Recent Articles Published by Tim Berry
Why SWOT Analysis Belongs in Your Business Plan
Why add SWOT analysis into your business plan and the strategic planning process? The SWOT phase was vital to the planning process for Palo Alto Software, and helped the company grow from zero to over $5 million in annual sales. Here's how SWOT analysis helped PAS scale, and how to add SWOT analysis to your planning process. Read more »
How to Build a Restaurant Sales Forecast
There is no single right way to do a restaurant sales forecast. The best sales forecast method will vary according to how you manage information, how much past data you have access to, and what special factors drive your business. We'll walk you through an example restaurant sales forecast to help you build your own. Read more »
5 Things Startups Can Learn From Angel Investors
Angel investors can teach you a lot about what it takes to start a successful business. Whether you're seeking angel investment or just looking to grow a better, stronger business, they're people worth listening to—and here's their best advice for startups. Read more »
10 Things I Hated About Your Business Pitch
Business planning expert Tim Berry has over 20 years of hearing business pitches as a judge of business plan competitions and as an angel investor. Here are the things he hates to see in a business pitch, so you can avoid making these key mistakes. Read more »
Industry Analysis: Know Your Industry Before You Start Your Business
You need to know the industry you're starting a business in and the kind of business you want to start before you begin. Plus, if you're writing a business plan to present to outsiders, you'll need to explain the type of business you're in. Here's how to get to know your industry by conducting industry analysis. Read more »
How to Create an Expense Budget
Being right on budget is usually a good thing, but good management involves regularly reviewing your budget to check on the timing, efficiency, and results of what your business spends. Read more »
How to Define Your Target Market
One of the most powerful tools of small business marketing strategy is defining and addressing your target market—the audience that you think is most likely to buy your product or service. Here's how to define your target market for your business. Read more »
How to Get Funding for a Business
Are you considering becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own company? If so, you might be wondering how to get funding for a business in the first place. Here's a breakdown of your different funding options. Read more »
Start With an Initial Assessment
Start the business planning process with a quick initial assessment. Even for an ongoing business, take the time to step away from the business and assess your business opportunity. Read more »
Should You Stick to the Business Plan or Change It?
One of the hardest parts of business planning is answering this question: Do we stick to the business plan, or do we change it? Here's how to decide if you should stay the course, or revise your business plan. Read more »
The Different Types of Business Plans
Business plans go by many names: Strategic plans, operational plans, internal plans, and many others. Here's a rundown of the different types of business plans, so you can decide which one is right for you. Read more »
How to Forecast Sales
Sales forecasting is much easier than you think, and much more useful than you imagine. It’s not about guessing the future correctly. We’re human; we don’t do that well. Instead, it’s about assumptions, expectations, drivers, tracking, and management. Here's how to forecast sales for your business. Read more »
A Simpler Plan for Startups
What kind of business plan do you need? It depends on the size of your business, and what you're using the business plan for. Here's how to determine what kind of business plan is right for your startup. Read more »
How to Develop a Market Analysis for Your Business Plan
The sales and marketing section of the standard business plan includes three parts—the market analysis, the marketing plan, and the sales plan. Keep it short and simple—just big enough to cover your actual business need. Here's how to develop your market analysis for your business plan. Read more »
How to Use Your Business Plan to Be a Better Manager
Use your business plan to set milestones, tasks, performance measurements, and numbers to track. Then get the people together once a month (or so) to review results. The outcome? The management "magic" of business planning. Read more »
8 Common Business Plan Mistakes
What are the most common business plan mistakes? While including the necessary items in a business plan is important, you also want to make sure you don’t make any of these common errors. Here's what to avoid. Read more »
How to Develop Your Business Strategy
Business strategy doesn't have to be complex—it's all about assessing the problem, your solution, the market, and your business identity. Here's your guide to easily creating a solid strategy that will help grow your business. Read more »
What Is a Business Plan?
In its simplest form, a business plan is a guide—a roadmap for your business that outlines goals and details how you plan to achieve those goals. Here's what a business plan entails, and how to choose what type is right for your business. Read more »
Strategy Is Useless Without Execution
Strategy is useless without tactics for execution. The plan was brilliant on the whiteboard, but never got to the real world. What happened? Don’t leave that whiteboard without developing key tactics. Read more »
4 Essentials of the Growth-Oriented Business Plan
Strategy in your growth-oriented business plan serves as a reminder of what’s most important. Hint: It's not about what you're doing; it's all about what you're not doing. Read more »
