Checklist for Starting a Cake Business: Essential Ingredients for Success
If you are thinking about going into business, it is imperative that you watch this video first! it will take you by the hand and walk you through each and every phase of starting a business. It features all the essential aspects you must consider BEFORE you start a Cake business. This will allow you to predict problems before they happen and keep you from losing your shirt on dog business ideas. Ignore it at your own peril!
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A Step by Step
Guide to Starting a Small Business
This is a
practical manual in a PDF format, that will walk you step by step through all the
essential phases of starting your Cake business. The book is packed with
guides, worksheets and checklists. These strategies are
absolutely crucial to your business' success yet are simple and
easy to apply.
Copy the following link to your browser and save the file to your PC:
https://www.bizmove.com/free-pdf-download/how-to-start-a-business.pdf
Running the Meeting
The chairman should make the meeting
as relaxed and informal as possible. He should resort to
Robert's Rules of Order only when attendance is large or debate
becomes heated. The chairman should "manage" the meeting, speak
when appropriate, encourage discussion, seek a consensus, and
summarize. Under no circumstances should the chairman be
unprepared, "hog" the discussion, play the comic, chastise a
participant, or let the meeting run by itself.
The meeting will not get off the
ground unless the participants know where they are going.
Therefore, it is important that the chairman make a concerted
effort to ensure that:
• Every participant has a clear
understanding of the meeting objectives at the start of the
meeting.
• Each agenda item has a time
allocation. The time limit for the meeting should be announced
when the agenda is published, or at the beginning of the
meeting.
• The objective(s) remain valid
throughout the meeting. If not, they should be revised.
Meeting objective(s) can be
communicated more readily if the chairman does not try to force
them on the participants. A consensus about the objectives at
the beginning will vastly improve chances for success of the
meeting.
Do you play your role well at a
meeting? For a meeting to succeed, the chairman must display
strong leadership and he and the participants must be willing
and determined to:
• Become acquainted with each of the
participants and carry on a light conversation with them during
the "warm-up" session at the beginning of the meeting.
• Give the other participants an
opportunity to present their ideas, opinions, and
recommendations without interrupting or degrading their
comments.
• Listen wisely and well to the other
participants.
• Accept new or fresh thoughts and
ideas expressed by other participants, provided these thoughts
and ideas support the objective(s) of the meeting.
• Assist in the process of arriving
at a consensus by combining ideas with those of others,
reconciling them through compromise, or coordinating them with
other ideas.
• Do away with non-relevant issues,
perceptions, or personal conjectures as soon as they arise and
before they can become disruptive.
• Always be patient and flexible (but
with caution).
Major Problems in Running a
Meeting
One of the major problems a group
often faces at the beginning of a meeting is reaching agreement
on both top-level and sub-level objectives. The objectives must
be agreed upon before the meeting proceeds, if it is to be
successful.
A second major problem concerns the
personalities of participants. For example, the chairman may be
dominant/submissive, have a desire to be liked, or want to
impress his superiors. On the other hand, the invited
participants may be self-centered, talkative/shy,
aggressive/defensive, argumentative/unresponsive. The
participants may have trouble communicating because of
differences in age, rank, expertise, and prestige. The ideas of
some participants may be ignored and others ridiculed. The mood
of the group may be one of elation, depression, or regression.
There is no way to avoid these
personality problems; therefore, the challenge facing the
chairman is how to deal with them effectively. The answer is
based upon creating an environment for effective communication.
The problems can usually be resolved if the participants can
communicate with one another. The problems will not be resolved
if they remain hidden.
A firmly established, finite time
limit for the meeting is the single most effective means of
eliminating non-contributory discussion. It gives the group a
common purpose and helps the chair- man police inappropriate
comments.
Another major problem that groups
sometimes face is having participants become lost in the
problems they are attempting to solve. When this happens the
chairman must take positive action to bring the meeting back on
target. He can do this by taking one of the following two
courses of action:
• Halting the discussion and
redirecting the meeting.
• Halting the discussion and trying
to find out where it is heading. If it is heading in a direction
the participants feel is proper, he can allow the discussion to
continue where it left off. If the meeting is heading in the
wrong direction, he can change the direction.
The latter is preferable. Failure to
do anything almost guarantees failure of the meeting. Halting
the discussion and redirecting the meeting without providing an
opportunity for participants to comment tends to create a
debilitating emotional reaction. This might lead to withdrawal
of some participants from further discussion, or precipitate
aggression. When the participants pause to consider where the
discussion is heading, there will be few adverse effects and the
progress of the meeting may be enhanced.
A fourth major problem a group might
face is how to make a decision at the proper time. If the
chairman feels a consensus has been reached, he should cut off
further discussion. A decision reached by consensus is the one
most likely to be carried into action effectively. Decisions
imposed on a minority by the majority of participants, or on the
participants by the chairman, are not likely to be lasting or
effective.
Groups often fall short in trying to
reach decisions. Outside pressures or deadlines tend to foster
majority-type or chairman-type decisions. Therefore, it is
imperative that the chairman attempt to create an environment to
make a consensus easier to obtain. Such an environment develops
when each participant is given an opportunity to be heard or to
voice an objection. In any case, before the meeting time limit
expires the chairman should try to get the participants to agree
that a decision is necessary, even if it falls short of
unanimity.
Coping with Weakness
In order to make meetings more
effective, one must be acquainted with the major weaknesses and
ways to cope with them. The most common weaknesses of meetings
are that they are slow, expensive, tend to produce a leveling
effect, or lead to dilution or division of responsibility.
Let's take a closer look at each of these weaknesses.
Meetings tend to be a slow way to
get things done. They do not lend themselves to
quick, decisive actions. One observer of committee meetings
stated, "They keep minutes and waste hours." Delays are not
always bad. Delays provide time for objective reviews or ideas
and development and/or consideration of alternatives. Thus,
delays can lead to better decisions. For a meeting to be
effective, those with expertise and/or the need for action,
should attend. Inviting experts and providing sufficient time to
consider alternative solutions to problems increases the cost
of a meeting. However, the cost to an organization if the
meeting is not held may be far greater.
There is a tendency at meetings to
bring the individual thinking of the participants in line with
the average quality of the group's thinking.
This leveling effect takes place when a participant begins to
think less as an individual and adapts the ideas of other
participants. The normal tendency is to accept ideas of the most
dominant individual at the meeting although his ideas may not be
the best. Leveling is not always undesirable; it tempers
unreasonable ideas and curbs autocrats. The chairman should try
to curb the leveling tendency. One way to keep a dominating
participant in check is to seat him directly to the chairman's
right.
The tendency for a decision made
at a meeting to dilute or divide responsibility is a serious
one. When this happens, weak managers are prone
to blame their failures on that decision. Such comments as "I
didn't support this approach at the meeting" are used to explain
their failure to perform effectively. The chairman must be
attuned to decisions that tend to dilute or divide
responsibility and find a way to avoid them. All of the
participants should be given an opportunity to express their
viewpoints before the decision is made.
Once you have decided what type of Company
you want to start and The investment requirements, you are
prepared to decide on a
location. The number of aggressive
businesses already in the region should affect your choice of
location. Some areas are
bombarded with support channels or
certain types of restaurants. Check on the amount of your kind
of company from Census figures,
the yellow pages, or by
checking out the place.
Factors Aside from the potential
market, availability of Workers And number of aggressive
businesses must be considered in
choosing a place. For
instance, how adequate are utilities - sewer, water, power, gas?
Parking facilities? Police and fire
protection? What about
home and environmental things like colleges, cultural and
community activities for employees? What's the
average price
of the location in rents and taxes? Check on zoning regulations.
Evaluate the business of the local business-people,
the
aggressiveness of civic organizations. In short, what's the town
spirit? Such factors should give you an idea to the city or
city's future.
Chambers of Commerce and nearby
universities usually have created or Are familiar with local
polls that can provide answers to
these questions and the
many other questions which will occur to you.
Then you
have to decide in what part of town to find. If the town is Very
little and you're establishing retail or service
business,
there'll probably be little option. Only 1 shopping area is
present. Cities have outlying shopping centers along with
the
central dining area, and stores spring up along principal
thoroughfares and local streets.
Consider the shopping
center. It's different from different locations. The shopping
centre building is pre-planned as a
merchandising unit. The
site was intentionally selected by a programmer. On-site parking
is a frequent feature. Customers may
drive in, park and do
their buying in relative speed and safety. Some facilities
provide weather protection. Such amenities make
the shopping
centre an advantageous location.
Additionally, there are
some limitations you ought to know about. As a tenant, You
become a part of a retailer group and must pay
your pro rata
share of the budget. You must keep shop hours, light your
windows, and set your signals according to established
rules.
Many communities have restrictions on evidence and the middle
management may have further limitations. Moreover, if you are
thinking about a shopping centre for your first shop you may
have an extra problem. Developers and owners of shopping centers
start looking for successful retailers.
The type and
Wide Range of merchandise that you carry helps determine the
Kind of purchasing place you choose. For example,
clothing
shops, jewelry stores and department stores are more likely to
be prosperous in shopping districts. On the flip side,
grocery stores, drug stores, filling stations, and bakeries do
better on main thoroughfares and neighborhood streets outside
the
shopping districts. Some sorts of stores customarily pay
a low rent per square foot, while others cover a high rent. In
the"low"
class are furniture, grocery stores and hardware
stores. In the"large" are cigar, medication, women's
furnishings, and department
stores. There is no hard and fast
rule, however it is helpful to observe in which kind of area a
shop like yours most often seems
to flourish.
After
deciding an area ideal for your type of business, Obtain as many
details as possible about it. Check the competition. How
many
similar companies can be found nearby? What exactly does their
sales volume seem to be? If you're establishing a shop or
service trade, how far do people come to trade in the region?
Are the visitors patterns favorable? If the majority of your
clients
will be local inhabitants, study the population
trends of the area. Is population climbing, static or declining?
Are the people
native-born, mixed or chiefly foreign? Are new
cultural groups coming in? Are they predominantly laborers,
clerks, executives or
retired men? Are they all ages or
mostly retired, middle aged, or young? Judge buying power by
assessing average house rental,
typical real estate taxation,
number of phones, number of cars and, even if the amount is
available, per capita income. Larger
shopping centers have
this type of information out there, and will make it available
to serious prospective tenants.
Zoning ordinances,
parking availability, transport facilities And natural barriers
- such as bridges and hills - are important
considerations in
locating any kinds of business. Potential sources for this info
are Chambers of Commerce, trade associations,
real estate
companies, local papers, banks, city officials, neighborhood
merchants and private observation. If the Bureau of the
Census has developed census tract information for the particular
area in which you are interested you'll find this especially
helpful. A census tract is a small, permanently recognized,
geographical place within a large city and its environs. The
Census
Bureau provides population and housing characteristics
for each tract. This information could be valuable in measuring
your market
or service potential.
Choosing the actual
site within an area may well be accepting what you May get. Not
too many plants or buildings will be suitable
and in the
exact same time, accessible. Should you have an option, make
sure you consider the chances carefully.
For a
production plant, consider the condition and suitability Of the
building, transportation, parking facilities, and the sort
of
lease. For A store or service establishment, check on the
nearest competition, traffic Flow, parking facilities, road
location,
physical facets of the building, Type of rental and
cost, and the speed, price and quality of transport.
Additionally Investigate
the history of the site. Find
answers to these queries as: Has the Building remained empty for
any amount of time? Why? Have
various Kinds of Stores
occupied it for brief periods? It might have proved unprofitable
for them. Websites on which many
enterprises have failed
ought to be avoided. Vacant buildings Do not bring traffic and
are generally regarded as poor neighbors,
so check on nearby
unoccupied buildings.
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