Business Plan Executive Summary Differentiation Factors | Edmonton CPA

So the executive summary is basically the most important parts of the business plan summarized in a first section. So the first section of the business.

Yeah, I can see why cause it’s mad.

Hi, thanks for joining us for another episode of asks Burl CPA. Uh, today we’re talking about the business plan, executive summary, differentiation factor. So the business plan, executive summary Section and the subsection differentiation factors. Uh, within that. with an Edmonton CPA, so you know, we have a cold joining me here again from a MTPs Barilla and associates, uh, you know, Cole, how are you finding here,

your, your first tax time here. Oh, it’s a, it’s definitely a change of pace from a regular season. So you know, it just got to put the work in and get it done.

Playoffs. Playoffs. Right. So the quote that we have here today to Benjamin Franklin quote, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail by default. So if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. The statistic that we’ll throw it. This one is a Palo Alto, their software manufacturer and they did a survey of business owners and they found that business owners who actually completed a business plan, they were 50% more likely to actually grow their business. So completed that business plan 50% more likely to grow their business. You know, that’s why we do business plans built in with our monthly fee here. That’s Berlin associates. And we have the problem that we have as business owners. They often think that the whole plan matters equally. The whole 40 pages of this business plan matters equally. However, often the high level bankers who reviewed the application or there’ll be some people in the process, you know, the ones that you might not even speak with personally, they’re only going to read the executive summary, which is at the beginning of the plan. Also having the key ideas, you know, summarize in this section at the front of the ply. It helps you keep you focused and allow you to refer the plan during the year. When you’re busy, you have the key idea is at the front. Um, it just makes things more efficient. So cool. What are the questions that these business owners is they should be asking regarding the, the executive summary and the differentiation factors specifically what does the executor,

if summary and where does it go in the business plan?

So the executive summary is basically the most important parts of the business plan summarized in a first section. So the first section of the business, fine. You can think of a summary of all the things that are most important read at the beginning of the document. And it’s the first section. Do you put a section in the executive summary for differentiation factors? Yeah, so it’s one of the key things and I believe it’s important enough that it should be in your executive summary. So differentiation factors is so important. Um, that it, it should be at the beginning of the document in the, in the business plan, in the executive summary, right at the front.

Our differentiation factors similar to a competitive advantages. Yeah, they can be similar and sometimes they’re, you know, they’re the same. You know, if you have a, a, you know, if one of your differentiation factors is the longevity of your business has been in business forever. Um, you know that would be a differentiation factor is the longevity of your company, but it also might go hand in hand with the fact that you have ongoing contractual obligations from your clients. So it’s actually not just the clients are with you because there you’ve been around a long time but because you’ve been around a long time you have a contractual relations which is you know, more of a, a competitive advantage. You know also your differentiation factor. You could be actively differentiating yourself from the market because you have higher quality, better training staff. That’s also a competitive advantage so that they’re very similar.

A lot of them will qualify. A lot of differentiation factors and how you differentiate yourself from your competitors are also going to be a competitive advantage as well. Okay. Can I focus on a niche customer base be a differentiation factor? Yeah. That’s one of the common focus. And you’ll say, um, you’re, uh, um, a general contractor and you’re only doing build outs for dentists. with an Edmonton CPA, so you’re doing all the leasehold improvements or constructions of buildings or dentists. You’re going to know exactly what it’s like to build out the dental office as opposed to another general contractor who, you know, you’re the first or second dentist office that he’s done as opposed to you’re a general contractor who only builds dentist’s office. You know exactly what the chairs should go in the service or go on the x ray machine should go. Um, that’ll be a differentiation factor for sure.

Can having unique features in your product or service be differentiation factor? Yeah. You, you could be the only one who has a, you know, a particular guarantee. Um, so maybe you have a three year guarantee and all of your competitors have a two year guarantee. That’s a unique feature. Um, you’re the only one with a low online portal and everyone else is doing it. I don’t paper based. So, with an Edmonton CPA, these are, you know, common differentiation factors and how you’re going to distinguish yourselves, how you plan to distinguish yourself from your competitors in your business plan

and focusing on a specific location. The differentiation factor. Yeah. It certainly Canada, it’s usually a very, with an Edmonton CPA, powerful new. So there’s some businesses that they were very location based. I know if you’re an optometrist or if you’re a dentist, you know, some people will travel across the city for the most part, people are going to be, you know, not just in your city but they’re going to be in your neighborhood to, with an Edmonton CPA, so, you know, having that real strong, with an Edmonton CPA, location focus, uh, can be a really good differentiation factor as opposed to someone else who’s, you know, maybe go to casting a little bit too wide of a net

in branding and marketing be differentiation factor. Yeah. Branding and marketing can definitely be a differentiation factor. You know, I got the, with an Edmonton CPA, I like the, you know, the, you ever seen those window guys and they’re the guys who wear the kilts and they cleaned the windows. Anybody can clean windows. But these guys have determined that they’re going to do it, with an Edmonton CPA, with a kilt. So when it’s a type of business where it has a very low barrier to entry, anyone can get a squeegee and the bottle of Windex and start going at it. But these guys have built a brand and has some brand recognition on doing it. You know, the, the three 10 dump guys, they’ve got the big bins and everyone recognized three, 10 dunk God at three, 10 done. Uh, but anybody can get a bin and drive it to the dump.

I mean, know there’s not a whole lot of expertise. So in really competitive industries, you know, it can be, you know, absolute, you know, things like if you’re trying to be a, a realtor for example, you know, there, it’s highly competitive. There’s so many other competitors out there that to not be commoditized, you know, not just to be where we’re going to go with the cheapest. Sometimes that branding and marketing is one of the only ways that you can really distinguish yourself. There’s other people who are already in your application. There was other people that are, you know, already have the, the type of warranty features that you do. And sometimes the only way to ground to the top is to have that unique brand. So it’s often the one that, you know, we look at really strongly for really, let’s call them saturated, you know, a type industries.

If you want to rise to the top of one of those, if you can have, you know, really unique branding, you know, that’s the way to rise to the top. It’s really difficult to replicate. Can payment methods and terms be differentiation factor? Yeah, that, that, that’s a common one. You can have, you know, everyone else’s spurling associates, everyone else is charging by the hour. Most of our competitors, they charged by the hour. with an Edmonton CPA, and you know, we charge flat fees, they’re flat monthly fees. The clients had the cost predictability. Um, you know, other businesses they can offer, you know, we can do financing. You know, you get your furnace for paired with us. You can pay 90 days from now as opposed to, you know, having to, uh, your furnace breaks and have to write a check for $8,000 tomorrow because the, that the house is too cold.

So those payment terms or are a way that you could think about is how do I make my business set aside, you know, um, rise to the top and set myself apart from my competition. If I can offer a different, uh, you know, more convenient payment method in terms, um, that’s one of the ways to do it for sure. What’s the difference between staff experience and organization longevity? Yeah. When you start saying these, they start to almost sound pretty similar first off. Um, so you start to say, oh, organizational longevity, staff experiences the same thing. They’re not sometimes cause you get a lot of business owners and they start a name might be, with an Edmonton CPA, you know, the experience that you truck driver and they’ve been doing it for years and years, but their business just started last month. But they have, you know, two decades of experience.

So sometimes that staff experience in the organizational longevity are two different things. There’s a lot of people with a lot of organizational longevity. They can have staff experience too, but just because you, you just started those people in the business, that’s something that you need to play up. You know, you maybe just starting to be, you just went on your own as an electrical contractor or a plumbing contractor know, but you’ve been working at a supervisor, um, you know, for a decade or two before then. So that that staff experience and can be one that’s often missed. A lot of business owners, they start up and they try to promote the brand, the brand, the brand. What about the people in that brand that people really consider the people in that brand? Both who they are, that the quality of them, if they connect with them on more of an emotional level, but also what was their experience?

So forget about, yeah, this guy just started his business, but he’s just been an electrician for, for two decades. I don’t care that he’d just started his business. I believe this guy, I believe Joe Smith, I’m hiring Joe Smith that to make sure my job goes okay, it, that goes a long way and people will often start, businesses don’t use that to differentiate themselves. They try to promote a brand which is almost impossible to promote sometimes when it just started yesterday. Can convenience or customer experience be a differentiation factor? Yeah. So you know the way a, if you’re a contractor, you can be the contractor who comes back at the end of every project to walk through it and then they come back a year later to walk through the same job all over again. Make sure nothing cracked, makes sure nothing shifted and make sure nothing’s leaking. I guess what your competition isn’t doing that they’re just sitting there hoping the phone doesn’t ring.

Uh, so they, you know, and even they might even be ducking their warranty obligations. Right. But you’re the guy who actually come back and does that. Well guess what? There’s a probably a referral coming from that too. You know, and they might need something else done. Or maybe they know someone who needs something else done. And you know, that’s a differentiation factor. Maybe the only one who could book their appointments all in line in your business and everyone else they have to call through and wait on hold. Um, you know, your uh, uh, uh, a dog walker and a, you send a report and a picture of the dog. He didn’t just walk the dog but you, you made it kind of a fun experience for the person. You know, the old was our differentiation factors that both that customer experience that they matter, you know, without those, it’s just a race to the bottom and you’re trying to be the cheapest and the being the cheapest eventually means you’re going to be out of business.

It happens every time. So you have to add those, those differentiation factors and customer experience. You can make that experience better. That’s going to go a long ways for sure. So that’s what we have here today on this topic. Thanks again for tuning in. As always, please leave some comments below. So, uh, you know, we can respond back to you guys and know what you’d like covered in future videos. And as always, please hit the like and subscribe button so we can continue to deliver your tips on how to beat the odds of business. Thanks very much.