Tag Archives: Startup

Technical Writing: Troubleshooting Plan Template

Samantha from New Zealand asked me last week why the Troubleshooting Guide Template wasn’t for sale on the site. While this Microsoft Word template is already part of the Technical Writing Kit, I understand that not everyone wants all those documents. So, for those who want this document, what I’ve done is create a new sales page and offer it a standalone product.

9 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Your First Business

In 1996, I downloaded Netscape Navigator 2.0 and got on the web. It was incredible. If you weren’t there, it’s hard to explain the sheer excitement of getting your first AOL account, dialing up to go online, waiting for your first page to slowly download, and then going WOW!

The first day I went online—it was a lovely Sunday, I still remember it—I stayed online for 7 hours straight. I was transfixed. The world outside melted into the background. Hook, line and sinker. I was pulled in.

How to Write a ‘Plain English’ Business Plan

‘Why are business plans so hard to write?’ Before I answered the email I thought about it for a moment. I used to hate writing business plans but now find them much easier to write. As business plans are still the same, maybe it’s me. So, what changed? Download Now – Buy Here! [Learn more […]

The Art of Deliberate Mistakes

It sounds like a contradiction to encourage others to make mistakes, doesn’t it? But if your company doesn’t allow others to do so, how are they going to challenge their assumptions about what works or what could be improved? No one criticizes a child for falling off a bike when it learns to cycle. It […]

What the Romans Taught me About… Business Planning

Sometimes looking back gives us a little more perspective. The Romans were the first to build roads. Real roads. Networks. They connected Constantinople to Seville and London to Carthage. All paths lead to Rome. If that isn’t impressive enough some of those roads are still in place today. Think about this. They built the roads […]

Dumb Money v Smart Money for Business Investments

You finished your Business Plan. Looks good. Checked the Business Case. Close the gaps and made the adjustments. Started to write the Marketing Plan. What next? Like all small businesses you need to make that step from the drawing board (business plan) to the high street and the only way to do this is to get funding.

Do ‘Aggressive’ Sales Tactics Work?

While we teach our kids to be respectable when in school, we then encourage them to tear the opposition asunder when they play sports. Getting the right balance between competition and aggression is very difficult. I see this with team leads who try to bully others into working harder (ironically, these targets are usually the workhorses) and with sales people who try to intimidate others into buying products.

9 Writing Tips From Warren Buffett

Warren Buffet’s Annual Reports were the first I ever read. To this day, I go back and re-read them to remind myself what business writing is really about – making a connection with words. That’s it. The more you can connect, the more people will read you. They may not agree with you – more […]

The Secret of Warren Buffett’s Business Writing Style

‘The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.’ Warren Buffett. 15 White Paper Templates for only $19.99 How to Write an Executive Summary that Generates Interest Your Executive Summary should excite the reader and help them understand the key results and conclusions in your business document, […]

Which Business Plans Are Twice As Likely to Get Investment?

A quick search on Google shows us that the business community has some strong opinion on the value of business plans. Some deride them as antiquated whereas others see them as the foundation stone for a business growth. Who’s right? Well, it would be nice if someone did some research on the value of business […]

How to Write the Executive Summary for Business Plans – Part 2

First impressions count. For this reason, you need to pay special attention to the Executive Summary. If your clients or investors don’t get past the Executive Summary, then the rest of your document will go unread. This also raises the question: Should you write your Executive Summary before or after you’ve written your Business Plan? […]

How to Stop MS Word Files From Crashing

If your Microsoft Word files suddenly become huge and start crashing, here’s how to fix it. Sometimes MS Word files explode from 1 to 10 MB in a few minutes? Why? Why Bullet Lists Creates Large MS Word files? The first offender is Bullet Lists. If there is one thing that’s guaranteed to crash Microsoft […]

HBR: The Business Case for Women Leaders

Two articles in this week’s Harvard Business Review caught my attention: What the U.S. Can Learn From Europe About Gender Equality in the Workplace, and Can She Lead? The articles raise the sensitive issue of whether women make good bosses, want to be bosses and (slightly controversially), will men support women bosses or do their […]