I Got My "box"!!

[RevWind]

But OH MY is it overwhelming. I haven't looked at the CD yet, but the book is 350 pages!!! I don't have the attention span for books! Anyone have any advice??

Stephen: 210 pages of that are samples, so your intense reading, following instructions, is around 150 pages. Step by step, you can do it. Study the samples first. Remember, the 150 pages guides you to many projects collecting info about your area and chores, you really don't read more than a few pages at a time. This is not like reading From Problems to Profits. These are WORK books giving you lots of mini projects, very active, very changing.

[pamperedpups]

I haven't ordered yet, but do have the attention span for books, so some advice. Take it one step at a time. Scan over everything now and decide where to start, then tackle as much as you can every day. Devote a notebook to the project and TAKE NOTES. Puppy ear pages you want to refer back to and highlight important text. If you don't understand something, go back and re-read, ask hubby, post here to Stephen, research on the net or do what you have to in order to "get it." I like to read before bed after everything is done and will stop if I start losing focus. If reading in bed will just put you to sleep, take the information to your desk or kitchen table and go at it with your favorite beverage.

Stephen Note: Keep in mind the breakdown of pages in Pet Grooming Business Plan Helper & Sampler. 150 pages on writing YOUR plan, and 210 pages of samples of real plans. The 150 pages is a workbook, very interactive and the samples you simply refer to, so this is not like reading a big novel. Also, remember the BOX is a SERIES of workbooks, and the one everyone is working with now is called Pet Grooming Business Plan Helper & Sampler, one of the BOX workbooks, each with a CDROM too. With the business plan you work with Word and Excel files, so again, this is a project more than reading a book like From Problems to Profits.

[RevWind]

Thanks. I think both notes are going to be helpful. I just get really nervous when I look at a large book I have to read. I'm much better at hands-on stuff, which once I get myself to start it, the book will be.

[neanea]

Stephan,

I am interested in ordering "The Box" for business plans/planning, but just got a new computer that runs Vista and didn't know if the "Box" CD's were compatable.

Stephen: Sure no problem. The audio files are compatible with any computer, and as long as you MS Office or compatible on your machine you can use the Excel and Word files.

[neanea]

Thanks Stephan.

So, how do those who have ordered "the box" like it? Did it live up to your expectations?

[RevWind]

I thought it was quite useful in planning and budgeting...once I got the hang of it. I STILL don't have my business yet, but I'll be able to budget ok when I do, thanks to the Box.

[mustluvdogs1]

Nea Nea

I hate to say this but, Stephens' name is spelled StephEn, not with a . Cuz I think he deserves for us to spell it correctly, since we have been teasing him with OZ. Don't be offended. I probably spelled it wrong a time or two myself. Oz would be easier, but that really isn't his name, and I wouldn't want for the joke to get old. I wish it would go on even longer, it was soooo funny. Today in my soap opera magazine there is an ad for the wizard of oz witchs' broom and three porcelain dishes wall thingy. I would not ever buy such a thing, but had to laugh. It would be funny if hung in the petgroomer (Stephens' ) office. It's actually kinda ugly, but funny .Check it out next time at the grocery store. Mag has Victor from Y&R on cover.I'm still laughing about it.

[kemp0065]

bought my box

I just bought my box online 10 minutes ago. Very nervous as to whether it would be a usefull tool or not. Just now saw this thread, and feel much better about my decision!!!!! Thanks for the help. Also wanted to know if anyone has applied for grant money for start-up?? If so, which one/ones did you apply for, and how much did you get???

[neanea]

That's great! Please let us know how it works for you. I still haven't gotten it yet, but I will order it eventually. Just need to work out some money issues, lol.

[ldoonan]

Using "the box"

I got my box for Christmas last year and have been doing quite a balancing act between that, studying, full time work, and more distractions on the home front, but .... I have been pretty well focused on the box for about a week now.

I have to say ... holy moly, it was incredible at the first review, but then when I started really working with it, the content and resources and guidance are incredible. Now being neck into it, it just keeps getting better. The tips, info, guidance, steps .... yes, there's a point when you get overwhelmed and even the staunchest, dedicated, organized person will say hmmmmm, can I do this, this is too much. But yes, the box breaks it down into digestable pieces, ensuring you hit every step.

You want to jump around and do different parts, because the "dream" part we know, but even that part, the description, it pulls it and tailors it and ..... it's like having the two of them right there with you, holding your hand, encouraging you.

It's a lot of work. It's not done for you, which it shouldn't be. But it's really a consultant, mentor, friend in a box.

[Rebekah]

Stephen, Do the Cd's have closed caption? I really count on CC due to my hearing impairment. Don't have to worry about me spelling Stephen wrong b/c my son's name is Stephen!

Stephen: Keep in mind these are CD-ROM's that have DATA files. Yes there is about 7 minutes of audio extras, but it is 99% DATA files like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, so no need for closed caption, and those few minutes of audio are actually in the 350 page user guide.

Should we do larger audio files, we will keep this in mind.

[SwissNChow]

My business backer (Dad) and I have been working with "The Box" since it first came out. (I ordered before they were actually finished).

I have to say it is an INCREDIBLE resource that has truly made the process of developing a business plan easier. We have adapted the plans to encompass the full aspect of our pet resort we are building. We were pretty lost before we got the box and he has been in the business world quite a long time. The box has made the process much simpler. Our accountant was stunned when he saw it. The banker we are working with is actually quite impressed we have done such a good job.

My advice is to actually start in the back of the book and find the plan that most resembles what you want to do. Go over it first, and then go over the others to make some comparisons. Then, once you have an understanding of what a business plan actually is and looks like, then go to the front of the book and start reading. For me, it really helped me understand what I was reading. Then, break it down to one section at a time and start building your own plan. There is nothing that says you have to do section one first! Start with the easy stuff and gain a sense of accomplishment, and then tackle the harder stuff.

Thank you Stephen for releasing such an incredible business source!

[Admin]

Business Plans Take Time

We've sold enough Pet Grooming Business Plan Helpers & Samplers now that feedback is coming in regularly here and personally to us. It's great to see that so many of you are having mostly to very positive experiences.

I've written more 200 funded plans alone for pet care people. Everyone of them took 30 days or more. The process is so valuable NOW because you are working in the FUTURE, the more you work on the FUTURE in the NOW, the more the FUTURE turns out what you want it to be NOW.

Make sense, yes we have a great power to create realities. Not one of the plans I wrote for others was without wonderful moments of enlightenment. OMG this and OMG, had we done that route we would have ended up in Timbuktu. Ideas translated to words, words translate to dollars.

So you see the dollars and say, hey we can do this, but we need to change that, or don't rent that place, or buy this, buy that instead and this is the max rent we must work with, etc etc etc.

The fun part for every plan were the discoveries. You are going to change a lot of ideas NOW for a better FUTURE. Life follows our thinking, and so does business. The more you plan HONESTLY, the more likely you will succeed. We can be dishonest and say, the day the business opens I will have 10 dogs a day from thereon, wrongo in the congo.

Just a few years I had the EXTREME gift to work with a megamillionaire businessman who was one of the inventors of the self storage industry. He made $100M in one day finally going public, and this man took me under his wing on a project. Entrepreneurs that you see in magazines can't believe sometimes that I had that experience, they would beg to work under him, and the point is this. The secret to his success in business was 4 words.

UNDER PROMISE, OVER DELIVER

Every project he did, and he did 751 of them, mostly using other people's money, was a financial success and he was seen as a miraculous guru. He followed those four words in all his deals.

I will tell the full story some day, perhaps on our talk show. Now, you can apply the same adage to your plan. The first year in business is the make or break if you don't have a lot cash reserves.

UNDER PROMISE - When you project how many pets you will groom each month for the first 12 months, BE ULTRA CONSERVATIVE, even if it looks like, come on, I can do better than that easily. Match your operating expenses to the income your project. Spend what you need to have quality but don't overbuild, you may need 3 workstations later, but get the space and build out later...there are a dozen facets like this. OK, can you breakeven year 1, or perhaps endure a modest loss, and during the first year, don't get indebted on personal goodies, yes sacrifice, you are birthing a baby, your business, that is going to be your income. Yet you do have to spend enough to market and advertise etc...but certainly you can go without some things personally and put your money into the business. As a result you are likely to OVER DELIVER. Wow, we did better than what we said!! And if you have investors, they think you are a financial guru too.

UNDER PROMISE, OVER DELIVER. You cannot go wrong, it's the basis of many genius minds in the real world of business planning.

Also, I must tell you something else he taught me. The plan I worked with him was HUGE and needed to be. The financials and studies were over 500 pages in detail almost unimaginable except for Fortune 500 companies, and that actually is why he took me under his wings. THEN, he said, NEVER GO TO INVESTORS WITH ANYTHING MORE THAN 2 PAGES OF NUMBERS. THAT'S WHAT REAL INVESTORS WANT, THE SUMMARY FINANCIALS. IF THEY WANT TO SEE DETAIL, THEN DO THAT.

Well what a learning on how to do that, and it's true, people giving you $250K and more just want 2 page summary of vision and numbers, and then they ask for investment documents or send you their CPA name.

Now in our Workshops for groomers we had everyone raise their hand and explain why are they in grooming or going to be a groomer. "Well I don't like people, love dogs, it's my passion, etc" That's fine and real. After 5 days the better students would say, "After studying the market in my area I found there were 50,000 households with dogs and cats and only 3 grooming businesses serving the market. With a $50,000 investment I can establish a state of the art salon earning $200,000 gross sales of services within 3 years and earning net operating income of $89,000 for the owners."

That's the businessperson that groomers. It was remarkable to see everyone stand up and deliver and enjoy their maturity, they should be proud. If you have never read The Next Generation at PetGroomer.com see www.petgroomer.com/careerwatch.htm and you can read their 1 minute presentations. People in business know how to judge you by how walk, stand, appear and express your vision of your business and doors open, shock em! You put the groomer on hold, and become the businessperson when doing business, then go back to the groomer.

The business plan process creates businesspersons that groom. I am talking behind the scenes with "biggies" in grooming and we are shocked and proud at how many groomers are writing plans, it portends a more professional industry and justifying better fees for groomers' hard work.

More Box products are coming. What takes the most time is making this advanced training SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE. For example, many of those off the shelf business plan software programs at Staples or Office Depot are top notch, but they still assume you know a lot of bookkeeping and accounting. They don't know how to project pet households or wages for groomers. We do, we worked all that in to make it as SIMPLE as possible. Yes, 2 years to make that product and why? Simple instruction is terribly time consuming and hard, but it is working. We get so few support calls for the product, and so many endorsements from people having success in funding one way or another, but like some have said, people are so impressed. "Wow, you wrote this plan?!?" It's worth the work and a plan well done always gets strokes too.

Take your time if you can. If you are employed now and want a salon or mobile or home business in the future, it's never too early to write your plan and just update as you go along. What we think and think about now does indeed show up in our future, so keep in mind that there is truth in that the FUTURE IS NOW. The more you work on future dreams now, the earlier they may come and be more vital, worthy and stable because you put them to test in the your mind now, rather than learning by trial and error downline.

[luvpups]

Stephan-Are you going to have the box at any shows?

Stephen: Several shows in 2008 when everything is done, and more surprises.

[Moongal]

im working on business plan what are the price for a box i dont see any prices on the website humm maybe i overlooked