Month: September 2014
Underside of the PC Specialist Ultranote 2 14 inch laptop
A number of people have asked me about the underside of the Ultranote 2 14 inch laptop. Here is a picture of the laptop with the panels removed.
Here you can see the Hard Disk at the bottom left of the laptop. This panel is only large enough for 1 hard disk. PCS offer a configuration with 2 hard disks however it is not clear where the second hard disk is placed.
You can see the memory and the processor cooling system. I have had 1 issue with the fan, whereby when the laptop is turned to the correct position, the fan dropped out of place and was unable to spin up and cool the system. Upon opening, I pressed the fan back down which clicked back into place.
Any other questions are greatly appreciated
Writing a Business Plan
Welcome to my 2 part guide on how to write a business plan. The steps needed to create a business plan are important to starting a new business. There are lots of guides available on the internet, of which I will include at the end of this document. I wanted to create this 2 part blog to explain how to get started with a business plan.
But before I do I want to stress that I have had no official business or marketing training. These are areas which I have picked up myself writing documents and procedures over the years.
Once up on a time
So what is a business plan? The plan is a document which outlines everything you are going to set out to do to make the business successful. There are about 8 common steps which are needed to write a business plan which contain introduction to the business, finance planning, marketing strategy and much more. Ultimately this is something which you need to hand over to your bank or your accountant to prove that you have done the thinking and are serious about progressing.
The steps do not necessarily represent each section of the business plan, they are a guide to how you should structure and think about it. For example you may have a section for Market Analysis, and then another section for Demand Analysis. The steps just represent the thinking process you need to go through but if you want, you can add in additional sections however I would advise against this because the document may get too big. As a guide, I would make the document approximately 20-25 pages from beginning to end. Here are the steps:
- Introduction
- Business objectives
- Market analysis, and demand
- Environmental, Competition and Company
- Marketing Strategy
- Measuring Success
- Financial Analysis
- Conclusion
For some people these steps may seem quite foreign in their nature, especially if you have never been involved in a business before or even studied business courses at school or college. However, they are very logical and straight forward. They are easy to understand and make sure you think about every single step that is needed.
I will discuss each step here to show what thinking is needed to complete this.
Step 1. Introduction
This is the header page and title and date. Use nice simple formatting and don’t complicate things
This is the section that includes basic information about you, your contact information, business name (if you have it yet). You should include where you are based, how old you are, what your general skills are and qualifications.
The contents should be included in this section and cover the following subjects:
Step 2a: Objectives
The objective should explain what business plan is setting out to achieve. Why are you writing this? What is the intention? Have you spotted a gap in the market? Do you have a new product you could sell? Are you expanding ?
TIP:Keep this simple, brief and if necessary use bullet points.
For example you may want to use something like this:
Over the past 5 years, a gap in the market has arisen and a product which we produce can fill this gap in the market.
Don’t go into what experience you have, or what your product is yet. Just explain why you are writing the document as there are other sections to explain the areas of the business.
Step 2b: Business Review
With the objectives, the business review contains information about your business and your target markets.
Here you can write about what the product or service is. What market it is going to attack. This point is needed for your bank as they require to know what sector you are going to work in.
What investment is required here ? Why is it required? What are the predicted results over the next 12-24 months, or longer if needed?
Keep this short and simple and straight to the point. For me, I focused on IT services and the ever-changing IT market, which requires more people offering expertise in many areas. This helps businesses instead of companies having to pay out for people with a niche skill and limited ability in other areas.
Remember, don’t go into detail here. It is still part of the Objectives section. The reader should know what your business is about by now. Also they should feel confident that you know how to proceed with the business and it makes sense.
Tip: don’t use words like “if” and “may” and “probably”. Be sure about how you are going to set out
Step 3. The Market and its Demand
Here we start to get into the detail. This section is important to know if the business is going to be viable, and especially what sections you need to invest in.
Define the following sections:
The Market – what the market is or the people and organisations which make up the Market.
Geographical Data – Where is the business going to aim in terms of geography? If you are based in the UK but want to trade to Europe, then this will have tax implications so this needs to be clear
Consumer need – Explain the behaviour of the consumers. When does the need arise? Why do they need it? Who are the consumers ?
Market Segment – Different consumers have different requirements. Explain the segmentation of the market and the different types of segmentation. For my business there are many different segmentations. For example, although everyone today uses IT in business, a retail business has different requirements than a legal entity from an IT point of view. For example a retail business will need to consider PCI DSS whereby a legal entity may need to comply with the Sarbanes Oxley act even though they use the same system.
The Demand – Here we mark out the demand in numbers which the business can cope with.
Potential Demand – this is the demand forecast for the business which you could provide as produce or services and measures your maximum demand output.
Actual Demand – is the demand for the product or services for this year or last year based on actual transactions. If you have no data then previous experience can be used to make an estimate.
Future demand – Use the information in the actual demand and work out a percentage increase for the following year.
Demand evolution – Here we get into clever forecasting and numbers based on future employment of staff, business suppliers, and product opportunities in the market so you can graph out your future based on other factors as well as your own business success. You can use something like Microsoft Excel to do this and map out the growth.
Tips: Be realistic. Consider a new business as slow and the success yield will be bigger as time goes on. Don’t be too optimistic.
Step 4a: Environmental Influence
Here, you need to explain the environment influences that might impact your business. More often than not, there are other factors which you may not have thought of that will directly impact you.
Consider the following areas:
Economic
Social
Cultural
Technical
Legal
Demographic
Political
Religious
- Think about issues like new political legislation such as the recent Scottish Referendum, or Cultural issues like origin of people in a given area which you plan to sell your product to.
- Monitor the news, recent reports and business publications in your areas to ensure you are up to date on current events that may affect you.
- Look at the changes in society for example, the mobile and tablet shift in the last 10 years and how this work in conjunction with your business.
Step 4b: Competition analysis
Competition is a very important factor in business as this could pave the way for your success or failure.
Think of your USP or your Unique Selling Point. What can you offer that nobody else can?
Understand your competitors. Can you work with them, or do you need to avoid them altogether?
Include information on the competition. This is useful.
Ask yourself questions like:
What differences will you have to competitors ?
How do you plan to change the market ?
Step 4c: Company Analysis
Here you need to have a clear understanding the operation of your business and how it is constructed. Think about presenting your business, and its capabilities.
Consider factors like:
Departmental layout: What will your structure look like ?
Number of Employees: Is this just you or are you planning to take more people on ?
The Management Team: Who is going to be making the executive decisions? Emphasize these people as they need to be trusted with any investment.
Products and services: What products do you have to offer? How do they work? Who is involved
Company History: There may be a track record you have with your company history, or even with another company you worked for that you may want to include here
Strengths and Weaknesses: It is essential you highlight your strengths. Remember that a strength can be a weakness – for example a single point of failure in a business.
Technology and Infrastructure: Can your company use technology? Does it use technology? Do you need email and a website? Have you looked at Microsoft Office 365? If you have offices, have you thought how much you nee to invest into technology here?
Transport services: There are many considerations here. Do you have a car? What are the logistical challenges you will face. Do you need commercial transport? Do you have a Oyster Card to make your way around London?
Tips: Be optimistic about the capabilities and focus on the strengths. If you have weaknesses, then address a plan of action to resolve these.
To be continued
I mentioned at the start that this is a 2 part blog that I want to continue. I will do this towards the end of the week. However for the time being I hope that this gives a good insight on how to design a business plan.
Once you master this, it is a skill that can be used many times in the business when you write proposals, contracts or even design documents. Always remember that if you make a mistake, it is something that you can learn from for next time. If you want to contact me regarding this, then my contact details are in my About section.
Case Study – IT deployment for a Global Manufacturer
A Global Manufacturer who have offices in the UK, were faced with a major challenge. They have recently received notice that they were undergoing a buyout from a new parent company. They embarked on the journey of re-aligning their IT infrastructure so that the company transition to the new IT services was as smooth as possible.
To ensure that this was carried out successfully, Worton Tech assisted the IT Partner with the transition of IT Services for the client.
The Challenge
The Client had proved that the daily operational tasks in the business, and delivery of the migration to the new Microsoft Active Directory domain at the same time were too much for the IT team to carry out. To enable to them to achieve this in a short time span, Worton Tech provided professional resource to assist with the Active Directory migration.
The Technology
The migration included a complete Microsoft Active Directory Forest migration which incorporated, Microsoft Server technologies such as Microsoft Hyper-V migration, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft File Services, PowerShell scripting, DNS, DHCP, and other services that included Citrix Xen Server and Citrix Xen App.
Also, a total assessment and redeployment of user permissions by using Role Based Access methods that complied with new IT policies was carried out ensuring that the client adopt the standards and policies laid before them by their parent company. This included meetings with stakeholders, design principals and demonstrations.
Enhancement
During this migration a number of additional services that were identified by the client were included in the work stream. Firstly, implementation of Cisco switches that provided a greater resiliency for network services and offered a higher level of throughput provided for the client with the core network stack they needed for further enhancing their IT infrastructure. Users of the system had noted the performance of the network was greatly increased and fed this back to the IT Manager once the infrastructure had been deployed.
The Future
With users happy, the migration was successful and the client are now operating on their new infrastructure. This now gives opportunity to the client to further enhance their IT infrastructure by deploying modern technology to ensure the business operate efficiently. This includes new storage services and enhanced disaster recovery.
Taking a look back to start a small business
The History
The typical day starts. I emerge before sunrise, get stuck in the rush hour traffic, my cascading pile of papers shows how much work is coming in. I do the work, while more papers pile onto my desk. I finish the day, battle to get on the train, then answer emails on my phone. I enter the house and shut the door, then turn the lights on because it has gone dark already. After realising I have not seen sunlight for over 72 hours, I sit back and look at myself and ponder for a moment. The business phrases that express “low hanging fruits” or “blue sky thinking” do not seem to be happening to me. I am doing my work but not how I want to do it. The company I work for can offer so much more if they adopted a different approach. I can offer more transparency, efficiency, control, support and work just as hard. There is an opportunity for me to make a change.
It’s time
It was that time in my life when I thought I could have something to offer. However I felt like I was pushed into a corner of ambivalence. A decision had to be made. I have a stable job and I am earning a wage, so do I continue as I am? Or do I risk everything and start my own business ?
I chose the latter. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I knew what I wanted to do and the opportunity was there. I needed to articulate this to someone else to ensure that it made sense and it was the right approach. In essence I created a business plan.
Having a business plan
Absolutely have a business plan. Even if it is your own head. Better still write it down, but at some point you will need to discuss your strategy for starting a business and how you are going to be successful with other people.
There are many guides on how to write a business plan. You much understand the business, explain the estimates of earning, talk about growth, talk about the market and explain the forecast for your journey. Most of all, the plan needs to make sense. You wouldn’t see a celebrity chef opening up a fancy restaurant in the Outer Hebrides because it would not be profitable.
Planning for a new business
With any big decision in your life, there are Pro’s and Con’s. Starting a business is not for the feint hearted and requires a lot of work. But it’s like anything in life, such as building a wall, living happily ever after or even baking a cake. Do the groundwork and get the basics right, then keep practising and it gets a lot easier.
I feared starting my own business for many reasons. The main factors were:
Financial flow
Understanding TAX
Dealing with HMRC
Being fully responsible
Having to learn new skills quickly
Marketing myself
Realising I was on my own
Storing my data
I researched these points on-line, and after going through what seemed like endless HMRC data it finally became clear to me that it was not as difficult as I thought. I spoke to HMRC about my concerns(after spending many hours navigating around their switchboard to finally speak to a human being), and they were very helpful.
I knew I would be ultimately responsible for my own destiny, but to learn that there are business managers at most major banks who can talk to you and advise you was a great help. I sat down and talked to an accountant who was based local to me, and he ran me through everything about the start-up. He explained the costs, jargon, time scales and answered any question I had. The key thing here is that people are there to help you, you are not on your own when doing this.
Finance was a major concern for me. However explaining my plan of finances for the next 6 months was more than acceptable to the bank. I was able to save some money carry me through the first 6 months which was a huge bonus to my situation.
All hands on deck
At this point, I had decided to go for it. I had done all my research and talked to all the people I needed to collaborate with. My accountant created the company (for a small fee), which can be done on-line. My next tasks were to organise a bank account for the business, deploy a website and configure my email and obtain a company mobile phone.
Now, a word of warning. In the whole world of purchasing services for a new business, it seemed like was trapped in a vicious circle. I couldn’t get a company phone that advertised as a “Business Starter Pack” because I didn’t have company bank account. The bank required a company mobile phone number to set up the account. I could not use on-line services for a company because I had not registered for TAX and I could not register for TAX because I needed the company bank account.
I set up a business bank account, whilst obtaining a second mobile phone on a business account from another company by paying directly from the business account on direct debit. The weight off my shoulders, I proceeded to register for tax now that I had my bank account and company mobile (as the registration process requires this). Then I was able to deploy my on-line Microsoft services and start advertising my companies services as an IT Professional.
I then started my first contract. Then another, and another. Although creating the business was a big hurdle to overcome, I have not looked back since. The first Purchase Order is in a frame, remembering the journey I have taken.
Final Words
I want to continue this in another blog, as there are many other items I want to discuss here. I wanted to get the point across that starting a business is not that daunting. So long as you fully understand everything that needs to happen, and you engage with the right people then you can be successful.
Here are 2 points for new businesses.
1. Last year over 500,000 small business started up. This is the largest figure of new businesses in the history of the UK.
2. The Duke of Edinburgh offers business help and start-up grants to assist with your new venture.
So starting up a new business is happening all of the time. You are not alone and certainly not the first one to do it.
Next Time
My next blogs will look at the challenge of online services, what happens when you register a company and looking at documents I use to make sure that I can operate efficiently.
I hope that this has provided some use to someone.
Work hard, and you will be rewarded.
Worton Tech 