Perhaps only a rare daredevil goes on a trip to an unfamiliar country without taking a guidebook with him. But among aspiring entrepreneurs there are more than enough such brave men. But the strategy “the main thing is to get involved in a fight, and then we’ll figure it out” can hardly be called successful for a business, unless its owner follows the principle “we are not looking for easy ways.”
Young businessmen have a lot to learn from brilliant inventors, because there is an innovator in the soul of every entrepreneur, right?
For example, Nikola Tesla never implemented anything until he had a clear vision of how it would work. He perfected all his inventions exclusively in the laboratory of his own brain.
“In this way,” Tesla wrote, “I can quickly develop and improve the concept without touching anything. When I have already implemented in the invention all the improvements that I could think of, and do not see a flaw anywhere, I give the product of my brain a concrete form. And my device always works as I intended; There hasn’t been a single exception in 20 years.”
Having a clear idea of what your business will be like tomorrow directly determines its effectiveness today. To start a business you need a plan and an understanding of how it will work.
“The plan, needless to say, was excellent: simple and clear, it couldn’t have been better. It had only one drawback: it was completely unknown how to carry it out.” Lewis Carroll, “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”
The highest purpose of business is to serve people. What is the goal of your business? Do you already have an answer to this question? Great. Then review the following list of questions. Perhaps it will help you better formulate your business model.
20 questions for a new entrepreneur
- What industry is my business in?
- What are the boundaries of my business: region, country, whole world?
- In which segment (B2B/B2C) will my business operate?
- What price niche will my business operate in?
- What opportunities are there for my business in related and other industries?
- How much money will my business bring in in six months, a year: revenue, profit?
- Who are my competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- What sets my company apart from competitors?
- What value does my business provide to clients?
- Who are my potential clients? What are their needs and expectations?
- How does my business meet customer needs?
- Where to look and how to attract potential clients?
- What does my company's organizational structure look like? *
- Who does what, who reports to whom and is responsible for what in my company?
- How is interaction carried out within the company?
- How is my company's accounting done?
- Where and how can I reduce the influence of the human factor in the work of my company?
- How can I improve every process in my company?
- What business processes can be simplified or automated?
- How can I make my business work without my direct participation?
* Even if your company currently consists only of you, structure is still needed. This will allow you to understand which people will be needed first, what they will do and what they will be responsible for.
What is the value of your offer?
If you can't explain in simple three sentences why people want your product, you don't have a value proposition and therefore you don't have a business. Dot.
Will there be demand for your product?
The Seinfeld character was convinced his key to wealth was making a bra. He hasn't done any research to prove there is a demand for his product. Don't think you can create demand where there was none. Don't sell another men's bra.
What makes your product different from your competitors?
Starbucks tricked people into believing they needed a $4 caffeinated brew, and Louis Vuitton convinced them to shell out $1,500 for denim handbags. But this is not just marketing. If you want to succeed in business, you need to offer tangible value that others don't have. For example, lowest possible prices (Wal-Mart), original design (Apple), exceptional convenience (FedEx). Find what the advantage of your product is and hit that point.
Is your business scaling?
The difference between modest wealth and obscene wealth is scale. It’s good when it costs you less and less to produce each next product. Take software for example. Once Microsoft has paid to develop the code, the marginal cost of releasing each additional copy of Windows is negligible. And some models do not scale. For example, in the service sector, where the need for personnel increases along with income.
How dedicated are you personally to your work?
You have a family and two children. Are you willing to work 100 hours a week for the next two years to grow your startup? If you want to control everything, be prepared to sacrifice everything - at least to start.
What is your strength?
Google writes powerful search algorithms, Steinway works wonders with wood, Cisco sniffs out and buys promising new technologies. Find out what you do well and do only that. An obvious point, but a lot of passionate entrepreneurs got burned by this. There are so many possibilities in the world.
What is your weakness?
Know what you do well and what you do poorly. For example, Apple does not produce cameras for the iPhone, but buys them externally. Countless online stores outsource websites and payment systems to third-party developers. Wasting resources to get mediocre results is suicide. Do what you know how to do and find reliable partners to handle everything else.
How much will your clients pay?
Why do people pay twice as much for Vanish as for generic bleach? Determining the upper limit on the price a buyer is willing to pay for a product, whether it's an iPhone or a bottle of bleach, is one of the most powerful levers for generating profits. Consultants are paid a lot of money to help determine the right price.
How much power do your customers have?
What happens if you sell rubber squeegees to the only window cleaning company in town? If the buyer demands big discounts, your business will be over. It is better to expand your client base in advance.
How much power do your suppliers have?
The fewer suppliers you have, the more power they have. Making an antique clock from knotty pine may seem like a great idea, but what if you only have one source of knotty wood? Answer: You will have to pay. On the other hand, beware of hungry suppliers who are ready to work very cheaply - they often do not monitor quality.
How to sell a product?
Dell Computer sells its computers directly. General Motors and Coca-Cola rely on distributors. Apparel companies such as Ralph Lauren use both internal and external distribution channels. And Apple is opening branded stores. Whatever sales method you choose, make sure it fits with your overall business strategy.
How should you promote your product?
Telling everyone about your company without going broke is not an easy task. In the mid-1990s, America Online spent so much money distributing demo versions of its software that it had to hide the expense on its balance sheet. This accounting practice was later banned and millions in accounting profits disappeared.
What is the threat of new players entering the market?
If there is money to be made in your market sector, there will definitely be competition. If not a direct competitor (see what Microsoft did to Netscape), then another technology can pull the rug out from under you (see what digital photography did to Kodak). Long before this happens, build barriers to new entrants - file a patent, achieve a long lease term, create a loyal consumer base.
How will you protect your intellectual property?
A small addition to the previous point. Let's say you invent a car that can reach speeds of up to 240 km/h using solar power alone. A few months later, five savvy competitors have dismantled your model and are now bringing their own versions to market. Before showing samples to the public, apply for a temporary patent. It will protect your idea for a year while you finalize the details.
How much starting capital do you need?
Any early-stage investor and small business advisor will tell you that most startups fail because they are undercapitalized. While there are no hard and fast rules, "double your initial estimate of the capital required," says Jim Pack, head of dental software developer Curve Dental.
How will you finance your business?
You have a choice: rich auntie, credit cards (dangerous), business angel, venture capital (if you have a serious business), bank loan (good luck with your search) and the most expensive way - issuing shares. Be careful: selling shares leads to equity dilution, loss of control and management difficulties. Overall, improve your business if you can. And finally, do not forget to correlate the timing of receipt of money from your assets and the timing of payment of liabilities. Inconsistency can be painful.
How much money do you need to get through the first few years?
For those who missed the previous point: watch the money. Many entrepreneurs boast of financial growth projections, but their pockets are empty before good times appear on the horizon. (Remember the failed dot-coms?) Be patient with Aeron chairs and Macs until you get more money than you spend.
What are your financial projections?
Movement is impossible if you don't have a destination. Two important milestones are 1) operating return - when your business generates more money than it spends over a given period, and 2) investment return - when you finally earn back your initial investment (adjusted for inflation). Financial forecasts must be justified. Paint an overly optimistic picture and experienced investors will run away from you. And you will run out of money.
How to make your assistants happy?
What is American Idol without Simon Cowell? We'll find out soon enough, but many people think the show won't be the same as before. If you are lucky enough to find great talent, try to keep it. Salary is just part of the equation.
What is your ultimate goal?
Want to flip your business to the first person you meet with money? The owners of MySpace did this, but not Facebook. Different goals require different strategies. Always remember what you are aiming for.
What simplified accounting methods can small businesses use?The list of simplified methods of accounting, including simplified financial statements (hereinafter referred to as simplified methods), is given in Information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. PZ-3/2015 “On the simplified system of accounting and financial statements”.
Is it possible to correct errors in cash documents and how is cash proceeds spent by individual entrepreneurs?
An individual entrepreneur (IP) can correct errors in all documents relating to the accounting of cash transactions, except for outgoing and incoming cash orders (paragraph 2, subclause 4.7, clause 4 of Directive No. 3210-U).
How have the rules for using seals changed for organizations and individual entrepreneurs in 2015?
By law, individual entrepreneurs (IP) and organizations are not required to have a seal. Organizations received this opportunity recently, namely after the President of the Russian Federation signed Law No. 82-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation regarding the abolition of the mandatory seal of business companies” on April 6, 2015.
What is the procedure for conducting cash transactions by individual entrepreneurs (IP)?
It is very important for every individual entrepreneur whose activities involve conducting cash transactions to know how to act in accordance with current legislation. Violations of cash discipline threaten individual entrepreneurs with fines. We will try to understand the main points regarding compliance with cash discipline of individual entrepreneurs. Directive No. 3210-U regulates the procedure for conducting cash transactions by individual entrepreneurs. According to this decree, some relief is provided for two categories of taxpayers.
What is the procedure for using cash register equipment (CCT) for individual entrepreneurs (IP) in 2015
Individual entrepreneurs engaged in providing services to the public may not use cash register equipment (CCT) in 2015 if they issue strict reporting forms (SRF). This procedure was established in paragraph 2 of Art. 2 of Federal Law No. 54-FZ of May 22, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 54-FZ).
What is more profitable to open - an individual entrepreneur or an LLC? Let's compare the features of both options
For almost all points, except the last one, registering as an individual entrepreneur is more profitable than registering an LLC. However, when choosing to carry out business activities, it is worth thinking not only about the risks, but also about the benefits of a particular method associated with the provisions of the law.
How to assemble a team for a startup?
When you have just founded a company, and your eyes are burning, and your performance is still far from going off the charts, it is very difficult to convince people to come work for you and devote their time to developing the product. This is much more difficult to do than to persuade investors to invest their money.
After registering a limited liability company, is there an obligation to open a current account in a bank and what details should you pay attention to when opening a current account?
After state registration as a legal entity, you have the right to open a bank account (for limited liability companies - clause 4, article 2 of the Federal Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ “On Limited Liability Companies”). Opening an account is not the responsibility of a legal entity.
Who should use CCP?
All organizations and individual entrepreneurs are required to use CCP if two conditions are met:
1. goods and services are sold;
2. Payments are made in cash or using payment cards.
Where can I get support for implementing an innovative project?
In the Russian Federation, a system of development institutions has been formed, whose activities are aimed at organizing grant and loan financing of innovative projects at different stages of the innovation development cycle.
How to arrange an installment plan for paying insurance premiums?
According to paragraph 11 of part 1 of Article 29 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ “On insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund,” the authorities for monitoring the payment of insurance contributions have the right to provide payers of insurance premiums deferment (installment plan) of repayment of debts on insurance premiums, penalties and fines in the manner and cases provided for by the specified federal law.
Why do insurance premiums continue to be charged to individual entrepreneurs who do not carry out activities?
In accordance with Article 7 of the Federal Law of December 15, 2001 No. 167-FZ “On compulsory pension insurance in the Russian Federation,” individual entrepreneurs, lawyers, notaries engaged in private practice, and other persons who independently provide themselves with work are insured under compulsory pension insurance, which are obliged to timely and in full pay insurance premiums for compulsory pension insurance in the manner prescribed by Federal Law No. 212-FZ of July 24, 2009 “On insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal compulsory health insurance fund." At the same time, a certain level of insurance guarantees is established for insured persons in terms of the formation of their pension rights, ensured through the receipt of insurance contributions to the budget of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.
How to buy rented premises from the state?
Small and medium-sized businesses enjoy the pre-emptive right to buy out the property they rent, which is state-owned by a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or municipally owned, in accordance with Federal Law No. 159-FZ of July 22, 2008 “On the specifics of the alienation of state-owned real estate subjects of the Russian Federation or municipally owned and leased by small and medium-sized businesses, and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as Federal Law No. 159-FZ).
What category of entrepreneurs is classified as small and medium-sized businesses?
Small and medium-sized businesses include consumer cooperatives and commercial organizations included in the unified state register of legal entities (with the exception of state and municipal unitary enterprises), as well as individuals included in the unified state register of individual entrepreneurs and carrying out entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity ( hereinafter - individual entrepreneurs), peasant (farm) enterprises that meet the following conditions
The procedure for registering business trips has changed. Please note that travel certificates have been canceled in pursuance of paragraph 10 of Section IV of the measures of the roadmap “Improving Tax Administration” (approved by Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 10, 2014 No. 162-r). Legislators canceled three documents at once: a travel certificate, an official assignment and a business trip report. How to register a business trip, taking into account the amendments? Is it possible to continue using the usual forms of documents? And how to account for travel expenses in light of the new rules?
Where can I get funds to implement the project?
A number of activities of the program to support small and medium-sized businesses, implemented by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, are aimed at expanding access of small and medium-sized companies to financial resources.
Finkelstein notes that successful CEOs typically look for three things in a candidate: intelligence (not IQ), sociality, and emotional attachment.
Thus, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison always asks the question during an interview, “Are you the smartest person you know?” If the candidate answers negatively, Allison asks to talk about who the interlocutor considers smarter. The Oracle founder then bids farewell to the candidate and contacts the person mentioned.
Tesla founder Elon Musk likes to ask little logic problems: “You are standing on the surface of the Earth. Then walk one mile south, then one mile west and one mile north. As a result, you ended up in the same place where you started your journey. Where are you at?". According to Business Insider, the problem has several correct answers. One of them is the North Pole: due to the shape of the planet, a person will move along curves and as a result will end up at the beginning of the route.
Musk often asks how a candidate has handled a problem in the past: “What challenges have you faced in your career and how did you solve them?” Then the entrepreneur is interested in the details in order to understand whether the interlocutor was really involved in the story told or is simply appropriating the achievements of others. Deep knowledge of the details of the work done shows the degree of involvement of the candidate in what was told, Musk believes.
Google HR Director Lazlo Bock has a similar strategy. He is usually interested in examples of the candidate's experience in solving complex analytical problems.
Engineer Jeff Nelson recalls an interview with Elon Musk in 1999 (at that time Musk was working on the financial project X Commerce, which was later acquired by PayPal). Then the entrepreneur asked him just two questions before offering him the job: “What do you want to do in five years?” and “What questions do you have for me?”
Nelson responded that he would like to have more management tasks in the future and asked Musk what risks his business model had. The entrepreneur spoke about the company's dependence on market growth. Nelson later received an offer, which he nevertheless decided to refuse.
Finkelstein writes that refusal does not spoil the relationship between the candidate and the manager. Most often, a justified refusal shows that the interlocutor knows how to assess his capabilities and qualities.
As an example, the author of the book talks about James Green's interview with Steven Jobs. In 1997, the founder of Apple and Pixar invited the future head of the search company Magnetic Green to his home in Palo Alto. According to his recollections, the meeting was not like an interview, but more like a conversation.
Jobs wanted Green to be the liaison between Disney and Pixar. After the Apple founder described the tasks to be solved in the new position, Green refused. “All my life, Jobs has been an idol for me, but I told him that I would not recommend such a job to anyone. Being a mediator will not work.”
Then Jobs offered a position as a marketer in Pixar's short films department. Green agreed. After working in his new position for a week, Green realized that his responsibilities included exactly what Jobs had originally proposed - to be an intermediary between Pixar and Disney.
As Filkenstein notes, successful CEOs of large companies usually don't have long conversations with candidates and ask only a few questions.
For example, British entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin holding Richard Branson usually asks what the candidate did not indicate in his resume.
Investor Peter Thiel's favorite question is: “Tell me something you think is true but no one agrees with?” According to Thiel, this formulation helps test the candidate’s originality of thinking and self-confidence.
The founder of the Zappos project, Tony Hsieh, who practices Holacracy, asks all candidates: “On a scale of one to ten, how weird are you?” Next, Shay asks the candidate to evaluate his luck.
Entrepreneurship Basics
1. Economic theories about the essence and role of entrepreneurship. Modern teachings about entrepreneurship.
2. Concept and content of entrepreneurship
3. Goals, functions and basic properties of entrepreneurship.
4. Principles of organizing business activities.
5. Characteristic features of modern Russian entrepreneurship.
6. General principles of entrepreneurship typology
7. Classification of main types of entrepreneurship. Characteristics of production
entrepreneurship.
Intermediary and financial and credit entrepreneurship. Their characteristics.
Characteristics of business entities: individuals and legal entities.
Civil legal characteristics of an individual entrepreneur.
Rights and obligations of individual entrepreneurs, their personal characteristics.
System of motives for entrepreneurship development.
The essence of the business environment, its influence on the development of entrepreneurship.
Characteristics of the external and internal business environment.
The market as an environment for the existence of entrepreneurs.
Characteristics of organizational and legal forms of entrepreneurial activity. Simple and complex organizational and legal forms.
Business partnerships: their main types, characteristics, features.
Production cooperatives: their characteristics, features of functioning.
Economic societies: their characteristics, types, features.
Joint-stock companies: CJSC. OJSC. Characteristics, features of functioning.
State and municipal unitary enterprises. Characteristics, features of functioning.
The essence of small business. Criteria for classifying subjects of a market economy as small businesses.
The role of small business in a market economy.
Advantages and disadvantages of small business.
Priority areas of development and forms of state support for small businesses
Financial, credit and property support for small businesses.
Taxation of small businesses. Simplified and imputed tax system.
The main stages of creating your own business.
Sources of entrepreneurial ideas and methods for their selection.
Sources of funds for the formation of authorized capital when creating your own business
Characteristics of constituent documents. Charter and memorandum of association, structure and content.
Developing a business plan when starting your own business. Structure and content.
Forms of organizing your own business: purchasing an existing business, using it to create a lease. franchising.
The procedure for state registration of a new enterprise.
Licensing and certification of business activities.
The system of relationships between entrepreneurs and partners
Transactions: types, characteristics, implementation procedure.
Agreements: types, content, procedure for conclusion.
Leasing as a form of entrepreneurship. Types of leasing agreements.
The essence and content of franchising and factoring agreements.
Responsibility of entrepreneurs for violation of contractual obligations.
The essence of entrepreneurial risk.
Factors of entrepreneurial risk.
Classification of types of business risk
Methods for assessing business risk.
Methods and techniques for minimizing business risk. Insurance.
The essence of business secrets. Information constituting a business secret.
Types of business secrets.
System of measures to protect business secrets.
Responsibility of entrepreneurs for disclosing business secrets.
The essence of entrepreneurial culture, its main elements.
Business ethics of entrepreneurs.
Responsibility of entrepreneurs, essence, meaning, forms.
Types and forms of responsibility. Civil, administrative liability.
Characteristics of criminal liability of entrepreneurs.
Basic forms and methods of state regulation of business activities.
Measures of state support for entrepreneurial activity.
Possible reasons and forms of termination of business activities.
The essence and types of reorganization of business organizations.
Insolvency (bankruptcy) of the organization. Bankruptcy procedures. Liquidation of the organization.
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