The Strategy
Your strategy is your road map of where you want to go in the future. For this site, my main purpose was to educate other small business people to not make a lot of the mistakes that I had made during the last fifty years. Not exactly a stellar plan to make a lot of money. Oh sure, have been a few people who have partnered with me in my business endeavors, but to continue to justify the time spent here, my strategy had to change - as yours will.
I also know that your plan can't be carved in stone. The world changes too fast and you have to be flexible. So I've had to change also. This information is being produced into videos and posted to such sites at YouTube or Rumble to reach a larger audience (which can also be monitored). Links to all this information are being posted to business sites such as LinkedIn. And we are lining up guest spots on some favorite podcasts. These marketing strategies were only beginning five years ago. Who know how the world will change in the next five years.
The important thing is that you have a constantly updating roadmap that outlines where you are going two or three steps ahead.
The Team and Structures
You should look at how your business is going to be structured, your time and skills, and what you need to fill in the blanks. Probably the most important is finding a mentor to help you understand what you don't know. Your mentor does not have to be in the same field that you are in. Ideally, they should be someone that can help you with your weak points.
For instance, our tennis pro found that he was having trouble keeping his clinics within the 2 hour time frame. So he went out and found a mentor that was great at time management. Our music teacher talked to another musician who gave guitar lessons. He helped her learn how to pace the sessions so the students didn't get overwhelmed and how to deal with some problem students. In the course of designing this site, I have run my ideas by people just starting out in business as well as very successful businesspeople to solicit their feedback.
As you fill out your support team, you may need to add accountants, lawyers, bookkeepers, or consultants to fill in what you don't have time for or are not good at. For instance, for this site, I had to bring a graphic designer on my team as well as proofreaders and beta testers. In the future, I shall probably need more web support services, copywriters or payment services added to the team as the site grows.
Remember in listing your support team, you keep in mind what the most important thing you should be spending your time on. Let others do the rest. As part of this process, some of the team members you bring on board may be to make sure that you have the proper legal structure to suit the way you want to build your business. To help you determine this, the next course in this series deals with legal structures in more detail. I would also advise that you talk to a professional tax advisor. I normally advise people to contact the nearest H&R Block office and ask to make an appointment with a Master Tax Advisor/Enrolled Agent that specializes in small corporations. They seem to have the best educational certification programs in this area.