Milton Laughland

You want to start a business.  You have a skill or knowledge to deliver a product or service to customers.  But you lack the knowledge or experience for creating and managing your company.  As a mentor, I will help you start and manage your company.

My approach is to create a series of small and manageable plans: 

• Customer Plan (first step) - Ensure that a demand (customers) exists for product/service.
• Startup Plan - One-time activities when creating the company. 
• Management Plan -  Ongoing activities that manage the business (e.g., time-consuming paper work).
• Marketing Plan - Ways to connect with the customers who can use your product/service.
• Pricing Plan - Identifying direct, indirect, and overhead costs so you can price your product/service to meet expenses and make a profit.
• Business Plan - A persuasive document for obtaining financing (versions differ between new and established businesses).
• Strategic Plan - The long-term plan to build and expand your business.
• Project/Tactical Plan - For specific product development and deployment.

My Background:

• Experience in creating and operating a sole-proprietorship LLC multi-media company.
• Author of Strategic Planning Demystified, a book on how to conduct successful strategic planning while avoiding common planning mistakes (relevant to large organizations).
• Federal sector experience in Strategic, Business, and Tactical Planning.  Learned what works and what doesn't work.
• Experience in conducting pricing analysis to identify direct, indirect, and overhead costs.