The right growth business plan could be your answer. If a growth business plan is done the right way it may open up some opportunities you have never thought about before. A growth business plan can be developed many different ways but I would like to discuss a growth business plan that you may have never thought about.

Here is the way I would encourage you to set up a growth business plan:

• Do some dreaming about what you would like your lifestyle to be
• By dreaming decide on an average income you would like to have over the next few years
• Decide how many years out you would like your plan to cover
• Decide how much profit you would like for your business to generate above the income you want for yourself.
• Set up a profit and loss statement of your existing business or your proposed business
• With the right business knowledge and a profit and loss statement you can actually use that data to see what your business would need to do for you to give you that income and profit
• Even better you can determine what size market you would need and even determine whether your market would support your business presently and in the future.

To me a small business is one of the best things you can have if you enjoy operating a business; however, it does require a lot more than just enjoying ownership and running a business. Especially if you are starting a small business and even if you have had a business for many years, you should know what you want for your future. Never guess about your business. You see, without a plan, you are just guessing. We business people work hard and we always continue to hope for the best but when we guess, we’re taking a lot of risks. You’ve probably heard the old saying from an unknown author that says, “If you fail to plan, then plan to fail.”

As a matter of fact, did you know that the Small Business Administration says that 50% of small business owners will fail sometime during their first 5 years? There are lots of reasons but one big one is that owners don’t have a plan. Another is they have picked a product or service that doesn’t have a big enough market to sustain their business and sometime during their future they will run out of customers.

Now as I said, there are many other reasons too.

After graduating from college, I started out in manufacturing as an engineer in a pretty large company and now, 45 years later, retiring as a of Director of Manufacturing, I have discovered an awful lot about business. Not only did I learn and teach a lot about business, I worked with small business owners as well. I’ve learned that it comes down to this. Too many owners work hard in their business but less on their business.

Do you work on your business as much as you work in your business? Do you ever dream about having a good lifestyle but just haven’t quite figured out what to do about it. Have you ever thought about seeing what your business would need to do to give you those dreams? Developing a growth business plan could be the answer.

So, why should you make a growth business plan? Well in simple terms you need to know where you’re going and how and when you’re going to get there.

Some of the questions a growth business plan might ask you are:

- Are you comfortable that the market wants and is willing to buy your product or service?
- Is your product or service priced so it is competitive in your market?
- What’s different about your product or service? Why would a customer purchase it over someone else’s?
- Is your market big enough to support your business? What about 15 years into the future?
- If you wanted a better lifestyle, what would your business need to do to give you that lifestyle?
- How much sales would your business need to generate to give you that income?
- How much sales would your business need to generate to give you the income you want 15 years into the future?
- What will be the cost of your labor and material?
- What will your expenses run?
- How much will it cost to overcome the capacity constraints that will occur as your business grows to meet your income requirements?
- Will your profit give you the income you want in the future and at the same time maintain a healthy business for you as well?

If you develop a good Profit & Loss Statement for your existing business for the current year or for the first year of your proposed business, you can use this data to actually project how much sales you would need to yield the income you want and the profit margin you want. You can plan ahead as far as you want. Sound impossible? It’s actually pretty simple and can be pretty accurate plan.

A plan like this would show you how much sales your business would need to do, what your fixed and variable expenses would be, what your material cost, labor cost and profit would need to be to provide the income and profit margin you want. You can see pretty quickly if it’s possible for you to get your business to that level. I don’t know of any better way than to have your business give you the income and profit you want. What’s neat is you can determine what you want your income to be and your profit to be over the next few years and develop a plan that can show you exactly what your business would need to do to give you that income and profit.

And with just a little more data you can actually determine how many customers you would need for each year you plan for and how many leads you would need. From that you can actually determine what size market you would need and whether your market is big enough to supply those leads that could be converted into customers.

Chances are, if someone is suspected of killing someone else and there is enough evidence, that person is going to be charged with murder.

But what exactly does that mean?

At common law, murder was defined as the unlawful killing of another human being with intent or malice aforethought. Malice aforethought can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around, but generally falls within one of several categories (i.e. intent to kill, intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life or “abandoned and malignant heart,” or intent to commit a dangerous felony or “felony murder”).

But it is important to note that modern law defines murder in several different forms, or degrees. Additionally, different states define these
degrees in different ways.

First degree murder is most akin to common law murder. Generally, it is also the most serious degree of murder. Usually, first degree murder is
defined as the deliberate and premeditated killing of another human being with malice. Deliberate essentially means that the murderer
deliberately intended to kill the other person. Premeditated refers to the murderer actually thinking about the killing prior to its occurrence. Malice is to commit the act without just cause or legal excuse. Acting in self defense, or in defense of another person, is an example of just cause or legal excuse. For example, two friends are playing basketball and one friend dunks on the other. After the game, the “dunkee” goes home, grabs his gun, and leaves his home searching for the “dunker.” Eventually, the “dunkee” finds the “dunker” and shoots him. This will most likely be considered first degree murder.

Second-degree murder is killing another with malice. Therefore, second degree murder usually refers to committing the act without just cause or legal excuse. It does not require deliberation or premeditation. That is to say this means intentionally killing someone without planning in advance. Continuing the example above, if the “dunkee” in a fit of rage immediately after being dunked on, pulls a gun from his shorts and shoots the “dunker,” this may be considered second degree murder.

Felony murder, while mentioned above, adds a whole new twist. Felony murder, as the name implies, occurs during the course of the commission of a felony. Often times, even a death that is an accident, will be considered felony murder if it happens while a felony is being
committed. For example, if someone is robbing a bank and a customer of the bank has a heart attack and dies, that will usually be considered felony murder. Felony murder usually carries an enhanced sentence.

Manslaughter, while often mistaken as a form of murder, is a killing that carries a lesser degree of culpability than murder.

So there you have it – degrees of murder in a nutshell