I am thinking of writing an e-book about how to put together business plans. As I have written nearly 90 business plans and I also run my own business, I thought that it would be a good idea for those people wanting to do the same.

The e-book will be an easy to read guide on compiling a business plan and will come with a business plan template in Word format with Excel spreadsheets. It will be as simple as possible to use with all terms and steps explained.

I have noticed that there are many people on this forum who want to start, buy and operate their own business and thought this information would be good not only for you, but for other people out there.

As a start, I would put my e-book on eBay with payments through Paypal.

What do you think is a reasonable price for such an e-book?? You would also be able to email me any questions and I will answer them with the best advice that I can, as a sort of after-sales service.

What do you reckon?? As with any business idea, I need to get some market research done to see whether it is worth investing my time or not.

I'd read it.

It sounds good to me. I know from starting my own business how much time and money you need at the beginning. So this book would save time (I'm sure!). I think the price would need to be under or around CHF40. I hope that doesn't disappoint you!

CHF40 is reasonable, I was actually thinking lower than that!!

Quite honestly nothing, since I don't know who you are, what and if those 90 really exist. I would not be looking on E-bay for an e-book on business plans; I would not take it seriously. Also, your experience is for Australia and a creperie you had wanted to start... is it relevant to Switzerland?

What I do know about you is that you complained about an airline that has not existed since 2002, albeit it was probably an error on your part, it makes me wonder about your attention to detail.

Start with a free trial on a fantastic website with a great name and maybe you'll be making yourself some money for that precious time spent.

Just my opinion.

I agree on the Ebay idea. I wouldn't take it seriously either.

I appreciate that Complaints Corner is for rants and I appreciate too that you were very frustrated by the unfortunate incidents concerning your flight with Swiss.

On seeing the reaction from other Forum members though, I suggest that you add a paragraph to your business plan.

"Do not antagonise prospective clients before you even have your foot firmly in the door".

I agree with the thought that I am not going to look on ebay for a book on business plans, better bring up your own website (cost 10SFR a month) and try and sell it direct there. Not so difficult to configure pay-pal page on the money side.

As to the idea, I think it is good one- although instead of charging directly for the e-book think about how you could use it as a foot in the door for other services perhaps.... food for thought. Drop me a PM if you want somebody to bounce ideas off, looking for new opportunities myself right now.

I'm not sure on how this works in Switzerland as I am no longer working in that domain, but in Germany you get tons of "how to write a business plan" advice and templates for free... Why not do a quick online search, plus did you think about how things might work differently here?

Yeah, definitely a reinvention of the wheel here in CH too, unless you write something really original and that gets published, I don't really see how this could work.. especially since you don't seem to be too familiar with online marketing ?

edit: But you could always do a good old-fashioned "google-it" market research to see what's on the Swiss market.

There are hundreds of these kind of self help guides on the internet but if you have the time it would be a great help to anyone starting a business or who is not familiar with writing a business plan. Best of luck :-)

Perhaps...

Bang something along the lines of "how to write a business plan" into
Google, and see if anyone's already doing similar.

Then ask honestly, "What is my business plan for getting my product at
the top of the 150,000-odd hits."

Repeat for Amazon.

Reevaluate business plan in light of market saturation.
.

JLP I think you are being rather harsh as I am new to this forum so nobody here knows me very well, as well as you. Would you like me to give you a brief summary of my life? A detailed list of all the business plans that I've done?? Client contacts and statements and emails of praise that I've received?? For your information I started the creperie in 2007 and it has since been operating very successfully.

You're not the only one who can be judgmental. What have you done lately?? (Ps. Don't even bother answering that question, I was only making a point and I don't really care for your answer). I suppose you pay great attention to detail in every step you take and every sentence you write in your daily life, particularly when jetlagged and angry as well. If only I could be more like you.

Since the short time that I've been on this forum, I've noticed some very judgmental people here (only a few), although there many other members here who seem very nice, and I'm beginning to wonder why I should continue posting on this forum at all.

Moving on, thank you for those who have suggested a website rather than on eBay. I would probably use both strategies to capture those who are searching for books on business plans (as I often buy books on eBay), and those who google for business plans will come up with my website.

I did not say that I want to focus only on Switzerland. My opinion was that there are many people out there, not only in Switzerland, but across Australia (where I am based), and other locations who are looking to establish their own business. The way I started was to buy a book on business plans, which cost me around AUD$50, then fiddle around with Word and Excel in order to get the template right, which took me a while. There is software that simplifies this which I use at the moment, however it costs around $99. The template that I provide will be easier to use, as I explain further below.

My guide would explain step by step what is involved in writing a business plan, the research needed, and the guide will come with a template in Word format, with Excel spreadsheets inserted in as 2 year Profit & Loss, Cash Flow Statement, and Balance Sheets.

It will also explain how to formulate your sales forecast, with a table provided as an Excel spreadsheet that will fit into the business plan template. You would thus be able to enter the required information directly into the file and the Excel spreadsheets will link up so that it will take figures from the Sales forecast to input into P&L and the figures will flow on from there.

Thus, you have a ready-made template waiting for you to fill in without having to fiddle with Excel formulas and inserting the spreadsheets into your documents if you haven't had much experience with Excel before.

Since you fill in the details yourself, with guidance on what you need to research (such as markets, industries, competition, supply prices, etc.) these details are fully customisable to your unique situation.

I don't think the price will be up to CHF40 (around AUD35), I was thinking more between AUD$15 to AUD$25 mark. People will pay for it because it is expert advice, useful information and an easy to use template that will give them the knowledge to create their own unique business plan and look at their business ideas objectively, in addition to explaining and guiding the sales forecasts and financial statements. For me, it is a lot of value. I've read and researched the free advice and templates, and don't think they are very good in explaining the process and detail involved.

Markalex, thanks for your suggestion. As I mentioned, there would also be a service provided where I will be able to give advice and answer questions when needed, perhaps even look over the plan and give suggestions. I'm also trying to think of other services that I can follow up with.

You asked for feedback on an idea, and J.L-P gave you some.

Now you throw it back in her face.

Charming.

I have done a Google Trends search on business plans a few times and Australia is always in the top 3, so there is strong interest here. In addition there is Kenya, South Africa, UK, US and Canada.

Now I look back on it, I did take it a little personally, so I apologise. I do understand her point of view.

Sorry JLP and thank you Dougal's Breakfast for pointing it out.

I don't doubt it is. But how will people know that they should pay for your e-book instead of one of the hundreds of others out there, most of them similarly-priced and (presumably) offering similar value?

(By the way, if you've only started the one business you might want to avoid over-emphasizing the "expert" angle, as many of your competitors will be serial entrepreneurs who have started - and then sold off - several.)

Hi Penelope

Whether your credentials are considered "expert" will be judged by the market.

There are tons of experts out there wanting to cash in on their "expertise". The fact is people don't pay for much unless it is really worth it (and even then they would prefer to download it for free). Google turns up a lot of useful information, much of it for free. You have nothing to lose by trying, and I wish you all the very best, but go into this with you eyes wide open and realise that the competition is extremely tough.

Before commenting on the business idea just to say don't take comments from other forum users the wrong way.

Often personal statements can be taken completely out of context and appear exagerrated when read online as opposed to in a conventional conversation.

One of the best features of the English Forum is the sheer diversity of those who frequent it. You will get many different points of view some you will like others you won't but all in I think its great to get the extremes rather than every member being a clone. So stick with it, grow a thicker skin, and you'll find out its not so bad at all!

Now onto the business idea its sounds potentially useful to quite a few folk around here as you thought. I offer the following:

1) I used a similar product before (which consisted purely of the templates for text and numbers but not an actual book on writing a business plan) which cost US$99. It was applicable to most markets and one could easily change the default currency. I found it most useful in ensuring I did not overlook a financial table or miss an important paragraph out of the plan.

2) It will be most important for you to establish credibility- as others have said your own website will be of paramount importance in this.

3) Consider broadening your distribution channels by opening up the sale of the book to affiliates. There are websites out there who you can join as a product offerer who can facilitate the receipt of payments and provide access to a network of affiliates. e.g. you could sell the product for $50 and offer a 60% commission on it to affiliates. This will act as a nice supplement for the sales you get from your own efforts and site. I will not publish the name of such a site here in case it is against forum rules. Such a service provider can also provide a 60 day guarantee or equivalent whereby the buyer can return the product within 60 days for money back. Helps to provide credibility especially when the guarantee comes from an established internet commerce company. In practice this means waiting longer for your payment or being subject to clawback on your earnings.

Good luck.

I think your best bet would be to find a niche with your business planner.
Write it in really simple english, with lots of explanations. I found that a lot of the Business Plan advice on the internet was written by, as people have said, experts. That means for someone who's not too familiar with P&L and the Glossary it is a bit confusing to read.

So that could be an option for you.

Posting some credits from people who can recommend you always helps as well (Ebay and your site) but the best advertising possible is if you give out a few free ones and then let people write positive reviews for you (how it helped them etc.) which you can post on your site. Gives you a lot more cred!