Chapter 3: Creating Business from Opportunity

This chapter deals with the reasons why you may decide to start a business and questions to consider when you think you have a business idea. Before you start a business, you must know who the business will serve, what the business will offer, and how the business will provide a service or product. It's also very important to know who your target market is. If you have a great business that you know will provide the best service or product. but you have no idea as to who will use your business...then you have a big problem. Also, you need to be aware of your competitive advantage, or the "What" that makes you different from your competitors.

Our family construction business seemed ideal to talk about for this chapter. The company has grown very rapidly since we opened about 9 years ago. I believe it is because we have a competitive advantage that causes us to soar over competition. We are small and easy to get a hold of. When a customer has a problem it is very easy for them to get a hold of the owner of the company, my father. Other companies that have the volume that we do are set up like large corporations. Good luck getting a hold of the "President" or "CEO." We have a small staff, but that has worked to our advantage. Our project managers, superintendents, construction managers, and marketers have all been hand-picked by the owner because they are the best of the best. To put it all into perspective... On one hand, you have a large, mega-corp that has a massive office building with hundreds of employees, many of which are not adding much value. On the other hand, you have a small company with about 20 employees and a small building with about 5 cubicles and two offices. Now, they both have the ability and resources to take on a large, multi-building renovation on one of your properties. Who are you going to choose? While it may seem that a large corporation that has things like "employee of the month parking" is the way to go, consider this: If you have an emergency or problem of any scale, you can forget going "to the top" for help....the "top" is cruising in his yacht. This is where our customers recognize our value. We are fast, mobile, and easily accessible. The company, Restoration Systems, has been able to successfully compete and beat out the big guys all while staying a relatively small company.

Chapter 2: The Business Plan: Road Map to Success

I believe it is safe to assume that almost every entrepreneur has had to develop a business plan before starting his/her new venture. A business plan is a document or "book" that includes the elements that will support the success of your venture. It is a broad over-look of all of the key components of a business and they include: Marketing strategy and plan, management and operations plan, financial analysis and projections, and the ever-important funding request and exit strategy.

For this chapter, I thought it would be appropriate to talk to a good friend of mine. His name is Steven Heard and he is the owner of Anytime Fitness in Germantown. Steven (who I will call Steve because "Steven" is weird to me being as that's what he really goes by) is an alumni of the University of Memphis and he holds a degree in marketing. I asked Steve a few questions pertaining to this chapter and his own experiences in formulating a business plan. Assuming that most new entrepreneurs have never developed a business plan before, I asked Steve about how he went about creating his own. I did not know rather or not Anytime corporate provided a template, or if they let the franchisee do it on their own. His answer follows:

"Anytime you are asking for money you better have one.  The franchise has a template for us to use that includes things like national market data that are applicable across the board.  I was responsible to get all of my individual numbers.  AF has connections with several financial institutions that it has worked with in the past that are familiar with our business model and our success.  AF also has a financial aid dept. that basically helps make sure we have everything in order then they help broker the deal with a lending institution."

Steve is in a very good location. He is in a brand new, high-end shopping center smack-dab in the center of Germantown. For a business like his, location is very important and is something that would be a key detail to include in a business plan. So I asked Steve why he chose the location he is in and if he would have done anything differently. Steve responded:

"Location, location, location.  Germantown is the wealthiest city in East TN.  We chose this shopping center because it was new and thought that would help create excitement.  If I could do it again I would want my gym right on Poplar as opposed to being in the corner."

Finally, I was wondering what a franchise like Anytime Fitness would use as a marketing plan. According to Steve, he only runs promos when he knows it is gym "season." His busiest months are in January, March (for bikini season), and October (when people get in shape for the holidays).  Also, he markets by using print direct mail. He has had the best results from that, even though it is the most expensive.

Chapter 1: Entrepeneurs Recognize Opportunities

Chapter one covers the basics of entrepreneurship. It covers a few of the costs and benefits of being an entrepreneur, and more simply, the essence of an entrepreneur. To me, an entrepreneur represents someone who is possibly tired of being "just an employee." They are people who believe that they can do something or make something better or more efficiently, or they have something completely new that they believe will fulfill a need or desire of consumers. For many people, thinking about someone taking on such extreme risk warrants them being labeled as "crazy." However, I believe this "craziness" is what has made many of these people as successful as they are. It's that crazy-gene that drives them to keep on going, even when the odds are against them.

For this blog entry, I thought it would be appropriate to talk to my father. He is the owner of a nationwide construction company for which I plan on taking over some day. It started out as a Servpro franchise that he ran out of our garage. Then, it grew and years later he decided to sell the franchise. According to my father, Servpro was turning into something like the government. "They were growing, but there was no value-added. All they were doing was placing too much bureaucratic control on their franchisees." In short, I believe it is safe to say that a franchise like Servpro is enough to fulfill many people's entrepreneur drive. However, it was not enough for my father. He wanted complete control of his own business. So, he opened up Restoration Systems, Inc. At first, the company did a bit of everything: residential, small commercial, fire-rebuilds, and mold mitigation. I asked him what the biggest challenges in growing the business were. According to him, the hardest thing was marketing and developing a client base. In addition to that, there was licensing that he needed to get that Servpro did not require. After some time, the company began to lean in the direction of multi-family renovation and restoration. Simply stated, he specializes in apartment construction. Even more, the company has developed a reputation as experts in fire damage reconstruction.

Intro

For my blog, I am going to be getting information from two companies. The first one is Anytime Fitness in Germantown. The owner, or "entrepreneur," of the business has agreed to help me out. In addition to the owner of Anytime, I may call upon an officer of our family business (Restoration Systems, INC.). We are a nationwide construction company specializing in multi-family renovation and fire restoration.