarries. Large blocks are cut out, but the blocks are extremely heavy. Once the granite pieces are taken out, they are taken to various factories where they are processed and made fit to be used as items of home décor.

In the factories, the rough blocks are treated and then they transform into the smooth-surfaced granite slab. Although initially it was coarse and rough, now it turns into a smooth texture and it further adds to the look of this piece making it suitable for decorative purposes. The price of the granite combines all the money which has been spent on that granite slab to create a smooth-textured surface. The cost also includes the transportation cost as the processing expenses. The patterns that are found on the granite slabs are also responsible for the expensive granite slabs. Some patterns are rare and this may make the granite slab even costlier.

The color of the stones is one of the major determinants of the price of granite. There are unique colors. However even though there can be a difference in transportation cost, color and pattern of granite, the resilience and durability of the stone is more or less high. If your budget is not that much, you can go for the common forms. Even though the stones are less expensive, they will be durable like all the others. The granite installation process is pretty complex. You can hire a professional installer who will be able to do the job with ease. It is better to choose someone who has all the knowledge and expertise for the job, than to take all the hassles by yourself! Take a good look at the available selection of granite and choose one accordingly!

Spring Time is a perfect time of the year to visit New York City. While many college students and families flock to the beaches in Florida, Mexico and California for their Spring Break those in the know will make their way to NYC The Worlds Most Exciting City.

Activities on the beach are not only limited but they are also very crowded, but Spring Break in New York City is something very different.

You can choose from hundreds of Concerts, Pro Sports, dozens of Museums, 18,000 Restaurants, 10,000 Retail Stores, and some of the worlds most famous Attractions and Activities all in the New York City and Manhattan area.

Plus when you visit New York City for Spring Break youll have plenty of great NYC Hotels to choose from – consider the historic Milford Plaza Hotel.

See Milford Plaza Hotels – 2011 Spring Break in NYC Package:

Enjoy Spring Break in NYC & Save 20% off Milford Plazas Best Available Rate! Book now until March 31st and stay from March 13th to April 14th.

Visit the Milford Plaza Hotel Website for more details.

The Milford Plaza Hotel New York is located in the heart of NYCs Theater District just 1 block from NYCs Times Square and just blocks from NYCs Neighborhoods SOHO, Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, NOLITA, Tribeca, and the East Village, Chinatown and Little Italy.

This Manhattan Hotel is also close to all the most popular NYC Attractions and Things to Do in Manhattan; Times Square, the Empire State Building, Garment District, Diamond District, Central Park, Jacob Javits Convention Center and many other New York City Attractions that make New York City The Most Exciting City in the World!

This NYC Hotel provides Guests with a perfect mix of comfortable Guest Rooms, ideal New York City location and gracious Guest Services all at a very affordable rate that will surprise you.

As for choosing which NYC Activities or NYC Attractions to enjoy during your trip see below for just a few of the Top Things to Do in NYC.

1.Rockefeller Center – Top of the Rock | 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019
Rockefeller Center was envisioned by John D. Rockefeller to be the grandest plaza in all New York- a place where business was transacted and communities congregated. Conceived on the verge of the Great Depression, Rockefeller financed the Center personally.

2.Lincoln Center | Broadway at 64th Street, New York, NY 10023
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is the world’s largest cultural complex. The 12 world-renowned independent resident companies that make up the Lincoln Center represent the very best in the performing arts today.

3.Times Square | Broadway & 7th Avenue / 42nd-47th Street – New York, NY 10036
The Times Square Alliance was founded in 1992 with a focus to improve and promote NYCs Times Square – cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made this area of New York City an icon of Entertainment, Culture and Urban Life of Manhattan for over a century.

4.Madison Square Garden | 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10018
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, known colloquially simply as The Garden. It is also the name of the entity which owns the arena and several of the professional sports franchises which play there. There have been four incarnations of the arena. The first two were located at Madison Square, thus the name.

5.Battery Park | Battery Park (South of Broadway), New York, NY 10004
The Battery is one of New York City’s oldest public open spaces. Dutch settlers landed here in 1623 and established New Amsterdam. Now The Battery is truly the cradle of New York history, the front lawn of the Downtown district, and a hub of harbor access and cultural tourism. Over four million people, including residents, office workers, school groups, and tourists from around the world annually visit the park and its major landmark, Castle Clinton National Monument.

6.Union Square Park | Between 14th and 18th Streets, New York, NY 10011
Union Square (also known as Union Square Park) is an important and historic intersection in New York City, located where Broadway and the Bowery came together in the early 19th century. Today it is bounded by 14th Street, Union Square East, 17th Street, and Union Square West. It is run and operated jointly by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

7.Chinatown
With one of the densest populations of Chinese immigrants in the Western Hemisphere, Manhattan’s Chinatown is a true New York story, the American dream in action. The thriving immigrant population gives visitors access to the most far-flung wares and culinary delights, and to walk these streets is to walk through history (it’s where much of the action in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York took place)

Article by Hali Tanaka

I Wanted the Best Website Builder I Could Find

When I started my quest to find the best website builder available online, I had no idea what such a product should have. I admit I was totally clueless! That concern was coupled with the fact that my time was already fragmented between my full-time job and the many responsibilities I had at home. I was left with the conundrum that many face, and that is I had very little time for research. So what should the best website builder have?

Some Important Questions to Consider;

* Do they offer a large number of designer premade templates? * Are their templates ready to publish with one click? * Do they take the “learning curve” out of the equation? * Can you build a site and have it up and running in minutes instead of weeks or months?

Are there any other Distinguishing Factors?

OK, so then what distinguishes your “run of the mill” website builder compared to that of a really good one? I’ve since learned I was not the only one with that question. It turns out to be one of the most frequently asked question by novice online entrepreneurs today. So let’s try to break it down.

So How Important is Technical Support?

One of the most crucial concerns one should have of any website building product today is the question of “what type of support is offered?” Unfortunately it’s a question that is frequently overlooked.

Here are a Few Very Important Points to Consider;

* Do they offer 800 toll free phone support? * Is their support team e-commerce trained? * Are they available 7 days a week? * Are they available after regular business hours?

These questions are some of the key factors that come into play when it comes to determining the best website builder, as compared to that of which is average or mediocre in nature. Let’s face it, you can have the best website builder in the world, but if you can’t use it or you get stuck and can’t seem to move forward because there is no one available to answer your questions, the product’s value diminishes greatly.

Are They Experts at Conveying Abstract Solutions with the Written Word?

One would also hope that the support team representative responding to your question has a better than average way of conveying his or her response via the written word. Isn’t it true that everyone has his or her own personal style of writing, phrasing thoughts, ideas and suggestions? I mean haven’t we all received an email or two in our lifetime and were totally perplexed by what was being said or conveyed? Perhaps even within the last few days or weeks you’ve received such an email? We certainly don’t want to be further confused by a poorly written or composed technical response.

Do they have “Drag and Drop” Technology?

The best website builder would likely have incorporated “drag and drop” technology into their product. Some of the most popular site builders available today haven’t yet incorporate this technology into their product. Based upon feedback and comments by users of such products, these site builders are missing a vital element typically associated with “ease and simplicity.” True drag and drop technology is critical to the novice website builder, and it’s value is exponential.

Be careful and make certain they possess “true” drag and drop technology. Some site builders use a type of older antiquated technology built into their product, which can be misconstrued by the consumer as true “drag and drop” technology. The hazard is If such an organization runs aggressive marketing and advertising campaigns, their slogans and verbiage can prove challenging to decipher at times. This can occur in an extremely competitive market place.

Testimonials, Recommendations and Actual Customer Websites

One of the ways experienced marketers use to determine the credibility of a given product is to see what groups, organizations or companies are recommending that product. You also want to be able to see examples of websites that have been created using their product. These are very relevant concerns that the best website builders would likely display on their website when attempting to garner your interest in using their product. Any organization can say they have the best website builder, but can they prove it?

These are Excellent Indicators;

* Are they highly recommended by organizations and respected third parties? * Do they allow you to see actual customer websites created by their program? * Do they provide testimonials on their site?

If finding the best website builder available online today is important to you, take the time and make the right decision. Your life will be much easier and headache free if you do!

There must be a reason some Forex traders succeed using a Forex indicator strategy while others fail miserably.  Put another way, why can one trader may a fortune while the other struggles to break even?  In this article I’m going to reveal 3 things I do to maximize my accuracy and profits using Forex indicator strategies.

The Problem: Different traders get totally different results when using the same Forex indicator strategy.  One trader can make the strategy work and profit, and the other fails and loses money.  The truth is, what this shows is this a problem with how the trader is applying the strategy, and not a problem with the strategy itself.

Use Forex Indicator Strategies With Email Alerts

Sometimes you can see the promise of a strategy the minute you put it on your charts.  But trading it live becomes a challenge you cannot overcome.  It is hard for some traders to admit this is their problem, and end up blaming the strategy, their broker or Forex trading in general.

Most of the time, the failure is due to not being able to watch the charts and wait for buy and sell signals.  They miss trading opportunities and get frustrated.  Then they try to “get back” at the market and take bad trades.  This problem can be fixed by simply using a forex indicator strategy with email alerts so you don’t miss trading opportunities.

Use Advanced Tools To Automate Your Forex Exit Strategy

A lot of traders have problems managing the trade once it is placed and sticking to their trading plan.  This leads to letting losing trades run and cutting your winners short. Again, managing the trade properly takes a lot of chart time people don’t have.

The way to fix this problem is to use advanced trading tools to automate your exit strategy.  This keeps you true to your trading plan, even without you having to be at your charts. Plus, it frees up a great deal of your time and lends itself to less stressful trading.

Treat Your Forex Indicator Trading Like A Business

A lot of people try to “dabble” in trading.  This usually leads to putting in very little effort and abandoning perfectly good trading strategies without doing what it takes to be successful.  But successful traders treat Forex trading like a business, and you should too.

You need to set up a trading infrastructure like having a computer, trading area and a virtual private server.  The VPS is very important because it allows you to leave your trading platform connected to the Internet, even when your computer is turned off.  If you want email alerts and an automated exit strategy, this is a must.

I profit trading Forex indicator strategies because I find winning systems and figure out how to get email alerts and automate my exit strategy.  While other traders are complaining, I am making money.  If they would just follow my lead, they could be successful as well.

If you have had trouble trading winning Forex indicator strategies in the past, isn’t it time to start trading them the way I do.