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Published on:

24th Feb 2022

Creating a Business Plan

A business plan can become a roadmap that helps artists get their business feet under them and point the right direction. Not only does the process help you clarify what your goals are, but it also helps you take yourself seriously as a business person.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • How to approach a business plan
  • What to include in a business plan
  • What to include in your market research

If you want to learn more about Mastering the Business of Art, you can find it here: https://morning-walk-with-the-artists-forge.captivate.fm/episode/beliefs-about-money

Learn more about how to think like an artist on The Artist's Forge, and join our growing community of artists on Facebook.

Want to know more about the hosts?

Nicole York

Matt Stagliano

Cat Ford-Coates

Bassam Sabbagh

Bekka Bjorke

Transcript
Matt Stagliano:

Hi, this is Matt Stagliano and thanks for being

Matt Stagliano:

part of the artists Forge. We're a community of creatives who

Matt Stagliano:

help each other think like an artist. By discussing creativity

Matt Stagliano:

as a process instead of a skill or a talent. We believe everyone

Matt Stagliano:

has what it takes to create something amazing. We just need

Matt Stagliano:

some encouragement and inspiration along the way. What

Matt Stagliano:

you're about to hear is a live recording of one of our daily

Matt Stagliano:

discussions on the clubhouse app. If you like what you hear,

Matt Stagliano:

I encourage you to join our private Facebook group or visit

Matt Stagliano:

us on the web at the artist forge COMM Now on to the show.

Nicole York:

Welcome everybody to morning walk with the

Nicole York:

artists. Borge, my name is Nicole, I am your host. And

Nicole York:

today we are talking about business and very specifically

Nicole York:

business plans. We're going to be talking about what a business

Nicole York:

plan is why we should have one and tying that into the

Nicole York:

conversations that we have had previously in this mastering the

Nicole York:

business of art program that we've been going through. So

Nicole York:

business plans, y'all, before we get into what they are and why

Nicole York:

we should have one. Do you guys have a business plan?

Matt Stagliano:

Any? Anybody? Yes, he says, with apprehension.

Matt Stagliano:

Yeah, so you know, I came from a world of business plans where

Matt Stagliano:

you couldn't do anything without one. And I started one, when I

Matt Stagliano:

started my first business, I wrote this big like 30 page

Matt Stagliano:

business plan of what I wanted to do never looked at it again,

Matt Stagliano:

never used it for anything, tried to do the same thing for

Matt Stagliano:

stone tree and realized that it's great in the world of

Matt Stagliano:

startups, especially if you want to go and get yourself purchased

Matt Stagliano:

at some point down the line. But day to day, I, I'd love to say I

Matt Stagliano:

use one and I have a very specific one. But it's really a

Matt Stagliano:

loose collection of half form thoughts that guide me in the

Matt Stagliano:

right direction. That's my business plan. Probably not what

Matt Stagliano:

I should be saying in public. That's kind of how it's

Nicole York:

no, I'm actually really glad you said it, because

Nicole York:

that's definitely something that we're going to cover. So I'm

Nicole York:

glad you said it. In fact,

Unknown:

cat Becca Do either of you.

Cat Ford-Coates:

So I definitely have a super meticulous thought

Cat Ford-Coates:

out business plan that I started the business with that my

Cat Ford-Coates:

business doesn't resemble even in the least, I'm in this day

Cat Ford-Coates:

and age because as of March, it will have been 10 years. Um,

Cat Ford-Coates:

however, what I do is I sort of map out my word cloud of avenues

Cat Ford-Coates:

of revenue. And then I especially at the beginning of

Cat Ford-Coates:

the year will usually at the end of the year for the next year.

Cat Ford-Coates:

And then map out like what those intentions are, and the

Cat Ford-Coates:

different avenues in which those intentions can be achieved. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

then I just sort of ride that wave throughout the year. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

it's usually kind of just done on habit by like May, instead of

Cat Ford-Coates:

using it as a reference document, and then I don't look

Cat Ford-Coates:

at it again. Yep, that sounds about right.

Unknown:

Becca, what about you? Glad to know, I'm not alone in

Unknown:

this boat. Have I started with one once upon a time when I had

Unknown:

a little baby business? And now I'm kind of coasting. Yeah, no

Unknown:

written plan. For me at this point, though. Again, I think

Unknown:

Matt had a good point that they're really, really great for

Unknown:

startups. And that was kind of how I went into my business

Unknown:

originally, Once Upon a Time was like, I'm gonna do everything

Unknown:

correctly. And this is what I learned in college. This is how

Unknown:

you're supposed to do it. And it was educational for me. But I

Unknown:

definitely don't think in that same way. And don't act in that

Unknown:

same way now.

Nicole York:

Yeah, very, very similar. I wrote my business

Nicole York:

plan for everything getting started. And then once

Nicole York:

everything started to move along, I haven't really looked

Nicole York:

at it in a while. So that's actually makes me happy that

Nicole York:

we've talked about this and started with that, because it's

Nicole York:

going to remove a lot of the it's going to remove a lot of

Nicole York:

the questions, I think for folks. Business plans are a

Nicole York:

fantastic thing. And there are a couple of different kinds you

Nicole York:

can have, and a few different reasons you can have them. And

Nicole York:

so I'm glad Matt, you already mentioned two of the things that

Nicole York:

I wanted to make sure we brought up which is they're great for

Nicole York:

getting started and for startups, right. And also,

Nicole York:

they're great when you know if the long term plan of your

Nicole York:

business is eventually to be acquired. And if you want an

Nicole York:

exit strategy, so those things are really important also, if

Nicole York:

you're going to be looking for funding a business plan There's

Nicole York:

specific types of business plans you can use for funding. And I

Nicole York:

would suggest going to the Small Business Association website to

Nicole York:

check those out. But you want to have all of those things laid

Nicole York:

out because your potential investors are going to want to

Nicole York:

see all the details, and we'll talk about that as well. But as

Nicole York:

far as I'm concerned, because you can do a very traditional,

Nicole York:

it's about 30, pages 15, to 30 pages, business plan, with

Nicole York:

projections and all that good stuff, we can do a lean startup

Nicole York:

business plan, which is about only a page long, you can do

Nicole York:

either of those things depending on what you want. But as far as

Nicole York:

I'm concerned, the main goal for most of us, as artists with our

Nicole York:

business plan is to get clarity, right, it's just really a chance

Nicole York:

for us to write down all of the things that we've been talking

Nicole York:

about over the last couple of weeks, and get clarity on what

Nicole York:

our intentions are, get clarity on what the structure of our

Nicole York:

business is going to look like. Make sure that we just have that

Nicole York:

clarity, so we can move forward with a sense of purpose. But as

Nicole York:

Kat has mentioned before, your business is a living entity. And

Nicole York:

your business plan really should be a living document, it should

Nicole York:

be something that changes and grows as your business changes

Nicole York:

and grows as your intentions change. And as your goals

Nicole York:

change. So you don't have to write a business plan and refer

Nicole York:

to it at least once a week or once a quarter or once a

Nicole York:

whenever and make to make sure that you're staying on track.

Nicole York:

But you can, this absolutely can be a fantastic roadmap that you

Nicole York:

can use to guide you and your decisions forward. It helps you

Nicole York:

get clarity on what you want to do with your business and all

Nicole York:

the individual aspects. But it does not have to be a

Nicole York:

dictionary, right? It doesn't have to be something that you're

Nicole York:

constantly sticking your nose in, in order to be functional,

Nicole York:

it can just be the place that you get started. So that you are

Nicole York:

not bumbling forward. And when I very first started my business,

Nicole York:

I didn't have a business plan at all. I just people wanted to pay

Nicole York:

me and I wanted their money. And so I figured I probably better

Nicole York:

be illegal business entity, so that I could separate everything

Nicole York:

for taxes, and etc, etc. So I didn't have a business plan at

Nicole York:

all. I literally just fumbled around trying to do things. And

Nicole York:

I think that if I would have at least sat down and gone through

Nicole York:

the process, it would have really helped me get a lot of

Nicole York:

clarity about what I wanted. Because you're forced to ask

Nicole York:

yourself the questions that give you clarity about your business.

Nicole York:

And those are a lot of the questions we've already been

Nicole York:

asking ourselves over the last couple of weeks. That's part of

Nicole York:

the point of those conversations. And so when we

Nicole York:

get to the business plan portion, we can look back at the

Nicole York:

answers we've given and just really clarify everything. So I

Nicole York:

want to ask the mods this morning. You don't really use

Nicole York:

your business plan as such so much now. But when you wrote it

Nicole York:

at the start of your business, did it give you the clarity? Did

Nicole York:

it force you to look at your business as a whole in the long

Nicole York:

term? And what your you know, what your, your strategies and

Nicole York:

everything we're going to be in? Do you?

Matt Stagliano:

I know I do. Like you said you chose the word

Matt Stagliano:

that I was going to use as well, which is setting your intention.

Matt Stagliano:

Right. And that was the big part for me is I'd learned a lot of

Matt Stagliano:

failures from my first business. So I wanted to streamline that

Matt Stagliano:

and look at sown tree as an evolution but a more formalized

Matt Stagliano:

evolution of it and a refined evolution of it. So yeah, I I

Matt Stagliano:

loved setting that intention, setting that clarity. And then

Matt Stagliano:

when I discovered story brand, you know, we've talked about

Matt Stagliano:

that before, I really went through that process that for

Matt Stagliano:

me, clarified what my message was going to be, what my

Matt Stagliano:

philosophies were going to be like, and then I could start

Matt Stagliano:

really working that into how do I want this business operate

Matt Stagliano:

based on those principles. And so as I began writing this

Matt Stagliano:

business plan, which really wound up more like what Kat was

Matt Stagliano:

talking about, which is a structure that I'm then going to

Matt Stagliano:

base the next year or two years on, you know, it really allowed

Matt Stagliano:

me to fine tune those points. So that as I go about my work every

Matt Stagliano:

day, no, I'm not referring to the plan, but I have a great

Matt Stagliano:

clear vision of what I'm trying to do. And does my daily work

Matt Stagliano:

align with that? And if it doesn't, I need to get back in

Matt Stagliano:

the plan because I wrote the plan for a reason. So it's, you

Matt Stagliano:

know, it's a set of guiding principles. For me it's a it's a

Matt Stagliano:

way to go about things. It's a way to solve problems. And

Matt Stagliano:

that's the way that I look at it rather than Excel spreadsheets

Matt Stagliano:

and charts and projections. At this point. Those have their

Matt Stagliano:

those have their place in business. business. But for me,

Matt Stagliano:

it all starts with that intention and that clarity. And

Matt Stagliano:

from that you can really go in any direction you want.

Cat Ford-Coates:

I think the thing about business plans

Cat Ford-Coates:

specifically is, it's really a blueprint to train your brain

Cat Ford-Coates:

how to think so that you can act with those intentions in mind.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Because if you're not clear on what your goals are, then you

Cat Ford-Coates:

know, you're not, you won't get to there. Like, that's not even

Cat Ford-Coates:

an option if you're not clear on what it is that you want. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

the methods in which you would like to enroll to move forward

Cat Ford-Coates:

for those things. However, I love a good spreadsheet, God,

Cat Ford-Coates:

they make me happy. Because that data brings more clarity, and

Cat Ford-Coates:

then being able to compare and contrast what actually occurred

Cat Ford-Coates:

versus what I projected, would allows me to refine that

Cat Ford-Coates:

mindset. And that thought process more succinctly. And

Cat Ford-Coates:

that's, that's really the value of the business plan, right? My

Cat Ford-Coates:

former business, we strayed so far from the business plan, that

Cat Ford-Coates:

it couldn't be saved on the capital that we had remaining.

Cat Ford-Coates:

And it was because we had adapted so many times through

Cat Ford-Coates:

and through, and we ran into a lot of challenges, and a lot of

Cat Ford-Coates:

it and permitting set us back like a good job. Thank you,

Cat Ford-Coates:

Jillian months. Um, so we had to do something. So I mean, I don't

Cat Ford-Coates:

fault us for that. But because we had gotten so far away from

Cat Ford-Coates:

the business plan, and what our goals were initially, there

Cat Ford-Coates:

wasn't any coming back to it. And that's why I like returning

Cat Ford-Coates:

to the business plan, especially throughout the beginning of the

Cat Ford-Coates:

year, because those goals and those intentions change, as your

Cat Ford-Coates:

business evolves as you evolve in your business, and being able

Cat Ford-Coates:

to recenter and stay in alignment with what those goals

Cat Ford-Coates:

and dreams are, or change your fucking mind. Right? What

Cat Ford-Coates:

happens when you get to April, and you're like, man, I was

Cat Ford-Coates:

thinking too small. I reached my goals for quarter two at the end

Cat Ford-Coates:

of quarter one kick ass now what? Right like, Okay, think

Cat Ford-Coates:

bigger. But without having a business plan in place, like and

Cat Ford-Coates:

I'm a big fan of jump off the cliff and spread your wings on

Cat Ford-Coates:

the way down. But having a business plan in place makes

Cat Ford-Coates:

those wings a lot bigger.

Nicole York:

But that was fantastic. Beckett, how about

Nicole York:

you? When writing your business plan? Did you find that the the

Nicole York:

process gave you any clarity? Do you look at that now as

Nicole York:

something that actually helped you get off your feet with

Nicole York:

starting your business? Or did you find no value in it?

Unknown:

Oh, yes, no, yes, no. I. So I mean, I just kind of

Unknown:

stumbled into people randomly giving me money first, for art,

Unknown:

because that tends to happen. And then after a couple years,

Unknown:

mind you, I was I was young guys, I was really young, and my

Unknown:

youth, younger youth was like a hot mess. Oh my god. So having

Unknown:

that kind of sense of structure for myself. It again, was a very

Unknown:

educational process for me, like having to learn to take myself

Unknown:

seriously and get other people to take me seriously and have

Unknown:

all those ducks laid out in a row. And so even if I don't have

Unknown:

that kind of same written process now, all those points of

Unknown:

interest of you know, what are these things that are important

Unknown:

in my business? What are those goals, it's still this

Unknown:

foundation in the back of my brain that I refer back to

Unknown:

constantly. So I don't currently think of it as still, you know,

Unknown:

a functioning business plan because it has changed so much

Unknown:

from my little baby. Startup our business, but it totally it's I

Unknown:

mean, that understanding is there for me. And it's it's

Unknown:

still there as that foundation.

Nicole York:

You know, you said something I think is really

Nicole York:

important. And I want to double down on that a little bit. That

Nicole York:

it helped you take yourself seriously. I mean, of course you

Nicole York:

said it helps other people take you seriously. But I find unless

Nicole York:

we're looking for funding and things that's a little bit less

Nicole York:

important than like, it helps us take ourselves seriously. And it

Nicole York:

can be really easy for many of us and particularly in the arts

Nicole York:

community because people have this. People have this tendency

Nicole York:

to be like, Oh, that's nice that you have your little hobby that

Nicole York:

brings you some money, right? Like they don't really take the

Nicole York:

business of art very seriously. And so it transfers to you a

Nicole York:

little bit in your mind when you think okay, I'm gonna I'm going

Nicole York:

to start this art business but you're like art business, right?

Nicole York:

Not it's not like the same as a real business. So taking what

Nicole York:

steps you can to really take this venture seriously could

Nicole York:

make a big difference in your mindset.

Unknown:

Yeah, totally. And the Oh my God, you nailed verbatim,

Unknown:

a statement I got, again, I was a hot mess, I got engaged to the

Unknown:

ripe old age of 17 years old. And I was told, you know, as a

Unknown:

wife, it was good that I would have a hobby, while meeting some

Unknown:

of my new in laws and very excitedly showing them my

Unknown:

photography portfolio. And I was so enraged. And that was

Unknown:

actually that same time period, I was like, I need to be a

Unknown:

functioning business now. Because I don't want to have a

Unknown:

hobby. I want to have a career. So nailed that one, Nicole. But

Unknown:

yeah, taking yourself seriously, is so important. And that's

Unknown:

actually something I told a lot of people when they're

Unknown:

struggling with kind of working in the arts is like, treat

Unknown:

yourself like perfect professional. And people are

Unknown:

going to then see that and in turn treat you like a

Unknown:

professional. You have to start there with yourself. Can I just

Unknown:

say,

Matt Stagliano:

I just love hearing Becky's supervillain

Matt Stagliano:

origin story. Like I just love it.

Unknown:

It could have gotten bad. I could be wearing a you

Unknown:

know, spandex suit right now and patrolling the night or

Unknown:

something.

Nicole York:

I expect pictures.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Yeah, can we commission that?

Unknown:

I mean, if you ask nicely, yeah, we can talk. Word.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Oh, I was just gonna say earlier. It is my

Cat Ford-Coates:

favorite is when I run into people that maybe I knew from

Cat Ford-Coates:

like bartending life or, you know, previous iteration of cat.

Cat Ford-Coates:

And they're like, oh, photography. So is that all you

Cat Ford-Coates:

do? As opposed to like, Oh, is it like a side hustle? No, it's

Cat Ford-Coates:

It's all I do. And they're like, really? Wow. Huh? Yeah, yeah.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Yeah.

Matt Stagliano:

I'm sorry, Nicole, I was gonna say I'll

Matt Stagliano:

commiserate with that cat and 10 years in to supporting myself

Matt Stagliano:

solely with photography. And my parents are still asking me. So

Matt Stagliano:

is this like a real business? Like, is this what you do? Yeah.

Matt Stagliano:

So it never ends? No matter?

Nicole York:

Yeah, yep. And so I mean, for those of us in the art

Nicole York:

community, like, we know, this feeling, right, we know this

Nicole York:

feeling of not being taken seriously. And particularly when

Nicole York:

we grow up in those environments, that mindset kind

Nicole York:

of bleeds into you a little bit. And so being able to sit down

Nicole York:

and write this business plan and have clarity on what you want to

Nicole York:

do moving forward, and how you're going to reach the goals

Nicole York:

that you have for yourself, it just allows you to take yourself

Nicole York:

seriously, you are moving forward with purpose with a

Nicole York:

plan, you know, you know, how you want to get things done, and

Nicole York:

what value your business is going to add to the community

Nicole York:

and all of those kinds of things. So I know, we've used

Nicole York:

the metaphor of, you know, a road trip several times, but it

Nicole York:

really is like plotting out a road trip, I know I want to go

Nicole York:

to New York, there are a lot of different ways that I could

Nicole York:

potentially get there. But I have a certain amount of money

Nicole York:

to start off with, I need to make myself a plan to get there

Nicole York:

in a way that's going to, you know, work for the budget that I

Nicole York:

have. But I also want to see some things along the way. So

Nicole York:

we're going to plot my course. Now, I may run into roadblocks,

Nicole York:

I may run into detours, I may discover that somewhere along

Nicole York:

the way that didn't work out quite the way that I hoped. But

Nicole York:

it got me started. And it's going to help when I encounter

Nicole York:

those roadblocks to look back at my map and go, Okay, I can get

Nicole York:

back on track. If I just go around this way, I can still get

Nicole York:

where I'm going. So it really does become a reference point

Nicole York:

that you can use. So before we get into the actual specifics,

Nicole York:

the benefits of a business plan are that it helps you take

Nicole York:

yourself seriously. And that's a big one. Because anything we can

Nicole York:

do to really bolster our mindset, before we head into a

Nicole York:

serious undertaking is going to be a bonus for us and helps you

Nicole York:

get clarity on what you're doing, how you're going to do

Nicole York:

it, why you're going to do it. It gives you a bit of a roadmap

Nicole York:

that you can refer to on your way, like Kat was saying, if you

Nicole York:

set goals for yourself, and you smash those goals in the first

Nicole York:

four months, well, man that really teaches you something

Nicole York:

about how to plan for the future and what you can expect from

Nicole York:

yourself. And you can then make additional goals based on seeing

Nicole York:

the fact that I did the research and here are here's how things

Nicole York:

compare. Like, you have hard data now that you can look at

Nicole York:

which is pretty outstanding. So there's a lot of really good

Nicole York:

reasons to have a business plan. Does that mean that it must

Nicole York:

become the Bible? Depends on you, right? It depends on you.

Nicole York:

If you are the kind of person who needs that structure and you

Nicole York:

need to be able to refer back to that so that you do Stay on

Nicole York:

track and you don't kind of morphed your business so many

Nicole York:

times you don't even know what it is anymore, then yeah, if you

Nicole York:

are a person who loves numbers and statistics, and you want to

Nicole York:

be able to look back at your projections and compare them to

Nicole York:

where you are now, and that's really important to you, then

Nicole York:

yeah, this business plan is really going to be a Bible for

Nicole York:

you going forward, if you're the kind of person who can make a

Nicole York:

lot of those adjustments on the fly. And you just really, it's

Nicole York:

important for you to stay true to the heart of your business,

Nicole York:

but you're not necessarily tied to, you know, specific tactics

Nicole York:

moving forward, then it may just become more like a reference

Nicole York:

guide that you look back at and change as you see fit. But in

Nicole York:

either case, those benefits of building that business plan

Nicole York:

still exist. So the question then becomes, how do you build

Nicole York:

your business plan? And the first question you have to ask

Nicole York:

yourself is, are you building a business plan in order to get

Nicole York:

funding for your business, you're going to talk to

Nicole York:

investors and see if they want to invest in your business, or

Nicole York:

are you building this for yourself as a kind of way to get

Nicole York:

clarity and as a reference guide for the future. So you have a

Nicole York:

couple of options there. If you want to go after financing, you

Nicole York:

need a really solid business plan, with predict projections

Nicole York:

and market research and all of that good stuff, go to the Small

Nicole York:

Business Administration website, they've got examples there that

Nicole York:

you can look at, you need those things, because if somebody is

Nicole York:

going to give you their money, they want to see that you are

Nicole York:

serious that you understand the purpose of your business, how it

Nicole York:

is going to compete against other people in your market,

Nicole York:

what your projections are for income, because they want to

Nicole York:

have a good investment. So you need to really do that work. But

Nicole York:

even if you don't intend to look for investors, but you just know

Nicole York:

that you need to understand this business all the way down to its

Nicole York:

nuts and bolts, you may still want to do a standard business

Nicole York:

plan, that's going to be 15 to 30 pages long, it's going to be

Nicole York:

a bit of work. But that work is showing up on the front end,

Nicole York:

right. So instead of these are, these are the options we have,

Nicole York:

we do what we can on the front end. So we invest some time and

Nicole York:

effort into this business plan. So we can think our way through

Nicole York:

the structure of our business, like we've been doing over the

Nicole York:

past couple of weeks. So that when we start to encounter those

Nicole York:

things, when we build our processes, when we come up

Nicole York:

against questions of how does this thing or this decision,

Nicole York:

reinforce the philosophy of my business, we don't go I have no

Nicole York:

idea what to do, let me make something up real quick and see

Nicole York:

if it works. You either do the work on the front end, or you do

Nicole York:

the work in in Medius race, right like in the process. So

Nicole York:

one or the other, is what you're gonna do. I prefer to do as much

Nicole York:

as I can on the front end. So I'm at least prepared when

Nicole York:

things come my way. So that's kind of what the business plan

Nicole York:

is. And no matter which business plan, you choose whether you

Nicole York:

want to write a real lean kind of startup business plan, that's

Nicole York:

just real quick, or whether you want to do a really serious

Nicole York:

traditional business plan that has many pages, the first thing

Nicole York:

you want to include is your executive summary. So that is a

Nicole York:

big part of the conversation we had earlier on in this MBA,

Nicole York:

mastering the business of art. Why does your business exist?

Nicole York:

What is your business? Why is it going to be successful that that

Nicole York:

mission statement, that vision statement, you know, those are

Nicole York:

the things that need to be included in this section, you

Nicole York:

want to know what the philosophy of the businesses, why it

Nicole York:

exists, and how it's going to bring value to the market. You

Nicole York:

also can include things like your, your your company's

Nicole York:

leadership strategy. So how you're going to run the ship

Nicole York:

moving forward, you can include things like who your employees

Nicole York:

are, etc. If you're going to be starting off that way you can do

Nicole York:

that. For me, I didn't need that as a sole proprietor, I didn't

Nicole York:

need to worry about that at all. But you can get as detailed in

Nicole York:

this section as you want. But the most important part here is

Nicole York:

your mission statement, your product or your service, and any

Nicole York:

basic information you need to include. So that's kind of the

Nicole York:

important part of the executive summary. And because we have

Matt Stagliano:

oh, I didn't mean to jump in there. I thought

Matt Stagliano:

you were summing up. I'm sorry.

Nicole York:

No, no, please.

Matt Stagliano:

So I think you know, the executive summary for

Matt Stagliano:

me the way that I've always explained it has been it's, it's

Matt Stagliano:

your Kickstarter idea, right? So there's a huge difference

Matt Stagliano:

between having a good idea for a business and a business plan.

Matt Stagliano:

And what I find is a lot of people get stuck in this good

Matt Stagliano:

idea phase of, you know, hey, I'm going to raise money for

Matt Stagliano:

this, or I'm going to start my company and it's going to be

Matt Stagliano:

amazing, and we're gonna make candles for orphans, and it's

Matt Stagliano:

gonna be just the most magical thing ever. Well, all those good

Matt Stagliano:

ideas are great, but they're not starting to head towards a

Matt Stagliano:

concrete application. And that's where the executive summary for

Matt Stagliano:

me really starts to make the rubber meet the road. Right?

Matt Stagliano:

That's really where you take this good idea, and you start

Matt Stagliano:

formalizing it, I'm throwing air quotes around formalized, but

Matt Stagliano:

you really start to use that idea, not just as an idea, but

Matt Stagliano:

as the basis and the foundation for everything else that's going

Matt Stagliano:

to come later. And a lot of people never get past that first

Matt Stagliano:

gate of having a good idea. And so just going through this

Matt Stagliano:

process of writing an executive summary, really does help you

Matt Stagliano:

formalize not only with that ideas, but it lays the

Matt Stagliano:

foundation for everything else that's going to come down the

Matt Stagliano:

line, whether it's two months, or three years from now. So I

Matt Stagliano:

love that portion of the business plan.

Nicole York:

Yeah, I think it's my favorite as well. And I love

Nicole York:

that explanation, it's like your Kickstarter, that's a really

Nicole York:

good, that's a really good way to describe it. Because I think

Nicole York:

it'll make people feel like, that's something that they can

Nicole York:

really get their hands on, you, you really do want to use this

Nicole York:

section to say, like, here's the idea, here's why it's great,

Nicole York:

here's how it's going to add value, here's what we're going

Nicole York:

to do. And you need to know those things. Because when you

Nicole York:

get into some of the next sections, you're going to be

Nicole York:

fleshing that stuff out. So again, really just encourage

Nicole York:

folks to go to the Small Business Association, and check

Nicole York:

out the examples that they have there. So you can see this stuff

Nicole York:

in motion. So the next thing that you're going to include

Nicole York:

after the executive summary is the company description. And so

Nicole York:

this is basically going to be explaining how your company

Nicole York:

functions. Who are you serving? How are you serving them? How

Nicole York:

are you going to be competing against other people in your

Nicole York:

market? What are the advantages that your business has. And this

Nicole York:

is kind of, you know, when we talked about what your value

Nicole York:

statement is, understanding how you are going to be serving the

Nicole York:

market, and why that is a competitive edge against other

Nicole York:

companies that are going to be competing with you in that

Nicole York:

market space, that is a really important thing for you to know,

Nicole York:

who is your customer, how is your business going to be

Nicole York:

organized, all of that good stuff. And as we as we spoke

Nicole York:

about the pillars of your business, and these these

Nicole York:

different, you know, foundational aspects, all of

Nicole York:

that stuff is going to be included in your company

Nicole York:

description. So you really need to understand how you're going

Nicole York:

to organize this whole thing. And if you think your way

Nicole York:

through that, you can understand why this process, even if you

Nicole York:

don't really go back to your business plan very often, you

Nicole York:

can see why the process of explaining the structure of your

Nicole York:

business and the description of your business is important.

Nicole York:

Because you can start to visualize what that looks like

Nicole York:

in a real world sense and how that's going to be structured.

Nicole York:

And this is really kind of a big part of like drafting the

Nicole York:

blueprints of your business. So executive summary, company

Nicole York:

description, and then you want to move into market analysis. So

Nicole York:

this is one of those things that is really going to differ

Nicole York:

depending on what kind of person you are and how you approach if

Nicole York:

you are somebody like me, forcing yourself to do a full

Nicole York:

market analysis is going to be like pulling teeth. It's really

Nicole York:

hard to sit down and look at the other companies operating in

Nicole York:

your space and asking yourself what they do and how much do

Nicole York:

they make? And what are some of the trends that are going on

Nicole York:

there? And how can I do those things better? And you know, how

Nicole York:

can I compete in this space, it comparative to what they're

Nicole York:

doing, like all of this stuff is the kind of thing that I run

Nicole York:

away from with my pants on fire. But there are people who this is

Nicole York:

really going to, like turn your lights on to understand what

Nicole York:

this space looks like in your area and how other people are

Nicole York:

doing their business, and how you are going to have to compare

Nicole York:

to them if you want to be able to win in that space. So I'm

Nicole York:

interested particularly with you, cat, but also you, Becca,

Nicole York:

you seem to have a great point. And, Matt, I want to know from

Nicole York:

you guys. In this market analysis section. Do you guys

Nicole York:

enjoy this kind of stuff? Is this something that you all did

Nicole York:

when forming your business plan? And do you have any advice for

Nicole York:

people because if folks are any, if they're like me a call, I'm

Nicole York:

like he I just want to do a good job. I don't want to look at

Nicole York:

other people. Because that's really boring. And wanna?

Cat Ford-Coates:

I do? I do, but not for the reason you might

Cat Ford-Coates:

think, you know, when I started the business in startup, it's

Cat Ford-Coates:

like, okay, I need all of the information and I need all of

Cat Ford-Coates:

the comparison. And I need to know what all of my competition

Cat Ford-Coates:

is doing. So I can do it better. And then, you know, you kind of

Cat Ford-Coates:

get a year or two in and you're like, Oh, why am I competing

Cat Ford-Coates:

with this? Like, super saturated sea of photographers. Okay,

Cat Ford-Coates:

who's the most expensive? I want the top five. The most expensive

Cat Ford-Coates:

people I can find in my area. And I was like, Okay, what is

Cat Ford-Coates:

the work look like? Oh, my work is not that good. Okay, that's

Cat Ford-Coates:

really intriguing. That's really interesting. Okay, so I've got

Cat Ford-Coates:

to get better Because I only want to compete with a couple

Cat Ford-Coates:

people, I don't want to compete with the 40 gajillion. Fucking

Cat Ford-Coates:

photographers in Asheville, North Carolina, it's a

Cat Ford-Coates:

destination city like, of course, there's a million of us.

Cat Ford-Coates:

And they all want to shoot weddings, and they all want to

Cat Ford-Coates:

shoot portraits. And they all just want to have their shoulder

Cat Ford-Coates:

strap camera holsters and go to town like no, I don't want to

Cat Ford-Coates:

play in that land. I want to play in the land that is the

Cat Ford-Coates:

least amount of effort for the highest return. And once I

Cat Ford-Coates:

figured out who the those five photographers were, that's who I

Cat Ford-Coates:

compete with, and I compete by sending work to them. But that's

Cat Ford-Coates:

the only kind of comparison I want to look at. Because if I'm

Cat Ford-Coates:

not playing nice with the people that I consider competition for

Cat Ford-Coates:

me, then I'm looking at them in a negative light, which does

Cat Ford-Coates:

only only up that brings to me is negativity. So I play nice in

Cat Ford-Coates:

this field. And I've actually, you know, gotten some really

Cat Ford-Coates:

fantastic friends out of that mindset. But that market

Cat Ford-Coates:

analysis helped me to realize like, oh, I don't want to

Cat Ford-Coates:

compete, compete. Like, it's impossible to compete with that

Cat Ford-Coates:

many people at once. But if you reframe and understand, like,

Cat Ford-Coates:

Okay, I could do high volume and low dollar, totally valid, send

Cat Ford-Coates:

out galleries do all of that, totally fine. Not the business

Cat Ford-Coates:

model, I want it because it's a lot of effort. The business

Cat Ford-Coates:

model I ended up with is actually a lot of effort. But

Cat Ford-Coates:

the return is much greater. And I would never have sort of

Cat Ford-Coates:

discovered that without understanding what my systems

Cat Ford-Coates:

and process would be, and who my competition is, and how I would

Cat Ford-Coates:

bring my work to the front of that and be one of the best of

Cat Ford-Coates:

the best in town.

Nicole York:

I love that cat and I love looking at it from the

Nicole York:

perspective that you are instead of merely and I say merely like

Nicole York:

it's not important, it is important for people it's

Nicole York:

important for but not merely as a numbers game to find out, you

Nicole York:

know, how everybody is stacking up and how they're doing the

Nicole York:

kind of business they're doing. So I love looking at it from

Nicole York:

that perspective. And for folks like me, that's probably a lot

Nicole York:

better way to move forward than, you know, purely from a the

Nicole York:

number crunching point of view. So I'm interested to hear Matt

Nicole York:

Becca, did you either of you do any kind of market analysis? And

Nicole York:

if you did, how did that work for you? Feel like I'm gonna I'm

Nicole York:

kind of thing I want to?

Unknown:

Well, I'm interested, why is it that you want to flee

Unknown:

from it?

Nicole York:

I don't like research that has to do with

Nicole York:

numbers. I don't know that.

Unknown:

I just I think my

Nicole York:

teacher was right, that I'm really frank. And if

Nicole York:

something's boring to me, then I don't want to do it. And I find

Nicole York:

it really unengaging. I don't know why. And maybe it's because

Nicole York:

my approach to it has always been wrong, which is why I'm

Nicole York:

asking you all these questions. It could be my mindset around

Nicole York:

like, why I just, I don't like it, but I just don't like it, I

Nicole York:

don't have a really good explanation.

Unknown:

It's interesting. I mean, I feel like I'm in a

Unknown:

constant state of market research. Because I do find it

Unknown:

really interesting, because I'm interested in the market that I

Unknown:

work in, I'm interested in the people that I work with. And so,

Unknown:

yeah, I mean, I definitely do put, you know, sometimes it is

Unknown:

more intensive. And a lot of that, you know, similar to what

Unknown:

Cat said is, you know, defining where you really need to stand

Unknown:

because not everybody is your target client, not everybody is

Unknown:

your competition. And if you can really, you know, dial in your

Unknown:

own, you know, value proposition and what you do in a particular

Unknown:

way, those feelings of competition almost seem to fall

Unknown:

away. Where isn't, you know, again, that sense of negativity

Unknown:

and you know, wanting to fight against everyone else in your

Unknown:

industry, or, you know, in your location, it's, you know, a way

Unknown:

for you to define exactly what it is that makes you valuable

Unknown:

within that smaller subset. And again, you know, I love really

Unknown:

looking deeply into who you're communicating with and who

Unknown:

you're selling to. And that is a huge part of that market

Unknown:

research is, you know, figuring out where these people are, what

Unknown:

they're spending money on who they're already spending money

Unknown:

with, and how do you ingratiate yourself into that kind of

Unknown:

circle in an authentic and valuable way for them. So I

Unknown:

mean, it's absolutely essential to create a functioning

Unknown:

business. And I find it constantly fascinating because

Unknown:

it's always changing to you know, there's going to be new

Unknown:

people who pop up who are maybe in direct competition with you.

Unknown:

There's going to be new opportunities for you to find

Unknown:

new clients. So it's something to always be

Nicole York:

you know what I think as I was listening to you

Nicole York:

talk back I realized what It is, it doesn't have anything to do

Nicole York:

with the the people or the businesses involved. It's the

Nicole York:

idea of trends and spreadsheets and things to make those

Nicole York:

comparative analyses. Because if you're going to make analysis,

Nicole York:

it's one thing to do research, it's another thing to make an

Nicole York:

analysis, right. And so I think in my head, it's this idea of,

Nicole York:

you know, finding numbers and putting them into a spreadsheet

Nicole York:

and making comparisons and trying to analyze that

Nicole York:

information that it makes me want to turn around and flee. So

Nicole York:

not necessarily. For me, the thing that I want to run away

Nicole York:

from is not necessarily looking at other people's business or

Nicole York:

clientele, or you know, how people are running things, etc.

Nicole York:

It's not that part of it, I think I kind of fall into some

Nicole York:

of that by by happenstance. It's the idea of the actual analysis

Nicole York:

itself, of the numbers and trends, etc, that that I'm like,

Unknown:

oh, so I mean, is it a possibility, then, because I

Unknown:

also don't keep a ton of spreadsheets and stuff, because

Unknown:

it just isn't how my own personal brain thinks. And I

Unknown:

don't have a board of directors, I don't have employees to

Unknown:

impress I have myself. So any kind of research that I do

Unknown:

anything that I think about, I have to do it in a way that

Unknown:

makes sense for me. So if there is just you know, whether it's

Unknown:

just doing things in your head, or finding a different way to

Unknown:

think of that analysis, maybe it's writing it out without a

Unknown:

single goddamn spreadsheet. I mean, if you can find a way to

Unknown:

do that, that works for you, because that's the point that

Unknown:

needs to work for you. I think you could probably find some

Unknown:

joy, or at least some value, you know, in that kind of process,

Unknown:

too.

Nicole York:

Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. I always I like to

Nicole York:

remind myself, the fact that Einstein wasn't like, so super

Nicole York:

great at math. And so he needed people to do the math for him,

Nicole York:

because he was great at visualizing complex ideas. And

Nicole York:

so maybe I had to kind of approach it from that

Nicole York:

perspective, instead of thinking about it from I think I'm still

Nicole York:

traumatized from math in school. I'm like, It's so boring. But

Nicole York:

um, yeah, I think I think changing my mindset, there will

Nicole York:

probably make a big difference in in being able to do that kind

Nicole York:

of market analysis in a way that, like, I find value in it

Nicole York:

doesn't mean we want to flee.

Unknown:

Totally, I'll fight you a different day when we're not

Unknown:

talking about business about why math is absolutely essential,

Unknown:

and in line with artistic thinking,

Nicole York:

but no, no. I completely actually agree with

Nicole York:

you, Becca. It's not that. So. Yeah, we'll have this

Nicole York:

discussion. Another time. It was the way that I was taught how to

Nicole York:

do math that I that I resent now as an adult, because they teach

Nicole York:

you to memorize formula, and they don't actually explain to

Nicole York:

you what math is like, hey, guess what? You're learning the

Nicole York:

language of the universe? No, they don't do that. It would

Nicole York:

have been an entirely different experience. For me, I think, as

Nicole York:

a kid learning to do math, except for it was like, No, did

Nicole York:

you memorize this thing? Yeah, but I don't know what it is or

Nicole York:

why they use it. Like, I don't understand why I need to know

Nicole York:

what this is. Yeah, so I do actually agree with you. But

Nicole York:

that's definitely a conversation for another day. But anyway,

Nicole York:

Matt, did you do market analysis for your business? And how do

Nicole York:

you kind of approach that so folks can have a really good

Nicole York:

idea of what do you do when you're actually Yeah, and I'm

Nicole York:

this

Matt Stagliano:

this perfect mix of cat and Becca where I'm, I'm

Matt Stagliano:

hyper, hyper competitive. And I also love market research. I

Matt Stagliano:

mean, the fact that people have to look at SEO now is like a

Matt Stagliano:

God's gift to me. Like I love the whole SEO world. But I also

Matt Stagliano:

want to see all of my photographer, friends rise up

Matt Stagliano:

and succeed, right? So I want to, I want to be there and be

Matt Stagliano:

able to celebrate their success doesn't mean I don't want to

Matt Stagliano:

compete with them. So yeah, I always do a little bit of market

Matt Stagliano:

research more so not so much to be like, I want to do what they

Matt Stagliano:

do. I want to understand how they're succeeding. I want to

Matt Stagliano:

see if that could apply to me. Does it resonate with me at all?

Matt Stagliano:

And are my clients, their clients, which I think is a

Matt Stagliano:

really important thing, right? Because I might see a newborn

Matt Stagliano:

photographer, or a family photographer crushing it, but I

Matt Stagliano:

don't shoot newborns or families. So what are they doing

Matt Stagliano:

that I could apply to my business? Is it something that I

Matt Stagliano:

want to do? Does it fit my philosophy? Does it fit what you

Matt Stagliano:

know, I'm driving myself to do in this business? If so great.

Matt Stagliano:

Maybe I can use that and put my own spin on it. If not, I kind

Matt Stagliano:

of cast it aside. So even though they might be a competitor as a

Matt Stagliano:

photographer in my area, it doesn't mean that I'm competing

Matt Stagliano:

directly with them. I love looking at successful businesses

Matt Stagliano:

and figuring out how they did it, and then figuring out Can I

Matt Stagliano:

do one notch better than that? Can I tweak mine to achieve

Matt Stagliano:

those same results and more And so in that lies this constant

Matt Stagliano:

state of research, analysis, and SEO and business planning and

Matt Stagliano:

observation, and all of these things, I love it. But I also

Matt Stagliano:

don't let it detract me from what I'm doing in my business.

Matt Stagliano:

Because what they do really doesn't affect my business

Matt Stagliano:

whatsoever. Unless they moved in right next door and opened a

Matt Stagliano:

studio that did the same type of photography that I did. Nothing

Matt Stagliano:

that anybody does, affects my business, what I do affects my

Matt Stagliano:

business. So I just try to take all these great ideas and

Matt Stagliano:

utilize them in how I move forward. Does that make it a

Matt Stagliano:

formal part of my business plan? Sometimes? yes, sometimes no.

Matt Stagliano:

But I think just understanding what goes on out in the market,

Matt Stagliano:

what people are responding to what they're not responding to.

Matt Stagliano:

And being able to use those influences in your own business

Matt Stagliano:

is a good thing. So that's the way

Nicole York:

that I always beautiful, I love that, which is

Nicole York:

why it's so great to have these varied, folks be part of this

Nicole York:

conversation, because y'all get to stand up in my weak spots.

Nicole York:

And we get to kind of take over for each other, when we've got

Nicole York:

places that were not as strong or things that we don't like as

Nicole York:

a wedge, or whatever it is. So I'm really glad to have

Nicole York:

everybody explain that option, especially in such a palatable

Nicole York:

way so that people can understand why doing market

Nicole York:

analysis is such an important part of having a business plan

Nicole York:

together. So the next thing that we're going to look at

Nicole York:

organization and management for many of us is sole proprietors,

Nicole York:

this is a very simple thing puts me black, like that's all. But

Nicole York:

in this section, you also want to describe your legal

Nicole York:

structure. So you're going to, as we talked about before, you

Nicole York:

know, what is the legal entity? Are you a sole proprietor you an

Nicole York:

LLC, what are you, so that needs to be in this section, and then

Nicole York:

if you are going to have employees, or if you plan on

Nicole York:

having employees at some point and not contractors, then you're

Nicole York:

going to want to know where that organizational structure flows.

Nicole York:

So who is at the head of things? Who comes next? How do these

Nicole York:

people interact with one another? If that's going to be

Nicole York:

an important part for you, then you need to make sure that

Nicole York:

that's included in this organization and management

Nicole York:

section, so that you do know, at some point, I want to open up

Nicole York:

another studio, I want to have these kinds of associates who is

Nicole York:

going to run that who's going to be in charge? How does this

Nicole York:

chain of command kind of work so that if something happens at

Nicole York:

this level, who responds and how does that flow? And maybe this

Nicole York:

would be a really great thing to kind of to grab you on cat

Nicole York:

because, you know, having having your associates and everything,

Nicole York:

how do you have to look at that management structure to make

Nicole York:

sure that everything is?

Cat Ford-Coates:

Oh, man, that's like a two day conversation

Cat Ford-Coates:

right there. Um, so I don't know, I've definitely gone back

Cat Ford-Coates:

and forth with associates. Um, and from the profitability

Cat Ford-Coates:

standpoint, obviously, you know, the 1099 feels like the the

Cat Ford-Coates:

biggest way to make the most attractive offer that allows you

Cat Ford-Coates:

to still garner the same amount of funds. Um, but I don't think

Cat Ford-Coates:

that's true. And after two and a half years, three years now of

Cat Ford-Coates:

having associates, I'm sort of leaning more toward the employee

Cat Ford-Coates:

space, and paying, you know, like a $25 hourly and having

Cat Ford-Coates:

them, you know, manage the sale and bedded into and just be

Cat Ford-Coates:

disconnected from the outcome of that sale. Um, and it's, it's a

Cat Ford-Coates:

tough call, because, on one hand, you know, it's kind of

Cat Ford-Coates:

like, Man, how do I put this in a way that makes sense, um,

Cat Ford-Coates:

having employees increases your risk and your liability. So you

Cat Ford-Coates:

have to look into the insurance aspect from from the space of

Cat Ford-Coates:

that liability and that risk, and what that means, whereas for

Cat Ford-Coates:

a contractor, it's way more hands off, like they are their

Cat Ford-Coates:

own entity. They're just, they just happen to be representing

Cat Ford-Coates:

your business with their business. But you can't be in

Cat Ford-Coates:

control of their schedule. You can't be in control of much and

Cat Ford-Coates:

like they have to carry their own insurance and law. So

Cat Ford-Coates:

understanding what it is that you would want an associate to

Cat Ford-Coates:

accomplish, in a way that Garner's profit or maximizes

Cat Ford-Coates:

profit, I should say and In a space, that's brand aware, you

Cat Ford-Coates:

know, like, if you look at hair salons, you have the full

Cat Ford-Coates:

commission, and then you have booth rent. And both are valid

Cat Ford-Coates:

models, I think you find that most people coming out of hair

Cat Ford-Coates:

school, or going into those fully commissioned salons, and

Cat Ford-Coates:

the people that the professionals that have been at

Cat Ford-Coates:

it and have a develop, following, and so on and so

Cat Ford-Coates:

forth, they're looking more toward booth rent, because it

Cat Ford-Coates:

allows them more flexibility, they're in control of their own

Cat Ford-Coates:

pricing. And that's another piece of the puzzle too. You

Cat Ford-Coates:

know, when you have a contractor, you cannot dictate

Cat Ford-Coates:

what they charge an employee you can, you can say no, you have to

Cat Ford-Coates:

stick to this model. This is how much it costs. Its, you know,

Cat Ford-Coates:

menu, think of it like a menu at a restaurant, and like the steak

Cat Ford-Coates:

is this much all I've heard is this much. But with contractors,

Cat Ford-Coates:

they could come in and charge 300 bucks if they wanted. So,

Cat Ford-Coates:

understanding what you want out of that relationship, from a

Cat Ford-Coates:

profitability space, from a risk space. And from a how from a

Cat Ford-Coates:

process space. Because anybody you bring into under the fold,

Cat Ford-Coates:

whether they are employee or contractor, I would imagine you

Cat Ford-Coates:

want them following a particular process or business model so as

Cat Ford-Coates:

not to confuse your audience. As to pricing and process. I'm sure

Cat Ford-Coates:

that did nothing but confuse the the average person and my

Cat Ford-Coates:

apologies, leave it on.

Nicole York:

No, no, no worries at all. I think it's important

Nicole York:

to recognize those things, as we're thinking about, you know,

Nicole York:

how we're going to organize this for the future. And those are

Nicole York:

questions we have to ask ourselves if we are going to

Nicole York:

determine whether or not we eventually want to have

Nicole York:

associate photographers or if we want to employ photographers.

Nicole York:

And then so the other question I would ask if you don't mind me

Nicole York:

pushing just a little bit, is when you look at the

Nicole York:

organization of these spaces, and the kind of let's just call

Nicole York:

it chain of command. So who answers to who in these

Nicole York:

situations? How do you how do you figure out? I mean,

Nicole York:

obviously, you're kind of, you know, up at the top there, but

Nicole York:

is there anything we need to keep in mind when we look at

Nicole York:

that kind of structure, that kind of management structure.

Cat Ford-Coates:

I would say first and foremost, before you

Cat Ford-Coates:

get into associates, really what you need is a studio manager or

Cat Ford-Coates:

just a check as assistant, because you need someone to keep

Cat Ford-Coates:

you in motion. And once they are adept at keeping you in motion,

Cat Ford-Coates:

then you can bring on other people who will then answer to

Cat Ford-Coates:

that person. And at the end of the day, like you can sort of my

Cat Ford-Coates:

idea is not wanting to micromanage everyone else, which

Cat Ford-Coates:

I'm not always great at, as I'm sure my associates would tell

Cat Ford-Coates:

you, I want to be as hands off as possible. And but I would

Cat Ford-Coates:

need to have someone else in place to be that point of

Cat Ford-Coates:

reference. Because at the end of the day, if some if you're

Cat Ford-Coates:

bringing somebody on as an associate, it's because they

Cat Ford-Coates:

don't have the confidence or the know how to do things in a

Cat Ford-Coates:

profitable way. So having access to you is one of the benefits of

Cat Ford-Coates:

working for you. So you have to make yourself available to them.

Cat Ford-Coates:

But for the day in and day out processes, you would really want

Cat Ford-Coates:

them answering to a studio manager who can then you know,

Cat Ford-Coates:

escort them through buying process and this is your

Cat Ford-Coates:

retoucher information and, you know, this is blah, blah, blah,

Cat Ford-Coates:

blah, blah. And here's, you know, you have to have a

Cat Ford-Coates:

membership to SBE, so resort to refer to these videos, you know,

Cat Ford-Coates:

and kind of move through in that direction. But, yeah, overall,

Cat Ford-Coates:

like they have to have access to you.

Nicole York:

Right. Okay. That's really fantastic to know. And so

Nicole York:

it seems like a big question in this part of the section as well

Nicole York:

as asking yourself how much management you want to be doing

Nicole York:

and how involved you want to be in the kind of day to day

Nicole York:

management of the individuals. And if you find that you need to

Nicole York:

be functioning at a level that is at least one removed than

Nicole York:

having someone like a studio manager that that can run that

Nicole York:

part of the business would be a really important cause.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, perfect.

Nicole York:

That was exactly what I was hoping to know. All

Nicole York:

right. So the next thing we're going to talk about really

Nicole York:

quickly is the service or product line. So this is the

Nicole York:

conversation that we were having around what are we selling and

Nicole York:

what represents those sales? So are we going to be selling

Nicole York:

experiences? Are we selling ideas? Are we selling prints?

Nicole York:

Are we selling Walmart? Are we selling, etc, etc, we need to

Nicole York:

know what those services are, we need to know how it's going to

Nicole York:

benefit the client. And we want to know what that product

Nicole York:

lifecycle looks like. So where does it come from? Who are we

Nicole York:

working with to garner these products? What does the process

Nicole York:

look like coming from them to me to the client? How does all of

Nicole York:

that function, and if you are going to be doing things like

Nicole York:

licensing, or you know, even sub licensing, or if you're going to

Nicole York:

be doing anything along those lines, you need to know what

Nicole York:

that process looks like. So let's say I know I want to sell

Nicole York:

prints, I'm going to be working with Miller's Print Lab, it

Nicole York:

takes this long for the prints to get to me to have a quality

Nicole York:

check. If I don't appreciate the quality, it takes this long for

Nicole York:

the process to happen again, it goes from me to white glove box,

Nicole York:

etc. I'm going to be delivering these in person, we're doing

Nicole York:

that in studio, like what does that look like? And then you

Nicole York:

also need to have a good idea of what those costs will be. And

Nicole York:

that's going to, we're going to talk about that when we get to

Nicole York:

the finance section, but what services or product lines are

Nicole York:

you going to be offering? And how do those actually function

Nicole York:

within your business? So that is the question you want to ask

Nicole York:

yourself in this section, the next section marketing and

Nicole York:

sales. So we have had some marketing discussions. That is

Nicole York:

what this section is for. We want to know how we're going to

Nicole York:

reach customers, how we're going to nurture customers, how we're

Nicole York:

going to pull them into our business and how we're going to

Nicole York:

treat them while we're here. So we want to basically ask

Nicole York:

ourselves, what does that customer journey look like? How

Nicole York:

are they first going to hear about us? Where are they going

Nicole York:

to hear about us? What kinds of things are we going to say to

Nicole York:

them? When we've got them here with us? How are we going to

Nicole York:

treat them? And then what kind of referral programs are we

Nicole York:

going to use? How do we retain our customers? How do we sell to

Nicole York:

them, all of those things are going to go within this section,

Nicole York:

you can expand this out if you want to write like a really

Nicole York:

serious marketing plan. This is generally its own document, that

Nicole York:

marketing plan is generally its own document, but you can

Nicole York:

include that in in your business plan as well. Particularly if

Nicole York:

you're going to be looking at investors, you want this section

Nicole York:

to be really robust. So you can explain how you're going to be

Nicole York:

pulling people in and why these methods are going to be

Nicole York:

successful. The funding requests section of the business plan

Nicole York:

should only really exist if you know you're going to be looking

Nicole York:

for funding. So I'm not really going to go into that here. But

Nicole York:

if you do want to get investors, you're going to want to go look

Nicole York:

up this section of the business plan, really dive into this. So

Nicole York:

you understand what needs to be included in order to get

Nicole York:

investors to consider your business. And then the final

Nicole York:

thing that we're going to talk about today is financial

Nicole York:

projections. So this is a conversation we're going to have

Nicole York:

all on its own this is coming up, we are going to get deep

Nicole York:

into the discussion of finances because I think this is the area

Nicole York:

where most small business owners struggle. And particularly when

Nicole York:

we're very first getting started, we have no idea what to

Nicole York:

do with finances. So this financial projections section,

Nicole York:

there are a few things that we can look at and include in this

Nicole York:

section. One of them can be a supplement to the funding

Nicole York:

requests. So if we are looking for funding, this can kind of be

Nicole York:

including an agenda to that we're wanting to convince our

Nicole York:

potential investors why they should be investing in this

Nicole York:

company. But we also want to provide an Outlook. So we need

Nicole York:

to know we need to play the numbers game, which we're going

Nicole York:

to do coming up this week, we need to know how much this

Nicole York:

business needs to earn, where that money goes, and how much we

Nicole York:

can potentially project in the future. So maybe we know in the

Nicole York:

first four months, we need to be making $60,000 a month in order

Nicole York:

to survive and thrive as a business, we need to have a good

Nicole York:

idea of those numbers. And as Kat mentioned earlier, this

Nicole York:

gives you a really fantastic chance to look back and make

Nicole York:

those comparisons and say, Okay, I made this goal for myself in

Nicole York:

order to get you know, this much per month. I am not meeting

Nicole York:

those goals. What does that mean? For me, that means I'm not

Nicole York:

going to be able to pay for or afford these things that my

Nicole York:

business has to have, I'm not going to be able to, you know,

Nicole York:

hire out my retouching. I'm not going to be able to bring in an

Nicole York:

associate, I'm not going to be able to etc, etc. So how do I

Nicole York:

need to change these things in order to start meeting those

Nicole York:

goals. This is where your forecasted income, your balance

Nicole York:

sheets, cash, cash flow, all of those kinds of things, your

Nicole York:

projections, whether you're doing that monthly or quarterly

Nicole York:

or yearly, this is where all that information is going to go.

Nicole York:

We are going to be breaking this down. So if this sounds like a

Nicole York:

lot, I know this is just a summary. So don't stress. We're

Nicole York:

gonna do this all

Nicole York:

but I wanted to make sure that we covered it before we close

Nicole York:

today so you know that that needs to be included. In your

Nicole York:

business plan, and of course, remember, you have a traditional

Nicole York:

business plan, which is very involved, you can do a lean

Nicole York:

startup plan, which is, you know, obviously much smaller,

Nicole York:

the business plan does not have to be absolutely exhaustive if

Nicole York:

you don't need it to be. But these sections should all be

Nicole York:

included, so that you can at least give yourself a summary,

Nicole York:

have that clarity, remind yourself that you're taking

Nicole York:

yourself seriously as you make this business. So just really

Nicole York:

quickly, I want to name these sections that you need to

Nicole York:

include your in your business plan one more time, the

Nicole York:

executive summary, which is where you talk about what your

Nicole York:

company is, and what it's going to do, what its mission

Nicole York:

statement is the company description. So the more

Nicole York:

detailed information about who your customers are, how your

Nicole York:

business is going to be organized, who you're going to

Nicole York:

serve, what the advantages are for your company in your market,

Nicole York:

all that good stuff, market analysis, where is your company

Nicole York:

going to stand in relation to other companies in your market?

Nicole York:

How are you going to compete? organization and management? How

Nicole York:

is this sucker going to be run? Where is everybody going to

Nicole York:

stand in the relative chain of command? And who is in charge of

Nicole York:

what the service or product line? What are you offering? Who

Nicole York:

are you offering it to? Excuse me, oh, that's nice. Marketing

Nicole York:

and Sales? How are you going to go about letting people know

Nicole York:

that your business exists? And how are you going to treat those

Nicole York:

people? How are you going to sell to them a funding request

Nicole York:

if you are looking for investors, and then your

Nicole York:

financials. So how you are going to pay to run this business, how

Nicole York:

much it needs to earn, and what the plans are for making that

Nicole York:

money. So I realized that this has been a relatively involved

Nicole York:

conversation today, I want to make sure we do have some time

Nicole York:

for questions, even though we are pushing the limits. But we

Nicole York:

have to keep those questions really short and concise. So if

Nicole York:

you have a question this morning, about just the overall

Nicole York:

overview of business plans, go ahead and raise your hand. And

Nicole York:

remember, we are going to be doing deep dives into the

Nicole York:

financials later. So don't let that stress you out. But if you

Nicole York:

have a business plan question, go ahead and raise your hand

Nicole York:

now. And then I want to get some. For some reason, my my

Nicole York:

thing just doesn't want to refresh, I want to get some

Nicole York:

final thoughts about business plans. And anything we think is

Nicole York:

important about that from

Cat Ford-Coates:

be adaptable. Going into a business, whether

Cat Ford-Coates:

you're seasoned or brand Baby spanking new, you want to have a

Cat Ford-Coates:

general understanding of where you want to go on even if you

Cat Ford-Coates:

don't know where that is, or, you know, in finite detail.

Cat Ford-Coates:

Understanding what's exciting to you about it will give you more

Cat Ford-Coates:

information than you think you already have. And when you put

Cat Ford-Coates:

together a business plan, you learn different aspects about

Cat Ford-Coates:

the ways in which you get to the space that maybe you didn't know

Cat Ford-Coates:

before. And some of those will be disheartening and others will

Cat Ford-Coates:

be really exciting for you. But at the end of the day, you have

Cat Ford-Coates:

to be adaptable, and understand that the how is all in those

Cat Ford-Coates:

details. But that how is what's adaptable. So it's really like

Cat Ford-Coates:

you're driving the bus, but understanding the general

Cat Ford-Coates:

direction you want to go. And the different ways in which you

Cat Ford-Coates:

want to leverage to get there are really, those are the

Cat Ford-Coates:

winning pieces of your business plan. And that's what's going to

Cat Ford-Coates:

allow you to to be innovative in your business instead of just

Cat Ford-Coates:

working in

Unknown:

service. Yeah, I'll give

Matt Stagliano:

a lot of what Black Cat said, and I apologize,

Matt Stagliano:

I'm driving into the studio now. But it can be overwhelming to

Matt Stagliano:

think about actually writing the business plan as opposed to

Matt Stagliano:

having that good idea like I was talking about earlier. It can be

Matt Stagliano:

overwhelming. So just start writing stuff down. What do you

Matt Stagliano:

want the business to look like? What do you want to, you know,

Matt Stagliano:

what do you want to sell? How much money do you want to make

Matt Stagliano:

like all the all the really basic, low level stuff, and

Matt Stagliano:

you'd be amazed, like cat just mentioned how much you're able

Matt Stagliano:

to get from that. And as you start to formalize your plan, it

Matt Stagliano:

becomes a much better outline to follow rather than feeling like

Matt Stagliano:

you have to go section by section by section and try to

Matt Stagliano:

rethink everything over and over. Just start with that big

Matt Stagliano:

conceptual idea. Start adding in all the pieces, and then you'll

Matt Stagliano:

find where in that business plan they fit, because you may run

Matt Stagliano:

across things that fit more cleanly into a financial section

Matt Stagliano:

or marketing section, or even just a company description. So

Matt Stagliano:

if you can just get the thoughts on paper, then start to

Matt Stagliano:

formalize it, I think in the end by going through that part.

Matt Stagliano:

you'll have a really clear roadmap. But where are you going

Matt Stagliano:

over the next couple of years?

Unknown:

Yeah, tag I mean, yeah, I mean, a lot of it as so

Unknown:

eloquently put by getting mad already, as I mean, it comes

Unknown:

down to knowledge being power, right. And, you know, having

Unknown:

that roadmap, having that foundation, having that

Unknown:

knowledge is only going to help you more clearly conceptualize

Unknown:

what it is you're doing and how you're doing it. And so I love

Unknown:

that what Cat said about, you know, the ability to be

Unknown:

innovated by having more of an information, I mean, even parts

Unknown:

that aren't necessarily applicable to you, like, you

Unknown:

know, having employees or, you know, having associates or

Unknown:

whatever, if you know why, if you know why that doesn't fit.

Unknown:

If you've thought about each of these pieces, and know how they

Unknown:

can benefit or detract from your business, I mean, it's only

Unknown:

going to benefit you, right, because then all that knowledge

Unknown:

starts to become second nature, it starts to become intuitive.

Unknown:

And you can grow and be more confident in yourself in your

Unknown:

art and your business. So the more knowledge, the

Nicole York:

kaboom. Nothing else needs to be said there. So

Nicole York:

we are going to talk about finances coming up. Next, we've

Nicole York:

covered a lot of ground just in how we think about our

Nicole York:

businesses, how we can start to put together that information so

Nicole York:

that we know what our business is going to do and how it's

Nicole York:

going to do it. And then we start to kind of fall right into

Nicole York:

the financial section. So we're going to start talking about

Nicole York:

running our numbers, we're going to talking we're sorry, we're

Nicole York:

going to talk about things like our startup costs, and how we

Nicole York:

figure out what we need to earn in order to live what our

Nicole York:

business needs to earn in order to thrive. We're going to talk

Nicole York:

about how we can then take all of those numbers and break them

Nicole York:

down into what we need to earn each working day in order to

Nicole York:

earn what we need. And then we will move on to things like the

Nicole York:

customer journey, and pricing our pricing our products, and

Nicole York:

marketing and things like that. So I hope you will join us as we

Nicole York:

get into the financial part of the discussion that is going to

Nicole York:

be some deep water there. And it numbers are not always the

Nicole York:

easiest to talk about when we are talking and not seeing

Nicole York:

visually what that you know, those numbers might look like.

Nicole York:

So there will be an accompanying article that everybody can have

Nicole York:

a look at. So they can see in real time, what it may look like

Nicole York:

to do these kinds of projections for yourself. But I hope you'll

Nicole York:

be here for that. Because that's really that's getting down.

Nicole York:

We've talked about the anatomy of the business. And now we're

Nicole York:

getting down to talking about the blood. Right. This is the

Nicole York:

lifeblood of your business. It can't survive without monies. So

Nicole York:

we need to have those conversations if we're going to

Nicole York:

build successful businesses that thrive in the new year, or make

Nicole York:

adjustments to our businesses that exist now so that they

Nicole York:

continue to thrive and grow in the New Year. I hope you will be

Nicole York:

here for those conversations. Come and hang out with us bright

Nicole York:

and early tomorrow morning at 7am Mountain Standard Time. That

Nicole York:

is six for the West Coast. 9am for the East Coast, late

Nicole York:

afternoon for our friends overseas. In the meantime, have

Nicole York:

a fantastic day. Go make something amazing, and we'll see

Nicole York:

in the morning.

Matt Stagliano:

Thanks again for listening to this live clubhouse

Matt Stagliano:

discussion moderated by all of us at the artist Forge. We hope

Matt Stagliano:

you found the information useful and that it helps you gain a

Matt Stagliano:

little bit of insight as to how you work on your craft. For more

Matt Stagliano:

episodes, please join us each weekday on clubhouse or visit

Matt Stagliano:

the artists forge.com Go make something incredible

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About the Podcast

Morning Walk with The Artist's Forge
How to Critique Art
Learn how mindset, creativity, and visual literacy will help you think like an artist so you can create work you love and build a career that matters; bridging the gap between technique and art.

About your host

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Nicole York