What Warren Buffet Taught Me About Plain English Writing Techniques

In the late 90s, I found the Plain Language writing technique almost by accident. It’s also called Plain English, by the way. I was reading a lot about Warren Buffet a few years back and came across a nice, short document he wrote for the SEC. These are the folks who submit legal and business [...]

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12 Steps To Setting Up a Small Business Consultancy

Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter. The BBC quotes research from Barclays Bank which shows that semi-retired workers are responsible for 50% more start-ups than 10 years ago. In the UK, 67% of small business owners are over 45, while a mere 8.7% are under 34. Such data suggests that running a business [...]

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Business Plan format, style, layout

Your Business Plan is made up of eight different sections. 1 – Business Concept Define your product or service – outline what you’re offering in its simplest terms. What problem does it address – describe the single most important problem is solves. This tells the reader what you’re offering and what problem you’re solving. 2 [...]

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The Biggest Mistake In Business Planning

Remember when I said that people invest in people. The number one mistake to avoid in Business Plans is not talking about your people. Or to put it another way, not weaving their story into your business plan. Talk about your team, What drives them? Why did they build this product? Why did they leave [...]

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How Business Writers Could Use Twitter

Twitter is about publishing. Twitter is about writing. And it’s about having fun, making connections and sharing things. Here are some ways I use Twitter and some ways I don’t! Do’s And Don’ts For Using Twitter I’ve made a focused effort to use Twitter a little more strategically since May as it tied in with [...]

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How to Get Funding for Your Business and Then Lose Your Friends and Family

You can get funding in different ways for your business: You can get it: from yourself (mortgage your house), from your family (Dad, we don’t talk enough, I have this idea, maybe you’d be interested …), from friends (look, you trust me, right? Well, I have this amazing idea, let me explain. maybe you’d be [...]

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Why Business Plans Will Make You More Successful

Does this sound familiar? You’ve started a business, built products, made some sales, and started to scale. But your cashflow has ground to a halt! You need funds to drive the business forward and also ensure it doesn’t slide backwards. Investment is the answer, right? Here’s the part no-one wants to hear. It takes effort. [...]

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Guy Kawasaki 9 Point Business Plan Checklist

Guy Kawasaki says that it’s the people involved in the business that interest him first. Will they drive this business forward? Can he trust these them with his investment money? Will they stick with it through the difficult periods? What’s their track record? Have they don’t this before? What’s their biggest weakness? Do they know [...]

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Warren Buffett and Writing Better Executive Summaries

First impressions count, right? The Executive Summary of any business document is the first impression you make on the reader. If your business plan’s executive summary is poorly written, dull, or cut/pasted together it will hardly get noticed and the effort you put into the rest of the document won’t be seen. Instead, set aside [...]

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How to Stop Your Business Plan Files From Crashing – Part 1

Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter. Is there anything worse than writing your Business Plan all afternoon and then… Word crashes! If your Microsoft Word files suddenly become huge and start crashing, here’s one way to fix it. I’ve creating some very large business proposals in Microsoft Word and learnt a few ways [...]

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