As entrepreneurs, business owners and marketers, we are obsessed with growth. You must be agile and capable of coming up with intelligent, reasonable solutions that will put you ahead of your competitors.     Writing business plan for investors 6 questions you must answer. 1. How big is the business opportunity and is it growing? The first question is how big the business opportunity is and is it growing? To answer this, you need to provide information on the size of the market in which you’re competing and trends affecting the market.     2. What are the financial implications of investing in your company? How much money are you asking the investor for? What are you going to do with that money? What are the projected financial results? For example, what do you expect revenues will be in year one, in year three, in year five? What is expected net income in year one, year three and year five?     3. What is your exit strategy? Your exit strategy is critical when writing a business plan for investors, since the exit strategy dictates how the investor will ultimately receive payback for their investment and get their money out.     4. Who’s on your management team? This is key because most investors, or at least the smartest investors, are betting on the management team as much as they’re betting on the market opportunity. You see, even if you have the greatest business idea in the world, if the management team can’t execute on it, then the business will fail.     5. What risk factors have you altready overcome? Every business has risk factors, and the earlier on in your business, the more risk factors. For example, if you currently have an idea for a new product, the risk factors include, Whether or not you will be able to design the product Whether you could cost effectively manufacture the product Whether  consumers/businesses want/will buy the product Whether you can cost effectively market the product Whether you could build a quality management team that can execute on the opportunity     6. What are the barriers to entry? Specifically, once you start growing your company, what is there to prevent others, individuals and companies from stealing your customers?   Part 2 of this series is coming through….     Here’s another humble attempt to showcase India’s ‘Most preferred Startups to work for’, startups that promise a great deal of work, value and learning to the professionals and freshers out there. 1. Ola – Founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola is not only India’s most popular mobile app for personal transportation, but also one of the most talked about ‘startups’ from India. Ola has also emerged as the top preferred startup to work for in our survey. The Billion Dollar Unicorn has surely caught the imagination of the young employable population. 2. Zoomcar – At No. 2 is another startup that is solving the problem of urban transportation. This self-drive car rental company raised $11 million from Sequoia Capital, Empire Angels and NGP, a week back. 3. FreeCharge – FreeCharge occupies the third position on the leaderboard. Earlier this year, FreeCharge was acquired by Snapdeal in one of the biggest M&A in the Indian internet ecosystem. 4. Freshdesk – It is encouraging to see a B2B startup occupying the fourth position on this list. Freshdesk is steadily appearing to be one of the best product startups built out of India. Perhaps a testimony to this was its latest $50 Million Series E funding from Tiger Global, Google Capital and Accel. 5. Housing – Unscathed by the myriad controversies surrounding it,...

This infographic from workfront is a classic representation of the 9 most despised work perosnalities you may come across as your colleagues or in any work environment. To deal with rude people, you first have to understand their behavioral pattern in order to make the work place amiable. Despised Work Personalities Visit Human Resource Development to save pins more of this kind. How does human behavior influence the work place ? Before delving into the solutions for handling difficult co-workers , I would like to present a small statistical summary on how does human behavior influence the work place. Humans are at the heart of a company. Their behavior not only influences its success, but also its failure. How does one understand them? Or know that there is a problem? The avearge employee spends about 15 hours a month criticizing or complaining about their boss.Studies have found highly engaged employees were 87% less likely to leave their companies than their engaged counter parts.Highly engaged employees also bring out the most creative ideas than their 3% of the less engaged .Companies with highly engaged staff report employees taking an average of 7 absence days per year against 14 days in low engagement companies.About 84% of the managers do not have the know-how of measuring productivity 4 Mantras to Handle Difficult Co-Workers in the Office Remain calm and disciplinedUnderstand the opposition’s perspectiveDon’t take anything personallyAcquire constant skills to deal with difficult people How to Deal With Rude People Don’t lose your cool – Get a hold of your anger firstConfront- only if the person is way out of lineDon’t expect the rude behavior to change any soon – their behavior is suchUse a selective respsonse system – Acknowledge postive responses while ignoring rude commnets.Ask the person how you can help – Help them release their pent up emotionsRaise your consciousness where you can’t be affected.Think about the times when you were rude to others.Opt out of interaction – You don’t have to get involvedConnect with people who can help youUnderstand why the person is rude – and then address those...

When you write your business plan, start with the basics, and write the things that you have already thought about. The name of your business, your goals, your team and the products/services you propose to offer. This gives a clean headstart to further evolve your business plan. A business plan should mainly focus on the future fund flow that will pique the interest of the bankers you are trying to pitch for a loan or investors whom you want to genuinely impress. Here are a few Business Plan Starter Questions 1. What is your mission statement? Your mission statement is what you want to do now, and your vision statement is what you want to do in the future. 2. What are your top keys to success? Don’t write a laundry list of keys, keep it simple, and focused. 3. What is your value proposition? Why should someone do business with you? 4. What are your core competencies or skills? 5. What is your start up budget? Write it like a grocery list, at first, and add up the numbers. 6. The executive summary is written last; after the entire business plan is, absolutely, finished. Think of the executive summary as your movie trailer, build to attract interest in your business. Writing a business plan is a huge undertaking, and if you have never done it before, it is down-right scary. Planning to start a small business? Think no more.. You’ve hit the right spot and we have compiled all that is necessary to win over the challenges of a new startup. This guide will serve as a jump start for your new venture and make it exciting. The web has loads of sample plans, but how do you, really, write your own business plan, your own way? How do you write the plan that accomplishes the goals that you want to accomplish in your business? This Business Planner will make your process simple and hassle free! How to Start a Small Business at Home – Read on to find out the Benefits and Advantages of a Home-Based Business Ask Yourself the Right Questions First things first, you have to start thinking about what you’re not thinking about. Ask yourself the right questions, about your business and put it into your plan notes. The best way to write a business plan is to write it in small segments or pieces. Forget trying to consume, writing the entire plan as a large, mammoth, assignment. It is, too, overwhelming, give yourself a break, and write small bursts, of information. It is easier, to write your top three to five business objectives, clearly and concisely when you are not looking down the barrel of a twenty-thirty page business plan....

Work Can be Play – How to Overcome Burnout? Let me Start With Some Quotes to Motivate You: “There are no secrets to success; it is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” “Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die.” “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” “You must be the change you wish to see in the world. “Keep your face to the sunshine and you can never see the shadow.”     Strategy of Smart Work I would like to suggest a few ways as to “How to improve your efficiency and quality of your work” without feeling the pinch. You don’t need to put in enormous hours of work to prove your mettle as it might only make you more exhausted and drain you of your physical and mental stamina. When we’re working hard, other areas of our life get neglected: Maybe you’re working long hours but eating poorly and never exercising. It might not seem like such a bad choice now, but when you run into health problems a few years down the road, you’re going to wish you’d found a better balance. Working too hard can have a really negative effect on your quality of life, too. Long hours and the pressure to keep doing more can lead to stress, burn out, depression, or just that miserable feeling of is this all there is to life? So how can you get away from the mindset of working hard and start working smart? Every 20 minutes take a break – Getting up to have a coffee or some water will make you feel agile. This suits well for the desk potatoes who are wedded to the computers. Prioritize the issues to be sorted out that particular day and focus your attention only on those issues until they are solved. This acts as a positive reinforcer and prepares you for the next challenge. If you find yourself with an excuse not to do it, tell yourself “Do it now”. “First Things First” is one of Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits” in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It means taking care of the most important things in your life before turning to the rest. Rather than trying to do everything at once, pick one or two key goals for each year, and focus wholeheartedly on those. It’s much better to actually accomplish a dream than to have a vague stab at lots of different things … only to end up making very little progress. Info: Pickthebrain.com Learn to say “NO” However, you can easily take it too far. At some point, you need to learn to decline opportunities. Your objective should be to take on only those commitments that you know you have time for and that you truly care about.   Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Most people need 7-8 hours of sleep for their bodies and minds to function optimally. You know if you’re getting enough. Listen to your body, and don’t underestimate the value of sleep. Devote your entire focus to the task at hand. Close out all other browser windows. Put your phone away, out of sight and on silent. Find a quiet place to work, or listen to some music if that helps you. Exercise and eat healthy Numerous studies have linked a healthy lifestyle with work productivity. Similar to getting enough sleep, exercising and eating healthily boost energy levels, clear your mind, and allow you to focus more easily. Delineate a time limit in which to complete task. Instead of just sitting down to work on a project and...

Awesome Social Media Quotes to Guide Your Marketing Strategy A strong Social Media Presence is inevitable to grow your business now-a-days. If you are not part of the mayhem, people are not going to remember you. Say, if you are a blogger and you post some 2 to 3 articles per week, it is not enough. The point is, are you smart enough to reach the right target audience which is never possible without the help of social media. Look at all these social media strategists and their insights – Full of experience and first hand information. Personally I love Twitter platform as it offers boundless possibilities to meet new faces and gather huge contacts in no time. The interface is simple but very effective and suitable for all kinds of businesses. You can cut across your message in a single powerful headline ofcourse with relevant hashtags.     Quotes have always inspired me and now my focus is on social media marketing which is the rage of the century. I thought of picking up some really useful and interesting quotes on social media by some popular social media hooligans. These will definitely open your eyes on the subject and make you understand why it is difficult for businesses to thrive without establishing their online presence through social media networks. Sean Gardner @2morrowknight “Social media is not just an activity; it is an investment of valuable time and resources. Surround yourself with people who not just support you and stay with you, but inform your thinking about ways to WOW your online presence” 4 Ways Travel Enhances Your PersonalBrand and Informs Your Worldview http://t.co/aZFgbhAbnq ttot RT @Linkedin pic.twitter.com/ngSa9eS9Mr — Sean Gardner (@2morrowknight) April 3, 2015 Aaron Lee @AskAaronLee “These days, social media waits for no one. If you’re LATE for the party, you’ll probably be covered by all the noise and you might not be able to get your voice across. It could only mean that if you want to be heard by the crowd, you have to be fast; and on social media, that means you have to be REALLY fast.” 5 Battle-Tested Tactics for Getting ROI on Social Media (Show Your BOSS!) – http://t.co/92l8enSV5y pic.twitter.com/50kRy08Aw4 — #Aaron Lee (@AskAaronLee) September 9, 2015 Jeff Bullas @jeffbullas “Social media is a hungry beast. The social networks require constant feeding. They need to be thrown a diet of content that keeps readers and viewers coming back for more. This is one of the biggest challenges if you want to do social at scale.” 7 Step Content Creation Strategy for Epic ContentMarketing http://t.co/s4VhCaPtK2 marketingtips pic.twitter.com/bwYDBkR2yN — #Jeff Bullas (@jeffbullas) September 14, 2015 Neal Schaffer @NealSchaffer “If You’re Not Regularly Experimenting with Your Social Media Efforts, You’re Not Maximizing Your Social.” Do you think you’ve mastered the art of social media? via @FastCompany http://t.co/Tq7SDTdyeg RT @msocialbusiness pic.twitter.com/VtgvkGw3f4 — #Neal Schaffer (@NealSchaffer) September 13, 2015 Neil Patel @neilpatel “The foundation of your social media strategy is to understand who your target audience is andwhy they use social media. To do so, we need to utilize demographics and psychographics.” How to Become a @Twitter Influencer: Science and Practice http://t.co/IFdlCO85KI pic.twitter.com/BdJ5eAA5z0 — #Neil Patel (@neilpatel) September 5, 2015 Hope you would have enjoyed this post and please visit all the influencers’ twitter accounts and blogs to see how many followers they’ve got and just think how they must have achieved this. Let this be a starting point for blogger beginners and other small businesses to enhance their social media presence through these proven strategies. Planning to bring more of content related to social media tools and...