LAUNCH Stage

After running operations for approximately 3 months you'll need to produce quarterly reports. Some of these reports are for internal use to begin the process of tuning your operations and maximizing every dollar you create and spend. However, some reports and filings will be needed to be sent on to State and potentially Federal agencies. It's not difficult to do, but if you forget, you can be penalized. Often your bookkeeper or accountant can make sure these filings are completed on your behalf. If you are not certain, be sure to ask for a summary.

After you open doors to customers and begin to establish a rhythm to your operations, you'll need to summarize and report your financial statements on a regular basis. Typically these reports are for internal use, but you may need to share them out to advisors or even loan officers for instance if you are seeking financial resources.Given the early stage of your business there may not be much data yet to show, but much of this will fill in over time as you track expenses and revenue. You'll be replacing projections with actual numbers and then using these reports to track trends and refine estimates for the future.A key point is to make certain you understand what the reports are telling you. It takes practice to get comfortable with them so reach out to your financial advisors and they can help you interpret the data.

After several weeks of 'open doors' and running actual operations you will begin to have historical and real-time data that can be used to update all your projections and models. The opening months are a unique event so don't expect all days to look like what you've experienced, however, this data is less wrong than just projections based on gut instinct. Ideally you should be tracking day-by-day, week-by-week and month-to-month. You will be able to discover trends and variances from your assumptions. You may be very wrong about certain data points, but that is OK. Now make small adjustments and be careful not to overcorrect. If you are unsure of what the data is telling you, then seek help. Your skills as a business owner will only get better with practice and effort.

If you have employees and / or you are running a payroll you will need to report numbers to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Most of this process can be easily set up and automated, but if you forget, you could spend a significant amount of time attempting to reconcile your reports with a representative at DWD. Ask for help to understand what needs to be reported, how, and the frequency. This process will simply become a minor step in your operations, but stay on top of it!

Create a plan to review your books on a weekly basis. This may not be your favorite task, but knowing where your money comes from and where it is going will be critical to smooth operations and being able to respond in times of change. Most of the number crunching is easily automated with software, or your service will do it on your behalf. However, taking time to review the information and understanding it is the skill to be developed. If looking at the information in your books is hard to grasp, ask for help from your provider or someone at the college - such as one of our Entrepreneurs in Residence staff.

Depending on your business you may have to bill your customer and they pay at a later date. Having those payments outstanding can create cash flow issues for you. You will need to keep on top of them to reconcile all payments. Ways to incentivize them to pay earlier is to offer a small discount, such as 2%, if they pay within 15 days. Alternatively, if they are late you can attach penalties and other fees. Be careful about being punitive because that can damage a working relationship, but stand your ground. Conversely, you'll have bills to be paid. A typical strategy is to defer those as long as possible and pay at the end of the required terms. This conserves cash for as long as possible. Do not get in the habit of missing payments because this might affect terms with suppliers, partners, your business credit score, and your reputation.

Several times you've completed the mental exercise of reviewing assumptions about your business model, the customer, problems, solutions, partners, employees, marketing, you name it. Most likely your assumption list has grown, and shrunk, and grown again. Now with some real operating time under your belt, you can better validate your assumption with data. You can still run experiments related to understanding your business better, but your entire operation is now a giant living experiment. Seek to know as much as you can, but also know that there are times when an educated guess is the best you can do. Connect with others in your network, your advisors, your board if you have one, and colleagues to test yourself and get a second or third opinion with complex decisions.

At this stage your business is ready to be selling your product or service. This is an exciting time, but you need to make sure you have a sales process that involves clear steps to deliver value to your customers. This process has a pre-sale, during, and post-sale component. It's more than just collecting revenue -although that's a key part of it. In addition there are tools and systems which will help you streamline this process in order to maximize mutual value. Knowing where to streamline may not become apparent until you have 'had the doors open' for a while. However, you can speak to other colleagues and advisors to get input for a sales framework, then adjust as you gain experience.

After several weeks of operating and engaging with customers you will have actual data with regard to what is working and not working to bring them into your business. Keep in mind that a business opening is a big event so you may attract some early customers purely out of curiosity, but you also have an opportunity to 'land and expand' by upselling and cross-selling. This process will inform your tactics and strategy. That means it is time to review your plan from months ago. Refine areas that lacked hard data and slowly start to fine tune your marketing efforts. Now is not the time for major swings given the early stage of your business but you can certainly run experiments with different channels, promotions, pricing and methods to deliver value. Document your experiments and the results.

After a few months of operation you have been head down in getting your business launched. This is a perfect time to get an outside perspective regarding progress and things that may need adjusting. Reach out to your advisors and schedule a brief check in. In order to make the most of your time together it might make sense to bring updated information regarding financial, your customers, the problem you are solving and so forth. Remember advisors are there to help, so don't hesitate to ask them if they provide some assistance in some manner. Just be respectful of their time and commitment.

At this stage you may have a team of co-founders and / or some early employees or even contractors working with you. Teams naturally go through stages of building trust, skill, and competency. While you are working and spending a lot of time together, it is never too early to find ways to build that connection and give your team members a needed break from the grind. Team building can be as easy as having a coffee or beverage together or something more structured and involved. Just be mindful of 'mandatory fun' or something that feels inauthentic. Also respect time since they are already committing hours to be in your company. It's often a lot to ask for them to attend even MORE events on their own time.

While you may be exhausted and working late hours, you should make every attempt to get out of your business and meet with other owners and community resources. This is how you will grow your network, find new people to help, new customers, and even new partners. When you head to a networking event, make sure you have a goal for who you might want to meet in addition to random encounters. Also have your business cards and elevator pitch well rehearsed but don't make it sound rehearsed.

A good exercise to get into is a weekly post mortem or weekly meeting to understand what is working, and what is not. This doesn't have to be an elaborate production. It's simply pushing pause to look at what you learned in the short-term so you can smooth out bumps. A key thing is to record what you are learning and changing or continuing to do. Then if you have a team or others, be clear and consistent in communicating out to them so they become aware of any decisions and why those decisions were made

After several months you start seeing activities and tasks that you do over and over again. Depending on your business size and number of personnel you employ, you may need to document certain tasks. This can be helpful for training and also to find gaps in what you are doing. It is recommended to put documentation in a secure location like a cloud drive (Google, Drop Box, Box, OneDrive, etc). A cloud drive keeps it secure but also makes it easy to update and share. If you dislike writing, the record a video of how to complete a task.

You will be tired and exhausted husting to get your business launched. One of the most difficult things to do is take a break. You need both physical and mental breaks in order to recharge. You are in a triathlon � not a 100 meter sprint! There may be a feeling of guilt when taking a break and this is where advisors, colleagues, and self-care come in to help deal with the emotional weight of your new business. In addition, your physical health can suffer so breaks can help you come back with fresh perspective and distress.

Verifiable digital credential. A digital emblem globally recognized to symbolizing skills and accomplishments that contains detailed content describing how the earner achieved the badge and can link to evidence of learning. Represents attained knowledge, specific skill, set of skills, certificate, etc.