Practice Management

SBA Centers

The Practice Management department at Sherman has had a long term relationship with the local chapter of SCORE, and our students regularly attend the STARTUP seminars they provide. Here's some news about Small Business Administration changes and new Women's Business Centers which are enabling women in business.

Mission and Goals

Those of you that attended the Leadership Conference last week heard our ultra-successful alumni from Chicago speak about the importance of goal setting in creating the successful practices they own in Chicagoland. We have worked on our mission statements, so you have an idea about the importance of your mission to building a practice. Here's an excellent article on setting your mission, your goals and how to follow up.

FPA Journal Links

The Financial Planning Association is the national trade group of Certified Financial Planners. Their journal is on line and has scholarly articles on issues of asset allocation, actuarial charts for calculating longevity, and therefore safe asset withdrawal rates in retirement. Some of us with masochistic tendencies and time on our hands actually read these articles when we finish with the Tax Code. This is a list of financially oriented links from the FPA Journal which may be related to some of the topics we have discussed in class (business plans, SBA, entrepreneurship).

P.S. An article in the current issue reinforces my frequent harangue that you need to save 12-15% of your income for a comfortable retirement ( that is, if you start early).

Business Plan Info

I've mentioned several websites related to business plans. Here's a pretty good list of sites. Check them out!

What's the SCORE?

The Service Corps of Retired Executives is partnering with Sherman College again to provide its' semi-annual workshop on Starting A Business.

This very informative session is offered from 8:30 to 4:30 on Tuesday, October 18th, at the Spartanburg County Library at Church Street and Kennedy. The fee for Sherman students is $25, which includes lunch.

The link above is for the SCORE national website. Lots of good information here!

Business Plan info

Our recent discussion on places to get help with your business plan reminded me that I had posted this short list of places to get information last quarter. These are good sites , with excellent and up-to-date entries.

Books on Business

Entrepreneur Press is affiliated with the magazine of the same name. It offers books on planning, running, marketing and growing a new business. Check out their categories of offerings at this site.

Getting a loan

Forbes had a nice article in the current issue, Looking for Lender Love. It gives 5 ways to impress lenders and let them know you're serious about being successful. Even in the era of mega-banks, there's still an element of "gut feeling" involved in a bank's decision to fund your request.

Business Plan Information

There are a number of web sites offering advice and outlines of business plans.

The SBA (Small Business Administration) has an excellent outline of the components that should be included , as well as some sample plans.

American Express offers advice and worksheets to help you create a functional business plan.

BusinessTown.com has a long list of articles and helpful hints.

BulletProofBusinessPlans is in the business of selling business plans, but there is a sample plan here for free.

Small Business Plan Guide has a long list of links about business plans.

Google offers 8.89 million entries under "business plan". Check out a few.