4) Bed times

Yes, the whole of my Business Plan was made in bed :)

I called the local institute for Small and Medium enterprises "Potkuri" in order to make an appointment and explain my idea = I need money :D

Monday 9th of November at 9.00 am I have an appointment with business advisor Antti Mäkimattila = I have now one month to finish everything perfectly.

Chapter 1 Idea plan: The weather is sort of nice, beautiful Autumn colours outside... sunny and surprisingly dry for Autumn. I got an answer from one of my main manufacturers and this gave me a nice start.

- Problems Idea plan - It's still hard to say how much I am going to sell. I have a certain clear idea of my vision and goals for the short, medium and long term, but I'm pretty sure I will be constantly updating them. However, for all of us who are willing to go along all this glorious path the main problem has always been and it will always be: What? Where? When? How? Why? and finally Me? Am I able? Can I really do it? Can I take the step? Please someone tell me?! When you feel the Passion, you don't need to ask anyone. You just know it... you believe.

Chapter 2 Business plan: It was sort of easy to elaborate, except for the start up total capital I would be needing. At least I started a list of all the expenses that I think I'll have.

- Problems Business plan - well I still don´t have a lot of real prices and costs, but I'm pretty sure they will start popping up.

Chapter 3 Product/Service: I had a lot of fun doing this, basically a lot of imagination and segmentation. I also had to contact a lot of different manufacturers.

- Problems Product/Service - Well, despite the fact that everybody wants to do business, many companies didn't answer me, so I had to keep waiting for further information. I'm not expecting an answer straight away, but I´d like one before my appointment at Potkuri.

Chapter 4 Market research: I had already done a lot of it so it wasn't that laborious. However, the ideas are just popping up and I am really more enthusiastic about the whole project.

-Problems in Market research - Well, not so many except that the file became so big that I had to fragment it because it was taking a lot of time to save, open, do any tiny little change, not to even mention the risk of loosing it due to some misreading.

Chapter 5 Strategy: Now this is really war... a lot of analyzing, segmenting, research, imagination, some reading and more and more ideas emerging.

-Problems Strategy - I basically didn't sleep for the whole October. I started working in the morning and then continued working the whole day and the whole night until it was morning again. The funny thing is that I don't regret it. I didn't feel that I was working at all, but only having fun.

Chapter 6 Management: This part was a bit difficult to elaborate since I had to plan how many people will be working for me in the future, and I also had to determine my salary :P

- Problems Management - I'm definitely not so good at fiscal and labor laws. I need help and the estimates, despite being crucial, are somehow a dream, at least in the first and second year. Why? I need to prioritize the allocation of as much money as possible in some key areas, and my private bank account is not one of them. As long as the rent and food expenses are paid for, I can live on a low budget until my flight takes off.

Chapter 7 Financial plan: It took me a lot of nerve and patience to make it. A lot of research, a lot of calculations, a lot of passion. The file became again so big that I had to fragment it again in order to avoid any future problems.

- Problems Financial plan - Taxes and some other costs that I am not going to have this month. It won't be ready by November 9th :(

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Every business plan is different, therefore it's impossible to homogenize or compare my problems with other people, except for the financial plan which really is hard work.

What's my best advice to everybody? Relax and smile. It won't be ready in 1 week, for some it takes a month for others it takes an eternity, just keep going and smile.

Also, remember to always thank everybody no matter if it was just a tiny little help or a big one, even if nothing resulted as you were planning it, in times of storm and darkness, just a simple smile is a ray of light that will keep you believing that the rainbow will come out after the storm.

A big hug and a smile to all of you who have showed me your unconditional love, help and support.

Thank you! Tack! Kiitti! Xiè Xiè! Gracias! Danke! Kösz!