[Asterisk-biz] Open Business Plan

[Max Blackmer]

Alan Gutierrez wrote:

>Intro..
>
>I'm a software developer. I am learning Asterisk. I'm reading the
>"*: tfot" book. It is easy to understand. I am confident that my
>many years of Linux and Apache adminstration will help me get up to
>speed quickly.
>
>That said, please excuse my noobishness. I am RTFM.
>
>Anyway..
>
>I'd like to build a simple Asterisk system to market to small
>businesses, like real estate offices, law offices, etc. My customer
>would need more that four phone lines, but less than twenty.
>
>The system would do just the basics.
>
>To me, this is basic retail computing, for small business.
>
>I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who has taken the time to
>write up a business plan for a similar business. If so, could you
>share it with me, so I could have a framework to write my own.
>
>Or if this describes your business, and you'd like a business plan
>to show to your bank or the SBA, would you like to co-operate on
>writing this business plan?
>
>The resulting business plan would be placed on the Asterisk Wiki,
>for people to tweak. If there is such a thing already, please let me
>know.
>
>Cheers.
>
>--
>Alan Gutierrez - alan at engrm.com - http://engrm.com/blogometer/
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>
The basics on writing a good business plan can be found in many books 
and a couple of software programs. There are even govenment agencies 
that can help you with your business plan.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has some free information on the 
basics of writing business plans at 
http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html

Remember Google is your friend. Preform a search for business plans. 6th 
on the list was a business plan archive. 
http://www.businessplanarchive.org/ this contains both successful and 
unsucessful business plans.

Software that helps you write a business plan is just that a helper. you 
still must do research and fill in the content.  But it will guide you 
through the business plan writing process. A very good software maker is 
Palo Alto Sofware Business Plan Pro. http://www.paloalto.com/

A combination book and software that works for me, Streetwise Complete 
Business Plan With Software: Interactive Software to Quickly Create a 
Powerful Business Plan Plus a Comprehensive Book (Adams Streetwise 
Series) (Paperback).

A good starter book on business plans is The Successful Business Plan: 
Secrets and Strategies (Paperback)
by Eugene Kleiner (Foreword), Rhonda Abrams. In addition if you are a 
beginner I recommend Six-Week Start-Up: A Step-By-Step Program for 
Starting Your Business, Making Money, and Achieving Your Goals! 
(Paperback) by Rhonda Abrams. The book helps you take into a majority of 
things that need to be done to get the business rolling legally and in a 
way that will help develop your business skills.

A little advice for you on business plans make your own business plan or 
alter the business plan to match your skill set and capabilities. 
Remember What works for one person may not nessarly work for you. This 
is a common mistake and why many businesses fail. Not enough careful 
planning and thinking about how and when to do things.

Sincerly,

Max W. Blackmer, Jr.
Knowledge Power IT
http://www.knowledgepowerit.com