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covered.","relatedArticles":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles?category=34225&offset=0&size=5"}},"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"}},"relatedCategoriesLoadedStatus":"success"},"listState":{"list":{"count":10,"total":6066,"items":[{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T16:13:15+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-05-31T15:43:41+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:41+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Marketing","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34243"},"slug":"marketing","categoryId":34243}],"title":"Web Marketing: How to Manage Search Engine Robots","strippedTitle":"web marketing: how to manage search engine robots","slug":"web-marketing-how-to-manage-search-engine-robots","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"In web marketing, it’s important to make sure your site is visible. Checking your robots.txt file and meta robots tags is a good place to start. Errors with the","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"In web marketing, it’s important to make sure your site is visible. Checking your robots.txt file and meta robots tags is a good place to start. Errors with these can make your site invisible to visitors.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >Check your robots.txt file</h2>\r\nGo to\r\n<pre class=\"code\">www.<i>yoursiteaddress</i>.com/robots.txt</pre>\r\n.\r\nYou might get a\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Page Not Found</pre>\r\nerror. That’s okay for your purposes: A no\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile means you’re not placing any broad limits on what search engines can and can’t index on your site. You might also see something like this:\r\n<pre class=\"code\">User-agent: *\r\nDisallow: /blog.htm</pre>\r\nThis file is called the\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile. It tells search engine crawlers, also known as <i>robots,</i> what to do when they visit your website. In this example, it’s telling all search engines to ignore the blog.htm page. All other pages are searchable.\r\n<p class=\"Tip\">If you want to become a</p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\ngeek, visit the <a href=\"http://www.robotstxt.org\">Web Robots Page</a>. You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about guiding robots around your site.\r\n\r\nWhat you <i>don’t</i> want to see in your\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile is this:\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Disallow: /</pre>\r\nThis line tells a visiting search engine crawler to ignore <i>every page</i> on your website. A developer may add this line when he is building the site to prevent search engines from crawling it while it’s under construction. If it is left there by accident, your site is invisible to search engines.\r\n\r\nIf your\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile has any\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Disallow</pre>\r\ncommands in it, check with your webmaster or developer to make sure that a reason exists.\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Disallow</pre>\r\ncan be used to hide pages that change a lot, hide duplicate content, or keep search engines out of stuff you just don’t want them crawling. Just make sure that you’re not accidentally hiding content they <i>should</i> see.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >Check for meta robots tags</h2>\r\nUsing the meta\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots</pre>\r\ntag is another way to hide pages from search engines. Go to any page on your website and view the source code. You don’t want to see\r\n<pre class=\"code\"><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex,nofollow\"></pre>\r\nIf the meta\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots</pre>\r\ntag is there, and it contains\r\n<pre class=\"code\">noindex</pre>\r\n,\r\n<pre class=\"code\">nofollow</pre>\r\n, or both, remove it. You have valid reasons to use this tag: You might want a search engine to ignore this page because it’s a duplicate; you might feel the information on the page is inappropriate for search results; or the developer might have hidden the page during development. If you don’t know the reason, delete the tag.\r\n<p class=\"Warning\">Do not trust your developer to remove the meta</p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots</pre>\r\ntag. When he builds your site, he’s working hard, writing code so fast that his fingers smoke. Forgetting to remove that one little line of code is easy when you’re facing a tough deadline and still have 4,000 lines of code to write. Remind your developer!","description":"In web marketing, it’s important to make sure your site is visible. Checking your robots.txt file and meta robots tags is a good place to start. Errors with these can make your site invisible to visitors.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >Check your robots.txt file</h2>\r\nGo to\r\n<pre class=\"code\">www.<i>yoursiteaddress</i>.com/robots.txt</pre>\r\n.\r\nYou might get a\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Page Not Found</pre>\r\nerror. That’s okay for your purposes: A no\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile means you’re not placing any broad limits on what search engines can and can’t index on your site. You might also see something like this:\r\n<pre class=\"code\">User-agent: *\r\nDisallow: /blog.htm</pre>\r\nThis file is called the\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile. It tells search engine crawlers, also known as <i>robots,</i> what to do when they visit your website. In this example, it’s telling all search engines to ignore the blog.htm page. All other pages are searchable.\r\n<p class=\"Tip\">If you want to become a</p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\ngeek, visit the <a href=\"http://www.robotstxt.org\">Web Robots Page</a>. You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about guiding robots around your site.\r\n\r\nWhat you <i>don’t</i> want to see in your\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile is this:\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Disallow: /</pre>\r\nThis line tells a visiting search engine crawler to ignore <i>every page</i> on your website. A developer may add this line when he is building the site to prevent search engines from crawling it while it’s under construction. If it is left there by accident, your site is invisible to search engines.\r\n\r\nIf your\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots.txt</pre>\r\nfile has any\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Disallow</pre>\r\ncommands in it, check with your webmaster or developer to make sure that a reason exists.\r\n<pre class=\"code\">Disallow</pre>\r\ncan be used to hide pages that change a lot, hide duplicate content, or keep search engines out of stuff you just don’t want them crawling. Just make sure that you’re not accidentally hiding content they <i>should</i> see.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >Check for meta robots tags</h2>\r\nUsing the meta\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots</pre>\r\ntag is another way to hide pages from search engines. Go to any page on your website and view the source code. You don’t want to see\r\n<pre class=\"code\"><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex,nofollow\"></pre>\r\nIf the meta\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots</pre>\r\ntag is there, and it contains\r\n<pre class=\"code\">noindex</pre>\r\n,\r\n<pre class=\"code\">nofollow</pre>\r\n, or both, remove it. You have valid reasons to use this tag: You might want a search engine to ignore this page because it’s a duplicate; you might feel the information on the page is inappropriate for search results; or the developer might have hidden the page during development. If you don’t know the reason, delete the tag.\r\n<p class=\"Warning\">Do not trust your developer to remove the meta</p>\r\n\r\n<pre class=\"code\">robots</pre>\r\ntag. When he builds your site, he’s working hard, writing code so fast that his fingers smoke. Forgetting to remove that one little line of code is easy when you’re facing a tough deadline and still have 4,000 lines of code to write. Remind your developer!","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9866,"name":"John Arnold","slug":"john-arnold","description":"John Arnold is a renowned marketing trainer and speaker as well as an entrepreneur and small business advisor. Arnold continues to train and advise small business owners as a Constant Contact regional development director.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9866"}},{"authorId":9867,"name":"Michael Becker","slug":"michael-becker","description":"Michael Becker is the managing director of North America at the Mobile Marketing Association. 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","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10793"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;marketing&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119224853&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f84de8cb\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;marketing&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119224853&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f84defdf\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":218762,"title":"Building Your Account-Based Marketing Technology Stack","slug":"building-your-account-based-marketing-technology-stack","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","marketing"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/218762"}},{"articleId":218764,"title":"Creating Account-Based Marketing Campaigns","slug":"creating-account-based-marketing-campaigns","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","marketing"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/218764"}}],"content":[{"title":"Building your account-based marketing technology stack","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<div class=\"series-article\">\n<div class=\"article-body p402_premium\">\n<p>Account-based marketing is possible thanks to innovations in marketing technology (MarTech). Since the rise of marketing automation platforms, thousands of new MarTech software vendors have entered the product category.</p>\n<p>There are dozens of subcategories of MarTech, such as email marketing, interactive content, advertising, video marketing, events, search (SEM and SEO), content marketing, social media marketing, and many more. The list is ever-evolving.</p>\n<p>But to successfully execute your account-based marketing campaigns, a few essential pieces of software are required. These platforms will enable your B2B marketing and sales team to do account-based marketing at scale.</p>\n<p>Here is what should be included in your account-based MarTech stack:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Customer relationship management (CRM):</b> Your company needs a centralized place to store and manage all of your customers&#8217; contact information. This includes both your current clients and prospects. A CRM is the best place to store all of this information. The Salesforce CRM system integrates with almost every type of MarTech software in the marketplace. Salesforce is the 800-lb. gorilla. More than 100,000 companies are using it, as there are options for small, mid-market, and enterprise level organizations.</li>\n<li><b>Marketing automation:</b> A marketing automation platform (MAP) is used for tracking engagement with contacts in your CRM. A MAP gives you the tools to create activities, then monitors the level of activity each contact is engaged in. Marketing automation is used for scoring the contacts created in your CRM. The platform has a direct interface with your CRM through an application programming interface (API). Whenever you add a new contact record to your CRM, the data is pulled into your marketing automation system. Using a marketing automation tool, you can identify your customers, build your lists, and send content.</li>\n<li><b>Contact management system (CMS):</b> The platform on which you host your company&#8217;s website. The most popular CMS on the market today is WordPress because of its easy-to-use functionality. All of the pages for your company&#8217;s website are created and uploaded. The CMS also gives you a platform for posting blog content.</li>\n<li><b>Social media:</b> Every successful, modern brand has a presence on social media. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the essential platforms on which you need to have a company page. From here, you can update your followers with company news, sponsor posts, and drive your targeted audience to learn more about your organization. Social media works to establish new connections and further engage your potential sales opportunities and customers.</li>\n<li><b>Advertising:</b> A critical part of account-based marketing is to surround your targeted accounts, and the contacts within those accounts, with your message. This is accomplished through advertising. Google Ads helps, but it doesn&#8217;t give you account-level attribution. Consider account-based marketing platforms, such as <a href=\"https://www.demandbase.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DemandBase</a>, <a href=\"https://www.ignitium.com/engagio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Engagio</a>, <a href=\"https://www.leandata.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LeanData</a>, and <a href=\"https://terminus.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Terminus</a>, to assist with launching advertising and measuring the effects.</li>\n</ul>\n</div>\n</div>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n"},{"title":"Creating account-based marketing campaigns","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>With account-based marketing, think about going beyond the typical B2B buyer&#8217;s journey to an <i>account</i><i>&#8216;</i><i>s</i> journey. The account&#8217;s journey goes beyond the purchase decision (whether to buy or not from your company) to the customer experience. Follow these rules for creating account-based marketing campaigns that go from the buyer&#8217;s journey to a customer experience:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Find your ideal customer:</b> An ideal customer profile (ICP) is the type of company you want to do business with. The ICP includes knowing which company size (either employees or revenue) and industry is a best fit for your product or service. The marketing and sales teams should work together to define this ICP, then identify the types of people in these companies who will be the users (or &#8220;champions&#8221;) of your offering. These people are called <i>personas.</i> When defining your personas, include job title, role, responsibilities, and use cases for how each individual will work with your company.</li>\n<li><b>Think about the key takeaways:</b> What&#8217;s the message people in an account will take away from each marketing campaign? Depending on the industry and persona, you want your message to be tailored to the audience. If you&#8217;re target is a CMO of a large software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, the message will be different than if you were targeting an IT manager at a small bank. Your message should not be how your solution works. For example, &#8220;How (same title) like you are succeeding with account-based marketing.&#8221;</li>\n<li><b>Time your message:</b> The message in your account-based marketing campaign should be based on the stage of the buyer&#8217;s journey. What you tell your contacts and the content offered must be different for each stage. An account-based marketing platform syncs with your CRM system to advertise based on these stages. The stages are:\n<ul>\n<li><b>New:</b> A brand new account where the contacts need to be educated about your service or product offering. The message should serve up informative content, such as an infographic, blog post, or video explaining your company&#8217;s solution.</li>\n<li><b>Prospect:</b> An inbound or outbound account that has been designated a marketing qualified account (MQA) and deemed to be a good fit for your business. After the MQA is passed on to sales, it becomes a sales qualified account (SQA). More educational content explaining how people with similar ICPs or personas have been successful with your company is required, such as case studies or customer testimonial videos.</li>\n<li><b>Opportunity:</b> The SQA has become a revenue opportunity, as they are ready to make a decision whether to purchase from your company. In the opportunity stage, the content offered should demonstrate a return on investment (ROI), competitive analysis of what your solution offers, and a smooth implementation and on-boarding process.</li>\n<li><b>Customer:</b> After the purchase decision has been made, marketing&#8217;s job continues. With account-based marketing, customers become advocates for the brand to increase organic, authentic, word-of-mouth marketing. The content here needs to include video tutorials, checklists, and guides to help make it easy for customers to adopt the product or service.</li>\n<li><b>Land and expand:</b> After landing a deal with one contact in the account, there will be opportunities to grow your business inside the account with additional revenue opportunities. Here, you want to develop a &#8220;power user&#8221; or &#8220;champion&#8221; to have as a use case demonstrating success with your company.</li>\n<li><b>Cross-sell/upsell:</b> An upsell is selling an upgraded version of your product or service to the same contact in the account. Training content, such as an ongoing webinar series just for your customers, assists with cross-sell and upsell potential.</li>\n<li><b>&#8220;Always on&#8221; air cover:</b> Nurturing never stops with your customers. In order to create customer advocates, marketing must consistently provide content purposely built for your company&#8217;s clients. This type of content includes advertising, quarterly reports, &#8220;town hall&#8221; webinars with your company&#8217;s leadership, and holding an annual user conference (an event just for your customers and partners).</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li><b>Be where your accounts are:</b> Your prospect, opportunity, and customer accounts engage with a variety of marketing channels. The channels include digital media such as mobile sites, social media, videos, emails, and much more. Offline channels include events, direct mail, and phone calls. By knowing your ICP and personas, you can determine which channels might be the best-fit to engage your accounts. For example, an engaging video personalized for an IT manager would go a long way compared to calling him on the phone.</li>\n<li><b>Serve instead of sell:</b> With account-based marketing, it&#8217;s all about thought leadership. You want to serve up educational content instead of trying to sell your product or service. This all comes back to nurturing your accounts so when they are ready to buy, your company will be top of mind.</li>\n<li><b>Measure the results:</b> You have to know if each campaign is working; to do this, you need success metrics. The success metrics for your account-based marketing campaigns should include:\n<ul>\n<li>Contacts in the account: Did we reach the right people who will use our product or service? How many of these people did we connect with during the campaign?</li>\n<li>Stage progression: Did the account move to the next stage in the account&#8217;s journey? For example, did the account move from prospect to opportunity, or from customer to upsell?</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"child-para\"><b>Follow up with your contacts:</b> The account&#8217;s journey is a continuous cycle. Even if the company you&#8217;re targeting goes out of business, the contacts you reach with your marketing message are still out there. In the marketplace, sharing what they know about your company. As you think about your ABM campaign, think about what the follow-up action will be from your efforts.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>In this account-based marketing framework, we examined each stage of the buyer&#8217;s journey. Here is where you can see associated content and success metrics for each stage. Use this framework to measure progression of the account.</p>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-05-09T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":218767},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:55:03+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-05-03T14:50:46+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:40+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Small Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34251"},"slug":"small-business","categoryId":34251},{"name":"General Small Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34253"},"slug":"general-small-business","categoryId":34253}],"title":"Small Business Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"small business kit for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"small-business-kit-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn the basics of setting up a small business, including business plans, differences between C and S corporations, and keeping records.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"Owning and running a small business calls for a variety of skills, perhaps foremost among them organizational. If you’re going to incorporate your business, you need to explore the differences between becoming a C corporation and an S corporation. And if you want to attract investors or even apply for a loan, you’d better be familiar with the key elements of a business plan.","description":"Owning and running a small business calls for a variety of skills, perhaps foremost among them organizational. If you’re going to incorporate your business, you need to explore the differences between becoming a C corporation and an S corporation. And if you want to attract investors or even apply for a loan, you’d better be familiar with the key elements of a business plan.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10243,"name":"Richard D. Harroch","slug":"richard-d-harroch","description":"Richard D. Harroch is an attorney and poker enthusiast. He has more than 20 years of experience in representing start-up and emerging companies, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. He is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and is a corporate partner in a major law firm in San Francisco. He has edited or co-authored a number of legal/business books, including Start-Up and Emerging Companies: Planning, Financing and Operating the Successful Business and Partnership and Joint Venture Agreements. 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Harroch</b> is an attorney with over 20 years of experience in representing start-up and emerging companies, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. He is listed in <i>Who’s Who in American Law</i> and is a corporate partner in a major law firm in San Francisco. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of U.C. Berkeley and graduated from UCLA Law School, where he was managing editor of the <i>Law Review</i>. He has edited or co-authored a number of legal/business books, including <i>Start-Up and Emerging Companies: Planning, Financing and Operating the Successful Business</i> and <i>Partnership and Joint Venture Agreements</i>.<br> Richard was the chairman and co-founder of AllBusiness.com, one of the premier Web sites for small businesses. He was also the founder, CEO, and chairman of LawCommerce, Inc., an Internet company dedicated to providing products and sources to the legal profession.<br> He has lectured extensively before various legal and business organizations, including the American Electronics Association, the Venture Capital Institute, the California Continuing Education of the Bar, Law Journal Seminars-Press, the California State Bar Business Section, the Corporate Counsel Institute, the San Francisco Bar, and the Practicing Law Institute (PLI).<br> Richard has served as the chairman of the California State Bar Committee on Partnerships, the co-chairman of the Corporations Committee of the San Francisco Bar (Barristers), a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar, and co-chair of the <i>Law Journal</i> seminar in New York on “Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances.”<br> Richard has experience in the following areas: start-up and emerging companies, corporate financings, joint ventures, strategic alliances, venture capital financings, employment agreements, IPOs, leases, loans, online and Internet matters, license agreements, partnerships, preferred stock, confidentiality agreements, stock options, sales contracts, securities laws, and mergers and acquisitions.","authors":[{"authorId":35060,"name":"Richard D. Harroch","slug":"richard-d.-harroch","description":" <b>Richard D. Harroch</b> is an attorney with over 20 years of experience in representing start-up and emerging companies, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. He is listed in <i>Who&#8217;s Who in American Law</i> and is a corporate partner in a major law firm in San Francisco. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of U.C. Berkeley and graduated from UCLA Law School, where he was managing editor of the <i>Law Review</i>. He has edited or co-authored a number of legal/business books, including <i>Start-Up and Emerging Companies: Planning, Financing and Operating the Successful Business</i> and <i>Partnership and Joint Venture Agreements</i>.<br /> Richard was the chairman and co-founder of AllBusiness.com, one of the premier Web sites for small businesses. He was also the founder, CEO, and chairman of LawCommerce, Inc., an Internet company dedicated to providing products and sources to the legal profession.<br /> He has lectured extensively before various legal and business organizations, including the American Electronics Association, the Venture Capital Institute, the California Continuing Education of the Bar, Law Journal Seminars-Press, the California State Bar Business Section, the Corporate Counsel Institute, the San Francisco Bar, and the Practicing Law Institute (PLI).<br /> Richard has served as the chairman of the California State Bar Committee on Partnerships, the co-chairman of the Corporations Committee of the San Francisco Bar (Barristers), a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar, and co-chair of the <i>Law Journal</i> seminar in New York on &#8220;Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances.&#8221;<br /> Richard has experience in the following areas: start-up and emerging companies, corporate financings, joint ventures, strategic alliances, venture capital financings, employment agreements, IPOs, leases, loans, online and Internet matters, license agreements, partnerships, preferred stock, confidentiality agreements, stock options, sales contracts, securities laws, and mergers and acquisitions.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/35060"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;small-business&quot;,&quot;general-small-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780764559846&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f8471bc6\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;small-business&quot;,&quot;general-small-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780764559846&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f84724d8\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":190293,"title":"How to Organize Your Small Business Records","slug":"how-to-organize-your-small-business-records","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","small-business","general-small-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/190293"}},{"articleId":190287,"title":"Differences between C and S Corporations for a Small Business","slug":"differences-between-c-and-s-corporations-for-a-small-business","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","small-business","general-small-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/190287"}},{"articleId":190290,"title":"Key Sections of a Small Business Plan","slug":"key-sections-of-a-small-business-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","small-business","general-small-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/190290"}}],"content":[{"title":"How to organize your small business records","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Dealing with the paperwork is a large part of running a small business. The following table suggests essential file drawers to label in an actual file cabinet or two and what must-keep information to file in each:</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>File Drawer</b></td>\n<td><b>What To Put There</b></td>\n<td><b>File Drawer</b></td>\n<td><b>What To Put There</b></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Accounting and bookkeeping records</td>\n<td>Sales and expense information, inventory, ledgers, income<br />\nstatements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and other<br />\nfinancial statements.</td>\n<td>Forms used in the business</td>\n<td>Standard forms that you use in the business, such as purchase<br />\norders, sales agreements, offer letters to new employees, and<br />\nemployment applications.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bank records</td>\n<td>Bank statements, cancelled checks, bank reconciliations,<br />\nnotices from and to your bank, deposit slips, and any loan-related<br />\nnotices and documents.</td>\n<td>Intellectual property records</td>\n<td>Trademark applications, copyright filings, patent filings and<br />\npatents, licenses, and confidentiality or non-disclosure<br />\nagreements.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Contracts</td>\n<td>All contracts you have entered into, including: real estate<br />\nleases, equipment leases, purchase agreements, sales agreements,<br />\njoint venture agreements, work for hire agreements, and other<br />\ncontracts.</td>\n<td>Marketing and advertising</td>\n<td>Marketing brochures, print ads, Web banners, text of radio ads,<br />\nand records of other marketing materials.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Corporate records</td>\n<td><b>For corporations:</b> Articles of Incorporation, bylaws,<br />\nshareholder minutes and consents, board minutes and consents, state<br />\nfilings, Action of Incorporator, and amendments to the various<br />\ncorporate documents.<br />\n<b>For non-corporations:</b> Documents may include partnership<br />\nagreements, LLC documents, consents of the owners, and similar<br />\nrecords.</td>\n<td>Permits and licenses</td>\n<td>Permits, licenses, or registration forms that you need to<br />\noperate the business, whether required under federal, state, or<br />\nlocal law.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Correspondence</td>\n<td>Letters sent by mail, faxes, and important e-mail that you<br />\ndon’t want to lose and want to keep in hard copy. These<br />\ninclude both correspondence you receive and send.</td>\n<td>Stock records</td>\n<td>The company’s Stock Ledger where you record all stock and<br />\nother securities transactions, copies of stock certificates,<br />\noptions and warrants, and copies of all securities law<br />\nfilings.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Employee records</td>\n<td>Completed employment applications, actual employment offer<br />\nletters, employee handbook or policies, employment agreements,<br />\nperformance appraisals, employee attendance records, employee<br />\ntermination letters, W-2s, and any settlement agreements with<br />\nterminated employees.</td>\n<td>Tax records</td>\n<td>These records include quarterly and annual federal and state<br />\nincome tax filings, W-9 filings for independent contractors,<br />\nrecords supporting tax filings, withholding tax records, and other<br />\ntax-related matters.</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"Differences between C and S corporations for a small business","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>A <i>corporation</i> is a separate legal entity formed under a state corporation law. Your small business can register as a C corporation or an S corporation if you go the corporation route, which you may want to do to shield shareholders from the corporation’s debts and liabilities.</p>\n<h3>C corporations</h3>\n<p>The following key points characterize C corporations:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Limited liability:</b> Generally, the shareholders, officers, and directors of the corporation aren’t personally liable for the corporation’s debts and liabilities.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Perpetual existence: </b>In contrast to partnerships and sole proprietorships, corporations generally can last forever unless they’re voluntarily dissolved.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Control and management: </b>A corporation’s overall management is vested in the board of directors chosen by the shareholders. The board of directors elects the corporation’s officers, who handle the business’s day-to-day affairs under the board’s general direction.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Shareholders’ rights:</b> Shareholders typically have various rights, including the right to elect directors, receive information, inspect corporate records, vote on fundamental business decisions (such as mergers and liquidations), and share in distributions.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Owners and profits: </b>The owners of the corporation are the shareholders who have received stock in the corporation.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Corporate formalities: </b>You should observe various corporate formalities, such as maintenance of separate books, records, and accounts; completion of various governmental filings; and periodic meetings or written consents of directors and shareholders.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Stock transferability: </b>Stock certificates are signs of ownership. Their transfer may be restricted; for example, the corporation may have a right of first refusal on transfer. And federal or state securities laws can limit stock transfers.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Capital formation: </b>The corporate entity accommodates a wide variety of forms of capitalization, such as common stock, preferred stock, stock options, warrants, and convertible securities.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Employee stock ownership: </b>Corporations provide the best vehicle to give employees equity interests in the business. Corporations allow tax-advantaged stock option grants, which aren’t available for other entities.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Tax:</b> C corporations are taxed at the corporate level. The government taxes most dividends as income to the stockholders.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<h3>S corporations</h3>\n<p>An S corporation is a regular corporation, but the business’s income passes through to the shareholders, and the shareholders pay income taxes based on their portion of the corporate income. In order to become an S corporation, you must follow a number of key rules, including</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>IRS election: </b>All shareholders must sign and file IRS Form 2553 with the IRS. You may also need to make an election with your state of incorporation. New corporations must file the IRS form by the 15th day of the third month of your tax year (basically, a 2 1/2 month window).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Number of shareholders: </b>An S corporation can have no more than 75 shareholders.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>One class of stock: </b>An S corporation can only have one class of stock, although certain differences can exist in voting rights among the shareholders.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Restrictions on the type of shareholders: </b>Generally, corporations, various trusts, and nonresident aliens may not be shareholders in an S corporation.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Key sections of a small business plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>If you want investors for your small business, you need to write a business plan so you have something to present to bankers and potential investors. The format of every good business plan, although not set in stone, tends to run along the same basic lines — it shouldn’t have anything that surprises investors.</p>\n<p>The business plan format is fairly standardized, typically containing the following key sections:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Cover page:</b> Contains contact information and a statement that the plan is deemed confidential</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Table of contents:</b> Enables your readers to quickly find the exact information they’re looking for</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Executive summary:</b> Explains, briefly, your business’s prospects, needs, and situation</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Company description:</b> Contains a historical account of the company, as well as its future prospects</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>The product or service:</b> Explains what is unique about the products or services that your business plans to deliver</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>The market:</b> Creates a picture of the market in which your business competes</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Marketing:</b> Informs your reader of how you plan to capture your business’s potential market (packaging, distribution, advertising, Web marketing, and so on)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Management/ownership:</b> Introduces the people holding leadership positions in the business, their relevant experience and credentials</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Competition:</b> Focuses on your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Financial statements and projections:</b> Includes a lot of numbers (hopefully black), like your balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and financial forecasts</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Appendices:</b> Contains résumés of key personnel, an organizational chart with positions and responsibilities, extended market information, and other data to back up the claims in your business plan</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208800},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:53:37+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-05-03T14:18:04+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:40+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Product Development","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34248"},"slug":"product-development","categoryId":34248}],"title":"New Product Development For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"new product development for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"new-product-development-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"This Cheat Sheet is a handy summary of the new product development process, along with a list of product development terms.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"To take your product idea from planning to the market, have a look at how the new product development process works. Also check out product development terms and phrases, so you’re able to understand and contribute at meetings and events.","description":"To take your product idea from planning to the market, have a look at how the new product development process works. Also check out product development terms and phrases, so you’re able to understand and contribute at meetings and events.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10161,"name":"Robin Karol","slug":"robin-karol","description":" <b>Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b>Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10161"}},{"authorId":10162,"name":"Beebe Nelson","slug":"beebe-nelson","description":" <b>Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b>Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10162"}},{"authorId":10163,"name":"Geoffrey Nicholson","slug":"geoffrey-nicholson","description":" <b>Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b>Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10163"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34248,"title":"Product Development","slug":"product-development","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34248"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":187414,"title":"Product Development Lingo","slug":"product-development-lingo","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/187414"}},{"articleId":187409,"title":"<b>The New </b><b>Product Development</b><b> Cycle</b>","slug":"the-new-product-development-cycle","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/187409"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":187414,"title":"Product Development Lingo","slug":"product-development-lingo","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/187414"}},{"articleId":187409,"title":"<b>The New </b><b>Product Development</b><b> Cycle</b>","slug":"the-new-product-development-cycle","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/187409"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282420,"slug":"new-product-development-for-dummies","isbn":"9780470117705","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470117702/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0470117702/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/0470117702-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470117702/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0470117702/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/new-product-development-for-dummies-cover-9780470117705-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"New Product Development For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"<b data-author-id=\"10161\">Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b data-author-id=\"10162\">Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":10161,"name":"Robin Karol","slug":"robin-karol","description":" <b>Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b>Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10161"}},{"authorId":10162,"name":"Beebe Nelson","slug":"beebe-nelson","description":" <b>Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b>Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10162"}},{"authorId":10163,"name":"Geoffrey Nicholson","slug":"geoffrey-nicholson","description":" <b>Robin Karol</b> is CEO of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), a professional society that creates and nurtures a global community in which people and businesses learn to grow and prosper through innovation and the introduction of new products. Robin is an adjunct full professor at the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business Administration, where she teaches courses on the Management of Creativity and Innovation. Robin worked at DuPont for 23 years in various aspects of innovation and new product development, achieving the role of Director of Innovation Processes. A certified new product development professional (NPDP), she received her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has numerous publications and has presented at many conferences and workshops. The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) presented Robin with its Maurice Holland Award for the best paper in its journal <i>Research-Technology Management</i> in 2003. <p><b>Beebe Nelson</b> is Co-Director of the International Association for Product Development (IAPD), a consortium of leading product developers who come together to improve their ability to execute new product development. She has organized, chaired, presented at, and facilitated conferences and workshops in product development, and has contributed chapters and articles in a number of venues. From 1998 to 2003, she was Book Review Editor of the <i>Journal of Product Innovation Management,</i> a publication of the PDMA. Beebe is a certified new product development professional (NPDP) and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Beebe has taught Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and most recently in the College of Management at UMass-Lowell. She chairs the Advisory Council of Partners in Ending Hunger, a not-for-profit organization located in Maine.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10163"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;product-development&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470117705&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f846a5df\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;product-development&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470117705&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f846ad9a\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":187409,"title":"<b>The New </b><b>Product Development</b><b> Cycle</b>","slug":"the-new-product-development-cycle","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/187409"}},{"articleId":187414,"title":"Product Development Lingo","slug":"product-development-lingo","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","product-development"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/187414"}}],"content":[{"title":"The development cycle","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>So you can turn your great ideas into money, take a look at how the cycle of new product development evolves, from inception to successfully marketing and selling your product:</p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/277223.image0.jpg\" alt=\"image0.jpg\" width=\"535\" height=\"348\" /></p>\n"},{"title":"Product development lingo","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Get to know the following product development language so you’re on top of your game and your head isn’t spinning from all the jargon used during meetings and conventions:</p>\n<h3>Product development acronyms</h3>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>B-2-B, B-2-C:</b> When a business sells to another business, it sells “B-2-B”; when a business sells to a customer, it sells “B-2-C.”</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>COGS (cost of goods sold):</b> You have to make more than the COGS to make an ROI (return on investment).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>DFX (design for X):</b> Product developers on cross-functional teams design products so they can be manufactured, serviced, and so on.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>IP (intellectual property):</b> Knowledge that someone owns and can potentially use to make a profit.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>JVs (joint ventures):</b> JVs help multiple companies develop new products. All firms contribute equity and share in the profits and expenses.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>P&amp;L (profit and loss):</b> The basic calculation of “money in/money out” in a project or a business.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>R&amp;D (research and development):</b> The name of the business function that carries out research and the design and engineering part of the product development process.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>ROI (return on investment):</b> The amount of revenue a company gets after making an investment.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>QFD (quality function deployment):</b> A matrix that enables product developers to match up customer needs (usually the Y-axis) with product features (usually the X-axis).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>SBU (strategic business unit):</b> A division of a company that focuses on a particular market or set of opportunities. New product strategies often vary among SBUs in a single organization.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>SVA (shareholder value added):</b> The amount of value a project is expected to return to shareholders.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>VOC (voice of the customer):</b> How companies and new product teams find out what moves, inspires, and frustrates their customers.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<h3>Other important product development terms to know</h3>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Alpha testing:</b> Testing new products to make sure that they work in customers’ hands. Often, people within the company, or very friendly customers, participate in these tests.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Beta testing:</b> Testing your product with real customers to make sure that it works in their environments.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Business case:</b> This describes in business terms the benefit a concept or product will provide the company.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Cannibalization:</b> When your new products eat up the sales of products you already have in the market.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Commodity:</b> When a product no longer competes on differentiation and earns low margins, it has become a commodity.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Cross-functional team:</b> A group of people brought together from several different functions within a company to develop a product.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Cycle time:</b> The length of time it takes to deliver a new product, from idea to commercialization.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Portfolio:</b> The collection of products in development and products in the market that focuses on achieving the company’s strategic goals.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Value chain:</b> The companies that share in the value that new products create, including materials suppliers, parts makers, firms that assemble full products, dealers and distributors, and many others.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Value proposition:</b> A succinct expression of what a new product will do for customers and for the company.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Tip\">Take a look at the glossary on the <a href=\"http://www.pdma.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Product Development and Management Association website</a> for more new product development terms. The list keeps growing, and PDMA is keeping up with it!</p>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208581},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:58:53+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-28T16:05:34+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:40+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Business Valuation For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"business valuation for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"business-valuation-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn how to investigate a company — including research and observation — to make an informed decision about the business's valuation.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"If you’re considering buying a business, you will need to investigate the company to make an informed decision about the business's valuation. The valuation process involves research and observation — whether the prospective enterprise is operating successfully or is functioning as a troubled company.","description":"If you’re considering buying a business, you will need to investigate the company to make an informed decision about the business's valuation. The valuation process involves research and observation — whether the prospective enterprise is operating successfully or is functioning as a troubled company.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10607,"name":"Lisa Holton","slug":"lisa-holton","description":" <p><b>Lisa Holton </b>is a former business editor and reporter for the <i>Chicago Sun-Times.</i> Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She&#8217;s a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books.</p> <p><b>Jim Bates </b>is Vice President, Transaction Support, for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, IL ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10607"}},{"authorId":10608,"name":"Jim Bates","slug":"jim-bates","description":" <p><b>Lisa Holton </b>is a former business editor and reporter for the <i>Chicago Sun-Times.</i> Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She&#8217;s a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books.</p> <p><b>Jim Bates </b>is Vice President, Transaction Support, for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, IL ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10608"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General Business","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":196619,"title":"How to Investigate a Business before Buying the Company","slug":"how-to-investigate-a-business-before-buying-the-company","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196619"}},{"articleId":196611,"title":"How to Research Troubled Companies You Want to Purchase","slug":"how-to-research-troubled-companies-you-want-to-purchase","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196611"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282043,"slug":"business-valuation-for-dummies","isbn":"9780470344019","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/0470344016-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0470344016/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/business-valuation-for-dummies-cover-9780470344019-201x255.jpg","width":201,"height":255},"title":"Business Valuation For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"<b data-author-id=\"10607\">Lisa Holton</b> is a former business editor and reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She's a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books. <p><b data-author-id=\"10608\">Jim Bates</b> is Vice President, Transaction Support, for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, IL.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":10608,"name":"Jim Bates","slug":"jim-bates","description":" <p><b>Lisa Holton </b>is a former business editor and reporter for the <i>Chicago Sun-Times.</i> Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She&#8217;s a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books.</p> <p><b>Jim Bates </b>is Vice President, Transaction Support, for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, IL ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10608"}},{"authorId":10607,"name":"Lisa Holton","slug":"lisa-holton","description":" <p><b>Lisa Holton </b>is a former business editor and reporter for the <i>Chicago Sun-Times.</i> Today, she heads The Lisa Company, a writing, editing, and research firm. She&#8217;s a writer for corporations, colleges, and nonprofits nationwide, and has written more than 13 books.</p> <p><b>Jim Bates </b>is Vice President, Transaction Support, for the Christman Group, a middle-market investment banking firm based in Palatine, IL ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10607"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470344019&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f842a852\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470344019&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f842af87\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":196619,"title":"How to Investigate a Business before Buying the Company","slug":"how-to-investigate-a-business-before-buying-the-company","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196619"}},{"articleId":196611,"title":"How to Research Troubled Companies You Want to Purchase","slug":"how-to-research-troubled-companies-you-want-to-purchase","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/196611"}}],"content":[{"title":"How to investigate a business before buying the company","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Research, observation, and common sense are powerful tools in the business valuation process. Here are some things to consider as you examine and analyze a company you want to buy:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Listen to customers. </strong>Assuming that you’re targeting a consumer business where you can legally do some creative loitering, spend some time listening to customers talk about what they think of the business.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para Tip\">If the target business is a restaurant, strike up casual conversations in the waiting area about whether customers have come here before and, if so, why they’ve come back. Don’t be a stalker; just find the right approach. If you find several people on repeat visits who volunteer how great the business is, or what they like and don’t like about it, start recording those comments.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Watch the foot traffic.</strong> Pretend that you’re a plainclothes detective for a few weeks. At different times during your target company’s business hours, park the car or sit in a coffee shop across the street, and set up a chart that notes the time, date, and segment of time you’re watching. Note when the business gets busy; note when it’s dead. Note what kinds of customers are going in, and try to find out why.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para Tip\">If the business is a clothing store, are shoppers showing up only when a sale or promotion is going on, or are their visits tied to crucial shipments of merchandise that they can’t wait to see? Professionals get paid a lot of money to do this kind of observational research; you can do it yourself for free.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Check out the neighborhood and competing businesses. </strong>What’s the character of the street and general area where the business is located? Does the street have a lot of other businesses similar to this one, and where is it on the trendiness and necessity curves?</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Does the neighborhood really need this business? Is the area gentrifying (people with money are moving in) or already gentrified (serving the clientele with the most disposable income that would go into your cash register), or could it be slipping, with dollars going elsewhere?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Diagnose the empty-storefront issue.</strong> Empty storefronts may not always be bad things. Storefronts may be emptying because the neighborhood has a growing crime problem and residents are fleeing (definitely bad for most businesses, even for non-consumer businesses that want to attract a workforce).</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Alternatively, storefronts may be emptying because a quiet real estate boom is going on in the area, and landlords feel that they can charge rents that more upscale tenants are willing to pay to attract a rising clientele.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Study the local power base.</strong> Identify the politicians who are lowest to the ground where your target business is. Study what they’re doing — and not doing — for their business constituents. See whether the area has any nonprofit groups that aid local businesses, and find out as quietly as you can what data and intelligence they can provide you in your research.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Do a news search.</strong> You know those boring columns in the business section with the dopey headshots, talking about how Joe Jones just got a big promotion? These columns can get pretty interesting when you’re thinking about buying a business.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Search for any news story that features the name of your target company, and look for good news (expansion, new locations, talented new executives) or bad news (locations closing, top management quitting, lawsuits filed by customers or suppliers).</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"How to research troubled companies you want to purchase","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Prospective buyers who are interested in purchasing a troubled company go through a due diligence process that involves gaining permission to see the business&#8217;s operations.</p>\n<p>A company may require a legal confidentiality agreement to allow information gathering about the business. When you’re given the go ahead for due diligence, use this list to request everything you need to make informed decisions.</p>\n<p class=\"Remember\">Don’t be discouraged if a company doesn’t offer up everything you ask for. Some records may be unavailable (or missing).</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A summary of the company’s tangible assets so you can physically view them and get a price range on them for potential sale valuation.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A summary of the company’s intangible assets so you can examine records on those items within a company’s computers or physical files.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Recent audited financials and tax returns.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Any verbal or written details on the company’s status with creditors (lenders, suppliers, customers waiting for merchandise, etc.).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Anything resembling a strategic plan in the way of market expansion, product development or other efforts to improve the business.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Projections of future income. (The current owner might .have his or her own data or opinion on this. You definitely want to know what that person thinks about business prospects so you can verify them.)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">A summary of all current and possible legal or regulatory complaints against the company (which you should verify through a public documents search).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Account summaries/data for suppliers and customers (accounts payable/receivable data, contracts, invoices, notices of delinquency in payments by the target company or its customers).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Regulatory or tax notices — current or projected. (If a company is expecting major regulatory or tax changes in its business, potential buyers should know about it.)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Any analyses by the target company of its supplier and customer concentration and what losing any of them could mean to the business (compare with your analysis of all supplier and customer data).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Access to all possible correspondence, phone records or e–mails between regulators, suppliers, customers or anyone else in close contact with the target company. (And if you are contacting these constituencies yourself, make sure you ask for their copies of such data as well.)</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"One year","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-28T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":209534},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:48:40+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-28T15:48:49+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:40+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Strategic Planning","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34254"},"slug":"strategic-planning","categoryId":34254}],"title":"Business Plans Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"business plans kit for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"business-plans-kit-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"A business plan is critical to finding a successful course. Discover important aspects of putting together and assessing your business plan.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"The best way — make that the <i>only</i> way — to achieve business success is to have a solid business plan. A business plan is critical to finding a successful course through turbulent times. If you have a really great idea for making money (or doing good with a nonprofit), an effective business plan will help you make the most of it. The following can guide you through some important aspects of putting together and assessing your business plan.","description":"The best way — make that the <i>only</i> way — to achieve business success is to have a solid business plan. A business plan is critical to finding a successful course through turbulent times. If you have a really great idea for making money (or doing good with a nonprofit), an effective business plan will help you make the most of it. The following can guide you through some important aspects of putting together and assessing your business plan.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9529,"name":"Steven D. Peterson","slug":"steven-d-peterson","description":"Steven D. Peterson, PhD, is the senior partner and founder of the management tool development company Strategic Play.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9529"}},{"authorId":9530,"name":"Peter E. Jaret","slug":"peter-e-jaret","description":"Peter Jaret is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Readers Digest, and AARP Bulletin.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9530"}},{"authorId":9303,"name":"Barbara Findlay Schenck","slug":"barbara-findlay-schenck","description":" <p><b>Barbara Findlay</b> Schenck has been a marketing consultant for more than 20 years, with clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. 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Peterson, PhD,</b> is the senior partner and founder of the management tool development company, Strategic Play.</p>\n<p><b data-author-id=\"34856\">Peter Jaret</b> is a frequent contributor to <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>Reader’s Digest</i>, and <i>AARP Bulletin</i>.</p>\n<p><b data-author-id=\"9303\">Barbara Findlay Schenck </b>is a nationally recognized marketing specialist and the author of several <i>For Dummies</i> books.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":34855,"name":"Steven D. Peterson","slug":"steven-d.-peterson","description":" <p><b>Paul Tiffany, PhD,</b> is a professor of management at the Haas Business School, UC Berkeley, and an Adjunct Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. <b>Steven Peterson, PhD,</b> is the founder and CEO of Strategic Play and an Executive Education Lecturer at the Haas Business School. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/34855"}},{"authorId":34856,"name":"Peter E. Jaret","slug":"peter-e.-jaret","description":" <p><b>Steven D. Peterson, PhD,</b> is the senior partner and founder of the management tool development company, Strategic Play.</p><p><b>Peter Jaret</b> is a frequent contributor to <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>Reader&#8217;s Digest</i>, and <i>AARP Bulletin</i>.</p><p><b>Barbara Findlay Schenck </b>is a nationally recognized marketing specialist and the author of several <i>For Dummies</i> books.</p> ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/34856"}},{"authorId":9303,"name":"Barbara Findlay Schenck","slug":"barbara-findlay-schenck","description":" <p><b>Barbara Findlay</b> Schenck has been a marketing consultant for more than 20 years, with clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. In addition to her experience as a small business strategist, she's also a bestselling author and nationally syndicated columnist. Visit her website at www.bizstrong.com.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9303"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;strategic-planning&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119245490&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f841940b\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;strategic-planning&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119245490&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f8419b72\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":161478,"title":"The Attributes of a Winning Business Idea","slug":"the-attributes-of-a-winning-business-idea","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/161478"}},{"articleId":161477,"title":"Key Components of a Business Plan","slug":"key-components-of-a-business-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/161477"}},{"articleId":161479,"title":"5 Ways to Ensure an Effective Business Plan","slug":"5-ways-to-ensure-an-effective-business-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/161479"}},{"articleId":161476,"title":"Evaluating Your Business Plan","slug":"evaluating-your-business-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/161476"}}],"content":[{"title":"The attributes of a winning business idea","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Lots of businesses start with a great idea. Writing a business plan can help you refine that great idea and put it to its first test. Ask yourself these questions to evaluate your idea as you assemble your business plan:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Is your business idea something you really want to spend time doing?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Do you have the resources, connections, skills, and expertise to turn your business idea into a success story?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Can you explain your business idea in 25 words or less?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Does your business idea address or solve a real customer need, problem, or desire?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Will you offer something new or different than the competition?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Does your business idea take advantage of a new opportunity? Is your business idea the right one at the right time?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Will your business idea make money — and how fast?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Consider a line-up of positive answers a green light — first to start your business planning and then to launch your business.</p>\n"},{"title":"Key components of a business plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Writing a business plan is a big task, and no two business plans are alike. But most effective plans include the following major elements. As you write your business plan, come back to this list of key components to make sure your plan is complete and thorough.</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Company overview: </b>Your mission, vision, values, products, unique attributes, and the business opportunity you plan to seize</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Business environment: </b>An analysis of your industry, your marketplace, your customers, your competition, and how you stack up</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Company description:</b> The capabilities that give you a unique advantage over your competitors — including your management, technology, operations, distribution, service, finances, and marketing</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Company strategy:</b><i> </i>Your roadmap to the future (including how you&#8217;ll seize opportunities and avoid threats), your growth plans, your marketing plan, and even your exit strategy</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Financial review:<i> </i></b>The state of your finances, including your income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, profit projection, and budget</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Action plan: </b>Steps you&#8217;ll take to implement your business plan to meet your goals and objectives</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"5 ways to ensure an effective business plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>No matter whether yours is a new or existing business, effective business planning is essential. Not only do you need to put time into the planning process, but you need to involve the right people as well. Effective business planning combines common sense and a few basic strategies:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Set aside enough time for business planning. </b>The time you spend will save you far more time after your business is up and running.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>In the planning process, involve everyone who will ultimately help make your plan happen.</b><i> </i>Good plans should guide and inspire.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Set clear goals and objectives. </b>Make sure you have measurable outcomes and feet-to-the-fire timelines.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Gather all the information you need. </b>An effective plan depends on a complete and accurate understanding of your market, your customers, your financial situation, and your business environment.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Write a plan that people will read. </b>A business plan only works if those in your target audience — whether investors, prospective partners, board members, key staff, or others — actually read and understand it, so you need to create a plan that&#8217;s concise, complete, and readable.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Evaluating your business plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Each time you review and revise your business plan, actively solicit suggestions and ideas throughout your company and target audience. Useful ideas can come from anyone anywhere. Start within your business, asking employees the following ten questions:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Is the company communicating its vision, mission, and strategic plan to employees? If not, how would you suggest we do a better job?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Are the business goals and objectives outlined in the plan clear and appropriate?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Do your own duties and responsibilities help support the company&#8217;s goals and strategic direction?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Can you suggest specific changes in the way in which you perform your job that will help the company better meet its goals?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Can you suggest ways to improve the company&#8217;s overall operations?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Do company procedures get in the way of your doing your best job? If so, how do you suggest changing them?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Are you aware of changes in the industry — including our customers and our competitors — that should be addressed in our business plan?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Can you suggest ways we can enhance the value we offer our customers?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Can you think of additional ways we can enhance the value we offer our customers?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">If you were in charge of revising the business plan, what other changes would you make?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-28T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":207809},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:47:52+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-27T18:34:18+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:39+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Decision Making For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"decision making for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"decision-making-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn how to communicate decisions effectively, make faster decisions, and incorporate your values into your decision-making.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"In a business environment of complexity and uncertainty, excellent decision-making skills are paramount. 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She co-designs the future of organizations, transforming them from \"business-as-usual\" to inclusive cultures of prosperity. </p>","authors":[{"authorId":9351,"name":"Dawna Jones","slug":"dawna-jones","description":" <p><b>Dawna Jones</b> generates imaginative insights and applies 25 years experience in helping businesses and organizations make bold decisions. She co&#45;designs the future of organizations, transforming them from &#34;business&#45;as&#45;usual&#34; to inclusive cultures of prosperity. ","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9351"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118833667&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f83c489f\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118833667&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f83c4fe5\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":149189,"title":"11 Questions that Help You Communicate Decisions Effectively","slug":"11-questions-that-help-you-communicate-decisions-effectively","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/149189"}},{"articleId":149188,"title":"5 Steps to Faster, More Informed Decisions","slug":"5-steps-to-faster-more-informed-decisions","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/149188"}},{"articleId":149190,"title":"Incorporating Core Values into Decision-Making","slug":"incorporating-core-values-into-decision-making","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/149190"}}],"content":[{"title":"11 questions that help you communicate decisions effectively","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>When you&#8217;re communicating a decision, you need to know that you have successfully communicated the basic message. You also want everyone on the team to share an understanding of what the target results are so that, in the event that something unexpected happens, everyone knows what to do. The worst time to find out that you and your team are not on the same page is after you&#8217;ve communicated a decision and tasked your team with implementing that decision.</p>\n<p class=\"Warning\">Communication failures take place when</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">The aim of the decision, its purpose, and what is to be accomplished aren&#8217;t clearly communicated.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Expectations aren&#8217;t made clear. You have expectations for how it should be done and what it should look like, but you fail to take into account your employees&#8217; and other stakeholders&#8217; views and concerns.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">The words you use mean different things to different people and are easily misinterpreted. (As the communicators, it&#8217;s your responsibility to learn what words work and what don&#8217;t.)</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Communication doesn&#8217;t happen often enough, so course corrections are presumed to take place but get missed.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">You and everyone else assume that the communication has been effective.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Remember\">Getting your message across effectively is a matter of confirming that all understand the aim or purpose of the decision, as well as what&#8217;s expected. It&#8217;s especially important when you&#8217;re communicating the implementation of an important decision. To offer clear direction to your team, start with gaining clarity on what&#8217;s going on inside your brain.</p>\n<p>Answering these 11 questions enables you to deliver a clear message:</p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>These 11 Questions . . .</th>\n<th>. . . Elicit these Benefits</th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1. What is to be accomplished?<br />\n2. What is the result and why?</td>\n<td>Knowing the answers to these questions enables you to<br />\ncommunicate the message effectively to your team.By doing so, you enable them (1) to improvise independently when<br />\nthere&#8217;s a need to adapt, and (2) to incorporate new opportunities<br />\nfor attaining the goal as those opportunities arise — without<br />\nhaving to gain your permission, which slows things down.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3. What are your expectations for what happens next?<br />\n4. Is there anything you don&#8217;t want your team to do?<br />\n5. Is there anything you specifically want your team to do?</td>\n<td>Outlining the parameters helps clarify both the expectations<br />\nand the boundaries for independent or creative thinking.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6. What could possibly go wrong? Or &#8216;What if&#8221; . . . this or<br />\nthat happened?<br />\n7. If something were to go wrong, what would you expect team<br />\nmembers to do?</td>\n<td>By anticipating the unexpected, you reduce the risk while<br />\nsimultaneously preparing for it.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8. When do you expect your team, staff, and anyone else<br />\ninvolved in the implementation process to communicate to you?<br />\n9. What feedback do you need in order to stay abreast of what is<br />\nhappening?<br />\n10. How do you want to hear about unexpected surprises —<br />\nthrough a phone call or email, or at project update meetings?</td>\n<td>Keep your team apprised of new developments so that they aren&#8217;t<br />\nworking in the dark. Agree on when they need to keep you informed<br />\non how implementation is proceeding, whether it&#8217;s good or bad<br />\nnews.</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11. If you were the one listening to your message rather than<br />\ndelivering it, what else would you want to know?</td>\n<td>Putting yourself in your team&#8217;s shoes allows you to take a<br />\nvague bit of direction and make it more clear and specific. You can<br />\nalso identify relevant information you need to communicate<br />\nthroughout the project.</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n"},{"title":"5 steps to faster, more informed decisions","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Can you make decisions swiftly and confidently when vast amounts of data cross your desk and inbox every day? How do you prioritize and rapidly respond in the midst of changing conditions? Well, you use the skills you already possess but may not be tapping into.</p>\n<p class=\"Tip\">Here&#8217;s an interesting correlation: The way you process information as you drive a vehicle works for making an informed decision, as well. If you drive well enough to be 98 percent accident-free, chances are you&#8217;re already a master of processing tons of data at high speed: You select pertinent information almost automatically and then use the information quickly and accurately. If you apply that innate skill to your decision-making, you can make informed business decisions without second guessing yourself.</p>\n<p>To sort from a sea of information, do these things:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Focus on the outcome.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Being clear about the end point does two things:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Provides guidance for your intuition, enabling you to sift through all the available information to select what&#8217;s important for the decision you need to make</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Gives you a solid anchor for your decisions that can accommodate opposing facts and perspectives</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"child-para\">If, for example, the end point is to stay under budget, then your decision and the data you use to inform your decision will be filtered based on that. If the end point is to produce a product that meets customers&#8217; unstated needs, then all the available information will be filtered using that criterion. <i>The outcome anchors your decision making.</i></p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Stop mentally concentrating on the issues and let your subconscious do the work for you.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Your subconscious is faster than your conscious mind, and it works automatically when your focus is clear. When you turn the issue over to your subconscious, you gain speed and accuracy.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Question and expose the beliefs you use to interpret how the world works.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Beliefs, otherwise known as <i>mental models</i> — things you believe to be true but that may not actually reflect a widened view of reality — filter reality to confirm your previous experiences.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Questioning your beliefs permits you to improve the accuracy of your analysis, jettison past connotations, and open up new possibilities.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Observe your emotions.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Step back to gain perspective and quiet the mental chatter so that you can accurately hear your inner voice. You&#8217;ll gain a wider view of the situation and be able to see alternatives.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para Remember\">It&#8217;s really easy to fall prey to doubt or to rationalize your decision. If you&#8217;re feeling fearful, you may think you have only one option or no options. In climates of high fear, when the rational dominates, making an informed decision requires that you achieve a calmer state of mind so that you can access your higher mental and intuitive functioning.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>After you analyze and review your options, select your decision, but before you commit, check in on how you feel about the option you&#8217;ve selected.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Call it a heart check. Even when the solution is a totally new approach, you need to feel at peace with it.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Remember\">Making an informed decision requires that you work with both facts (actual data) and emotional information, and that you take steps to mitigate the effect of ingrained bias. Doing so requires that you commit to mastering all your senses and intelligences so that, in chaotic decision-making environments, you&#8217;ll be able to balance data with open-minded experimentation and stay sensitive to cues that other decision-makers will miss.</p>\n"},{"title":"Incorporating core values into decision-making","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Core values reflect what is important to your company. They serve as the unshakeable foundation for what your company stands for in good and bad times. When integrated into decision-making, core values are part of decision-makers&#8217; mindsets at every level in the company.</p>\n<p class=\"Tip\">Consider core values the nonnegotiable part of your company&#8217;s reputation, sustained by the commitment of executives and employees at every level to live those values in their decision-making and in their relationships with company personnel, customers, suppliers, and communities.</p>\n<p>Core values express your company&#8217;s core priorities and its commitment to, for example, making the environment and social health integral parts of management and operational thinking and perspectives.</p>\n<p>To identify your core values, ask questions such as the following:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>To gain clarity on what you feel is critical:</strong></p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">What does your company stand for?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">What values express what is important and essential to how you operate and why your company exists?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>To gain insight on how your values permeate internal relationships:</strong></p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">How do your employees describe your company&#8217;s core values?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Why do they work for you and not the competitor down the street?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>To gain clarity on how your customers view your integrity and how your values are expressed through your action:</strong></p>\n<ul class=\"level-two\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">How would your suppliers or customers describe your values?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p class=\"Tip\">To become a company that uses value-based decision-making to anchor decisions, you need to reflect on and identify what your company&#8217;s core values are. To do so, take a close look at what is going on in your company. Core values — whether they were thoughtfully created or not — are embedded in your company&#8217;s priorities, actions, and management decisions, and in its relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and the environment.</p>\n<p>When you incorporate your core values into your decision-making, you enjoy these benefits:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>In a business climate where customer testimonials define your reputation and attract loyalty, integrating your core values with decision-making and action offers stability, particularly when conditions are chaotic.</strong></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\"><a href=\"http://www.novonordisk.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Novo Nordisk</a>, for example, one of the world&#8217;s largest pharmaceutical companies, has a list of core values, as many companies do. It includes words <em>accountable, responsible, </em>and <em>ready for change. </em>That&#8217;s all well and good, but the important thing about core values isn&#8217;t what&#8217;s on the poster in the hall of a company; it&#8217;s how they&#8217;re applied. When Novo Nordisk makes decisions, the final check is, &#8220;Is the decision financially, environmentally, and socially responsible?&#8221; Simply put, the company&#8217;s commitment to core values — the health of the economy, environment, and society — is a recognized part of its long-term success.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\"><a href=\"http://www.unilever.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unilever</a> is another company that connects core values to priorities. Recognizing that the company is a part of a wider fabric of existence, its decision-makers actively engage a wider view, one that embraces the company but also extends beyond company boundaries into the health of society, communities, and the environment.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>When your company&#8217;s decisions are aligned with its core values, you streamline decision-making.</strong> When used for decision-making, core values take a complex set of conditions and run them through a simple filter so that financial and nonfinancial measure of success are intertwined. In a complex, fast-changing business environment, decision-making needs to be streamlined and progressive, and decision-makers need to look ahead rather than rely solely on past beliefs and practices.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">The solution isn&#8217;t to get rid of past practices altogether (although it may mean that); it&#8217;s to be aware of what guided decision-making in the past so that you can select faster, more effective approaches to meet today&#8217;s needs.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":207644},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:53:11+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-27T17:55:44+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:39+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"General Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"},"slug":"general-business","categoryId":34255}],"title":"Complete MBA For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"complete mba for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"complete-mba-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"This Cheat Sheet outlines important aspects of business management, including delegating to employees, and developing a marketing plan.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"Before you earn an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree, you can still apply MBA-level knowledge in your career: Be a better business manager by efficiently delegating responsibilities among your employees and successfully rewarding those who do a good job. Hone your design and marketing skills by creating an informative and easy-to-use business website and a brief but clear marketing plan.","description":"Before you earn an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree, you can still apply MBA-level knowledge in your career: Be a better business manager by efficiently delegating responsibilities among your employees and successfully rewarding those who do a good job. Hone your design and marketing skills by creating an informative and easy-to-use business website and a brief but clear marketing plan.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10120,"name":"Kathleen Allen","slug":"kathleen-allen","description":" Kathleen Allen, Ph.D., is a professor of entrepreneurship at USC. Her books include The Complete MBA For Dummies?? and eBusiness Technology Kit For Dummies??.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10120"}},{"authorId":9734,"name":"Peter Economy","slug":"peter-economy","description":" <b>Bob Nelson</b> (San Diego, CA) is founder and president of Nelson Motivation, Inc., a management training and consulting firm based in San Diego, California. As a practicing manager and a best-selling author, he is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of employee recognition, rewards, motivation, morale, retention, productivity, and management. He is author of the bestselling book <i>1001 Ways to Reward Employees</i> (Workman) &#8212; which has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide &#8212; and coauthor of the best-selling book <i>Managing For Dummies,</i> 2nd Edition, with Peter Economy (Wiley), as well as 18 other books on management and motivation.<br /> Bob has been featured extensively in the media, including television appearances on CNN, CNBC, PBS, and MSNBC; radio appearances on NPR, USA Radio Network and the Business News Network; and print appearances in the <i>New York Times</i>, the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, the <i>Washington Post</i>, and many more. He writes a weekly column for <i>American City Business Journals</i> and a monthly column for <i>Corporate Meetings &amp; Incentives</i>, among others.<br /> Dr. Nelson received his PhD in management from The Peter F. Drucker Graduate Management Center of Claremont Graduate University in suburban Los Angeles, and received his MBA in organizational behavior from The University of California at Berkeley. For more information on products and services offered by Nelson Motivation, Inc. &#8212; including speaking or consulting services &#8212; call 800-575-5521. Visit Bob at his Web site: www.nelsonmotivation.com. <p><b>Peter Economy</b> (La Jolla, CA) is a freelance business writer and publishing consultant who is associate editor of the Apex award-winning magazine <i>Leader to Leader</i>, and coauthor of the best-selling book <i>Managing For Dummies,</i> 2nd Edition, with Bob Nelson (Wiley), <i>Giving Back</i> with Bert Berkley (Wiley), <i>The SAIC Solution</i> with J. Robert Beyster (Wiley), as well as the author or coauthor of more than 30 other books on a wide variety of business and other topics. Visit Peter at his Web site: www.petereconomy.com and be sure to check out his Free Book Project at: www.booksforfree.org.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9734"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34255,"title":"General Business","slug":"general-business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34255"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":201540,"title":"Reading an Annual Report","slug":"reading-an-annual-report","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/201540"}},{"articleId":200509,"title":"Designing a Better Business Organization","slug":"designing-a-better-business-organization","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/200509"}},{"articleId":199534,"title":"Choosing a Budget Method","slug":"choosing-a-budget-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/199534"}},{"articleId":199501,"title":"Conducting Effective Business Meetings","slug":"conducting-effective-business-meetings","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/199501"}},{"articleId":186199,"title":"How to Delegate Tasks among Employees","slug":"how-to-delegate-tasks-among-employees","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186199"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":271244,"title":"Design Thinking: Making Ideas Clear and Tangible","slug":"design-thinking-making-ideas-clear-and-tangible","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271244"}},{"articleId":271238,"title":"Design Thinking: Creativity Techniques","slug":"design-thinking-creativity-techniques","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271238"}},{"articleId":271232,"title":"Design Thinking: The Customer Journey","slug":"design-thinking-the-customer-journey","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271232"}},{"articleId":271227,"title":"Design Thinking: Using an Empathy Map","slug":"design-thinking-using-an-empathy-map","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271227"}},{"articleId":271221,"title":"Design Thinking: Characterizing a Customer Using the Persona Method","slug":"design-thinking-characterizing-a-customer-using-the-persona-method","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/271221"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282099,"slug":"complete-mba-for-dummies-2nd-edition","isbn":"9780470194294","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/0470194294-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0470194294/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/complete-mba-for-dummies-2nd-edition-cover-9780470194294-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Complete MBA For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"<p><b data-author-id=\"10120\">Dr. Kathleen Allen</b> directs the USC Marshall Center for Technology Commercialization and is the author of several books on entrepreneurship. </p>\n<p><b data-author-id=\"9734\">Peter Economy</b> has authored or co-authored several books including <i>Consulting For Dummies.</i> </p>","authors":[{"authorId":10120,"name":"Kathleen Allen","slug":"kathleen-allen","description":" Kathleen Allen, Ph.D., is a professor of entrepreneurship at USC. Her books include The Complete MBA For Dummies?? and eBusiness Technology Kit For Dummies??.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10120"}},{"authorId":9734,"name":"Peter Economy","slug":"peter-economy","description":" <b>Bob Nelson</b> (San Diego, CA) is founder and president of Nelson Motivation, Inc., a management training and consulting firm based in San Diego, California. As a practicing manager and a best-selling author, he is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of employee recognition, rewards, motivation, morale, retention, productivity, and management. He is author of the bestselling book <i>1001 Ways to Reward Employees</i> (Workman) &#8212; which has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide &#8212; and coauthor of the best-selling book <i>Managing For Dummies,</i> 2nd Edition, with Peter Economy (Wiley), as well as 18 other books on management and motivation.<br /> Bob has been featured extensively in the media, including television appearances on CNN, CNBC, PBS, and MSNBC; radio appearances on NPR, USA Radio Network and the Business News Network; and print appearances in the <i>New York Times</i>, the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, the <i>Washington Post</i>, and many more. He writes a weekly column for <i>American City Business Journals</i> and a monthly column for <i>Corporate Meetings &amp; Incentives</i>, among others.<br /> Dr. Nelson received his PhD in management from The Peter F. Drucker Graduate Management Center of Claremont Graduate University in suburban Los Angeles, and received his MBA in organizational behavior from The University of California at Berkeley. For more information on products and services offered by Nelson Motivation, Inc. &#8212; including speaking or consulting services &#8212; call 800-575-5521. Visit Bob at his Web site: www.nelsonmotivation.com. <p><b>Peter Economy</b> (La Jolla, CA) is a freelance business writer and publishing consultant who is associate editor of the Apex award-winning magazine <i>Leader to Leader</i>, and coauthor of the best-selling book <i>Managing For Dummies,</i> 2nd Edition, with Bob Nelson (Wiley), <i>Giving Back</i> with Bert Berkley (Wiley), <i>The SAIC Solution</i> with J. Robert Beyster (Wiley), as well as the author or coauthor of more than 30 other books on a wide variety of business and other topics. Visit Peter at his Web site: www.petereconomy.com and be sure to check out his Free Book Project at: www.booksforfree.org.</p>","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9734"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470194294&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f839dc74\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;general-business&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9780470194294&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f839e397\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":186199,"title":"How to Delegate Tasks among Employees","slug":"how-to-delegate-tasks-among-employees","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186199"}},{"articleId":186175,"title":"How to Reward Employees Effectively","slug":"how-to-reward-employees-effectively","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186175"}},{"articleId":186173,"title":"Design Tips for Effective Business Websites","slug":"design-tips-for-effective-business-websites","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186173"}},{"articleId":186174,"title":"Developing a Concise Marketing Plan","slug":"developing-a-concise-marketing-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","general-business"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186174"}}],"content":[{"title":"How to delegate tasks among employees","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>No manager can do everything alone, MBA or not. Delegating is an effective tool that business managers can use to achieve goals. If you delegate work, responsibility, and authority to employees, you&#8217;ll increase the amount of work accomplished and often with better results.</p>\n<p>Delegation is a great management tool when done right, so follow these steps to help:</p>\n<ol class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Communicate the task.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Describe to your employees exactly what you want done, when you want it done, and the end results you expect. Be clear and unambiguous, and encourage your employees to ask questions.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Furnish context for the task<b>.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Explain to your employees why the task is important, how it fits into the overall scheme of things, and any possible complications that may arise during its performance. Encourage employees to ask questions, and don&#8217;t get defensive if your employees push you for answers (someone always will).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Determine standards.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Everyone needs to know when they cross the finish line. Agree on the standards that you&#8217;ll use to measure the success of the task&#8217;s completion. These standards should be realistic and attainable, and you should avoid changing them after performance has begun.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Grant authority.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Empower your employees with the level of authority required to complete the task — they can do without constant roadblocks or standoffs with other employees.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Provide support<b>.</b></p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Determine the resources (money, training, manpower, advice, and so forth) your employees require to complete the task and then provide them.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Get commitment.</p>\n<p class=\"child-para\">Don&#8217;t assume that your employees will automatically accept the assignment; you must make sure that they do. Reaffirm your expectations and confirm your employees&#8217; understanding of the commitment to completing the task.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n"},{"title":"How to reward employees effectively","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>As a business manager, you know your employees will be happier, perform better, and stay at their job longer when they&#8217;re recognized and rewarded for doing a good job.</p>\n<p>Do your part as manager by using these guidelines for effectively recognizing and rewarding employees:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Specify the behavior you&#8217;re rewarding.</b> When you reward an employee, be sure that you&#8217;re clear about exactly what behavior merits recognition. Say, for example, &#8220;You did a great job yesterday afternoon when you helped that customer figure out which product was the best for her needs,&#8221; or &#8220;I really appreciate all the extra effort you put into the Scanlon project.&#8221;</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Give the reward sincerely.</b> People greatly appreciate sincere expressions of thanks, but they won&#8217;t accept insincere or false praise — in fact, they may be insulted by it. Only offer your employees rewards and recognition when they&#8217;ve truly earned them.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Be positive.</b> When you give rewards and recognition, do so in a positive and uplifting way. Your goal is to inspire the employee — and, in turn, his or her colleagues — to continue exhibiting the behavior you&#8217;re rewarding. And never immediately follow praise with a reprimand!</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Give the reward as close to the event as possible.</b> To have maximum impact on employee behavior, give rewards as soon as possible. Waiting days, weeks, or months will greatly lessen the impact and perhaps extinguish it altogether.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Design tips for effective business websites","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>MBA-level executives know that a well-designed business website is critical for attracting customers and generating sales. When customers access websites, they want to find information quickly. The easier it is for your customers to use your website, the more likely it is that they&#8217;ll take action — such as registering at your website, answering company-generated questions, or purchasing product.</p>\n<p>Try these tips when designing your business&#8217;s home page:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Grab customers&#8217; attention.</b> For instance, you can create a specific headline that grabs readers&#8217; eyes. If your user is searching for gardening books and enters those words into your site&#8217;s search engine, you want your site to pop up with a related headline. It should have the words &#8220;gardening books&#8221; in it rather than something completely general, like &#8220;Find any book you want here!&#8221;</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Use images to convey your message.</b> Not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but it also takes up less space!</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Motivate customers to act quickly.</b> Put a time limit on what they&#8217;re looking for. For instance, offer a discount if they purchase an item today. There&#8217;s no quicker way to get people to act than by giving away something for free. If you want your users to register for your site, for instance, consider giving them a free newsletter.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Offer customers payment options.</b> They should have a number of ways to pay for the products or services you&#8217;re offering. For example, you can offer an online payment service such as PayPal, and you can accept credit cards either online or through a toll-free number. After you design your home page, test it with users and track the responses you get. Create several versions of your home page—practice makes perfect!</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Developing a concise marketing plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Your marketing plan can be an elaborate 50-page business plan or a simple paragraph. In fact, many professional marketers suggest the simple one-paragraph plan because it&#8217;s focused and identifies the key components. A productive one-paragraph marketing plan has the following elements:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Purpose:</b> What&#8217;s the marketing plan supposed to accomplish?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Benefits:</b> How will your products and services satisfy the needs of the customer?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Customer:</b> Who&#8217;s your primary customer, and what&#8217;s your strategy for building long-term relationships with that customer?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Company image:</b> How will the customer see your company? Remember, customers will contribute to positioning your company in the marketplace.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Niche:</b> What&#8217;s the niche in the market that your company has defined and will serve?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Tactics:</b> What specific marketing tools will you use to reach customers? You can utilize advertising, promotion, a Web site, publicity, and so on.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Budget:</b> How much of your budget will you allocate to this effort?</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":208494},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-27T16:53:13+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-04-26T20:47:43+00:00","timestamp":"2022-06-22T19:37:39+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Business, Careers, & Money","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34224"},"slug":"business-careers-money","categoryId":34224},{"name":"Business","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34225"},"slug":"business","categoryId":34225},{"name":"Strategic Planning","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34254"},"slug":"strategic-planning","categoryId":34254}],"title":"Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet","strippedTitle":"strategic planning kit for dummies cheat sheet","slug":"strategic-planning-kit-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"This handy Cheat Sheet includes helpful tips for strategic planning, including a framework, plan components, and pitfalls to avoid.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"A strategic plan is essential for a successful business, and creating a strategic plan that you can actually use is key. Your plan should include certain elements, like mission, values, and vision statements. It should also avoid common pitfalls, like neglecting the specific needs of your organization, so it becomes your road map for success.","description":"A strategic plan is essential for a successful business, and creating a strategic plan that you can actually use is key. Your plan should include certain elements, like mission, values, and vision statements. It should also avoid common pitfalls, like neglecting the specific needs of your organization, so it becomes your road map for success.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9987,"name":"Erica Olsen","slug":"erica-olsen","description":" <b>Erica Olsen</b> is cofounder and COO of M3 Planning, Inc., a firm dedicated to developing and executing strategy. M3 provides consulting and facilitation services, as well as hosts products and tools such as MyStrategicPlan for leaders with big ideas who want to empower and focus their teams to achieve them.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9987"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34254,"title":"Strategic Planning","slug":"strategic-planning","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34254"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":186357,"title":"Major Components of a Strategic Plan","slug":"major-components-of-a-strategic-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186357"}},{"articleId":186355,"title":"Tips for Better Strategic Planning","slug":"tips-for-better-strategic-planning","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186355"}},{"articleId":186356,"title":"Strategic Planning Pitfalls to Avoid","slug":"strategic-planning-pitfalls-to-avoid","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186356"}},{"articleId":186345,"title":"Your Strategic Planning Framework","slug":"your-strategic-planning-framework","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186345"}},{"articleId":178747,"title":"Frameworks of a Solid Strategic Plan","slug":"frameworks-of-a-solid-strategic-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/178747"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":223467,"title":"Planning Your Virtual Business: Staying One Step Ahead of a Fast-Changing Business Model","slug":"planning-virtual-business-staying-one-step-ahead-fast-changing-business-model","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/223467"}},{"articleId":223464,"title":"Planning Your Virtual Business: Establishing Standards and Policies","slug":"planning-virtual-business-establishing-standards-policies","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/223464"}},{"articleId":223461,"title":"Planning Your Virtual Business: Branding Your Enterprise","slug":"planning-virtual-business-branding-enterprise","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/223461"}},{"articleId":223458,"title":"Planning Your Virtual Business: Using Technologies to Manage, Motivate, and Inspire","slug":"planning-virtual-business-using-technologies-manage-motivate-inspire","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/223458"}},{"articleId":223455,"title":"Planning Your Virtual Business: Hiring and Managing a Remote Team","slug":"planning-virtual-business-hiring-managing-remote-team","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/223455"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282610,"slug":"strategic-planning-kit-for-dummies-2nd-edition","isbn":"9781118077771","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118077776/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1118077776/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1118077776-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1118077776/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1118077776/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/strategic-planning-kit-for-dummies-2nd-edition-cover-9781118077771-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"<p><b><b data-author-id=\"9987\">Erica Olsen</b></b> is cofounder and COO of M3 Planning, Inc., a firm dedicated to developing and executing strategy. M3 provides consulting and facilitation services, as well as hosts products and tools such as MyStrategicPlan for leaders with big ideas who want to empower and focus their teams to achieve them.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":9987,"name":"Erica Olsen","slug":"erica-olsen","description":" <b>Erica Olsen</b> is cofounder and COO of M3 Planning, Inc., a firm dedicated to developing and executing strategy. M3 provides consulting and facilitation services, as well as hosts products and tools such as MyStrategicPlan for leaders with big ideas who want to empower and focus their teams to achieve them.","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9987"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;strategic-planning&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118077771&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f835f872\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;business-careers-money&quot;,&quot;business&quot;,&quot;strategic-planning&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781118077771&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-62b36f835ffb8\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":186357,"title":"Major Components of a Strategic Plan","slug":"major-components-of-a-strategic-plan","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186357"}},{"articleId":186345,"title":"Your Strategic Planning Framework","slug":"your-strategic-planning-framework","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186345"}},{"articleId":186355,"title":"Tips for Better Strategic Planning","slug":"tips-for-better-strategic-planning","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186355"}},{"articleId":186356,"title":"Strategic Planning Pitfalls to Avoid","slug":"strategic-planning-pitfalls-to-avoid","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","strategic-planning"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/186356"}}],"content":[{"title":"Major components of a strategic plan","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Strategic plans can come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all have the following components. The list below describes each piece of a strategic plan in the order that they’re typically developed.</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Mission statement:</strong> The mission statement is an overarching, timeless expression of your purpose and aspiration, addressing both what you seek to accomplish and the manner in which the organization seeks to accomplish it. It’s a declaration of why you exist as an organization.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Vision statement:</strong> This short, concise statement of the organization’s future answers the question of what the company will look like in five or more years.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Values statement or guiding principles:</strong> These statements are enduring, passionate, and distinctive core beliefs. They’re guiding principles that never change and are part of your strategic foundation.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>SWOT:</strong> Standing for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, this is a summarized view of your current position.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Competitive advantage:</strong> Your competitive advantage includes what you’re best at compared to the competition.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Long-term strategic objectives:</strong> These long-term strategic focus areas span a three-year (or more) time horizon. They answer the question of what you must focus on to achieve your vision.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Strategies:</strong> Strategies are the general, umbrella methods you intend to use to reach your vision.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Short-term goals/priorities/initiatives:</strong> These items convert the strategic objectives into specific performance targets that fall within the one- to two-year time horizon. They state what, when, and who and are measurable.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Action items/plans:</strong> These specific statements explain <em>how</em> a goal will be accomplished. They’re the areas that move the strategy to operations and are generally executed by teams or individuals within one to two years.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Scorecard:</strong> You use a scorecard to report the data of your key performance indicators (KPIs) and track your performance against the monthly targets.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><strong>Financial assessment:</strong> Based on historical record and future projections, this assessment helps plan and predict the future, allowing you to gain much better control over your organization’s financial performance.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Your strategic planning framework","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Strategic planning has a basic overall framework. Not to oversimplify the strategic planning process, but by placing all the parts of a plan into the following three areas, you can clearly see how the pieces of your plan fit together:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Where are we now?</b> Review your current strategic position and clarify your mission, vision, and values.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Where are we going?</b> Establish your competitive advantage and your vision. Clearly see the direction your organization is headed.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>How will we get there?</b> Lay out the road to connect where you are now to where you’re going. Set your strategic objectives, goals, and action items and how you’ll execute your plan.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Tips for better strategic planning","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Before you get too far into your strategic planning process, check out the following tips — your quick guide to getting the most out of your strategic planning process:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Pull together a diverse, yet appropriate group of people to make up your planning team.</b> Diversity leads to a better strategy. Bring together a small core team — between six and ten people — of leaders and managers who represent every area of the company.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Allow time for big-picture, strategic thinking.</b> People tend to try to squeeze strategic planning discussions in between putting out fires and going on much needed vacations. But to create a strategic plan, your team needs time to think big. Do whatever it takes to allow that time for big-picture thinking (including taking your team off-site).</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Get full commitment from key people in your organization.</b> You can’t do it alone. If your team doesn’t buy in to the planning process and the resulting strategic plan, you’re dead in the water. Encourage the key people to interact with your customers about their perception of your future and bring those views to the table.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Allow for open and free discussion regardless of each person’s position within the organization.</b> (This tip includes you.) Don’t lead the planning sessions. Hire an outside facilitator, someone who doesn’t have any stake in your success, which can free up the conversation. Encourage active participation, but don’t let any one person dominate the session.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Think about execution before you start.</b> It doesn’t matter how good the plan is if it isn’t executed. Implementation is the phase that turns strategies and plans into actions in order to accomplish strategic objectives and goals. The critical actions move a strategic plan from a document that sits on the shelf to actions that drive business growth.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Use a facilitator, if your budget allows.</b> Hire a trained professional who has no emotional investment in the outcome of the plan. An impartial third party can concentrate on the process instead of the end result and can ask the tough questions that others may fear to ask.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Make your plan actionable.</b> To have any chance at implementation, the plan must clearly articulate goals, action steps, responsibilities, accountabilities, and specific deadlines. And everyone must understand the plan and his individual role in it.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Don’t write your plan in stone.</b> Good strategic plans are fluid, not rigid and unbending. They allow you to adapt to changes in the marketplace. Don’t be afraid to change your plan as necessary.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Clearly articulate next steps after every session.</b> Before closing the strategic planning session, clearly explain what comes next and who’s responsible for what. When you walk out of the room, everyone must fully understand what he’s responsible for and when to meet deadlines.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Make strategy a habit, not just a retreat.</b> Review the strategic plan for performance achievement no less than quarterly and as often as monthly or weekly. Focus on accountability for results and have clear and compelling consequences for unapproved missed deadlines.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Check out examples. </b>Although you can’t borrow someone else’s strategy, you can find inspiration and ideas from the examples of others. Here is one website with a catalog of example strategic plans by industry: <a href=\"http://onstrategyhq.com/samples/\"> OnStrategy</a>. Check it out for quick access to ideas.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Strategic planning pitfalls to avoid","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Strategic planning can yield less than desirable results if you end up in one of the possible planning pitfalls. To prevent that from happening, here’s a list of the most common traps to avoid:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Not having a burning platform: </b>Fundamentally, organizations don’t have to have a strategic plan. Really, they don’t. Yes, you’ll run a better operation and, yes, a strategic plan is an outstanding management tool. But you and everyone on your team needs to agree on why this effort is important. What’s your burning platform that’s causing you to invest in this effort now?</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Relying on bad info or no info:</b> A plan is only as good as the information it’s based on. Too often, teams rely on untested assumptions or hunches, erecting their plans on an unsteady foundation.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Ignoring what your planning process reveals:</b> Planning isn’t magic: You can’t always get what you want. The planning process includes research and investigation. Your investigation may yield results that tell you not to go in a certain direction. Don’t ignore that information!</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Being unrealistic about your ability to plan:</b> Put planning in its place. It takes time and effort to plan well. Some companies want the results but aren’t willing or able to make the investment. Be realistic about what you can invest. Find a way to plan that suits your available resources, which include your time, energy, and money.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Planning for planning’s sake:</b> Planning can become a substitute for action. Don’t plan so much that you ignore the execution. Well-laid plans take time to implement, and results take time to yield an outcome.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Not having your house in order first:</b> Planning can reveal that your house isn’t in order. When an organization pauses to plan, issues that have been buried or put on the back burner come to the forefront and can easily derail its planning efforts. Make sure your company is in order and no major conflicts exist before you embark on strategic planning.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Copying and pasting:</b> Falling in to the trap of copying the best practices of a company similar to yours is easy. Although employing best practices from your industry is important, other organizations’ experiences aren’t relevant to your own. Organizations are unique, complex, and diverse. You need to find your own path instead of following a cookie-cutter approach.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Ignoring your culture and organizational readiness: </b>Strategy and culture are intimately intertwined. Ignore this fact at your peril. Culture eats strategy for lunch (and dinner if you’re not careful). With that in mind, adapt your planning to fit what you know works for your organizational rhythm, ethos, and needs right now. A big pitfall — the biggest actually — is not fitting the process to your organizational needs. Consider a simpler process or one that’s more robust.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Advance","lifeExpectancy":"Two 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Marketing Web Marketing: How to Manage Search Engine Robots

Article / Updated 05-31-2022

In web marketing, it’s important to make sure your site is visible. Checking your robots.txt file and meta robots tags is a good place to start. Errors with these can make your site invisible to visitors. Check your robots.txt file Go to www.yoursiteaddress.com/robots.txt . You might get a Page Not Found error. That’s okay for your purposes: A no robots.txt file means you’re not placing any broad limits on what search engines can and can’t index on your site. You might also see something like this: User-agent: * Disallow: /blog.htm This file is called the robots.txt file. It tells search engine crawlers, also known as robots, what to do when they visit your website. In this example, it’s telling all search engines to ignore the blog.htm page. All other pages are searchable. If you want to become a robots.txt geek, visit the Web Robots Page. You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about guiding robots around your site. What you don’t want to see in your robots.txt file is this: Disallow: / This line tells a visiting search engine crawler to ignore every page on your website. A developer may add this line when he is building the site to prevent search engines from crawling it while it’s under construction. If it is left there by accident, your site is invisible to search engines. If your robots.txt file has any Disallow commands in it, check with your webmaster or developer to make sure that a reason exists. Disallow can be used to hide pages that change a lot, hide duplicate content, or keep search engines out of stuff you just don’t want them crawling. Just make sure that you’re not accidentally hiding content they should see. Check for meta robots tags Using the meta robots tag is another way to hide pages from search engines. Go to any page on your website and view the source code. You don’t want to see If the meta robots tag is there, and it contains noindex , nofollow , or both, remove it. You have valid reasons to use this tag: You might want a search engine to ignore this page because it’s a duplicate; you might feel the information on the page is inappropriate for search results; or the developer might have hidden the page during development. If you don’t know the reason, delete the tag. Do not trust your developer to remove the meta robots tag. When he builds your site, he’s working hard, writing code so fast that his fingers smoke. Forgetting to remove that one little line of code is easy when you’re facing a tough deadline and still have 4,000 lines of code to write. Remind your developer!

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Start-Ups Business Plans For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-12-2022

A well-developed business plan is critical for any start-up business. To develop a thorough business plan, research your customers and competition; avoid mistakes that lead to business failure; and know how to implement a business plan and make it work. Your business plan should include a basic financial statement, all major pieces of a business plan, and information from your business-planning checklist.

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Marketing Account-Based Marketing For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-09-2022

Account-based marketing flips the marketing funnel on its head. You start with your best-fit prospects and turn them into resources for both long-term business and new prospects.

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General Small Business Small Business Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-03-2022

Owning and running a small business calls for a variety of skills, perhaps foremost among them organizational. If you’re going to incorporate your business, you need to explore the differences between becoming a C corporation and an S corporation. And if you want to attract investors or even apply for a loan, you’d better be familiar with the key elements of a business plan.

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Product Development New Product Development For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-03-2022

To take your product idea from planning to the market, have a look at how the new product development process works. Also check out product development terms and phrases, so you’re able to understand and contribute at meetings and events.

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General Business Business Valuation For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-28-2022

If you’re considering buying a business, you will need to investigate the company to make an informed decision about the business's valuation. The valuation process involves research and observation — whether the prospective enterprise is operating successfully or is functioning as a troubled company.

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Strategic Planning Business Plans Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-28-2022

The best way — make that the only way — to achieve business success is to have a solid business plan. A business plan is critical to finding a successful course through turbulent times. If you have a really great idea for making money (or doing good with a nonprofit), an effective business plan will help you make the most of it. The following can guide you through some important aspects of putting together and assessing your business plan.

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General Business Decision Making For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-27-2022

In a business environment of complexity and uncertainty, excellent decision-making skills are paramount. Employees, customers, and others touched by a company's actions respond to what they trust — ethical decision-making in business has become a strategic asset. Learn how to communicate decisions effectively, how to make faster and more informed decisions on the fly, and how to incorporate your core values into your decision-making.

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General Business Complete MBA For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-27-2022

Before you earn an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree, you can still apply MBA-level knowledge in your career: Be a better business manager by efficiently delegating responsibilities among your employees and successfully rewarding those who do a good job. Hone your design and marketing skills by creating an informative and easy-to-use business website and a brief but clear marketing plan.

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Strategic Planning Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-26-2022

A strategic plan is essential for a successful business, and creating a strategic plan that you can actually use is key. Your plan should include certain elements, like mission, values, and vision statements. It should also avoid common pitfalls, like neglecting the specific needs of your organization, so it becomes your road map for success.

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