I understand what you’re after. You want to lever off existing work and not reinvent the wheel. When we make a database of more than 500 sample plans available, you want to find “the right one” for your business.

But the truth is that what you can get here at Bplans is tons of help creating your own plan. Our sample plans are great as examples, so you can see what somebody else covered; but don’t try to get an exact match, because it will never work.
No two pizza restaurants are alike. No two dry cleaners, or butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers are alike. A real business plan from one doesn’t serve the other as anything more than a good example and food for thought. Even if you found an exact match for your business, it would still have a different time and place, resources, owner objectives and preferences, strategy, customer, and resources. You’d still want to develop your own plan. The example would be useful, but as only that: an example.

So don’t worry that much about matching the sample plan to your business. Use the sample plan browser, find something in the same general area, get an idea of what was included, and think about why. Then do your own plan.

People are always asking for a list of fundamentals, a checklist they can use to start their own businesses. From your business type to your business model to your physical location, there are so many variables it’s not easy to come up with a list that will work for everybody. The key, regardless of what type of business you’re starting, is to be flexible!

That said, here’s are seven steps to take before you start your business.

Step 1: Personal evaluation.

Begin by taking stock of yourself and your situation. Why do you want to start a business? Is it money, freedom, creativity, or some other reason? What skills do you have? What industries do you know about? Would you want to provide a service or a product? What do you like to do? How much capital do you have to risk? Will it be a full-time or a part-time venture? Your answers to these types of questions will help you narrow your focus.

Step 2: Analyze the industry.

Once you decide on a business that fits your goals and lifestyle, you need to evaluate your idea. Who will buy your product or service? Who would be your competitors? You also need to figure out at this stage how much money you will need to get started.

Step 3: Make it legal.

There are several ways to form your business –– it could be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation. Although incorporating can be expensive, it is well worth the money. A corporation becomes a separate entity that is legally responsible for the business. If something goes wrong, you cannot be held personally liable.

You also need to get the proper business licenses and permits. Depending upon the business, there may be city, county, or state regulations as well as permits and licenses to deal with. This is also the time to check into any insurance you may need for the business and to find a good accountant.

Step 4: Draft a business plan.

If you will be seeking outside financing, a business plan is a necessity. But even if you are going to finance the venture yourself, a business plan will help you figure out how much money you will need to get started, what needs to get done when, and where you are headed.

Step 5: Get financed.

Depending on the size of your venture, you may need to seek financing from an “angel” or from a venture capital firm. Most small businesses begin with private financing from credit cards, personal loans, help from the family, etc. As a rule of thumb, besides your start-up costs, you should also have at least three months’ worth of your family’s budget in the bank.

Step 6: Set up shop.

Find a location. Negotiate leases. Buy inventory. Get the phones installed. Have stationery printed. Hire staff. Set your prices. Throw a “Grand Opening” party.

Step 7: Trial and error.

It will take awhile to figure out what works and what does not. Follow your business plan, but be open and creative. Advertise! Don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

Above all, have a ball! Running your own business is one of the great joys in life!

When starting a business, one of the essentials is the purchase of appropriate insurance. With all of the options available, and some mandatory insurance requirements, this is an area that takes a bit of study. The goal is to provide full protection of the business investment without paying more than necessary.

Reviewing the needs of your particular venture with an insurance advisor will help to ensure adequate protection. After deciding on the type of insurance and amount of coverage needed, control costs by shopping around for the best rates.

Begin with the insurance premiums that are required by law. All states have insurance mandates for business owners, some more stringent than others. After this, investigate insurance needs for your business that are not be legally required but may still be a good idea. It is the responsibility of the business owner to properly insure and protect their investment.

Government-Mandated Insurance for Businesses
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Every state requires businesses to carry this type of. It protects employees in case they suffer an injury or disability related to the job. The insurance would be a good idea even if it weren’t required. Workers’ Compensation insurance also protects the business from lawsuits brought by employees or their families in case of injury or death, as long as the employer is not negligent in providing a safe working environment.

Business Auto Insurance
Just as a private vehicle must be insured, all states have regulations regarding commercially owned and operated automobiles.

The policy must cover both the vehicle and the drivers. Requirements vary with the type of company and the way the vehicles are used. For complete information on requirements in a particular state, visit the Department of Motor Vehicles website for that state.

Disability Insurance
Businesses operating in California, Hawaii, New York, Rhode Island or New Jersey must also purchase disability insurance. Should the business owner or an employee become disabled and not be able to work, the disability insurance replaces a portion of that individual’s income.

Business Insurance that is Needed but Not Mandated
Property and Liability Insurance
Business owners make a major investment in property, including buildings, equipment and furnishings needed to operate. This type of insurance covers the replacement of property lost due to fire or theft. It also provides protection from lawsuits by visitors or customers injured on the property.

Errors and Omissions Insurance
A business that handles the property or documents of customers, or provides certain services to them, may need this type of insurance. If an error or omission by a company employee or business owner causes a loss to that customer, the insurance covers liability claims.

Criminal Liability
Background checks don’t always protect a company from potential actions by its employees. The company is still liable if an employee intentionally harms a third party. This insurance covers liability in the case of criminal acts by employees.

Business Owner’s Insurance
A business owner may be vulnerable to a personal liability suit due to inadvertent damages. This insurance protects the business owner in case of such a suit.

Other Insurance to Consider
Many companies will also want to reduce their risk by investing in Business Continuation Insurance, Product Liability Insurance, or Key Executive Insurance. The amount and type of insurance a business needs will be decided by many factors unique to that venture.

The best approach in deciding about business insurance is to consult with an insurance advisor who’s qualified and experienced in protecting small businesses.

About the author: Erika Stewart is an expert finance writer whose articles can be found on countless financial websites. Her topics of interest include personal finance, frugal living and insurance. She currently writes and provides expert advice for CheapInsurance123, an online resource of low-cost insurance quotes.

Regardless of the type of business you’re planning to start, it is important for you to have a business plan. This is the most essential thing to attain success in any business. You can create the business plan on your own or you can enlist the help of a business planner. If you create the business plan of your own, you are actually forced to consider serious facts early on, which will help you learn as much as you can about your business. Just as it is important for a person to calculate a mortgage before taking one out, it is important for you to calculate the affordability of your business from the very beginning.

Writing a  mortgage business plan

In order to create a profitable mortgage business, you need a solid business plan. What are the things that you will be required to do? You will have to:

1. Understand and analyze the market – You will have to understand and analyze the real estate and the mortgage market in order to start your business and create a realistic business plan. You’ll also want to gain an understanding of  the needs of the potential customers.

2. Know the local and state legal requirements  – In order to start and maintain a business, it is important for you to consider the laws of the state you are starting up in. This will help you not only in avoiding any kind of hassles later but will also help you in catering to the customers in the right way. Keeping out of legal trouble will definitely improve your chances of success.

3. Determine the business objectives – It is important to chalk out the business objectives, which will determine the actions and the strategies you’ll use. It is also important for you to review the objectives from time to time in order to avoid any mistakes as the changes occur and your business grows.

4. Determine affordability – In order to go forward with any kind of business, it is important to first determine affordability. Based on the affordability, you will have to invest money in your business. This will also help you in calculating the profits made from the business.

5. Formalize the strategies for marketing – It is important to formalize marketing strategies as these are crucial for your business goals. Try to include the business policy on pricing of the services of the firm, thereby taking into consideration the competitive pressures.

6. Discuss with a business planner – Another thing that you need to do is discuss  your business plan with a professional business planner or other trusted advisor who can help you make sure your plan is feasible.

7. Define the management team – It’s important for you to assemble information about the  skills you’re looking for and what you’ll need from your management team. You will be required to include details about your management team in your business plan, so don’t leave this step out.

Samantha Taylor is the Community Mentor of MortgageFit and has been contributing her suggestions to the Community since 2005. She has made notable contributions through the various articles written on different subjects related to the mortgage industry for the MortgageFit community.

The mortgage business like most of the other businesses works differently in different states. So, it is important for you to know all of the rules of mortgage business in your state. Though the mortgage lending process is almost same in all of the states, but the laws involved are different. Thus, in case you want to start and run a successful mortgage business, it is important for you to know about all of the details of the laws involved and the licensing regulations for your business.

Running a successful mortgage business

In order to run a successful mortgage business, you can do the following:

Check with the licensing rules – You will have to check with the licensing rules in the state you live in; if that is the state where you are going to start your business or are already running your business. One of the most important things for your business to be successful is getting a license for the same. You can contact your state’s office of licensing to get the license for your mortgage business. From here you will be able to get the proper application form.

Have clear idea on the business – Not only your mortgage business, in order to run any kind of business it is really important for you to get a clear idea on the business you are going to start. Or if you are already running a business, you will have to remain constantly updated on the same. This will help you in succeeding with the business. Only if you can have clear and updated knowledge on the business idea, you will be able to attract more consumers and that is where your success lies.

Discuss on the profitability and the overhead – In order to keep your business going, you need to decide on the amount or the revenue that you need to keep. In order to decide on this you will be required to list all of your business expenses. The money that you will be able to save other than paying for all kinds of expenses for the business you are running, should be considered as your profitability.

Talk to persons involved – You can talk to the persons involved in this business. They will be able to provide you with more practical ideas on how to run the business and what are the things that you actually need to following order to see success coming to you.

Follow and analyze business plan – You will have to follow and also analyze a business plan from time to time. This can include the type of mortgages you would like to lend and till what amount you are going to lend. In addition to this, it will include the places where you are going to spread your business and the credit rating deepening on which you will be lending your money to consumers.

Involve in online marketing – In order to succeed with your business, you will have to establish good and extended relationships with the vendors and the consumers too. This is important because, for mortgage processing you will require to constantly deal with the appraisal companies, the title companies, the closing agents and so on. This all can be made easy if you opt for online marketing and promoting your business through the different social networking sites

Get federal tax identification number – Other than the above tips, it is also important for you to get your federal tax identification number. You may be able obtain the federal tax identification number for your mortgage business from the Internal Revenue Service or IRS, through phone or by simply applying through the online process from the website of the IRS.

So, if you follow the above tips, you may be able to run a successful mortgage business and make money out of it.

Samantha Taylor is the Community Mentor of MortgageFit and has been contributing her suggestions to the Community since 2005. She has made notable contributions through the various articles written on different subjects related to the mortgage industry for the MortgageFit community.

During 2009 we saw the attack and counter-attack of Internet platforms as [a mainstream media consortium] decided to take on the blogosphere, and bloggers’ frequent quotations from the [mmc]’s posted stories. There were demands for the take-down of various blog pages, and attempts to collect fees-per-word of quotes, as well as rapier-like witty ripostes. You can read about this on the TechCrunch blog, Post 1, and Post 2.

While this issue seems, on the surface, to be about copyright, fair use, and possibly expansion of new revenue streams, it also deals with attribution and citing of sources. This is not just for journalists. It is just as important to entrepreneurs.

When you write your business plan, especially if you are using the plan to secure funding, you must cite your sources. Your plan will have topics and statistics covering your target market, population demographics, spending habits, market trends, market growth, and the like. The banks or investors or VCs are savvy business people. They know how to double check your assumptions, and will have no qualms about calling your bluff…and quashing your funding if they don’t credit your stats.

If your business is going to provide day care services, you’d better be able to show an increase in young, dual-income families in your area. Investors are unlikely to support the construction of high-end mansions in a community that has been losing all of its businesses and employeers. If you forecast skyrocketing sales, you’d better be able to document how a similar product or service did the same, and why yours will follow suit, and not crash and burn in a saturated market niche.

In other words you can’t pull your projections out of your … that is, out of thin air! Do your research! Develop your forecasts using that information. Document your sources in your plan. Take a look at this blog post by Alan Gleeson, Managing Director of Palo Alto Software Ltd, in the UK. The post quotes several people, businesses and news sources, and includes links and footnotes. Your business plan should do the same, giving the proper attribution to your sources.

As a raconteur I can make it up as I go along. As a business owner you don’t have that luxury.

Most people starting businesses aren’t business planning experts. In fact, most have never written a business plan before. Many have never even seen one before they set out to write one.

This is why sample business plans are so handy. They can give you a good sense of what you should include in your business plan, how to structure it, even what to write.

The most important thing to remember when looking at sample business plans is that they’re samples (that’s why we call them that). They’re not pre-written plans that you can use as a plan for your business. And anyone who tries to tell you that you can is wrong. Or trying to make a buck off of you.

But that’s not to say that a sample plan isn’t useful. This article will help you understand how to make the most of a sample business plan while avoiding some of the following common mistakes:

Mistake 1: Looking for an ideal match

Let’s say you’re opening a Pakistani restaurant. You’d probably have to look long and hard to find a sample Pakistani restaurant business plan. But right here on Bplans you could find more than three dozen restaurant sample plans. It really doesn’t matter if it’s an exact match in this case. An Italian restaurant plan will still show you the layout and structure of the document. Even specific things, like whether the tables and chairs you buy will be assets or expenses, will translate from one type of restaurant to another.

Mistake 2: Assuming the sample is perfect

On Bplans, and in business planning software like Business Plan Pro, the sample business plans are all real business plans written by real people. But that doesn’t mean they’re all perfect. If you are looking at a business plan and a piece of it doesn’t fit your business model or just doesn’t sound right to you, don’t be afraid to discard it. Too often, people think a sample plan is a model, when really it’s just an example of what one person did. One size doesn’t fit all, so don’t try to cram your business idea into a sample plan just because it seems like it’s close.

Mistake 3: Wholesale cut and paste

As already mentioned in the intro, a sample plan isn’t going to work as a pre-written plan for your business. If you’re planning to open a pet boarding kennel, for instance, you might take one look at the Noah’s Arf sample plan and think your work is done for you. And while Noah’s Arf is a great example of a dog and cat kennel business plan, and even if your business model and Noah’s Arf’s are identical, you can’t just swap out the names and call it a day.

When was the plan written? What’s the market like in the business location compared to where you’re starting your business? How many employees do they have, and how much are they getting paid? For instance, in the Noah’s Arf plan, full-time employees will be making $1,280 a month, which would be $8 an hour. That might have been fine in 2001 when the plan was written, but if you were opening a kennel in Oregon today, you’d get in big trouble with those numbers, since you’d be planning to pay your staff $.50 below the state’s current minimum wage. So be sure to edit thoroughly!

What’s the point of a business plan?

It might seem like turning out a printed document is the sole purpose of writing a business plan. But at Bplans, we believe that the most important part is not the finished product, but the process itself. Whether you’re writing your business plan for your own peace of mind, to present to investors, or because a banker or advisor told you that you have to do it, there is tremendous value in the process of thinking critically about your business. You gain insight into your market, intimately understand your financial forecasts, and get a deeper understanding about the details of running your own business.

So when you find a sample plan that you think you like, don’t cheat your business by taking too many shortcuts. Use the sample for inspiration and guidance. But do your own work, so you can reap your own rewards.

As I mentioned in The Weakest Link – Your Social Media Marketing “Killer App” social media tools empower you, using tools that are largely free, to maximize your business’ exposure and interaction, connecting and staying in touch more often and with more people than you ever could before.

Now I’d like to talk about how. How does one do this? It all starts with knowing which tools are most useful for your business. In fact I’m often asked “what are the best online marketing tools for small businesses?”. I’ll save that question for another post. For now let’s focus on a subset of that – what are the best social media marketing tools for small businesses?

First let’s take stock. Here is a list of some of the most popular social media tools (at least in the US market, in other countries it’s a different story mind you). I want to give a nod to Seattle based Creativetechs for doing the thinking and the legwork to gather these sites into tidy categories!

Social Tools

Directories:
LinkedIn
Facebook
MySpace
Friendster
Hi5
Google Profiles

Social Bookmarking:
Digg
Delicious
Stumbleupon
Reddit
Newsvine
FriendFeed

Video Sharing:
YouTube
Blip.tv
Vimeo
Metacafe
Stickam

Photo Sharing:
Flickr
Fotolog
SmugMug
Zoomr
Photobucket
Webshots

Blogging:
Wordpress
Twitter
Typepad

All of these tools enable you to interact with people but in each group a different kind of content is the focus.

Social Directories – in some ways the simplest because it is the content focus is YOU. Each individual creates a profile and the directory enables you to find and connect with people based on the information they supply about themselves in that profile. This has extended beyond individuals to “entities”. So that a company or group can also create a profile. Which brings me to one of the most confusing things about these directories – that not all of them approach “entities” the same way and most of them don’t make it very easy to figure out how to create a profile for your entity. Facebook invites you to create a Facebook “page” for your business but does not want you to create a “profile” for your business even though pages and profiles can use many of the same features and tools (but not all). On the other hand, LinkedIn has a very limited “page” for businesses providing very limited functionality. Small businesses often struggle to figure out which kind of existence they should have in these directories (should it be me? Should it be my company? Should it be someone else within my company?) both to stay within the terms of service and still maximize the tools marketing potential.

Social Bookmarking (also called Link Sharing) – these tools allow you to highlight and share individual Web pages you like by sharing a link to them. People can “vote” on each link that has been shared and the links with the most votes move to the top of the page making the site a portal to the “best” content as filtered by the community. Note that an individual profile is connected to the posting of each link so over time you can get to know your fellow bookmarkers by their sharing habits, genre, frequency etc. These sites are useful if you post a lot of content and would like that content to be found and read by more people.

Video Sharing – sites like YouTube are usually very straightforward in functionality. They make it very easy to upload your own video and once the video is uploaded, it is also easily viewed and commented on by others. YouTube also provides ways for the video to be shared and embedded in other sites increasing their ability to turn “viral”. Because video can be far more useful for branding than for sales, and because small businesses often do not have access to the budgets or marketing expertise to leverage the benefits of viral video, this tends to be a useful tool only when the business has ready and very easy access to a good quality video writing, production and editing resource that is willing to work for free or at low cost (i.e. close friend, owner, family member).

Photo Sharing – these sites are usually quite simple in functionality. Members can post photos which then can be viewed and commented on by the general public or only by those who are invited to see them. Small businesses sometimes use these sites to share photo galleries instead of building photo gallery capability into their own Web site. I think this usually poses a branding and user experience conflict. Especially since photo galleries are usually pretty inexpensive ($300 or less) to integrate into one’s own site.

Blogging – the content is your creativity, your voice. You post content on a regular basis whether it’s text, video, photos, podcasts or all of the above. Blogs enable you to be an individual publisher, and usually enable readers to participate in the conversation by posting comments.

Out of all of these tools, the top 3 in my list perhaps will not be a surprise:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Next time I’ll go into more detail about each and why I prefer these tools for small businesses.

I also am fond of blogging (go figure!) but that deserves to be covered separately.

Also from time to time I host live workshops on social media and other Internet marketing and Web site topics for small business. You can join my email list if you’d like to be notified of the next one.

Easily share “Your Guide to Social Media Tools and Their Uses” on Twitter

Follow Maisha Walker on Twitter

Related Articles:

• The Weakest Link – Your Social Media Marketing “Killer App”
• The Marketing Skills You Can Learn from Obama

Maisha Walker is the Founder & President of message medium, a 10-year old New York City Internet Strategy firm that focuses exclusively on Small Businesses. You can follow Maisha on Twitter or learn about her upcoming Web site and Internet Marketing Classes.

by Casie Gillette
SEO Manager at Grasshopper

Do you know who is coming to your website?  Who is buying your product?  Where they are coming from?  What they like and dislike?

Analytics are an extremely valuable asset when it comes to your website and your online marketing efforts. The more informed you are on where and how your customers interact with your site, the more effective (and more efficient) your marketing efforts will be.

There are three key areas where analytics can help drive your online marketing strategy:

1.      Keywords

Knowing which keywords bring the most value to your site is essential in the success of any online business. Keywords drive content, messaging and more importantly, the right keywords drive sales.

Analytics provide you with insight into which keywords are working and which keywords are not. A word or phrase you thought described your product may not be what your customers use to describe your product. There is also the chance you have the right keyword, but the wrong content surrounding it.

To gain a better understanding of how your keywords are performing, ask yourself the following questions:

• Which keywords drive traffic to your site?
• Which keywords drive conversions?
• Which keywords drive traffic but aren’t converting?

Once you know the answers to these questions you can start to adjust your focus.  Take a look at which keywords convert the best and analyze why:

• Does the keyword describe your product?
• Is the keyword too broad?
• Does your site offer quality content around the keyword?

If a keyword is driving traffic but not converting, the content surrounding the keyword could be wrong.  Perhaps the keyword is simply targeting customers earlier on in the buying cycle. Someone starting a business may search “business websites” to gain a better understanding of what they should do for their own website. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are looking for someone to create a business website for them right now.

These are important factors to consider when looking at your keyword set and lead us to the next section.

2.      Landing Page Content

One of the greatest assets of any analytics software is the ability to break down your website page by page.  You can see how many people landed on a page, how many people exited a page, where they came from, what keyword they searched to get there, how long they spent on a page and most importantly, you can see if they converted.

By breaking down the top landing pages, you can determine just how customers interact with your website and how with the right design and content, you can give them a great experience.

When thinking about your landing pages, consider the following:

• What are the top landing pages?
• Which pages have the highest bounce rate?
• What pages do people spend the most time on?
• Which pages lead to the most conversions?

We all know the home page is always (or at least 99% of the time) going to be the top landing page; it typically will also have the highest bounce rate. With the home page, the best thing to do is test a few different designs and messages to find which one offers the lowest bounce rate and drives the most conversions overall.

Moving beyond the home page, your internal landing pages can actually be the most valuable. The internal landing pages contain the bulk of the content, i.e. the information your customers are looking for. It’s the internal pages that answer your customers’ questions and drive them to convert.

Break down the top landing pages and evaluate why they are successful.  What keywords did visitors use to get there?  What type of content is on that page?  What calls to action are you using?  Can this be replicated on other pages?

Knowing what your customers do once they are on your site is just as important as knowing how they got there.

3.      Buying Cycle

How long is the buying cycle for your product or service?  How many times does a customer visit your site before buying?  What are they looking at during that time?  With an online business and website analytics, this information is not just available, it’s invaluable.

To begin, answer the following questions:

• How many days after the first visit do people convert?
• Which pages do they visit during that time?
• What content do the pages contain?
• What calls to action are you using?

By knowing where your customers are in the buying cycle, you can really refine your online marketing efforts (this is especially true when it comes to paid search). If you know a typical customer comes to your site and reads 5-7 information-based pages before they convert, you can gear your initial messaging and calls to action around that. Instead of saying “Buy now” you can say “Get more information.”

For paid search campaigns, determine which keywords correspond to which point on the buying cycle and drive users to landing pages with the content they need at that point in the process.  Using the same example we used in the “Keywords” section, drive the person searching “business websites” to a page that provides ideas on creating a business website.

Hitting your customers at the right point is extremely important.  A person who comes to your site for information and finds what he/she needs will almost always come back to you when they are ready to buy.

Conclusion

Analytics offers online businesses an easy and smart way to learn about their customers and more importantly, learn how customers interact with their website.  By simply taking the time to evaluate the data, you can create an online marketing strategy based on actual customer needs and behavior.  That is the sort of thing marketers have been trying to do for ages!

About the Author

Casie Gillette is the SEO Manager at Grasshopper, the virtual phone system designed for entrepreneurs.  Follow Casie on Twitter or check out the Grasshopper blog for more online marketing tips.

All of us plan for success in our businesses. That IS the goal after all. To be successful. But how exactly do you determine IF you have succeeded? Regardless if you are a start up or an established business, you need to establish, right up front, during your business planning process, what success will look like, and how you will measure it.

I was bemused, recently, over the various ways we measure success in our society.

We were watching a movie, Martian Child, with John Cusack and Bobby Coleman. Cusak’s character was trying to teach his adopted son to hit a baseball. As he explained “If you hit 3 out of 10 you’re a star. If you do just a little better, you’re a superstar!” That theme recurs in the film.

It was heartening in the film’s context. If we apply it to our daily lives, the little bit of wisdom can be freeing and encouraging. It gives us lots of room to try, to experiment, (and yes, to fail and try again), to learn, and to grow. We don’t have to be perfect the first time, or every time. 3 out of 10 and you can be a star. Heady stuff.

But that idea contrasts with so much else we hear.

“Nobody wants to be a 0, but everybody wants to be a 1, and there’s so little room in between.”
– Laurie Anderson, songwriter/singer.

In school if you were to get only 3 of 10, you’d not only get an F, but never get into college. Today you need to get all those advanced placement credits to get a 5.0 on a 4.0 grading scale. (And what kind of math does that teach, eh?)

And of course, if you’re a figure skating or ice dancing Olympian, you strive to be a 10. (And who can remember that very forgettable movie by the same number?)

We spend our lives searching for and nurturing love….unless you play tennis, in which case “love” is the dreaded lowest score.

And this relates to business how? By being realistic in your measure for success. Write your business plan, set your goals, establish your timelines and milestones.

Then review how you’ve done, run a plan vs. actual analysis. And adjust your plan as necessary, making decisions using real data.

If you converted 100% of your marketing leads into sales you’d be doing fantastically well. If you set your goal and measure of success as converting 100% of your leads, however, you’ll be both deluding yourself, and be very, very disappointed.

Be honest and set realistic goals for yourself. If you converted 3 out of 10 marketing leads you would be a star, and quite likely have a very successful business.