4P FORMULA
I (much like most in my field) come across clients who are looking to build their legacy and create something special that the world will recognize (myself included). They imagine their future selves in a successful environment based upon the contributions of their business success. If you have ever watched the Simpsons over the years you know that Homer Simpson does that quite often. only his is a bit more exaggerated then most.
When we meet these clients you'd be surprise that a lot of the times they don't really have a plan of how they tend to bring that vision to reality. Furthermore, they don't have the proper resources and assets ready to make that dream come true.
I myself for a time lacked such knowledge. However the difference is when I realized this I decided not to do anything until I got exactly what I needed to make VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. happen. There were things that I needed to understand before walking the road to pursuing my passion. Along with that I needed the proper education in order to be prepared for the unexpected.
I know what your thinking. How does one be prepared for something that didn't or might not happen. Well I'll answer that. If you studied and learned the basics of business it will allow you to conduct what I call "The 4P Formula"
The 4P formula consist of two major factors that lead into the benefits of two more. Part of having a successful business means that you have to do two very important things. One is to plan and the other is to have patienceand I mean Zen like patience. I say that because anyone who has taken college courses or majored in business knows that starting a business does not gain success overnight. You are planting the proverbial seeds in your garden (your foundation) and you have to let them grow or bloom correctly. Let's go over the 4P Formula to see how it works and how it can result in prosperity and perseverance. 4P FORMULA
PLANNING:
Without the proper tools and know how there is no way that your potential business will get off of the ground. There is more to having a business than having a logo and a website. They are just tools to promote your product and/or service. One has to have a solid business plan and capital assets in order to invest in your business as well as forecast the possible income that will hopefully bring back that capital and more.
Money is obviously the center point of all business ventures, whether you need it to create your product or means of service, or to gain profit. You need money to start, continue, and grow your product and/or service. When coming to the likes of myself and others in my field it is best to come prepared. We look forward to working with passionate, smart, and strategic clients who know what they want and is well prepared to make it happen. These are people who have studied (in college and/or from real world experience) on how they can make a profit, what their audience wants, and how they can achieve it. The worst approach you can ever give to people like myself or event banks, families, investors, etc, is to present your idea(s) with no substance at all to show that you are serious about your dream business.
One should consider these steps when wanting to start your dream project:
Create your business proposal: This will allow you to know what you need to get your business started and how much it will cost to get it. This will include information such as how much you need to build, what your business is about, who is your target consumer base or target audience, the forecasting of how much you expect to gain from your new business, and more. This is what you will need when approaching people to invest in your business. I recommend you Google more on how to create a business proposal if you are not familiar with how to create one yourself or hire a professional to create it for you.
Find a way to get those capital assets before you agree to hire anyone to help create your brand: Trust me when I tell you it will not end well if you go hire someone to help create your brand and you are not financially prepared. Plus it makes you look very unprofessional from business, moral, and ethical perspective.
Quality before Quantity: Sometimes having the most reasonable price for a service or product doesn't mean you will always get the best quality. You want to present a product that is approved by your consumer base or audience. Sometimes that means that you will have to invest in it. The old saying "You get what you pay for" is real in a lot of cases. So be sure that you are getting the best quality first.
VERY IMPORTANT: Try not to get a BANK LOAN as your first resort of building capital. It is like playing with the devil in some cases. You sign on that dotted line and with it comes a ton of interest and penalties if you can not pay on time. They will always suggest to you in business classes to ask immediate family, relatives, friends, or people you have gained trust to borrow the money you need. Only use the banks if you absolutely have to.
DO NOT USE ANY CREDIT CARDS TO START YOUR BUSINESS. YOU WILL REGRET IT: Credit Cards are even worst than banks with their stipulations and fees. You don't want to go down that rabbit hole.
Consider having a job on the side: The one thing that I have learned in our country's current economic status is that the American dream in this era consist of you working at least two jobs. It sounds like a lot, but it will benefit you in the end. But this is a great way to build income for your potential business. Plus you will have a chance to learn something that you may be able to use in your own ventures. Just make sure you at least work at a job that is flexible to what you are doing and that the staff and environment is as stressor free as possible. It helps your process mentally which is very important when building your establishment.
FOCUS ON LIGHT AND HEAVYWEIGHT GOALS: When I took up psychology in college, we studied self efficacytraining to help achieve goals and maintain self confidence in your road to success. So from that I utilize a proven method to help keep focus and grow as an individual. Simply put, write a list. But not just any list. This list consist of all of your goals in life. The key to making them happen is to handle them one at a time with the lightweight goals first which then leads to the heavyweight goals (or task). This is the same approach one would use to built strength and muscle in your body. You start with the lighter weights which allows you to condition you body (in the case of your goals, this would be your mind). The stronger you get from those lightweight goals the more weight you can handle. Soon you will be able to handle more challenging (or heavyweight) goals on your list. I highly recommend you do it in this order. Otherwise you can sabotage your mind into thinking you can't complete the task. I see many people do this were they handle a task that is way too much for them to handle at that time and wined up giving up as a result. It is the same for going to a gym and you try to do a super set bench press that is 2X your body weight. If you do it in the order I mentioned you will no doubt achieve great results. It doesn't matter what the goal is or how small the task is. A goal is a goal. When you look back to your list after a while you will realize how much you did which will inspire you to do more.
Here an example of how I did my list:
If you go through these steps of planning your chances of your planted seed growing has a much better success rate than those who have Homer Simpson daydreams. Again, if you watched the show threw its many year you know his vision only come up in smoke five minutes into the show. Funny on the show, not funny in real life.
PATIENCE:
This is a really vital part of the 4P Formula process as it involves you to understand the possibility that your business growth will take quite a bit of time to grow. With that said, realize that nothing that grows fast last long. Anyone looking to get a project done within a short amount of time has to be taken into consideration. One should use their critical thinking if they come across anybody looking to create a project so quickly.
The time for a business to see any progress is at least five years. However to be honest, that rule hasn't been the same in the recent years. Most successful business owners and entrepreneurs will tell you it took them at least double the amount of years to get where they are right now. So let's throw that cliche' out the window right now. Anybody ask you the old "What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?", tell them that you are looking to see your business grow in at least 10 years.
The best thing to do is to allow that proverbial seed to grow. You have to tell yourself a lot that things won't happen in a week, or a month, or even in two years, but it will eventually grow if you stick to it. As long as you have a definite plan that will allow things to grow gradually even if you have a few bumps on your road. I once heard Steve Harvey say on his radio show quote something he heard from someone else a while back. Basically, "if you don't have a plan, then you plan to fail". Plain and simple. When you have that plan, you will have the understanding and confidence it will take to wait out the results. Even if some or all of the results are unsuccessful you have to look back on what you have done and find out what the problem is. When you do then fix the problem and try it again. Another great quote I heard was from entertainer and promoter Paul Heyman (most famous for his stint in the WWE) who stated "You can't achieve success without the risk of failure". Meaning, you can't go into building your dreams fearing that you will fail at it. You may get into a situation were you may not achieve success. And guaranteed you may lose more money than you make in the first few years which is normal (NOTE: that does not mean that you will or should lose money in the beginning but there is usually a case where you spend more to build then you get back at first. I would just say still plan wisely and keep track of your loses and not to risk having to owe anyone but yourself). However, if it happens that you lose a little in the first few years it is not the end of the world. You get back on your feet and start again. If you are truly passionate about what you want you will do anything to make it happen.
And look back at the list that you created for yourself which again will help encourage you to keep going. See all that you have done previously will create a spark in your system. This will also give you the strength to see things through.
You will never know whether any of this will happen if you don't allow things to grow properly. So be strong, confident, and tranquil in your journey. Years from now you will look back and be glad you did.
THE RESULTS (PROSPERITY AND PERSEVERANCE):
At this stage you begin to see your garden grow. You are now learning more about your business and respective industry. You are now networking with new people that can bring more business to you. You are finding new clients that will be satisfied with what you provide, and discovering more ways to help your business grow. Hopefully by this time also you have broken even financially or supercede your annual income as well.
You will be more in control of your elements and have what it takes to handle yourself in the business world. It also shows that you know how to handle yourself in the most darkest of times. The one thing that I will say to you at this time (which I need to practice more myself) is to STOP. Just stop and smell the roses in your garden and see what beauty you have created for yourself and for others. When things begin to progress and you get too deep into your business, you don't think twice to stop and realize what you have done for yourself and others. So please do. This is a bit different then looking at your list of goals because by this time you will have fulfilled that list and will already have things in motion. You owe it to yourself to look at your legacy.
This formula will create the evolution that is yourself and your potential business. Consider this as a beginners method to get you on the right track.
Dax J. Martin-Cheeves